http://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=JOKTWWEJK2d4chan - User contributions [en]2026-04-20T23:17:11ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.43.0http://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Disney&diff=1008786Disney2026-02-24T19:30:21Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* See also */</p>
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<div>{{/co/}}{{Topquote|Over at our place, we're sure of just one thing: everybody in the world was once a child. So in planning a new picture, we don't think of grown-ups, and we don't think of children, but just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us that maybe the world has made us forget and that maybe our pictures can help recall.|Walter E. Disney}}<br />
{{Topquote|We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective.| Michael Eisner, former CEO of The Walt Disney Company}}<br />
<br />
What [[Games Workshop|Geedubs]] aspires to be.<br />
<br />
'''The Walt Disney Company''', also known as '''Disney''', '''The Mouse House''', or increasingly '''The Rat''', is an ancient juggernaut of a company made in ages past, and therefore [[Imperium|is completely out of touch]], seeing everyone as walking piles of cash at best and unwitting chattel at worst. They started out as an animated film company and went from there.<br />
<br />
Chances are you’ve heard of them and so has /tg/, mainly because some franchises we like have been bought up by the greedy motherfuckers over the years. Mainly [[Star Wars]].<br />
== History ==<br />
[[Image:Walt_Disney.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Walt Disney, planning out his [[/v/|underwater hypercapitalist utopia]] ]]<br />
Once upon a time, there was a man from the magical land of Chicago named Walter who liked to draw, and so he got into the new film industry in the roaring 20s making short animated films. He was a decent artist and animator, but he was a better businessman who especially understood the importance of talent, image and self promotion. (The fact that he almost ruined by his distributor Universal buying his best colleagues out from under him probably had something to do with this.) He gathered talented people, cultivated their skills and methods and pushed the envelope with ''Steamboat Willie'', the first animated short with sound.<br />
<br />
By the 1930s Disney had become a household name with a large number of popular shorts and eventually releasing ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' in 1937, the first feature length animated film. Despite costing triple its original budget and earning the nickname "Disney's Folly," it was an instant hit. This was followed by the classic Pinocchio and the cult-classic Fantasia in 1940. During [[The World Wars|World War II]] he got a lot of money from the US Government making propaganda films, but only enough to pay the bills and the company was millions of dollars in debt by the end of the war. Ever the businessman, Disney managed to turn things around by diversifying into live action, pushing out a hot streak of animated films like ''Cinderella'' and ''Alice in Wonderland'' in the 1950s, and possibly his masterstroke: theme parks where children could see the characters and places they saw in the movies come to life. He marketed directly to kids with TV shows like ''The Mickey Mouse Club'', simultaneously recycling his old theatrical shorts, building a new format of children's show that lasted decades, and incidentally providing generations of Hollywood bigwigs with fresh child actors to molest. By the 1960s Walt had it made: he had a vast studio with an entrenched niche, a brand known around the world, enough cash for a certain cartoon duck to swim in and generally became an icon of American Success. He was also a hard-driving union-busting asshole who smoked himself to death and (unintentionally) helped typecast animation in the western hemisphere as [[Rage|worthless pap intended strictly for kids]] for the rest of the century.<br />
<br />
=== Decline and renaissance ===<br />
After Walt got a taste of building theme parks, he fell for utopianism. Believing the lessons learned from building Disneyland could be applied to building a better city, he and a small group of like-minded yes-men became increasingly distracted with buying up large swaths of Florida to found an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, like [[/v/|Rapture]] but above the water (most of the time) and with less Ayn Rand. As a result, the company wasn't paying attention to trends. While they did a brisk business in shorts and other programming for ABC, they missed the bus when it came to ''made for television'' animation. This left the field open for studios like Hanna-Barbera, Filmation and a resurgent Warner Bros. What they lacked in quality (and how) they made up for in quantity, shutting Disney out of the children's television market for decades as producers discovered that cartoons were WAAAAAY more profitable if you used them as commercials for as much merch as you could shove out the door. (While Disney pioneered merchandising as early as the 1930s, it was generally done as a supplement to the art, which was expected to stand on its own. The newer studios just used art to sell merchandise.) They continued to repackage their old shorts for broadcast but there were only so many of those to go around, and the trickle of new ones dried up as theatrical animated shorts died off in the early 60s. The pace of new Disney feature films dropped to one every few years, with lower-cost live action family films increasingly filling in the void.[[File:Eilonwy.gif|left]]<br />
Walt's death brought an INSTANT end to the envisioned EPCOT project, with the land and buildings that were already paid for getting rolled into Disney World. What followed was essentially a lost decade of cost cutting and rummaging through Walt's notes for half baked ideas to keep the company going through the 70's. Tired of this creatively bankrupt environment, Don Bluth and several other key animators prominently quit to form their own studio and went on to dominate children's movies in the early 80's. The absolute low points of Disney's dark age came for live action with the aptly named "The Black Hole" and for animation with "The Black Cauldron"; "Black Hole" was an absolute turkey, and while time has been kinder to "Black Cauldron" it was a massive bomb on release that didn't know what it wanted to be. Disney was out of ideas, reduced to copying Star Wars and adapting random fantasy novels.<br />
<br />
This would not stand. Tired of watching the company simultaneously sink and burn, a coalition of shareholders led by the surviving Disney family brought on Michael Eisner from rival Paramount to straighten things out. The first decade of his tenure was a string of successes. Eisner brought in Roy E. Disney (Roy Disney's son) to turn around the animation department, finally giving it the resources it needed to compete with Don Bluth's studio. Roy spearheaded a collaboration with Stephen Spielberg that gave us ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', which won three Oscars and still stands as ''the'' best combination of live action filmmaking and animation ever. He also put further resources into improving the studio's technology base, which had barely changed since the 60s; this was the beginning of their highly lucrative collaboration with Pixar, and the CAPS digital production system which enabled shots that were impossible with physical cels. The cold war ended and a booming 90's economy juiced park sales. Finally realizing he couldn't afford to treat TV as just a side business, he launched Disney's first cable TV channel and redefined 90s kids' childhoods with the legendary Disney Afternoon series. But like General Lee in the Civil War, Eisner would have his Gettysburg, a mistake that would break him forever... and it was Euro Disney. <br />
<br />
Euro Disney almost destroyed the company. Had it been attempted later in the 90s, with more debt, it WOULD have bankrupted Disney. The park was a gamble; centrally located among some of the richest economies on the planet with construction costs eventually reaching 22 billion francs, it was too big to fail... and it failed, because they hadn't counted on typical French contrarianism and a continent-wide recession making its loan payments unsustainable. It would be years before it turned a profit. It caused every park under construction to grind to a halt. Projects too far along to be cancelled outright had to be severely cut back, while potentially more lucrative long term projects like Disney Regional Entertainment (which planned to go after "family entertainment centers" like Chuck E Cheese) died. Frank Wells (who had been hired from WB as a counterweight to Eisner's ego) died in a helicopter crash and Eisner, previously a bold thinking risk-taker, became a defensive and embattled CEO firing anyone who looked like a threat to his position; this brought an end to their animation dominance as Jeffery Katzenberg was kicked out only to go found Dreamworks. (This wasn't all bad though, since Katzenberg had tried to turn Toy Story into an Adam Sandler comedy.) Their only really groundbreaking move during this time was to buy ABC.<br />
<br />
=== Rats in the walls ===<br />
After Euro Disney, company leadership was placed in the hands of Bob Iger, who shifted to a model of growth through acquisitions that turned Disney into the Borg we know today. First they bought The Jim Henson Company, though they had planned to do that in the 80s before talks were derailed by Henson's death. Then they bought ABC and ESPN. Pixar. Marvel. Lucasfilm. 20th Century Fox. Even National Geographic. If there's a profitable-looking set of Intellectual Properties that fits a niche in the current media environment, they'll be there to snarf it up. And as is the case with many media empires, everything they touch has a bad habit of turning to shit; Star Wars especially has gone from embattled-but-strong to a zombie franchise. They even started cannibalizing their own franchises again, first with crappy direct-to-video sequels to the Renaissance movies and again in the 2010s with a slate of unnecessary (but bankable) CGI/live-action remakes.<br />
<br />
They probably would have been fine despite that if not for one thing: [[Nurgle]] left a charming gift basket to kick off the 2020s and forced all the parks to close. This started the dominos falling:<br />
<br />
* The parks are the backbone of Disney's massive profits, so closing everything put a significant dent in their financial picture. That means less money to invest in park improvements and new content, which means lower sales later as they have less product to sell.<br />
* Even before COVID Disney [[Games Workshop|had been constantly looking for ways to charge more for less, squeezing ever-more money out of an ever-smaller number of "Disney adults" to drive growth.]] Not only is this the antithesis of Walt's vision of drawing in large swathes of Middle America to milk dry, after COVID a tough job market combined with the shift in spending habits from being boarded up in your own home for a year and the lukewarm appeal of Disney as a brand in that time led to even fewer families making the trip, and a much harder time hiring staff to keep the place running.<br />
* For that matter, Disney has no idea what to do with the parks in general. Many key Imagineers have moved to Universal and the people who stayed are more preoccupied with rebranding or replacing classic rides like Splash Mountain with whatever IP the higher-ups want to push than improving or renovating what's there, let alone creating something genuinely new that could inspire future blockbusters the way Pirates of the Caribbean did. Budget cuts strike seemingly at random and rumors persist of Iger and friends stealing from the till.<br />
* Bob Iger's ego combined with lockdown measures forced the company to go all-in on their own streaming service before they were ready, and combined with all the other studios doing the same thing the industry collectively fell into the same trap that allowed Netflix to kill cable TV in the 2000s: too much content fighting over a finite and shrinking pool of customer dollars to the point where piracy has started making a serious comeback after Netflix almost wiped it out.<br />
* [[SJW|Identity politics]] came to town, and as we all know [[Racial Holy War|identity politics is the bane of creativity]]. Disney was already suffering from brain drain across all segments because the genius execs thought the "magic" of working for Disney was more important to creatives than good pay, good working conditions and creative freedom; this is why [[Approved Cartoons|Gravity Falls]] ended after two seasons and many third-party animators refuse to take contracts with the company. The pipeline of lefty "artists" fresh from California art schools plus previous generations either retiring, being forced out or moving to other studios exaggerated the problem until there was a clear sense that "the message" was more important to most of their writers and directors than making something people actually wanted to watch. The rest simply seem to have an utter disdain for their target audience.<br />
* Iger's drive to snap up as much IP for Disney+ as possible has introduced massive overhead costs and forced the theatrical side to make harebrained scheduling choices around the releases they've already acquired, often leaving their own movies to rot in suboptimal release windows or outright cannibalizing one film in favor of another with higher marketing spend. This is not a good position to be in when your output is already creatively weak, post-COVID box office is weak as hell and your traditional ways of making up for that (home video, video-on-demand, merchandise) are all turning into sunk costs for already-mentioned reasons.<br />
<br />
=== So what the fuck happened? ===<br />
The issue with Disney is essentially the [[Lorraine Williams]] problem scaled up to [[Epic]] levels of money. While Walt was alive, his focus on quality and creativity reigned. As soon as he and his brother Roy died there was nobody left to steer the ship but soulless money men, who either fail to understand the long-term value provided by quality work or don't care because they [[SJW|want to use the company to steer public opinion]] and/or fully plan to flee the ship before it sinks.<br />
<br />
== /tg/ Relevance ==<br />
[[File:SB_Goons.jpg|thumb|350px|left|The Goons from Sleeping Beauty, a lot of people saw these guys before they ever heard the word "[[Orc]]" ]]<br />
For better or worse Disney has been one of the biggest forces in pop culture period for nearly a century. Part of this is that it worms its way into kids' childhoods, laying the foundation for sales down the line. A seven-year-old who saw ''Snow White'' in '37 would grow up to have kids they'd take to see ''Sleeping Beauty'' in 59 to try to share some of that nostalgic magic, who'd in turn take their kids to see ''The Little Mermaid'' in 89, who took their kids to see ''Moana'' in 2016. A lot of their most Iconic work is Fantasy and bits and pieces of imagery has wormed it's way out and into other works. If not lifted outright, than responded against. See Princesses, Disney did not invent the idea of a young woman who's a [[monarchy|monarch's]] daughter as being a plot element in stories but you'd be hard pressed to find a depiction of someone who holds that title in fiction nowadays which does follow the template or deliberately breaks the mold that the Mouse made.<br />
<br />
Disney is big on IP management. It has its roster and with a few exceptions that it likes to keep buried it tries to keep them in the Zeitgeist so they'd keep up a trickle of cash for years to come. In the 2010s there was a set of Live Action remakes or accompaniments to old Animated classics to cash in on nostalgia and remind the public that, yes, ''The Lion King'' still exists. It preserves this by lobbying the US government to push back copyright expiration as far as it can go. The GW guys may use these laws to get their way but Disney has the money and reach to shape them to suit it's will.<br />
<br />
In particular, a 2010s acquisition spree led to Disney owning both [[Marvel Comics]] and [[Star Wars]], both significant /tg/ adjacent-and-related properties, means we'll probably be talking about Disney owned properties for decades. [[Tolkien]] specifically wrote that he did not want the Walt Disney Company to adapt his work for film, probably because of major alterations done to the original work in various adaptions by them in his lifetime. Unfortunately for him, another monolithic corporation would try to destroy his legacy instead, but that's another story.<br />
[[File:Mcduck moment.png|thumb|Scrooge's early years. He won this fight by the way.]]<br />
Of special note to /tg/ is the Donald Duck comics, specifically Donald's ancient, fantastically rich uncle Scrooge McDuck. Originally written as a pastiche of the ''Christmas Carol'' character, Scrooge evolved over the years into the perfect example of a retired player character; he's seen it all and done it all, and he earned every last one of his absurd treasures over a lifetime of adventuring. You can read up on his epic-level campaign in Don Rosa's ''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck'', though you'll have to pirate it since certain parts of it (namely the part where he starts acting like a ''real'' robber baron... [[Murderhobo|or a player character]]) are one of those things Disney likes to keep buried. The Durulz from [[Glorantha|Runequest]] were created in homage to Donald, especially his [[Angry Marines|"whirling tornado of rage"]] schtick that most [[King of Dragon Pass]] players have been on the wrong side of at least once.<br />
== Fun Facts == <br />
*Between on-set pyrotechnics and fireworks shows, Disney is one of the leading purchasers of explosives after the US army.<br />
*Disney Theme Parks are designed with the intent of maximizing pleasure. For example, trash cans and service doors are painted in a shade of color intended to be unnoticeable or forgettable. Disney may hate the lore of their franchises but they take their theme parks dead serious.<br />
*Until 2022, Disney World could manage its own entire county in Florida due to legislation that was enacted there almost half a century ago, meaning that is the closest we have yet gotten to a corporate government since the East India Company in India. This is because when Walt was alive, he originally intended to build what he called the “Experimental Prototype for the Community of Tomorrow,” a full-on planned city with advanced-for-the-time transportation networks with an attached industrial park field-testing the latest consumer products. Now it’s just parks, hotels, and other overpriced amenities.<br />
*Walt Disney actually played a role in NASA's founding; in the 1950s, Wernher von Braun was having difficulty convincing the US Government to fund a civilian space program with the goal of eventually landing on the moon. So, he collaborated with Walt to appeal directly to the American public, by using Disney's TV access to present his proposals for space exploration and generate interest in the field. NASA was formed three years later, with Braun and his team brought on as rocket engineers.<br />
*Walt Disney once considered St. Louis as a possible site for Disney World, but he eventually settled on Florida, most likely due to the year round warm weather.<br />
*Walt Disney moved from Chicago to California to establish himself as an animator. Chicago was an early hub of film production in the early 1900s, but the weather and economy of California resulted in most people moving there, and Disney was among them.<br />
*(Almost) nobody has ever died at a Disney theme park. Mysteriously, people who suffer severe accidents, allergic reactions etc. at Disney parks always manage to avoid being declared dead until the moment their cooling corpses cross the property boundary.<br />
<br />
== See also==<br />
*[[Disney 40k]]<br />
*[[Disney Villains Victorious]]<br />
*[[Disney + Originals]]<br />
*[https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2009/4283775/ A tripfag shows us why you DON'T FUCK WITH MCDUCK.] <br />
[[Category: History]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Wars_Roleplaying_Game&diff=1008181Star Wars Roleplaying Game2026-02-04T19:00:24Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
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<div>[[Fantasy Flight Games]] had their own attempt at producing a [[Star Wars]] roleplaying game, it's actually pretty good. '''Not to be confused with [[Star Wars RPG | the D6 system with the same name]] made by [[West End Games]].'''<br />
A very unique form of roleplaying game though, in that it relies less on raw statistical power and more on speciality dice (sold by FFG).<br />
<br />
Currently there are three separate campaign settings:<br />
*'''Edge of the Empire'''<br />
*'''Age of Rebellion'''<br />
*'''Force and Destiny'''<br />
<br />
However, unlike the Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying games produced by Fantasy Flight, they all use (almost) exactly the same format and rulesets and are completely compatible with one another with only minor differences in the reason for why they adventure. All of the mechanics can be used simultaneously however.<br />
<br />
With the dismissal of FFG's entire RPG team in January of 2020 and only one compilation book forthcoming, the system may be dead, though FFG has stated they are going to continue working on all of their rpg lines [http://archive.ph/aZmpk then walked it back and said they're going to discontinue everything].<br />
<br />
The latest news is that Star Wars RPG, among the other FFG RPG games, will continue to be produced by Edge Entertainment, another Asmodee company. The Star Wars RPG continues [http://www.d20radio.com/main/new-edge-studio-will-take-over-ffg-rpgs/ but produced by a different company]. <br />
<br />
==Setting==<br />
The three settings are set after Episode IV, just after the rebels blow up the Death Star and the Galactic Civil War is in full swing. It's the time of Storm Troopers, X-Wings and Yoda. Most published material tries very hard to keep the PCs from meaningfully challenging the "main characters" or otherwise becoming powerful enough to affect canon; one infamous EotE module declared that ''just being in the same building'' as Darth Vader was an automatic [[TPK]]. [https://youtu.be/wxL8bVJhXCM?t=54 It might be fair] but still limits just how much impact you can have on the setting.<br />
<br />
Additional content to play during Episode VII times exists in the form of a short beginner game, and there are sourcebooks to play during the Clone Wars era (Episodes II to III) and the Rise of the Rebellion era (between Episodes III and IV).<br />
<br />
Depending on the rulebook that the characters are drawn from, the players are hooked into the universe using a variety of mechanical effects. <br />
<br />
EotE uses an '''Obligation''' mechanic, which is a percentile number of how much debt they are in to someone or something else. It doesn't have to be monetary "debt", it could be a frail old grandmother that needs looked after, or simply having children. Either way the character has something after which they need to look or appease. The higher their percentile, the more chance of an off-table event occurring, which will affect the mindset of the character, reducing their effectiveness in-game. The players can use Obligation as a resource though, and accumulate more obligation to gain assets of value, like starships or rare items. Too much obligation and they start becoming a liability, so it's usually in the players interest to get rid of it when they get the opportunity.<br />
<br />
AoR uses '''Duty''', which is like inverse Obligation, they "want" to accumulate duty as it represents their status with their chosen organisation (the Rebellion by default). At lower levels they don't get much, but as they accumulate more they can trade it in for starships and items.<br />
<br />
F&D uses '''Morality''' which generally only works for force users, being an asshole will accumulate conflict points, which will reduce their morality in the long run, meaning that they can start using the dark side. The custom dice that force users have has 7 dark sides out of 12, but the light sides tend to give more points when rolled. This is somewhat consistent with the lore, which describes the dark side as easier, but the light side as ultimately more powerful. In that vein, lightsiders gain a higher strain threshold, and can therefore continue fighting/acting for longer, while darksiders reduce their strain threshold but increase their wounds threshold, becoming "inured to pain".<br />
<br />
==Gameplay==<br />
Anyone that has played any of the 40k roleplaying systems by FFG will get a familiar feeling when playing the game. It takes the "degrees of success" mechanic from the 40k rules, and strips away pretty much everything else.<br />
<br />
Instead of simply taking a skill or combat check and comparing numbers, players roll a [[dice pool]] of special Star Wars dice that replace the numbers with symbols representing successes and additional effects. Player dice have three different symbols, "Success", "Advantage" and "Triumph", the last of which acts like the first two rolled into one. <br />
<br />
The DM then rolls (or allows the player to roll along with their dice), a pool of "difficulty dice" proportional to the challenge of the task, with a different set of symbols called "Failure", "Threat", and "Despair". If a player gets more success than the DM's "Failure" symbols, the player succeeds.<br />
<br />
Successes cancel out Failures while Advantages cancel out Threats. Triumphs and Despairs cannot be cancelled out, however.<br />
<br />
This leads to results that are different than the typical "success or failure" binary of other game and can trigger positive results even on a failure (if Advantage) or the DM can use them to cause negative side effects even on a success. So example, you roll medicine, and you succeed but you get too many threat symbols, so you heal the guy but he can't move too fast or he will pop the stitches.<br />
<br />
The Dice pools that are used are generated quite easily. When you make a test, each skill has a character attribute associated with it. Compare your ranks in the skill with the stat, and take the higher of the two numbers as your basic number of dice, and the lower of the two number determines how many of those dice are "upgraded" from D8s to D12s. So if, for example, you have an agility of 4 but a stealth of 2, then take 4d8, upgrade two of those dice into the better d12's, then roll. If you get situational effects due to talents or environmental effects, the DM can add D6s to the pool. These D6's come in both the positive and negative variety with various faces being empty, have successes/failures, or advantages/threats.<br />
<br />
This system was later developed into the generic [[Genesys]] RPG system.<br />
<br />
This actually has two major advantages over most other rule sets straight off the bat.<br />
* '''1)''' Less reliance on actual math statistics means there are less pauses at the table while people count up what their rolls actually mean. Few rolls require counting higher than ten.<br />
* '''2)''' Cheating becomes much less of a problem as players cannot simply roll dice and [[That Guy|declare that they have passed or failed a test]], since they actually have to compare their successes to the DM's failures. Thus, authority always remains with the DM. Additionally if you have a set of cheap dice you run much less risk of a die having an air pocket that 'loads', it does not matter nearly as much since you have a pool of dice all being rolled at once. This mitigates the effects of a random manufacturing error.<br />
<br />
It also has a few disadvantages.<br />
* '''1)''' Calculating odds is a pain in the ass. The D20 system for example has all challenges round into nice clean percentage points by virtue of being based on a D20,so a player can quickly compute the odds and know how much they are pushing their luck if they can guess the DC. But with the star wars system you start having to deal with the mathematical nightmare of ''bellcurves'' of different sized dice to compute odds. Worse yet since your rolling against a 'hostile' pool of dice you have the nightmare of TWO competing bell curves of differently sized dice. Elementary school math this is not. (This may be a conscious design choice, to force more “instinctive” decisions than probability calculations)<br />
* '''2)''' It puts a more strain on the DM then other systems to think quickly on the fly. Since both the positive and negative dice have narrative positive and negative events, a DM has to be able to relatively quickly interpret what those mean for the players. <br />
* '''3)''' Of course ''owning'' a set of Star Wars dice is more expensive and troublesom then a normal set. There are rules that allow you to use traditional dice using a conversion table found in the rulebook though that defeats the point. FFG also sells a rather nice dice-rolling app for iOS and Android.<br />
<br />
===Classes===<br />
Character creation is hybrid of free-form vs structure system.<br />
<br />
PCs choose a career and a specialization to spend their experience in. However, if they choose to, they can buy upgrades from other specializations by paying into those specializations. They may also buy into other entire careers if they feel inclined too, though that is essentially cross classing and therefore comes at an increased XP cost.<br />
<br />
Starting XP is determined by your starting species, typically ranging between 80 to 110 XP, though droids are notable for starting with 200 XP. Droids, however, start with the worst stats in the game, requiring them to spend a lot more up front to make them serviceable in any of their classes.<br />
<br />
Again, unlike the disparate 40k settings, they all work in unison with one another, so a Consular Healer could easily cross-class as a Hired Gun Heavy if the [[DM]] allowed it, since it would not affect the way the game is played, nor would it change the overall power level of the character with respect to the rest of the [[party]]. <br />
<br />
New characters gain a set of Class Skills from both their core class and specialization, and get a number of ranks in both for free, 4 Class, 2 Spec, respectively. The number of these ranks differ for 'Force and Destiny' classes however (3 and 2) as each main Class in that core book also gains a Force Rating of 1 automatically. <br />
<br />
These free ranks stack between Class, Specialization, and Species, but have a hard starting limit of 2. The most notable (and possibly only) exception to this rule are the Corellian Humans, who can raise piloting up to 3 at start. While all of these free ranks are nice, it quickly becomes apparent how little they matter, once you really get into the game. <br />
<br />
====Edge of the Empire====<br />
'''Bounty Hunter'''<br />
*'''Assassin''' - Part [[Ninja]], part Sniper, all deadly. Gets aiming bonuses for added damage, and dodge & stealth bonuses for avoiding it. Also gets "Lethal Blows" for absolutely horrific critical hit modifiers. Plus, they have the "greatest" ability ever: they can stand up as a incidental action.<br />
*'''Gadgeteer''' - Be like Boba Fett and get custom armour and gear. [[DM]]s should be wary about players who want to play this, as they are going to [[Powergamer|Munchkin]] the FUCK out of the character. The real [[cheese]] comes in when using the "Jury Rig" ability to reduce the advantage cost for weapons with autofire, effectively doubling their damage output for not a lot of investment.<br />
*'''Survivalist''' - Tracking, sneaking and good at covering terrain, everything a good bounty hunter needs. Which of course makes for a good scout/pointman if your party doesn't include one already.<br />
*'''Operator''' ''(No Disintegrations)'' - Piloting spec focused on pursuing and taking out enemy ships and vehicles. <br />
*'''Martial Artist''' ''(NoDi)'' - Kung Fu spec all about improving unarmed attacks. It makes crits a lot easier to trigger and adds a skill that allows you to use parry while unarmed. <br />
*'''Skip Tracer''' ''(NoDi)'' - The underworld detective. Taking some of the Investigator's sleuthing skills mixed some social ones for negotiating. <br />
<br />
'''Colonist'''<br />
*'''Doctor''': Pretty good as both a medic and a purveyor of "feel good juice" for buffs. Also make pretty damn good martial artists if they start taking the right skills in the tree, particularly for races that get automatic buffs to their unarmed damage like trandoshans and wookiees.<br />
*'''Politico''' - The [[Bard|"Face" and buffer]] of the group, gets a hilarious ability to [[Troll|hurl scathing abuse]] at an opponent, causing strain, which has the potential to [[What|knock them unconscious]]. Can also do the inverse and restore strain on allies.<br />
*'''Scholar''' - all the lore at your fingertips, basically about researching things you didn't know, but as a student of the mind you get have surprising mental discipline, you can reduce strain damage and can get some non-career skills of your choice.<br />
*'''Entrepreneur''' ''(Far Horizons)'' - Always looking for a deal: Buy Low / Sell High, also get free money in every session due to your fat cat nature and wise investments. You can also become wealthy enough that you can throw money at your obligation and make it go away temporarily.<br />
*'''Marshall''' ''(FaHo)'' - The frontier Lawman, or police officer. Gives the Colonist some much needed fighting ability and the ability to to-and-fro your interaction skills with another player, Good Cop/Bad Cop style (it is actually named just that too).<br />
*'''Performer''' ''(FaHo)'' - the actual [[Bard|Bardic music]] class, this is ALL about the active abilities and gets practically no passive bonuses at all. Your performances can net you your "Biggest Fan", so pretty much like magical domination. Note that you can't just turn the [[BBEG]] like this.<br />
<br />
'''Explorer'''<br />
*'''Fringer''' - Gets a few of astrogation bonuses that are unlikely to come into play, but makes for an acceptable group pilot if no-one else can do the job. They also get a a whole bunch of defensive bonuses that are generally handy no matter what other specializations they take.<br />
*'''Scout''' - The stealth dude the team puts on point since he'll see everything and not be seen in turn, and gets to backstab in a similar way to [[Rogue]]s. Also gets the utility belt ability, where he can pull a common rarity item out of his ass for free by spending destiny points.<br />
*'''Trader''' - Earn [[15,000,000 Gold a Day]] by wheeling & dealing your DMs economy to breaking point and also locating black market items he doesn't want you to have. Try to cross-class as Quartermaster and/or Entrepreneur to gain added [[Profit]] and your DM will kick you in the balls.<br />
*'''Archaologist''' ''(Enter the Unknown)'' - Indiana Jones IN SPACE, you can play Harrison Ford's OTHER alter ego, despite not having the brawl skill immediately, is surprisingly good at... Brawling<br />
*'''Big Game Hunter''' ''(EtU)'' - like playing an archery [[Ranger]], gets a few stealth / terrain talents and can cause MASSIVE damage at long range<br />
*'''Driver''' ''(EtU)'' - A "Pilot" but for atmospheric vehicles rather than X-Wings, is virtually analogous to to that specialization and many of the bonuses carry over, so it can be a worthwhile choice.<br />
<br />
'''Hired Gun'''<br />
*'''Bodyguard''' - Supposedly the "protector" archetype but I can't remember the last time I saw the secret service use rifles, bazookas and gun-turrets, [[Derp|but okay]]. They get barrage bonuses on heavy weapons & gunnery at long range but most of the specialization IS about defensive boosts, and they can provide active benefits to party members. So it works.<br />
*'''Marauder''' - [[Barbarian]] hit things, Barbarian do much damage... dumb muscle jokes aside Marauder is one of the better non-force using melee specs in the game. With flat damage bonuses from Feral Strength, and attack upgrades from Frenzied Attack. As well as a number of HP and Soak bonuses that'll let you shrug off more damage. <br />
*'''Mercenary Soldier''' - The professional, and does it pretty well. Boost team members due to leadership skill, and gets half-decent fighting bonuses, making this a good option.<br />
*'''Enforcer''' ''(Dangerous Covenants)'' - Get your Thug on and hit things with baseball bats. Good for intimidation value and getting around in the underworld.<br />
*'''Demolitionist''' ''(DaCo)'' - KABOOM BABY! All about blast weapons, making blasts better and how they are shaped (so you can exclude friendly targets), you can also rig mundane stuff to explode once per session.<br />
*'''Heavy''' ''(DaCo)'' - Make big guns seem like kiddie toys and start [[Awesome|hip-shooting normally mounted weaponry]] and doing massive damage [[Dakka|while you spray lasers all over the place.]] It's the exact same tree as Heavy for Soldier, so you could conceivably cross-class from Heavy into Heavy and [[MOAR_DAKKA|carry some really, REALLY big guns]], [[RAW|the rules]] really only forbid double-dipping within the given setting (red/white/black books), [[/tg/|but elsewhere]] (the Order 66 podcast) [[RAI|sometimes people listen to designers.]] It's [[AWESOME|awesome in concept,]] but for [[Munchkins| serious damage dealers]] this only helps you <i>wield</i> big weapons, it doesn't actually help you <i>hit with them.</i> <br />
<br />
'''Smuggler'''<br />
*'''Pilot''' - Learn to fly a spacecraft, while many classes get the pilot ''skill'', a specialized pilot gets talents and bonuses that make him generally better at it than anyone else. ''(until you see Rebel Aces)''<br />
*'''Scoundrel''' - Telling lies and acting quickly, also gets the black market connections that the Trader gets but doesn't screw with the economy so much since he's not selling them back at a profit.<br />
*'''Thief''' - "Yoink" I've picked your lock, pinched your stuff, now I'm stealthing off into the night then blending into a crowd. Like playing the [[/v/|Thief video game]], but in science fiction!<br />
*'''Charmer''' ''(Fly Casual)'' - A huge amount of active talents that help with interaction checks, but this specialization also allows normally "Face" style characters to do stuff in combat with "Don't Shoot" and "Disarming Smile".<br />
*'''Gambler''' ''(FlyCa)'' - Yes, they've got a few actual "Gambling" boosts, but this class is excellent no matter what you are doing or what career you started from. You can get access to re-rolls, can suffer strain to get a Destiny point back in your pool and the Double or Nothing talent can be [[Awesome]] if you use it on skills you know you can pass.<br />
*'''Gunslinger''' ''(FlyCa)'' - Gives the Smuggler career some needed firepower, though exclusively based around <strike>pistols</strike> "Ranged: Light" weapons and initiative-order trickery. Fantastic on the quick draw, they get bonuses to Critical Hits and if they get in first they can reduce the crit rating of their weapon for that strike, as well as gaining additional first strike bonuses. Do remember, [[MOAR DAKKA|grenades are "Ranged: Light" too...]]<br />
<br />
'''Technician'''<br />
*'''Mechanic''' - Fixes stuff, so is good with vehicular focused parties. Can also cause machinery to spontaneously combust due to "Bad Motivator", which is hilarious. Can also make items out of sticky tape, PVA glue and coloured paper which can solve immediate problems. '''FUN'''. <br />
*'''Outlaw Tech''' - Remember how the scout could pull items out of his ass? well so can this guy, but earlier on. Plus he can modify, scavenge, improve and repair things. Making him a desirable party member when people want to upgrade their gear. Anyone who cross-classes Gadgeteer with Outlaw Tech is a filthy [[Powergamer|munchkin]] and can't really deny it.<br />
*'''Slicer''' - There is something called "[[What|Defensive Slicing]]", just in case your [[DM]] wants to hack your computers with a skill check rather than telling you he's hacked your system, the only situation this routinely comes up is in space combat, but is far more likely to be the slicer hacking enemy ships. But this class is not just about tackling computers and is also handy with lock-picks. Not really a specialization to completely max out unless I'm missing something.<br />
*'''Cyber Tech''' ''(Special Modifications)'' - Become better at cybernetics by increasing the number you can have and getting more out of them. You also get to be a better healer, heal yourself with droid items, and use some of your cybernetics to reload or power up depowered devices. This tree includes Eye For Detail, which lets you change your spare Successes for more Advantage when taking Mechanics or Computer checks; very useful when crafting items.<br />
*'''Droid Tech''' ''(SpMo)'' - The Cyber Tech is good with cybernetics, this one is good with droids. With "Machine Mender" and "Deft Maker" you're good at making, repairing, modifying, and leading droids. Made with three ranks of "Speaks Binary" you're good at talking to them and getting them to boost their dice use. The addition of "Improved/Supreme Speaks Binary" he can eventually command a small army of engaged droids with both a stack of Boost dice and granting ALL of them ranks in one skill ''equal to his own.'' You also get "Eye for Detail" twice, and the ability to salvage parts from one item to repair another, without destroying the first item.<br />
*'''Modder''' ''(SpMo)'' - Upgrade ALL the things! Kind of like a catch-all Gadgeteer crossed with Rigger. It gives you enough Tinkerer ranks to upgrade your and your friends' gear, as well as getting some sweet vehicular abilities on the other side of the tree with Signature Vehicle. While it's not a big problem, you're clearly not as focused as either the Rigger or the Gadgeteer. But otherwise still great for characters who just want to dip their toes into item modding without pigeon-holing themselves into a total technician role.<br />
<br />
====Age of Rebellion====<br />
'''Ace'''<br />
*'''Driver''' - Identical to the Explorer specialisation, even if your focus is not atmospheric, can be worth taking for the stacking passive bonuses it grants.<br />
*'''Gunner''' - Good even if you can't pilot for shit, since larger vessels have turret mounts that few people get any bonuses using, different from the Heavy since it's less about mobility and more about aiming bonuses. But the talents also work broadly too, turning you into a [[Tank]]. If you are also a decent pilot... Then [[Rape|well....]]<br />
*'''Pilot''' - Exactly the same specialisation the Smuggler gets, but a better fit for a character who wants to be a dedicated pilot, since the in-career specialisations combo extremely well together.<br />
*'''Beast Rider''' ''(Stay on Target)'' - More for riding than driving/piloting. Your mileage may vary since mounted characters might be rare in your campaign.<br />
*'''Rigger''' ''(StTa)'' - Holy Shit! Like the Gadgeteer, except for a vehicle, if your group has a shared starship and the setting involves a lot of space combat, someone should be MADE to play this class.<br />
*'''Hotshot''' ''(StTa)'' - Like the Pilot, except more about crazy active abilities like maneuvering enemies into each other or pulling the switcharoo during dogfights.<br />
<br />
'''Commander'''<br />
*'''Commodore''' - Combo Mechanic and Fringer with command and defence abilities thrown in. Literally there are four straight-line paths to the bottom which means you aren't forced to mix up your abilities. It's generally straightforward if your character wants a two or more of those paths and couldn't get them without multi-classing more than once.<br />
*'''Squadron Leader''' - A defensive pilot. If he was on his own he'd be fairly inoffensive though he does get the Quick Strike ability for getting first hits in. His group skills mostly work on the ground as well as in vehicles, so he's not entirely useless. But this should be chosen as a later specialisation, rather than starting the game as a squad leader.<br />
*'''Tactician''' - Sort of a combination of Bodyguard and Mercenary Soldier, without the fighting talents of either but gets improved mobility skills ''(so would have made a better "Bodyguard" than the Bodyguard specialisation)''. Good if the party includes several fighting characters and could use someone to buff them up.<br />
*'''Figurehead''' ''(Lead by Example)'' - This career is a generic commander, unlike the three core specializations, so they are good for all situations rather than just one. They keep their nerve and can buff their allies, as well as bringing passive Duty bonuses. Like a Boss.<br />
*'''Instructor''' ''(LbE)'' - A combat support class, allowing their allies to gain free maneuvers or actions, or to gain bonuses on repeat actions. The career is also useful as a medic and bodyguard for keeping their allies alive. Not much in the way of personal combat ability other than extreme PT exercises, but combat utility should be granted from multi-classing.<br />
*'''Strategist''' ''(LbE)'' - Most of your abilities pertain to Massed Combat, which might find little use in a typical RPG session, but they can heavily modify those combat checks when they happen. The second half of the class is all about gathering and applying lore, turning this class into Sun Tzu in space. Can hand out boost die much like the Analyst.<br />
<br />
'''Diplomat'''<br />
*'''Ambassador''' - they took the chatty part of the Politico specialisation and removed all of the foul language and gave them actual defences instead. They still can't stand up in a fight but they've got strain for days and are resistant to fear.<br />
*'''Agitator''' - The [[Angry Marines|angry]] portion of the Politico, made more focused. They're much more thuggish (like the Enforcer) but unfortunately unless they cross-career into something tough, its all bark rather than bite. That said, the ultimate ability causes a literal riot.<br />
*'''Quartermaster''' - FREE MONEY! Seriously they can learn an ability that gets them free money every session. Mucks up the economy just like the Trader specialisation, but with less access to black market stuff, instead they learn how to use bribes as a game mechanic.<br />
*'''Advocate''' ''(Desperate Allies)'' - Not quite a "Face" like the ambassador, but certainly a tricky social beast, using strain as a resource for useful interactions both in and out of combat. You can ''interject'' to interrupt another person's (including PCs) social action and add bonuses or penalties (your choice), you can retort against your opponent and inflict strain '''on their own check''' and you can even compel an incapacitated opponent to perform a single task of your choice.<br />
*'''Analyst''' ''(DesAll)'' - Excellent at lore, much like the Scholar or the Scientist. Though this one chooses particular areas of expertise which they can absolutely dominate in. They can also generate floating boost D6s for an encounter, based on them applying knowledge to their situation.<br />
*'''Propagandist''' ''(DesAll)'' - Want to debuff an ''entire organisation'' before you even roll for initiative? Then this is the class for you. They are also really good to have because they passively increase Duty gains made by the party, bringing rewards earlier. <br />
<br />
'''Engineer'''<br />
*'''Mechanic''' - Same as in the Technician Career, you fix stuff.<br />
*'''Saboteur''' - Its about the bombs, though the first half of the progression is actually more about defensive abilities and you don't get the blast bonuses until later.<br />
*'''Scientist''' - Like the Scholar, but less about being well rounded and more about application. You get the same knowledge and academic respect talents, but instead of all the mental fortitude ''(since that went to the Ambassador)'' you get to play with your gear making it better like an Outlaw Tech, plus utility belt for lulz.<br />
*'''Droid Specialist''' ''(Fully Operational)'' - Much more combat focused than the technician's droid tech, with talents that focus on getting as much as you can out of droids, and fighting enemy droids better. The ability to focus, repair, and improve one droid over the Droid Tech's swarm makes the Droid Specialist better for focused rolls. It is also better at helping PC Droids through Combat Programming and Desperate Repairs.<br />
*'''Sapper''' ''(FO)'' - Essentially a [[Techmarine]], you are the combat mechanic who can [[Imperial Fists|fortify your location]], or [[Iron Warriors|bring it down with siege tactics]]. Gets bonuses like removed setback on fortification building, "Known Schematic" to give them knowledge of buildings, and "Contraption" to macgyver a solution to whatever problem they have. Both of those talents are available very early on so you can put that big brain of yours to use right away. Sappers get a few demolition and explosives focused skills a bit like the Saboteur though nowhere near as specialized. <br />
*'''Shipwright''' ''(FO)'' - The ultimate crafting expert with eye for detail and a new talent that can let you make some more quirky designs too. Also still good at fixing ships, but not as well at the Mechanic. Shipwrights can repair ships faster and at a reduced cost. The addition of Gunnery as a career skill and a few piloting oriented talents (exhaust port, and debilitating shot) means that you could be made to serve as a pilot for these ships in a pinch. They can also give vehicles temporary buffs like increased handling and speed.<br />
<br />
'''Soldier'''<br />
*'''Commando'''- Combat Pro, though unlike the Merc Soldier is less about team command and <u>more</u> about being good in a fight.There is armour, resilience, melee and ranged buffs going for them. The selection of abilities and skills does point to a much more close quarters oriented build, especially with the ability to stack up on melee/brawl skills at character creation. If you want to go deep on a punchy build there is a branch of the tree that rewards this.<br />
*'''Medic''' - Do you need healing NOW? The military medic is based around patching people up immediately using consumable stim-packs that become less effective with repeated applications. The Doctor might be the better overall healer but you get to cross-class as Commando & Sharpshooter, so SUCK IT UP SOLDIER! Also comes with an ability that says "fuck do no harm" as you use your intellect to make your shots do more damage.<br />
*'''Sharpshooter''' - Like the Assassin, but with less stealth and MORE killing, when this guy is maxed out and armed with a sniper rifle, very few careers can do it better. Combo with Assassin & Big Game Hunter and [[Rape|no-one will survive]].<br />
*'''Heavy''' ''(Forged in Battle)''- Carry around heavy weapons same as the Hired Gun. In fact, it's the exact same tree as Heavy for Hired Gun, so you could [[RAW|conceivably cross-class]] from Heavy into Heavy and carry some really, REALLY big guns, while ignoring the non-ranked talents the 2nd buy-through [[RAI|(though actually you can't because they are considered the same specialization).]] So, depending on your Storyteller and whether or not they listen to the [[Rules lawyers|Order 66 podcast]], [[Skub|YMMV.]]<br />
*'''Trailblazer''' ''(FiB)''- Move through the wild, setting up traps and ambushes Viet Cong style, With passive bonuses while in cover and bonus damage against disoriented enemies. Nice spec if your looking for a good mix of survival and combat skills.<br />
*'''Vanguard''' ''(FiB)'' - Another career that is a better bodyguard than the "Bodyguard". You get a lot of talents that allow you to protect your allies and take hits for them, while making you more resilient and difficult to strike against. You also gain abilities aimed at jumping up the initiative order, so you can behave like a real guardian of bodies. One other cool talent set allows you to turn failed attacks into "Suppressing Fire" and cause strain on your opponent instead of wounds. All in all a good class for those who want to tank for the group but aren't Soresu Defenders.<br />
<br />
'''Spy'''<br />
*'''Infiltrator''' - In a word: [[Ninja]]. Strangely less about actual "infiltration" (though does get stealth bonuses later on) and more about dodging, flipping and overwhelming opponents in melee <br />
*'''Scout''' - just like the Explorer, works well here for stealth reasons and being able to go solo.<br />
*'''Slicer''' - the same as the Technician, but considering the multi-class combos the Spy gets it gives it a more malicious edge, though they might want to skip this and go out-of-career for their next specialisation since it doesn't really fit the melee/stealth character build.<br />
*'''Courier''' ''(Cyphers and Masks)''- Intergalactic FedEx ninja. Comes with a bunch of parkour-like talents (one is actually called Freerunning) for navigating your way through short distances or up walls. You can make life more difficult for pursuers by imposing setback dice on their checks through stealth, or even run through a marketplace and create difficult terrain behind you in the classic chase scene trope. Thanks to a certain "Improved" talent, you can also embrace your inner drug-mule by hiding items within your "modified body." Gives strain and a weak ability to recover it but no talents for wounds, and most notably, besides cool/vigilance skills for initiative, there's ''nothing else combat related.'' So get good ranged defenses and don't get caught.<br />
*'''Interrogator''' ''(C&M)'' - Honestly, scary good at getting information out of people, often literally scary (the picture for it is pretty creepy too) with two ranks each available for both 'Intimidating' and 'Bad Cop.' Naturally, if you're trained to perform this kind of "information gathering" you're trained to resist it too, but with your 4th tier talents you can do it for your companions as well! Has probably the best talent in the book 'Made You Talk' which provides different bonuses depending on the opponent's threat level, with Nemesis giving ''each player character'' their own Destiny Point to spend during the next session (which is then discarded, not flipped). Rank up Brawl and Medicine skills to crush all resistance to your will with the other 5th tier talents. <br />
*'''Sleeper Agent''' ''(C&M)'' - Probably the most subtle of the subtle-specs in this book, more about removing Setback than gaining Boost dice, and only gains bonuses of other types on ''very specific'' subjects. Also is the only specialization that gets a combat talent anywhere near the beginning with "Creative Killer" letting you "Colonel Mustard in the Library with the Candlestick" someone. "Inside Person" that lets you spend a destiny point to just declare that you've been somewhere before and are familiar with it, and "Inside Knowledge" to make a Skullduggery check and Bill & Ted yourself an useful item in your location by having planted it earlier narratively. Another talent lets you raise your Cunning attribute until the end of an encounter, which can be a potent boost in certain builds.<br />
<br />
====Force & Destiny====<br />
<br />
'''Consular'''<br />
*'''Healer''' - Since "Heal" is a universal force power, the Healer specialization is strictly unnecessary, but it's still a good career to have since it applies itself primarily to medicine checks for recovering wounds and strain. So does not tie itself into force usage. You also get "Healing Trance" where you can heal yourself over encounters naturally by committing force dice, rather than actually attempting to roll for it.<br />
*'''Niman Disciple''' - A good generic lightsaber style based on Willpower instead of Brawn, comes with some flat defensive bonuses which are always good to have and allows you to increase the crit ratings of hits that strike you so you are less likely to be hurt badly. The style allows you to mix in some force techniques like push/pull as part of your attack action so you can have some control over your opponent. Finally, it's the only Saber ''style'' that grants an increase in Force Rating, making it a great general option for any Jedi character.<br />
*'''Sage''' - They start out as Force-wielding scholars where they get a bunch of bonuses to interaction and knowledge checks. Later they start pulling out impressive set-pieces with the Force, like by meditating to add white spots to your force checks in the following encounter or being able to perform Force powers as maneuvers instead of actions. The Sage is also one of the few classes that gets ''two'' Force Rating increases (but no Dedication), so is a very good option to consider for a Force-heavy character.<br />
*'''Arbiter''' ''(Disciples of Harmony)'' - A class dedicated to talking their way out of trouble, it focuses heavily on adding boosts to or removing difficulty from different conversation skills. Includes the skill Calming Aura to weaken incoming Force attacks, with a couple Reflects and a Parry thrown in for good measure, giving it some use in battle as well.<br />
*'''Ascetic''' ''(DoHa)'' - An odd "jack of all trades" character with talents empathizing a "less is more" approach. As in: there are a couple of talents which provide Force and recovery boons when they are carrying less than 2 encumbrance (after reductions, like actually wearing your armor, and the Burly talent). They also get a huge boost to strain and can spend it to upgrade any ability check. Letting them roll a yellow on every check without flipping destiny points, as well as being able to make a single skill check when you lack the necessary items. Instead of armor they can commit force dice to increase soak and can suffer additional strain when injured to reflect wounds back to their attacker. Their capstone is unique in that it adds a force spot directly, which means force powers that don't require more than one never fail. <br />
*'''Teacher''' ''(DoHa)'' - Has some of the scholarly aspects of Sage, but focuses more on boosting up allies and bailing them out of tight spots. A bit fiddly, but has some neat stuff at higher levels, like swapping out any stat for your combat check. Its penultimate ability buffs up the Force rating of party members by adding yours to theirs temporarily and the ultimate ability lets you copy a Force power or talent (ranks/upgrades included) from anyone once per session and keep it for a full encounter. Also lets you cheapen the XP costs of up to four skills, two of which you get to pick, which is always appreciated.<br />
<br />
'''Guardian'''<br />
*'''Peacekeeper''' - read: "Squad Leader", it is nearly all about Discipline & Leadership checks, even allowing you to add Force dice results to improve leadership rolls. Some cool abilities here, allowing you to get the whole team performing maneuvers out-of-turn if you need the group to surge forward or coordinate actions. <br />
*'''Soresu Defender''' - The [[Tank]] style, based on Intellect instead of Brawn. It's the only career with Supreme Parry so you can block for days rather than tiring yourself out. You can also improve the defenses of the whole group with your lightsaber by creating a Defensive Circle and you can even Aggro/Taunts enemies into attacking you exclusively. Obviously, this specialization is more about blocking incoming attacks rather than hitting hard so your group will need someone else to do the heavy punching or shooting.<br />
*'''Protector''' - Kind of like a medic crossed with bodyguard. For starters, you get some Parry/Reflect talents even though this is not a lightsaber combat style and can even Parry/Reflect for your allies, or make them more difficult to hit with your "bodyguard" talents. Your other abilities include using stim-packs for immediate healing rather than a medicine check, but which get worse with repeated use, but you're "better" with them, you also get Force Protection, so you can commit force dice to increasing your soak value temporarily.<br />
*'''Armorer''' ''(Keeping the Peace)'' Like the Gadgeteer specialisation; it sounds obvious from the title but their main focus is armor, turning the tank career class into a genuine soaker of damage, although it doesn't have the broad range of tech abilities like the Artisan or Rigger, but can still make and improve personal scale items. It also adds a few lightsaber moves like Saber Throw to round it out.<br />
*'''Warden''' ''(KtP)'' an unarmed fighter, a bit rougher around the edges like the Enforcer specialization. Comes with some social abilities like Good Cop/Bad Cop the same way as the Marshal. <br />
*'''Warleader''' ''(KtP)'' Makes for a fantastic squad leader in teams of non-Jedi. Gets the passive ability to improve cover for your teammates, or to grant allies the ability to hit with ranged attacks even when they miss, so long as they roll well enough. This guy is someone your party really wants on its side.<br />
<br />
'''Mystic'''<br />
*'''Advisor''' - The "face" of the group, the class is fairly straightforward granting you bonuses to interaction checks while ignoring penalties. You also get a couple of trading boosts thrown in for good measure. Not a great deal for force users except for one ability where you can switch out your force rating for your ranks in Knowledge (Lore) once per gaming session, which can be good if you min-maxed, but in the late game your force rating may eventually overtake your skill ranks.<br />
*'''Makashi Duelist''' - Presence-based Lightsaber style heavily focused on dealing with a single opponent in melee, so you get no Reflect talents. You do have some cool techniques though, which can allow you to dominate your opponent, like feinting to turn your missed attacks into penalties for your opponent, or by taunting your opponent into losing strain points while recovering them for yourself. Your ultimate ability is the Makashi Finish, which can massively boost your critical damage rolls and rip your opponent a brand new asshole if you manage to hit him with it.<br />
*'''Seer''' - A more practical counterpart to the Sage, it also gives you two Force Rating increases. But instead of knowledge or interaction bonuses, you get much-improved initiative checks and some boosts to outdoor survival checks. It doesn't quite have the same force boosting talents as the Sage, but you can get some floating re-rolls on power checks, and with "Forewarning" you can massively increase your allies defenses up until the point they act in an encounter.<br />
*'''Alchemist''' ''(Unlimited Power)'' - Harness the power of the force to become a drug dealer, brewing all kinds of special concoctions. Using the light to whip up healing potions, or the dark to brew poisons. Also lets you add Force Dice into a crafting check to create extra successes or advantages, plus some resistances to poisons (useful, given what you'll be brewing).<br />
*'''Magus''' ''(UnPo)'' - Ignore both Jedi and Sith rules and tradition in search of the Force's most powerful secrets. Involves a lot of lore based abilities, removing setback and reducing the difficulty of such checks, while Knowledge Is Power lets you count Lore skill as Force Rating on a single power. Comes with Channel Agony, letting you suffer wounds to generate automatic dark side points on force checks, as well as Healing Trance to recover wounds lost. Also has some ranks in Confidence and Resolve to resist fear and strain inflicted from learning stuff man was not meant to know. There are also no less than FOUR talents that automatically add Conflict every session. <br />
*'''Prophet''' ''(UnPo)'' - Become a magical evangelist motivational speaker, spreading word of the force and using it to inspire hope in others. Includes an aura of awesomeness for you (or anti-awesomeness if you turn it against your foes), the power to inspire fear or comfort in others, or the ability to become a Force generator for a full encounter.<br />
<br />
'''Seeker'''<br />
*'''Ataru Striker''' - A blitz and blur of motion, the Ataru style is based on Agility. You do get some awesome damage potential, like the ability to hit an opponent multiple times in a single attack (and with a lightsaber he's going down), throw your lightsaber as a ranged weapon or close the distance fast and leap to your opponent's space. The defensive abilities are no slouch either, allowing you to mix up Parry/Reflect with Dodge so you're unlikely to get hit. However, the style is heavily dependent on your pool of strain points, so if you cannot finish a fight fast you may find yourself running out of things to do.<br />
*'''Hunter''' - A very practical specialization that works in situations where you don't need or own a lightsaber. Good at tracking and with perception checks and is good for dealing damage to animals and beasts, as well as avoiding incoming ranged damage. It ''also'' allows you to use your force dice on ranged weapon attack rolls, making it a good fall-back class for anyone.<br />
*'''Pathfinder''' - The [[Druid]] to the Hunter's [[Ranger]]. This also gives you a whole bunch of outdoor survival boosts and travel enhancements. As the class progresses, you get your own permanent animal companion, though as your force rating increases you could swap it out for larger and meaner creatures.<br />
*'''Executioner''' ''(Savage Spirits)'' - The barbarian to the Hermit and Pathfinder's [[Druid]] and the Hunter's [[Ranger]], this is a class that does one thing: Kill, constantly. Its best gimmick is adding it's force rating to any weapon that isn't a rocket launcher or starship turret. So, in essence, it's the best combat-focused force specialization hands down.<br />
*'''Hermit''' ''(SS)'' - Shares the animal companion feature of the Pathfinder, but with fewer wound increases, no speed or search boosts and no dedication talent for +1 stat. In return you get an additional force rating in the tree, lots more strain increases and a higher focus on your animal companion, granting several abilities that improve your animal companion and make it more useful to you.<br />
*'''Navigator''' ''(SS)'' - Some marriage between a Scout and a Pilot: A hybrid of piloting skills and overland travel boosts, mixed with general tracking ability. Comes with a bunch of Astrogation talents you might not find a use for unless you need to jump to hyperspace quickly, but the class does have an overall focus on escaping. <br />
<br />
'''Sentinel'''<br />
*'''Artisan''' - The Mechanic and generally the guy you want fixing your vehicles and broken stuff. A non-force wielder like a technician or proper mechanic might be better in general situations, but this guy can imbue his items with the force to gain enhancements, or he can even use the force to add hardpoints when modifying items.<br />
*'''Shadow''' - The Thief archetype, you are ''really'' good at stealth. To the point that you can make yourself invisible to other force users and make your own force powers being undetectable. You can even make people forget about your existence once per session. Other than stealth, you also get improved hacking skills but only when attempting to decipher communications.<br />
*'''Shien Expert''' - A lightsaber style split down two separate trees. One focused on cunning based combat with loads of reflect talents and saber throwing ''(pure Shien style)''. The other side giving parry talents and ways to counter and debuff your opponent ''(Djem So style)''. Not quite as one-dimensional as the Makashi or Soresu styles, so you at least have combat options. The talents actually make this class very well rounded, allowing you to take advantage of enemy misses, or close the distance quickly if you need to. <br />
*'''Investigator''' ''(Endless Vigil)'' - Go all CSI, investigating crime scenes while moving through the underworld. Has A LOT of passive skills removing setbacks on perception and vigilance as well as Streetwise and Knowledge (Underworld). It doesn't offer any way to upgrade skill rolls or reduce the difficulty, however, so you'll have to rely on straight skill dice and items to help.<br />
*'''Racer''' ''(EnVi)'' - they had to squeeze Podracing in somewhere, <strike>so might as well tack it on to the most urban force using career</strike> and this is the Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker career, so where else would it go? Kind of like a force wielding pilot, with less ability to shoot stuff but who can pull crazy maneuvers. Also gives them track and field powers, cus Usain Bolt was a Jedi racer too.<br />
*'''Sentry''' ''(EnVi)'' - kind of a generic lightsaber style, coming with Reflect talents, the ability to dodge, throw your saber and boost your Vigilance and Stealth rolls. You also get a dark side ability where you can go "BOO" and make people run away. Considering the wide-ranging applications of the class, it would make a good starting choice. <br />
<br />
'''Warrior'''<br />
*'''Aggressor''' - The muscle dude who exists to debuff enemies and make them easier to deal with. The Aggressor can terrify opponents into a disoriented or immobilized state, then take advantage of that state by dealing additional damage. <br />
*'''Starfighter Ace''' - Exactly what you think it is, a force-wielding pilot, coming with some useful repair talents and force enhancements while at the helm of a vehicle, making it more difficult to hit and allowing you to add your force dice to your vehicular attack rolls for improved damage.<br />
*'''Shii-cho Knight''' - The "basic" lightsaber style, which is still based on Brawn. Shii-Cho is about dealing with crowds of enemies in melee, allowing you to strike multiple targets with a single attack. It has virtually no ranged defenses so can be easily overwhelmed by the same bunch of dudes with guns if you can't close the distance, but the specialization does have a focus on durability and being able to increase crit ratings on incoming attacks. <br />
*'''Colossus''' ''(Knights of Fate)'' - Juggernaut from the X-men comics as a SW career. Its an odd tree of four columns that lead straight to the bottom. One row of Wounds and an ability to heal some, one row of Crit reduction, one to mitigate being stopped by status effects (and including a hilarious headbutt maneuver to stop other people), and one row of Strain, Soak, and two Force abilities. Those Force abilities provide damage reduction and a temporary (there is no permanent) increase to your Force Rating = active Criticals the character is suffering. <br />
*'''Juyo Berserker''' ''(KoF)''- Form VII is a "controversial" lightsaber style based on [[Ork|channeling one's love of combat into the style itself,]] which somehow equates to [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure|ORA ORA ORA]] with a lightsaber. The entire tree is largely one spiraling linear path around the page which forces you to walk a tightrope with your Destiny Points and Conflict with the tree splitting about seven talents in depending on whether you specialize in Juyo (used by Sith) or Mace Windu's signature Vaapad style, or both. It is very, very easy to gain mountains of Conflict while doing insane amounts of damage and critting like a boss. Or, if used carefully, generate a net positive Morality score, while ''just'' doing a silly amount of damage.<br />
*'''Steel Hand Adept''' ''(KoF)'' - Punch things with The Force! ''Literally.'' Two Force talents add Pierce and Sunder to your fists and a third lets you punch faces ''at range.'' The rest of the tree is nothing to sneeze at either. Combine with the Conjure power to create (with enough upgrades) some of the most versatile weapons and devastating attacks in the game.<br />
<br />
====Prequels Era====<br />
'''Clone'''<br />
*'''Clone Officer''' ''(RotS)'' Interestingly meant to represent all officer ranks that can be held by a clone ''(even commander which is going to have its own spec as well)'' this is a fairly simple combat leadership spec. The left half of the tree focuses on cover and the field command ability, while the right half is about leading from the front giving you abilities to grant boost die to your allies attacks. Has the fun ability to order people not to die until after next round. <br />
*'''Clone Pilot''' ''(RotS)'' An interesting piloting spec with a few unique abilities. ''Assault Drop'' lets you use an incidental to kick your allies out of your ship or vehicle, while ''Fire Support'' lets you pass boost die on when you succeed on vehicle combat checks. Also has the infamous ''Barrel Roll'' talent that lets you suffer system strain to reduce the damage you take from attacks. <br />
*'''Clone Trooper''' ''(RotS)'' More meat for the grinder. A well rounded combat spec, the trooper offers lots of defensive bonuses as well as deadly accuracy to help you offensively. Like all the clone specs the trooper provides the ''Clanker Killer'' talent which lets you remove boost die from combat checks against droids to add your choice of success or advantage, unlike the other clone specs however, the trooper gets two ranks.<br />
*'''ARC Trooper''' ''(CotR)'' The best of the best. The Tree focuses mostly on boosting your close range capabilities with a mix of speedy and general physical bonuses, but the real kicker is the focus on Ranged (Light) (more specifically dual wielding them) by boosting their damage in a variety of ways, by the end of the tree it also gives you the tools to close the gap or blitz the enemy before they can respond so you can further capitalize on double blaster pistol wielding commando action.<br />
*'''Clone Commander''' ''(CotR)'' Focuses on Knowledge (Warfare) to give boosts to Mass combat or to use it on some check you are unprepared for, but most of the tree focuses on general buffing or improving leadership. The more interesting talents come at the end and seems mostly geared towards representing both your determination and experience as a commander, they will also consistently give opportunities to keep the narrative evolving and moving forward so really give this class a look over if you feel your campaign moves too slow.<br />
*'''Clone Veteran''' ''(CotR)'' The announcement page mostly goes on about their knowledge of the enemy and consul on tactical matters, so they'll definitely get Knowledge (Warfare) related abilities. Except they didn't, instead they get a few survival talents complemented with a wide variety of added lethality, what sets them apart is their "Improved Clanker Killer" that reduces crit ratings against droids (in close combat) and "Known Programming" that gives them bonuses against a certain droid model, so they seem more geared toward the hard boiled droid fighting survivor rather than the experienced and promoted officer.<br />
<br />
'''Jedi'''<br />
<br />
*'''Jedi Padawan''' ''(RotS)'' - The entry of the Jedi class. The Jedi Padawan tree is split into the left half, which focuses on lightsaber combat, and the right half which focuses on skills and the force. At only 40xp required to reach Force Rating 2, the Jedi Padawan is the fastest way to get your force rating up. Since all other Jedi specializations known so far have additional requirements, this is the only one you can start in.<br />
*'''Jedi Knight''' ''(RotS)'' - The left side of the tree is all about lightsaber combat, though aside from the ''Saber Throw'' talent it is entirely defensive. The right side of the tree focuses instead on the force, notably allowing the Knight to flip a dark side destiny point back to the light every round they fail a check.<br />
*'''Jedi General''' ''(CotR)'' - Predictably this has general active leadership abilities mixed in with a bit of combat and supporting abilities, since its a good mix of offensive and defensive abilities its hard to go wrong with this tree if you already have the stats and skills.<br />
*'''Jedi Master''' ''(CotR)'' - Requiring ''three'' force die to qualify for and explicitly does not require the actual title of "Jedi Master" (Insert an Anakin on the Jedi Council [[Meme]] here at your own expense). Jedi master largely focuses on supporting force abilities, with the most obvious active option being the ability to spend destiny points to use powers you don't know. The tree still offers a few social and research talents as well as a few that will support your allies more directly to round itself out.<br />
<br />
====Universal====<br />
Specialisations that can be taken by any character as if they were part of the character's own career path, so therefore does not suffer the additional experience penalty for choosing them. Oddly, many of these would be appropriate concept-wise as origins for characters, but Universal Specs are not appropriate RAW as a first specialisation. <br />
*'''Rebel Recruit''' ''(AoR)'' - A universal specialisation providing a broad set of low level combat and utility abilities. Actually a really good choice for non-combat characters ''(especially from EotE)'' who don't want to cross-career into more focused combat roles and take them too far from their original concept/build.<br />
*'''Retired Clone Trooper''' ''(Dawn of Rebellion)'' - The "Captain Rex" spec. Limited to male humans for obvious reasons, but you could probably convince your GM to let you refluff it as a member of [[Death Korps of Krieg|different vat-grown army]] or something. As you might expect, gives a whole lot of passive bonuses to making you a better soldier, mostly making you more resilient and better at aiming.<br />
*'''Pirate''' ''(DoR)'' - The "Hondo Ohnaka" spec. Generalised social and skullduggery-oriented tree. Kind of mediocre, but does have an utterly hilarious end-tier talent called "Prepare to be Boarded!", which lets you [[Troll|force an enemy captain to surrender their ship to you]] if you deal them enough strain.<br />
*'''Force Adherent''' ''(DoR)'' - The "Chirrut Îmwe" spec. Despite having no force abilities, lets you do [[Monk|absurd amounts of damage with simple weapons]] and do some nifty things like heal yourself with Knowledge (Lore) checks. Lots of focus on the Discipline skill, which is elsewhere used to resolve opposing Force powers checks, but here just makes you really, really fearless.<br />
*'''Imperial Academy Cadet''' ''(DoR)'' - The "Tycho Celchu" spec. A pretty good alternative to Rebel Recruit, with more of a focus on ignoring strain and working in formation with others. Has a small knowledge thing going on, including using Knowledge (Warfare) for initiative.<br />
*'''Ship Captain''' ''(DoR)'' - The "Hera Syndulla" spec. Acts as a hybrid pilot/face/leader class, so it's a good alternative to the Smuggler Pilot. Has several ways to use leadership, so it makes a good supplement to commodore or squad leader. Has an ability in the late tree that can let you treat a large ship as a smaller one, so you can [[Awesome|do sick drifts in a Nebulon-B]]. <br />
*'''Republic Navy Officer''' ''(RotS)'' - Non-clone officers in Republic Navy. Has a space combat focus, though the early parts of the tree aren't particularly specialized.<br />
*'''Republic Represenative''' ''(RotS)'' - A universal specialization focused on diplomacy. At the bottom of their tree is the ability to pull "previously unknown dealings" out of your ass to your benefit.<br />
*'''Scavenger''' ''(RotS)'' - A mix of the various Technician/Engineer specialties in generic form.<br />
*'''Death Watch Warrior''' ''(CotR)'' - A spec focused on armor, maneuverability with a jetpack, and a bit of bonus damage. Has an ability called Hit and Run, which does exactly what it sounds like.<br />
*'''Senator''' ''(CotR)'' - <s>Keeping war off our shores</s> Another talker specialization, but with a career attached to it.<br />
*'''Separatist Commander''' ''(CotR)'' - The most recent specialization dealing with droids, the Separatist Commander adds several command, coercion, and droid talents to the players choice. SC also allows a player to have a direct impact to a battle field while surviving it.<br />
<br />
'''Force Rating Granting''' <br><br />
Acquiring any of these specialties gives you Force Rating 1, but acquiring multiple of them will not raise it above that. None of these grant career skills themselves, though many have early talents that give them.<br />
*'''Force Sensitive Exile''' ''(EotE)'' - Representative of a Force user in hiding, lots of passive boosts to reaction/initiative and social interactions making it broadly useful as an alternative career choice for anyone looking to expand into Force wielding.<br />
*'''Force Sensitive Emergent''' ''(AoR)''- Someone just coming into "Force Puberty", gaining passive bonuses to stealth and perception. It is a bit more focused than Exile but it gets more by way of "The Force" than the Exile path does by allowing you to enhance your allies or use your own Willpower in place of their usual stat.<br />
*'''Padawan Survivor''' ''(DoR)'' - The "Kanan Jarrus" or "Cal Kestis" spec. Based around being a padawan who escaped Order 66 and went into hiding as a normie, this gives Force Rating 1 and a wide range of defensive and stealth-based force powers, as well as really good bonuses to crafting your own lightsaber.<br />
*'''Force-Sensitive Outcast''' ''(RotS)'' - A force user shunned by The Republic, either for legal or personality reasons. The left side of the tree is focused on sneak attacks and disorienting foes. The right side of the tree focuses on lightsaber combat and gives Renegade Form, which can let you make lightsaber attacks with any attribute without diving into a deep tree with no force die increase.<br />
*'''Nightsister''' ''(CotR)'' - Interestingly it doesn't grant a FR right away, instead it offers it as a 5xp talent, meaning you can play a non force sensitive nightsister if you want. This means it does grant career skills though. Gets the ability to conjure preselected objects, and imbue melee/brawl weapons with Ichor for Cortosis/Pierce/-1 crit rating and defense 1/+2 damage. You can spend strain to recover wounds (or wounds to recover strain, but that's useless) and reroll force die... if there's an ally with this talent nearby (and you aren't your own ally).<br />
<br />
====Signature Specialisations====<br />
Kind of like Epic/Ascension level equivalents, they give you a single ability that must be activated using destiny points to give a very powerful bonus, usually once per gaming session but some can be upgraded to be used multiple times. They can only be taken by attaching the signature ability to the bottom of one of your career talent trees. Obviously there are a few caveats to that; you can only take signature abilities from your own career ''(meaning if you start as a hired gun, you can't take smuggler abilities)'' and you can only attach them to in-career talent trees ''(so your hired gun cannot attach a hired gun ability to a smuggler talent tree taken out-of-career)''. <br />
<br />
Once you've got the signature ability, you can further upgrade it like it was part of your regular talent tree, and some of the abilities are very nearly broken as hell...<br />
<br />
=====Edge of the Empire=====<br />
*'''Always Get My Mark (Bounty Hunter)''' - Surprise Motherfucker! Spend 2 destiny points and make a hard streetwise check. If you're on the same planet as the person you're looking for you instantly learn their location. <br />
*'''Unmatched Devastation (Bounty Hunter)''' - Spend 2 destiny points after attacking to make an extra attack with a different weapon. Not all that impressive, until you get a few upgrades and it goes from getting a second attack to unloading with everything you've got. The attacks get harder for every ''successful'' one you've made, but you don't need to pass each check to keep the chain going. Two upgrade lets you move and quick draw weapons between each attack. Meaning you can fire at range before closing in with melee, or vice versa. <br />
*'''Sudden Discovery (Explorer)''' - You can take a knowledge check to learn your location ''(if you were lost)'' or a safe path out of your location. Sounds weak, but the best is yet to come... you can also use it to discover the location of a place or object of your choosing subject to GM approval. So you can learn otherwise secret things like the location of the Valley of the Jedi, Revan's Infinite Army or unique and powerful relics otherwise lost in the setting.<br />
*'''Unmatched Mobility (Explorer)''' - Allow yourself a third maneuver per round, for an upgrade-able number of rounds. Under normal circumstances PCs only get two maneuvers with the second costing strain to perform. This makes you fast as hell, meaning you can pull off a ridiculous amount of shit while the power is in effect.<br />
*'''Last One Standing (Hired Gun)''' - [[Awesome|Kill ALL low level minions in your current encounter with a single check]], followed by a suitable explanation for what you are doing, like jumping out of cover with a repeating blaster and getting them all with headshots., or throwing a grenade that brings down a landslide or something. The ability can also be upgraded to work on "rival" ''(mid-level)'' characters but it won't clear out a "nemesis" like Darth Vader or Starkiller.<br />
*'''Unmatched Protection (Hired Gun)''' - For the duration of the ability you can half the amount of damage you take BEFORE you apply things like armour and toughness to modify it, making you an absolute tank. This power is upgradable by increasing duration or the number of hits per round that it can apply to.<br />
*'''Insightful Revelation (Colonist)''' - Take a Knowledge check to gain one bit of information from the GM that must be immediately useful to overcoming the current encounter. While this ability sounds like a waste, the answer MUST NOT have been obtainable by any immediate means, so the GM can't cheat you by giving you stuff that you could find in the galactic library or by telling you that walls make good cover in a gunfight, making it nearly as situationally powerful as Sudden Discovery, but involves the GM telling you something rather than you asking a specific question.<br />
*'''Unmatched Expertise (Colonist)''' - One sure fire way of breaking the game temporarily. It reduces the difficulty of all career checks by one for the remainder of the encounter. This can be further upgraded to modifying difficulty by two down to a minimum of "simple" as well as reducing any setback dice that your GM may want to impose upon you. All of this means that you character can pull off pretty much any skill check virtually unopposed, including making combat checks which are only countered by the target's defense dice, which can amount to very little after setback reductions, meaning you can just land hits on Darth Vader with impunity and will make your GM thankful for the reason that signature abilities can only be taken as in-career upgrades.<br />
*'''Narrow Escape (Smuggler)''' - Your character can ''NOPE'' out of any encounter with a successful check. Initially only applying to personal combat but can be upgraded to ship-scale or social situations on various different checks. It doesn't actually end the encounter and in some situations could make matters worse, like by leaving some of your companions in the lurch ''(it can be upgraded to cover some of your allies)'' or by leaving a powerful opponent alive to come and get you later. This can also leave the GM in a difficult spot if the encounter was particularly important to the story progression like the boss fight at the end of the campaign, so it should probably be discussed with the GM how it best fits the situation.<br />
*'''Unmatched Fortune (Smuggler)''' - Spend Destiny to "flip" a dice to an adjacent side, allowing you to turn a fail into a pass, or a pass into a triumph. Can also be upgraded to apply to multiple dice from different pools, including your allies. This will make you both wildly popular at your table, but also has the potential to be the defining use of your character, overshadowing everything else you could contribute to the group. <br />
*'''Inventive Creation (Technician) -''' spend some destiny points to <u>immediately</u> build an item that only lasts for the rest of the encounter before falling apart. Is different from the "contraption" talent because it allows you to build an actual named item, rather than Macgyver a solution. Is also better than "utility belt" because you can build an actual weapon and items of greater than rarity 4. At higher levels, you can even build yourself small vehicles of up to Silhouette 2. ''(Note: the Miy'Til Starfighter from "Keeping the Peace" is the only actual spacecraft that is within the right size and rarity limitations for this ability)''<br />
*'''Unmatched Calibration (Technician)''' - be just like Garrus Vakarian and endlessly perform weapon calibrations, except this time they pay off. Allows you to spend destiny points to reroll dice, whether your own or the GM's difficulty dice, so long as it is your check. As you level this ability, you can actually upgrade the dice you choose to reroll into better dice or downgrade the difficulty. You can also extend this ability to your allies and reroll dice to help them out.<br />
<br />
=====Age of Rebellion=====<br />
*'''This One is Mine (Ace)''' - You can lock yours and your enemy's vehicle into attacking each other for a set duration, and also preventing anyone else from targeting either of you. Meaning you can do things like lock enemy TIE fighters out of a boss fight. It works especially well if you have a vehicle crewed by multiple PCs and will let you all deal with the most difficult target without having to worry about other things. It does have limitations based on the relative sizes of your vehicles, so you can't challenge a star destroyer to a duel with an X-Wing, but you might get away with a frigate sized vessel if you were in a freighter.<br />
*'''Unmatched Survivability (Ace)''' - Kind of situational but spectacular at turning around a vehicle battle that is going sour. It makes a crippled vehicle NOT be crippled, allowing you to fight beyond the wounds/hull threshold that would normally take you out of the fight. All the while reducing enemy critical hit values on your ship so you are less likely to die in a grizzly fashion when you continue to take damage. While it sounds like an obvious take if the crew share a common vessel since it keeps them going longer, from a GM's point of view this ability would be better if the whole crew had separate vessels since a GM should only cripple ''(and therefore wreck)'' a shared vessel if the storyline demands it, otherwise the party will have ended up in a [[TPK]].<br />
*'''Diplomatic Solution (Diplomat)''' - Something the combat characters will ''hate'' you for. This ability allows you to turn a combat situation into a social one, allowing you to directly avoid a fight. It doesn't stop the situation from turning sour by itself, but it does allow for some tense (or amusing) situations where you end up attempt to talk down a superior opponent.<br />
*'''Unmatched Insight (Diplomat)''' - Earn a PhD in psychology, you spend destiny to determine the emotional state and basic life history of a room full of people. The base ability is really only fluffy and not of mechanical benefit, but it can be upgraded to by useful to a group "Face" as it allows further bonuses against those people you've gained insight over.<br />
*'''The Harder They Fall (Engineer)''' - You knew this one was coming, given the Soldier Signature ability. As for the ability itself, it's AUTO-CRITS on all damage (not strain) for a full encounter. Can be made to apply to attacks from your allies, ignore defense, and happen twice per session. Upgrade it fully and laugh evilly as you shred that big bad Star Destroyer in a few turns.<br />
*'''Unmatched Ingenuity (Engineer)''' - Tinker with something on the fly and add new qualities that last for a little while. Starts out being unable to add Breach or Concussive, but upgrades let you add those too. Neat, but be ready to justify why your blaster rifle just ensnared someone for a round.<br />
*'''The Bigger They Are... (Soldier)''' - If it bleeds you can kill it. Find the weak spot on anything silhouette 2 or smaller with a knowledge warfare check and completely ignore it's damage resistance/armor when using a non-vehicle or star ship weapon. Great for taking out humanoid bosses. It also applies to allies nearby, for those moments you wanna just delete an enemy from an encounter.<br />
*'''Unmatched Courage (Soldier)''' - Soldier on like no other, completely ignoring the affects of all critical injuries for a short time. Pretty nice for high resistance characters whose only weakness is getting repeatedly crit'd. Could potentially make for hilarious scenes where you somehow moved full speed despite missing a leg, or managed to snipe someone while blind.<br />
*'''Counterespionage (Spy)''' - Exactly what it says, screw over someone else's attempts to spy on you with an opposed skill check. Other upgrades give Boost, remove Setback, or switch which skill you use for the base ability. The 'Turn Agent' upgrade lets you spend a Triumph to turn a known enemy agent into a double-agent working for you. None of this requires those affected by it to be physically present or even aware that its happening. <br />
*'''Unmatched Tradecraft (Spy)''' - Lie, sneak, and steal like someone who ''actually'' knows what they're doing with negative-dice deletion. Downgrade Deception, Stealth, and Skullduggery skill checks ''after you roll.'' Flip Destiny points to remove (up to three) purple, black, or red dice before resolving the results of your roll, up to twice a session (after all the upgrades are bought). <br />
<br />
*'''Rousing Oratory (Commander)''' - Remember how the Agitator can start a riot? Well this signature ability urges a group to take military action, even if they had no inclination to do so before. Giving you an instant army.<br />
*'''Unmatched Authority (Commander)''' - Spend strain during allied character's turns to downgrade the difficulty of their checks.<br />
<br />
=====Force & Destiny===== <br />
*'''Much To Learn (Consular)''' - Share a talent of yours with one of your allies for the rest of an encounter, ranks included (aside from Signature Abilities, obviously). Upgrades increase the number of allies affected and allow sharing of Improved/Supreme talents, which could lead to shenanigans like the entire party busting out Force powers as maneuvers or casually deflecting small arms fire.<br />
*'''Unmatched Negotiation (Counsular)''' - Downgrades the difficulty of all conversation checks in a round to remove the worst of the dice, adding more rounds with more upgrades. A pretty steep investment, but if everything is riding on one particular deal...<br />
*'''Fated Duel (Guardian)''' - "This one is Mine" that applies in personal combat. You lock a chosen opponent into a challenge where only the two of you can strike at each other. Good for a Guardian who has specialized as a Tank with the Soresu Form and heavy armour as it gives you the time to pin down a difficult opponent while your team mops up the easy enemies.<br />
*'''Unmatched Heroism (Guardian)''' - A bodyguard action combined with a series of Force Jumps. You can interpose yourself between allies and incoming attacks as an incidental, regardless of your relative positions and regardless of how often it happens. This lasts for several rounds as you leap around combat ''out of turn'' soaking up all the damage intended for your team mates.<br />
*'''Prophecy (Mystic)''' - Predict a single event, which is nice, but then you can spend a Destiny Point to ''make'' it happen when you choose. Starts out just about you, but can be improved to be about anyone listening, add boosts and remove setbacks to making the prophecy come true, or spend another point to make it happen ''again''.<br />
*'''Unmatched Destiny (Mystic)''' - Don't like your roll on a Force power? Roll it again! Or up to two of the dice, anyway. Boosts let you roll additional dice, use it more times per session, or multiply the total force points generated. About the only drawback is that you double whatever Conflict is generated by the check.<br />
*'''My City (Sentinel)''' - You know every street, rat, and crack house in town. Suffer stain to learn/recall the location of any person, group, or establishment in town, or other valuable details.<br />
*'''Unmatched Vigilance (Sentinel)''' - Ignore initiative results and choose the turn order for the first round of combat. [[Just As Planned]]. You go back to the regular initiative order afterwards however.<br />
*'''Unexpected Demise (Seeker)''' - You can forgo your maneuvers to gain an automatic "Triumph" on your next few combat actions. In addition, whenever you cause a critical hit on a Rival-level NPC ''(which you are going to do due to the Triumph)'' they simply drop out of the fight. Not as hilarious as "Last One Standing" but definitely has its place in fights against stronger opponents when the guaranteed Triumph can come in handy.<br />
*'''Unmatched Pursuit (Seeker)''' - A more immediate form of tracking which is quite situational. You designate a target within range, and you can get out of sequence maneuvers to stop them getting away from you. So whenever they move away, you move with them. Problem is, most unfriendly NPCs are generally going to charge you, with those attempting to get away doing so for narrative reasons rather than any sense of self preservation. Otherwise if they get away from you, just find their trail and do it the old fashioned way.<br />
*'''Deadly Reputation (Warrior)''' - Essentially gives the character the Adversary talent. Then it starts adding setback dice, gives it to those around you and upgrades combat checks a *second* time. Combine with a reactive or tank character for a really entertaining slaughter.<br />
*'''Unmatched Ferocity (Warrior)''' - Allows you to make a melee attack after a successful attack as an incidental, upgrading the difficulty by one. Later talents let you change the skill to brawl or lightsaber, or reduce conflict added (Each attack costs 1 conflict, 4 strain) or the strain costs. The tree can reduce it to 1 strain/conflict, or 3 strain, but there are easier ways to lay attack swarms on a character - like Vaapad or Ataru.<br />
<br />
=====Prequels=====<br />
*'''Peerless Interception (Jedi)''' - You become better at blocking and deflecting, making you harder to hurt. Hardly the most exciting ability.<br />
*'''Unmatched Teamwork (Clone)''' - You get free <s>aid another</s> assist once a round and (when upgraded) improve the results of assistance. This is crazy versatile and, at its worst, "just" makes allies more accurate and deadlier.<br />
<br />
===Equipment===<br />
Like any good FFG system, it is heavily equipment based, meaning that any character with a decent set of gear can overcome nearly every problem, so differences between character levels means significantly less than it does in other systems. ''(like 3rd & 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons)''<br />
<br />
The game also does away with most of the minutia that bog down other systems; so no tracking extremely minor consumables, food & drink, denominations of currency, and the ''exact'' weight of each item of gear.<br />
Instead it has a system of "encumbrance" which is basically an abstract number of how heavy or bulky an item actually is, and a character has a small threshold before becoming encumbered, meaning that most PCs will not simply attempt to loot everything in sight<br />
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Weapon upgrades are also dealt with fairly, each weapon / armour / starship has a pre-determined number of hard points where things can be added to and each modification has a hardpoint value, though certain mods can be upgraded in and of themselves. So very few items can be pimped out to the max and become stupidly overpowered.<br />
<br />
====Crafting====<br />
FFG actually came up with a fairly elegant system for crafting equipment. Rather than allowing you to create every item in the book for a fraction of the cost and breaking your GMs economy or by circumventing the rarity restrictions and giving yourself an item that the GM didn't make available to you ''(like T-7 disruptors for instance)'', you can instead build items from a pre-set template, which is a bare-bones item with absolutely no frills. It comes with a very cheap materials cost, a predetermined length of time to build, and a difficulty skill check in order to build the item.<br />
<br />
Your mechanically minded character ''(or Outdoorsman, since they can build low tech items)'' will generally be able to breeze through these simple checks and build themselves a desired item without much bother. You additional successes on the roll actually make the build time go more quickly, where if you end up with a net number of failures, you lose your material cost and have wasted your time. What really becomes interesting is what you spend the Advantages/Triumphs on: There are tables with a large variety of qualities that you can build into your newly crafted item, and so long as you can afford the advantage cost, you can build yourself some pretty nifty items, such as laser rifles with the ''Blast'' and ''Auto-Fire'' qualities. Mind you, your Gamemaster gets to spend Disadvantages/Despairs to make those same items suck some too. <br />
<br />
There are a number of caveats to this however, first is that your god-tier item doesn't cost any more that its base materials. So unless you have certain talents which increase your selling cost and reduce your crafting expenditure, you're not able to turn much of a profit on a low cost template, added to the fact that it takes several hours to build each item you are not likely to earn [[15,000,000 Gold a Day|10,000,000 Credits per day]] using this method. <br />
<br />
Secondly, the odds of you creating a god-tier item are pretty sketchy. Even a high level mechanic who throws five D12s at a single check can only roll ''(or convert in some cases)'' nine "Advantages" ''(as one "Success" is still required to pass the check)'' or roll five "Triumphs" at best without finding additional advantages from other sources somehow. This is not counting what the difficulty dice rolled against you, though <u>it is</u> possible to reduce the difficulty of the check to zero by taking the ''Schematic'' result several times, but you are still at the mercy of the random dice when you roll. ''(At this point the GM should be throwing Destiny points at you in the vague hope of scoring some disadvantages)'' Even without difficulty you have about the same odds of building a basic template item rapidly through high success as you do building something slowly with very high quality, odds are you'll roll a roughly even split of Success vs Advantage and end up with something roughly in the middle.<br />
<br />
Better items may be found off the shelf if you fork out some more money and take the time to look, or that come with unique rules that you simply cannot build into your own items using the template method. But crafting generally means that your brand new item is likely to be bespoke; [[Your Dudes|tailored to what you want it to be]] and allows for some oddball combinations.<br />
<br />
Droids can also be crafted using the template method though they are of comparable cost to droids off the shelf and it can take several days of work to complete, and because you are essentially building a new character it is slightly more complicated than rolling one check. Requiring a Mechanics test to first build the chassis from a selection of templates following the normal rules. ''Then'' programming the personality from a list of directives which requires a Computer checks, providing it with a selection of skills suitable to its intended job. Thankfully once the body is completed, the personality no longer costs anything and cannot be ruined by a failure, though disadvantages rolled can count as permanent penalties for the droid's available skills, or imposing negative personality traits. There are no items that explicitly help with programming either, so you're probably relying on you skills (and luck) alone to get it done, unless you can convince your GM to allow you to craft some kind of programming tool/guide with the Gadget crafting rules first. <br />
<br />
With the release of Unlimited Power, there are also crafting tables for the creation of Force Talismans and Potions. The book strongly encourages players and game masters to reflavor their items in new ways beyond those presented (as tattoos, for example). The crafting tables also include both Light and Dark Force pips for purchasing positives and negatives on new items, alongside of and in addition to the normal Advantage/Triumph, Disadvantage/Despair. <br />
<br />
====Lightsabers====<br />
[[Lightsaber]]s are in, and work [[Awesome|exactly]] how they are expected to, so no [[nerf|underpowering]] them for the sake of game balance. Thankfully the setting largely excludes Knight-level characters, so very few people actually know how to use them properly, meaning any character stupid enough to wield one will be rolling a number of D8s based on strength or agility without any skill points to upgrade them and therefore would have problems reliably hitting anything with a decent defense score.<br />
*''Force & Destiny'' added Lightsaber styles as part of the base ruleset. That still doesn't make people into jedi sword masters though, since each style has to be learned separately just like any other career specialisation, plus Lightsabers are still rare and illegal, so finding one should be a challenge.<br />
*''Rise of the Separatists'' revised the lightsaber mechanics to separate hilt from crystal. A sidebar adds a new rule that allows actually starting with a lightsaber if you don't mind taking the hit to your Obligation/Duty/Conflict to get an extra 2500 credits of value to afford it (or are starting at a higher level).<br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:75%"><br />
'''Lightsaber Crystals:''' Because there isn't actually a single table providing the statistics for lightsaber crystals -despite the fact they actually define the weapon itself - it is rather difficult to actually compare them without extrapolating from the text. So here follows a table of crystals put side by side, normally a crystal takes up 2 weapon Hard Point slots; some do differ and it will be mentioned in their notes.<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left"<br />
! Crystal Type<br />
! Base Cost<br />
! Rarity<br />
! Base Damage<br />
! Base Critical Rating<br />
! Base Qualities<br />
! End Damage<br />
! End Critical Rating<br />
! End Qualities<br />
! Special Notes<br />
|-<br />
| Ilum ''(default)''<br />
| 9000<br />
| 10<br />
| 6<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 10<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 1, Vicious 2, Sunder<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Training Emitter<br />
| 100<br />
| 6<br />
| 6<br />
| -<br />
| Stun<br />
| N/A<br />
| N/A<br />
| N/A<br />
| Not upgradeable<br />
|-<br />
| Barab Ingot<br />
| 15,000<br />
| 8<br />
| 8<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Burn 1, Sunder<br />
| 8<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Burn 3, Vicious 2, Sunder<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Christophsis Crystal<br />
| 11,000<br />
| 8<br />
| 7<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 10<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 2, Sunder, Knockdown 1<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Dantari<br />
| 12,000<br />
| 9<br />
| 7<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 9<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| May spend force points as part of a combat check to recover strain<br />
|-<br />
| Dragite Gem<br />
| 14,000<br />
| 7<br />
| 7<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Disorient 1, Sunder<br />
| 8<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Concussive 2, Disorient 3, Sunder<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Etaan<br />
| 12,000<br />
| 9<br />
| 6<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 8<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 1, Innate Talent (Parry), Innate Talent (Reflect), Vicious 1, Sunder<br />
| When the wielder uses the Improved Reflect talent to redirect an attack to an opponent, increase the Damage by 2. <br> <br> Takes 1 Hard Point slot.<br />
|-<br />
| Ghostfire<br />
| 14,000<br />
| 9<br />
| 6<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 8<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Defensive 2, Sunder<br />
| The wielder can spend 4 Advantage or 1 Triumph result in an attack check to prevent the opponent from using the Parry talent. <br> <br> Takes 1 Hard Point slot.<br />
|-<br />
| Kimber Stone<br />
| 6500<br />
| 8<br />
| 9<br />
| -<br />
| Stun<br />
| 11<br />
| -<br />
| Stun, Concussive 1, Disorient 2<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Krayt Dragon Pearl<br />
| 15,000<br />
| 10<br />
| 9<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder, Vicious 1<br />
| 10<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder, Vicious 4<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Lorrdian Gemstone<br />
| 9600<br />
| 8<br />
| 7<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Defensive 1, Sunder<br />
| 7<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Defensive 2, Deflection 2 Sunder<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Mephite<br />
| 10,000<br />
| 10<br />
| 8<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 11<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 1, Vicious 1, Sunder<br />
| Force Sensitive Characters automatically detect the crystal when sensing their surroundings<br />
|-<br />
| Nishalorite<br />
| 12,500<br />
| 8<br />
| 7<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 7<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Disorient 2, Innate Talent (Planet Mapper), Vicious 1, Sunder<br />
| The wielder gains +1 advantage whenever they attempt to navigate or determine their position.<br />
|-<br />
| Sapith Gem<br />
| 18,000<br />
| 10<br />
| 7<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 9<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 2, Sunder<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Seeker<br />
| 16,000<br />
| 9<br />
| 7<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 8<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Vicious 1. ''Increase check range to Medium (see ability)''<br />
| Force Sensitive characters may make Perception/Vigilance checks to detect living creatures within short range.<br />
|-<br />
| Solari<br />
| 16,000<br />
| 9<br />
| 7<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder, Defensive 1<br />
| 8<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Vicious 1, Defensive 2, reduced Cost of Improved Reflect by one<br />
| Reduce Strain from using Reflect talent by one. <br> <br> If user drops below 50 Morality then crystal ceases to function.<br />
|-<br />
| Sorian<br />
| 16,000<br />
| 9<br />
| 6<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 9<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Disorient 1, Innate Talent (Parry), Sunder<br />
| When used with the Parry talent, add +1 boost die to the next combat check against the attacker. <br> <br> Takes up 4 hard point slots.<br />
|-<br />
| Tainted Nightsister Crystal<br />
| 13,000<br />
| 10<br />
| 6<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder, Disorient 3, Vicious 4<br />
| 7<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder, Disorient 4, Vicious 4<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Thontiin Crystal<br />
| 9,000<br />
| 9<br />
| 6<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 9<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| User may ignore the effects of one Easy severity critical injury once per encounter.<br />
|-<br />
| Unstable Kyber Crystal<br />
| 16,000<br />
| 10<br />
| 6<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| 6<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder<br />
| A character can spend a maneuver to increase their Force Rating by +1 until they use the extra dice to fuel a Force Power or Talent. <br> <br> The GM may spend four disadvantage or one despair to have the lightsaber sputter out and deactivate for one hour.<br />
|-<br />
| Varpeline<br />
| 14,000<br />
| 9<br />
| 8<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Vicious 1, Sunder<br />
| 9<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Vicious 3, Sunder<br />
| When spending a Triumph result to cause a critical hit, they may spend a second Triumph to automatically get the "Maimed" result without having to randomly determine it.<br />
|-<br />
| Zophis Crystal<br />
| 11,000<br />
| 10<br />
| 8<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 2, Sunder, Vicious 1<br />
| 10<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 2, Sunder, Vicious 1<br />
| When activating the sunder quality, may damage targeted item by one additional step. <br> <br> GM may spend 3 disadvantage or 1 despair result to deactivate the lightsaber for one turn.<br />
|-<br />
| Corrupted Crystal (Special)<br />
| N/A<br />
| 10<br />
| 6<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder, Vicious 2<br />
| 8<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder, Vicious 3<br />
| Wielder adds one '''Black''' to Force power checks. <br> <br> If a Force Sensitive wielder raises their morality to above 70, they may "reclaim" the crystal, whereupon it no longer provides '''Black''' for force checks, but also loses the Vicious Quality.<br />
|-<br />
| Cracked Crystal (Special)<br />
| N/A<br />
| 10<br />
| 7<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder, Vicious 1<br />
| 7<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Sunder, Vicious 3<br />
| If the wielder rolls a Despair result on a lightsaber combat check, the GM may choose to shatter the crystal, after which it may no longer function.<br />
|-<br />
| Cracked Jedha Crystal<br />
| 8000<br />
| 10<br />
| 7<br />
| 3<br />
| Breach 1, Inaccurate 2, Sunder, Vicious 1<br />
| 9<br />
| 2<br />
| Breach 1, Inaccurate 1, Sunder, Vicious 4<br />
| Takes up 3 hard point slots<br />
|-<br />
| Master Lodaka's Lightsaber ''(Unique)''<br />
| 20,000<br />
| 10<br />
| N/A<br />
| N/A<br />
| N/A<br />
| 10<br />
| 1<br />
| Breach 1, Vicious 2, Sunder<br />
| Attacks made with this lightsaber ignore the Cortosis quality and cannot be shut down by refined Cortosis.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br style="clear: both; height: 0px;" /><br />
<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
===The Force===<br />
Despite Jedi not being the focus of the setting, the Force is present if players want to use it. Thankfully it's not as OP as sometimes portrayed in other rules systems. Access to Force powers is granted by the Force rating talent, which can only be obtained via certain specializations. <br />
<br />
In an often overlooked rule, Force Sensitivity <u>is NOT</u> automatically granted by any of the F&D career classes unless they are your starting careers, so characters from EotE or AoR who buy into Consular trees do not become Force Sensitive immediately. Instead the ''Force Rating 1'' talent is provided to characters of those classes at character creation in the same way that they get free ranks in career skills. The '''only''' specializations that grant Force Sensitivity automatically are the universal careers such as "Force Exile" or "Emergent".<br />
<br />
That means that players who don't start out as "Jedi" have to take a much longer path to competency in Force abilities, having to first cross class into one of the universal trees to be granted Rating 1 if they didn't already have it. Which would also be an XP sink as it adds to your cross-class multiplier and makes your next class more expensive. A Player could ''still'' multiclass into one of the "Jedi" careers and learn all of the talents just like any other class, and could pick up the Force Rating increase found at the end, but that's also long way journey to the bottom where you'd have to purchase a lot of unusable talents that won't help you without the ability to use the Force. This is quite consistent with the lore, where often those considered "too old" for training were not permitted to become Jedi. <br />
<br />
Once the specialisation ''(and therefore the talent)'' is bought, upgrades can be taken for the class itself, but can also be bought for powers, which are relatively simple but can be upgraded much like any other career specialisation: <br />
<br />
*'''Alter:''' ''(Unlimited Power)'' Allows the manipulation of the surrounding (natural) environment to increase/decrease difficult terrain, heighten awareness (through the eyes of local wildlife), and with Mastery, power-up ''everybody's'' Force rolls with bonus pips.<br />
*'''Battle Meditation:''' Grants floating "success" results to friendly targets whenever they make dice rolls, upgrades grant you more targets at further range with more successes. Additional side-grades allow you sustain the power by committing force dice, or to send simple communications to your troops, or to share skill competencies with the best character in the target group.<br />
*'''Bind:''' Freeze a target for a few rounds, if you're a dark side user you can also inflict wounds at the same time ''(ie: force choke)''. Increases to this skill give you more range and more targets and longer duration.<br />
*'''Conjure:''' ''(Unlimited Power)'' Make your own (simple) weapons or tools out of thin air from "Force ichor" à la [[warlock| Bladelocks in D&D 5e]]. With Mastery raise Force "zombies" to do your bidding (and give you nice mounds of Conflict). Baseline weapons have the Cortosis quality, with nicer qualities (including longer duration, size, and number) you can buy later, so it can make for some interesting not-Jedi/Sith tradition concepts that can still go weapon to weapon with them.<br />
*'''Ebb/Flow''': ''(Disciples of Harmony)'' A weird one, this one gets added to a skill check and has two sides to it; inflict strain on everybody in range, and heal your own strain. You can eventually exclude characters you don't want this to apply to (besides yourself), drop automatic failures/despairs on opponents' checks and pull out instant successes/triumphs on your own.<br />
*'''Endure''': ''(Knights of Fate)'' Arguably, character death is narrative in this system, the exception to this is rolling on the Critical Hits table (131+ for NPCs, 141+ for player characters). This power lets you win at those and live forever, much like the iconic Darth Sion, who essentially just never turned this power off. <br />
*'''Enhance:''' Spend your force points on your Athletics skill, giving you more success/advantage. Upgrading allows you to widen the range of skills you can apply your results to ''(such as piloting, or brawling)''. You also get some cool side-grades that give you the ability to Force Jump or commit force dice to your physical stats, increasing them for indefinite duration.<br />
*'''Farsight:''' ''(Savage Spirits)'' Give yourself the ability to ignore blindness, or any condition that would prohibit your sight. You can upgrade this to see further, make out near-microscopic details, or even gain a 360° arc of vision. Can also boost your perception or vigilance skills, see through walls, or even leave your body and gain vision from a different perspective at close range. The cheapest force power to obtain at a cost of 5 points (instead of 10 or more) for the base power and most upgrades only cost 5 points.<br />
*'''Foresee:''' See up to one day into the future... sure to give your GM a headache, but he is allowed to be vague. You can upgrade to pick out more details, or the number of days you can see. Of more immediate use is the ability to use this power at the same time as you roll for initiative, jumping you up initiative order, providing free maneuvers to your friends and lowering the defenses of your enemies.<br />
*'''Heal/Harm:''' You can heal wounds/strain with a force check - easy. You can also use the force combined with medicine to cure critical injuries. Full mastery of this power allows you to bring someone back from the dead, as long as they only died last turn. The "Harm" version of this power is pretty much the exact opposite, but used by Dark-siders, and generates a whole lot of Conflict points.<br />
*'''Imbue''': ''(Disciples of Harmony)'' Pat someone on the back and boost one of their basic characteristics by 1 until your next turn, but limited to once per encounter for each character. Can eventually be increased in range and sustained by committing force dice, and sharing one of your skill ranks. At the bottom of the tree, the boost increases to 2, [[Awesome|and can go above max.]]<br />
*'''Influence''' The "Jedi Mind Trick", allows you to change someones emotional state. Light side users can generate peace, tranquility and friendliness, while Dark side users generate fear and rage. Both sides can generate confusion. This can also be used to inflict strain on an opponent, knocking them out of the encounter. At later levels this allows you to roll a force check as part of your social skills, allowing you to manipulate people with the force. You can also focus on a specific individual and make them believe something blatantly false for a short period.<br />
*'''Manipulate:''' ''(Endless Vigil)'' Allows you to rebuild vehicles or equipment. Initially only restoring system strain, but later allowing you to repair broken components or gear, moving them through damage states. Later upgrades allow you to restore actual wounds to vehicles, from a distance. You can also combine this power with Mechanic skill checks to add additional positive results to your dice rolls.<br />
*'''Misdirect:''' Create illusions to make yourself (or something) invisible. You can also expand this power into making objects (or people) appear like something else, or create completely illusory people or objects.<br />
*'''Move:''' Probably the most well-known Jedi power, giving you the ability to move objects telekinetically. Upgrades allow you to move larger objects ''(up to Silhouette 4, but you'll need a lot of Force dice)'', move them faster, or further.<br />
*'''Protect/Unleash:''' Create fields of energy that allow you to reduce damage from incoming energy weapons. If you're a light side user you can expand this over friendly targets. You can also use the "Unleash" version to shoot beams of energy as a ranged attack ''(Force Lightning?)''. While you don't need to be a dark side user to do this and can use your white spots to activate this power, it does generate conflict either way so be careful. Upgrades allow you to improve the effectiveness of the power, or add weapon qualities to their ranged attack ''(like Burn or Ensnare)''. Tied for the most expensive power, requiring 20 points for initial purchase, and the only power that needs a Force Rating of three to even obtain. Unless you're a Sage or Seer you can't pick this until you've reached the end of ''two'' specializations.<br />
*'''Seek:''' The boy scout power, that helps you find your way if you get lost, or track someone/something through the force if you don't know where it is. You can also use this power to cancel out Force-based illusions ''(see Misdirect)'' or can use it to increase your weapon penetration as you view weak points in enemy targets. Full mastery allows you to [[Rape|gain automatic Triumphs against one enemy on every combat check for the remainder of an encounter]].<br />
*'''Sense:''' Feel the Force flowing through you. You can sense living beings all around you, and their emotional states. This can be upgraded to read people minds, but it can also be used to sense incoming attacks against you and make them more difficult, and later be used to upgrade your own attacks.<br />
*'''Suppress:''' ''(Keeping the Peace)'' Your anti-force-power force power. The result you get when rolling for this power will diminish the ability of other force users to use their powers, up to the point that you can completely flatten his ability to use the force entirely, or even smack him with strain when he rolls black ''(which most Force villains in the campaign will do)'' and potentially [[Awesome|knock him out on his own Force rolls]]. You can also upgrade this to turn it into a Jedi version of ''Dispel'' and force an opponent to uncommit any of his force dice currently being used on powers.<br />
<br />
Force powers require a special D12 dice to activate which has white and black spots on it, representing light or dark points respectively. ''(players are inherently "light-based")'' and powers require certain numbers of white spots to be effective or activate additional effects. Unfortunately only five sides of the D12 have any value to a light side force user making them useless 58% of the time. The player can expend a destiny point to "flip" black spots to white ones, though if your DM is using the F&D '''morality''' system this will inevitably cause the character to descend into [[BBEG|evil ways]]. Three-fifths of the light-sided faces of the die have two dots, while only a single dark-side-aligned face does. This is somewhat-consistent with the movie lore, wherein the dark side is easier to use, but the light side is more powerful overall.<br />
<br />
The number of dice you get is represented by your force sensitivity factor and you invest these successes into your power upgrades to perform more impressive feats, like moving larger objects or mind-tricking more opponents. However unless you are using options from ''Force and Destiny'', your force sensitivity factor doesn't go higher than 2, meaning that your powers are unlikely to be impressive as you cannot activate as many upgrades to a power as you can roll light-side successes. Even "true" Force Wielding characters often don't have a Force Rating of higher than 3 without cross classing into different force-wielding careers ''(unless you start out as Consular)'' which still won't guarantee Starkiller levels of power.<br />
<br />
===Vehicles===<br />
In most of the campaigns, the group starts out with their own method of transportation. EotE and F&D gives them a freighter while AoR gives them either a shuttle or a squadron of cheap starfighters (Y-Wings by default). There are options to choose from, but generally the GM should choose for the group depending on the theme of the campaign, because it would not do too well for a squadron of fighters to roll up in certain situations, but also that some ships have certain narrative crew requirements or limitations which are all helpfully explained in the vehicle's stat block. So small groups might find they don't have enough manpower to properly use a large gunboat/corvette while large groups simply won't fit in smaller light freighters.<br />
<br />
Like [[Rogue Trader (RPG)|Rogue Trader]] the ship and ship combat can play a very big part of the gaming session. But thankfully unlike Rogue Trader the rules have been streamlined in line with what they did to personal scale combat. Distances and positions are abstract, so you only need to pay attention to who has particular advantages over each other.<br />
<br />
The ruleset doesn't depart too much from the personal scale either, so rather than learning something new, you calculate your dice rolls much the same way, this means that space combat can be speedy and active rather than onerous arguing about position, speed and firing arcs.<br />
<br />
==Splatbooks==<br />
As with any good splatbook, each non-adventure module adds new races, equipment and vehicle options. Most of them also add modular encounters which can be squeezed into any other adventure without too much trouble, or even strung along together to manufacture your own adventures.<br />
<br />
===Universal===<br />
*'''Collapse of the Republic''' - A "sequel" to 'Rise of the Separatists' below, covers happenings and characters towards the end of the Clone Wars. Includes new career/spec options such as [[Only War|ARC Troopers, Clone Commander, Clone Veteran,]] [[Space Marines|Death Watch Warriors]], and [[witch|Nightsisters.]] Species include (if Nightsisters weren't enough of a clue) Dathomirians, Harch (spider people), and Karkarodon (shark people). Jedi Knight [[butthurt|(never a Master)]] Anakin Skywalker is going to be one of the NPCs statted out and guidance on running your story through Order 66 and beyond will be provided.<br />
*'''Dawn of Rebellion''' - The first book designed for use with all three games. New talents and species for players, plus material for running games in the just-before-''A New Hope'' era showcased in ''Rogue One'' and ''Rebels'', as well as stats for most of the characters (including Vader's first official stats) and vehicles from both (including the fucking '''Death Star''') and '''six''' universal specializations. Despite being teased for years it was only released in 2018, allegedly thanks to Disney's canon police forcing them to wait until the last season of ''Rebels'' was finalized to avoid conflicts.<br />
*'''Rise of the Separatists''' - The rumors of FFG branching out into the prequels for more Star Wars material to sell were true after all, although this book seems to be focusing more on the CGI cartoon than the movie trilogy. Featured species of Clone, Geonosian, Kaminoan, and Umbaran; Class/Specializations of Jedi Knight and Padawan, and several types of Clone Trooper. The product preview on FFG's website provides a clipped stat-block on Kenobi in his prime and Dooku, the main nemesis of the cartoon show, so expect similar treatment for prominent characters, locations, and equipment from the show. According to Amazon it'll be released on May 10th.<br />
<br />
===Edge of the Empire===<br />
*'''Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook'''<br />
<br />
*'''Class Books'''<br />
**'''Enter the Unknown''' - rules for Explorers. Lots for players, less for GMs than other books.<br />
**'''Dangerous Covenants''' - rules for Hired Guns as well as help for GMs running military campaigns that don't focus on adventures from job to job. Adds A LOT of weapons, from mini-guns and grenade launchers, to retractable forearm blades, and Vibro-''greatswords''. <br />
**'''Far Horizons''' - rules for Colonists, adding rules for running your own business/homestead giving you an upgrade-able base of operations and working off-screen jobs to generate cash in the long term, as well as adding rules for allowing non-combat characters to shine and use their skills in ways more than simply "roll profession" checks.<br />
**'''Fly Casual''' - rules for Smugglers, but also adding lots of additional rules for Slicing and Astrogation, giving those very situational skills much needed breadth and allowing characters to do more with it rather than just "yes/no" rolls.<br />
**'''Special Modifications''' - Source book for technicians and expands on how much they can expend to be paid for certain jobs in encounters. Adds ''A LOT'' of new modifications for not only character gear but also vehicles along with rules for crafting weapons, droids, gadgets, and cybernetics (this being the most disappointing table with its lack of variety). Bonus points for the inclusion of slicing encounter rules (pg. 86 for those interested). In short, probably a '''must have''' for DMs(GMs) and any technician worth their salt.<br />
**'''No Disintegrations''' - rules and goodies for bounty hunters, including the iconic suits of Mandalorian Armor. Covers guild membership in a lot of detail, and the pros and cons of going freelance. Adds rules for investigations and gaining reputations which provide tangible benefits, as well as a very informative table on bounty pricing and adjustments based on conditions or the PCs credentials.<br />
<br />
*'''Adventure Modules'''<br />
**'''Beyond the Rim''' - First adventure supplement, covering a treasure hunt for a lost clone wars starship.<br />
**'''Jewel of Yavin''' - Another adventure supplement that centers around a jewel heist.<br />
**'''Mask of the Pirate Queen''' - get involved with the Zann Consortium ''(from the video games)'' and attempt to overthrow a rival criminal faction.<br />
<br />
*'''Additional'''<br />
**'''Suns of Fortune''' - a gazetteer for the Corellian sector, and one of the modular encounters has rules for portraying Sabacc, incorporating various skill checks into influencing gambling rolls rather than just taking a "gambling check".<br />
**'''Lords of Nal Hutta''' - another gazetteer for Hutt space, and rules for Hutts as PC characters and plenty of rules for cybernetic enhancements.<br />
<br />
===Age of Rebellion===<br />
*'''Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook'''<br />
<br />
*'''Class Books'''<br />
**'''Stay on Target''' - sourcebook for Aces, also provides expanded rules for Astromech PCs & NPCs and what they can do with a starfighter, as well as rules for beast and wild animals.<br />
**'''Desperate Allies''' - the book for Diplomats, and provides a whole lot of social boosting gear and equipment. Also provides a few helpful tips on how to narratively deal with losing strain in social encounters without characters falling unconscious like they would in combat. Finally, includes rules for running your own base, which ironically is done in a more mechanically friendly manner than the whole of the Strongholds of Resistance sourcebook.<br />
**'''Lead by Example''' - Sourcebook for Commanders, one of the thinner books. It has rules for massed combat which gets boiled down to a more complicated skill check, rather than sitting down playing a war-game. The book also has rules for field equipment though, so you can create small bases and static defenses.<br />
**'''Forged In Battle'''- Source book for Soldiers. Also includes rules for gaining trophies and battle scars which provide useful benefits based on the narrative.<br />
**'''Fully Operational'''- Sourcebook for Engineers. Contains "Blast" weapons, explosives, and tools to deal with such, including a Demolitions Toolkit that can negate a Despair rolled while working with explosives (so a must-have item), as well as some entertaining toys like Droid-brain demolitions timers and personal-scale explosives that have planetary-scale damage. This book also contains crafting rules for vehicles through the steps of Frame, Engine, Hull, and Assembly. They work best for ships in the Sil 3-6 ranges (which are the sizes PC's interact with the most anyways). Having any Disadvantage left during the Assembly step almost guarantees your ship comes out "not looking like much" (your baby's gonna be ugly). <br />
**'''Cyphers And Masks''' - Source book for spies, <strike> with a guide and rules for crafting cover identifies and false personas </strike> not really, though there is a section for the sneaky skills and skill-roll purchase tables for each. It's a book of what you'd expect for spies, but probably not what you were ''hoping for'' considering the setting. Hard-bitten species, stealthy/intel-focused specializations, new poisons/drugs, and real-life espionage inspired gear like false teeth and things-hidden-in-things. The prize winners in this one are probably the ships (one Landspeeder and one Fighter, there are no other ships) which are very customizable with HP 5 and 4 respectively, and the vehicle attachments, which include an actual Klingon Warbird-style cloaking device. Occupying 4 HP, but only on Sil 3+ ships, if you can shave down or build around that cost you can make your fancy new Super Star Destroyer turn invisible. <br />
<br />
*'''Adventure Modules'''<br />
**'''Onslaught at Arda I''' - adventure supplement, involving helping the rebels hunt down an Imperial spy.<br />
**'''With Friends Like These'''- adventure supplement, detailing a rebel mission to build support and alliances to defend a world. More importantly it has info and rules for Mandalorians, so everyone can finally make that special snowflake Mando they've been dreaming up.<br />
<br />
*'''Additional'''<br />
**'''Strongholds of Resistance''' - A book about running your own Rebel base, providing several examples, what benefits they can provide a party and several mission hooks surrounding them. It only has details for one base you can build from scratch though, but the information can be easily used substituted for one of your own. The book also has a lot of rules for underwater gear, since its where they squeezed in the Quarren race and added lots of info about [[Trap|Mon Calamari.]]<br />
<br />
===Force and Destiny===<br />
*'''Star Wars Force and Destiny Core Rulebook'''<br />
<br />
*'''Class Books'''<br />
**'''Keeping the Peace''' - Sourcebook for Guardians. Adds two new lightsabers types and some new crystals, as well as a whole lot of other useful Jedi armour and gear. Adds rules for armor crafting too.<br />
**'''Endless Vigil''' - Rules for Sentinels. Adds guides and extra rules for encounters in cities; like fighting and evading people in crowded locations, or setting up intelligence networks. There's also rules for pod racing and lightsaber crafting.<br />
**'''Savage Spirits''' - rules for Seekers, adding rules for mounts and companion animals.<br />
**'''Disciples of Harmony''' - Sourcebook for Consulars. Adds more lightsaber crystals and attachments, as well as rules for crystals from evil lightsabers. Also includes rules for mentors/diplomatic conflicts, and LOTS of nonlethal weaponry.<br />
**'''Unlimited Power''' - Guide to Mystics, Adding trinkets and fetishes to help train and strengthen force connections, as well as rules for crafting force imbued items. Crafting rules use Advantage/Disadvantage to buy options as usual, but also adds Light/Dark Force pips (and even a few Dark pips almost guarantees your new item generates Conflict every time you use it). Cheapest Talisman ''does'' let you do a spacewalk naked though. Adds two new Force powers (Conjure and Alter), and a Signature Ability for re-rolling Force dice.<br />
**'''Knights of Fate''' - A ''very'' tight book for the Warrior Career, there's almost nothing that isn't useful in this one. Includes a specialization that gives Mace Windu's lightsaber fighting style (Sam Jackson not included). Adds the 'Guided' item quality to its ranged weapons, making character Silhouette actually matter. Be sure to check out the Mindful Assessment, Honored Titles, and Allies and Assets tables in the back. Adds the "Endure" Force power. <br />
<br />
*'''Adventure Modules'''<br />
**'''Chronicles of the Gatekeeper''' - follow clues given by a Jedi holocron and travel the galaxy in search of a missing Jedi Master and hopefully learn a new power.<br />
**'''Ghosts of Dathomir''' - a mysterious and powerful artifact suddenly surfaces on Toydaria, you embark on a journey into the lawless Outer Rim. Along the way you’ll enter negotiations with a ruthless Hutt kajidic, experience relentless Force visions, and discover some of the darkest secrets of the galaxy.<br />
<br />
*'''Additional'''<br />
**'''Allies and Adversaries''' - A NPC codex/monster manual pulling from, adding to, and compatible with all of FFG's Star Wars game lines. Including stats for [[Waifu|Jyn Erso,]] [[Chaos|Emperor Palpatine,]] [[Awesome|Boba Fett,]] and... [[Furry|Ewoks.]] So FFG's adversary cards in book form. Be on the lookout for iconic and legendary equipment to round the characters and book out. <br />
**'''Nexus of Power''' - A giant gazette for worlds that are strong in the force, granting tangible benefits for when Force users spend time exploring them. It tries hard reconciling planets from the expanded universe and the new cartoon canon in a way that doesn't get too bogged down in details.<br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20RPG%20-%20FF/ Beta Database 1] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250904221018/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20RPG%20-%20FF/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20RPG%20-%20FF/ Database 1] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20251209013839/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20RPG%20-%20FF/ archived])<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/FFG/ Beta Database 2] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240626214114/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/FFG/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/FFG/ Database 2] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20251006141456/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/FFG/ archived])<br />
<br />
{{Star Wars}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Wars_RPG&diff=1008180Star Wars RPG2026-02-04T18:52:21Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Links */</p>
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<div>[[Image:Ackbar.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Neckbeard|I couldn't resist.]]]]<br />
<br />
Much like the movies, the Star Wars [[RPG]] has gone through various rewrites and the like. Similarly, depending on when a player was exposed to them, they might view the various systems as:<br />
*Fun and easy-to-learn (or outdated and laughably simplistic),<br />
*Consistent and balanced (or complicated and system-locked) or<br />
*A interesting various on classical RPG elements (fuck you and your cash-grab specialty pencil-dice, [[Fantasy Flight Games]]).<br />
<br />
[[Skub|Which means collectively it drives a classic aspect of tabletop gaming.]]<br />
<br />
Because of how old the IP is (and Lucas' retention of the merchandising rights) there were a '''lot''' of supplements and modules made. By a lot, we mean over 100 in a decade for the original [[West End Games]] system. As some of the earliest Expanded Universe works that weren't in the "technically happened but so shit you shouldn't remind people they exist" bin, some of the concepts and characters introduced have become fairly widespread, due in part to the WEG system being used at times as a settings-bible by various authors and developers.<br />
<br />
[[Timothy Zahn]] was actually given copies of this game and the supplements available at the time as reference books for use when writing the Thrawn trilogy (''Heir to the Empire'', ''Dark Force Rising,'' and ''The Last Command''). Yes, this system inspired force-eating sloths, droid starcraft and the [[Creed|baddest blue-skinned strategist ever seen]].<br />
<br />
Later publishers issued predictably fewer or greater numbers of additional books and materials depending on [[Capitalism|various factors.]] Because of the shared story inherited from the films, many of the various ideas and concepts can be adapted over between editions with some creative thought, so [[Pokemon|having all of the systems at hand]] isn't a detriment. At the very least, you'll have bedtime reading material for [[Meme|a long time in a basement far, far away]].<br />
<br />
==The First Trilogy: West End Games D6 System==<br />
<br />
WEG's system definitely had a simplistic "wild west" feel to it. Many of the supplements focused on [[Serenity|small groups making their way through the universe]], unconstrained by trivial things like morality, wealth or spare parts. [[Grognard|It was a simpler, more elegant time...]]<br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Character creation was pretty straightforward. You had so many dice to put into a template, so assign and away you go. Roll the dice for the applicable value-to-challenge, check against a GM-assigned threshold, and move on with the plot.<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
<br />
Everything in the WEG "die code" system is based on the common six-sided die and added bonuses (so XD6+A). Bonuses stack additively as expected, but max out at +2, as when you reach +3, you reduce the bonus value by 3 and raise the die code by 1. Penalties were usually flat modifiers to the post-roll value, however. Generally, dice were referred to as 'dice' or 'die' and the bonuses as 'pips'. <br />
<br />
:''Using a blaster with a scope that gives a +2 value to the '''Blasters''' skill with said skill being at 5D+2, results in an adjusted value of 6D+1; yes, modular math happens in WEG, as it was written in a more [[Civilization|educated age.]])''<br />
<br />
Everyone gets a race. Even the droids. Yes, this means racism exists. Even with the droids.<br />
<br />
Races determine a few things: Your starting assignable attribute dice, the attribute min/max values, your move values, your size, and any special abilities or story factors. It also gives you languages, common names, and other background information for your character creation.<br />
<br />
Every character has six attributes: '''Strength''' (punchin' and liftin'), '''Dexterity''' (shootin' and dodgin'), '''Perception''' (lookin' and fast-talkin'), '''Knowledge''' (knowin' being half the battle), '''Mechanical''' (drivin' and bantha ridin'), and '''Technical''' (droid fixin' and lock-pickin'). [[Wizard|Force sensitives]] can also have the force-related ones of '''Sense''' (I think I need to check in with Aldebaran?), '''Control''' (These aren't the neckbeards you are looking for!) and '''Alter''' (I'm crushing your head!). Perhaps confusingly though, Force attributes are referred to as 'skills', despite working (and costing in terms of character creation and later leveling) the same.<br />
<br />
In general, NPC characters get a total of 12D to divide between their attributes, and PCs (or important NPCs) get 18D, however these are modified by the race of the character. Assigning dice is a matter of staying within the racial limits. For [[human|most PCs]], this means you end up with die codes of 3D across the six attributes, but you can always min-max your way into turning Stormtroopers into organic origami. Force users have to use attribute dice for their initial force skill values, however, so being a young Jedi is expensive and full of suck until you gain enough experience, but by then [[Mary Sue|it tends to even out a bit]].<br />
<br />
:''An average human character has a Strength of 3D, which means they roll 3d6 every time they make a Strength-related check. The strongest 'average' Wookie has an upper value of 6D and so roll 6D6 for Strength-related checks, meaning they are [[RAGE|skilled tabletop players]].''<br />
<br />
That covers the basics of being, but what about the specifics of doing? Well, skills fall into two categories: Simple and Advanced. All skills have an assigned attributes. A simple skill's base value always defaults to the assigned attribute, with any later additions (from chargen or experience gained) adding onto that skill's die value as a starting point. Skills can have specializations, making it easier to increase their die values at the expense of limiting their scope of use. Advanced skills always start at 1D however, regardless of their assigned attributes, reflecting the increased complexity of the skill. Starting PCs have 7D worth of dice to split up amongst their skills, as per previously stated rules on points and pips, and can put no more than 2D into any skill at start.<br />
<br />
:''If you have a Dexterity attribute die code of 3D+2 and you put one die into the Blasters skill, your Blasters skill starts at 4D+2. If you have a Strength of 5D+2 and put a pip into Brawling, your Brawling skill starts at 6D.''<br />
<br />
Yes, this means by leveling your attributes, you level all your skills. Yes, it's astoundingly expensive.<br />
<br />
Challenge resolution was usually a matter of rolling the skill or attribute value, adding or subtracting any bonuses and penalties from equipment, location, events and the like, and then comparing that against a GM-assigned value. Passing means win, failure means suck. Contested rolling does occur though, usually when you're trying to get out to the local town for some new power converters. <br />
<br />
:''If you have a bounty hunter character with a blaster skill of 5D, you roll 5d6 every time you shoot at something. If the GM decides that you rolled high enough to hit (usually 10-15 is good enough), the other character rolls a Strength check (and adds on any dice they get for wearing armor). If their roll's total is higher, they shrug it off; if the attacker's roll is higher, the victim gets hurt (and depending on how crappy they rolled, they might die).''<br />
<br />
As a note for the above, damage intensity was done in brackets of 5 or thereabouts past the threshold. Given the strength of some of the weapons, the game was astoundingly lethal. Having [[Paranoia|spare characters around just in case]] was a common recommendation.<br />
<br />
Experience was doled out in the classic XP manner, and leveling your skills was just a matter of matching the current die code in XP and then increasing the 'pip' value by +1. Attributes were a little more complicated, but ultimately the same.<br />
<br />
Yes, given enough time, you could level your Jedi OC to beat Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel. Yes, he is given stats. You just need to beat 11D in lightsaber combat, backed by 11D in the Alter and Control skills. Best of luck!<br />
<br />
===The Wild Die===<br />
In a little twist, they added the '''Wild Die''' in 2E to spice up the rolls, which meant that one of the dice rolled was replaced with an [[Exploding die]] that had some [[FAIL|mild consequences if a 1 was rolled.]]<br />
<br />
===Different Editions===<br />
The game has various iterations which are all pretty interchangeable:<br />
* Star Wars (1987)(Simplest, least options, but still some people's favourite)<br />
* Star Wars 2nd Edition (1992)<br />
* Star Wars 2nd Edition, Revised & Expanded (RE) (1996)<br />
* And finally, [http://www.d6holocron.com/downloads/books/REUP.pdf Star Wars Revised, Expanded & Updated (REUP)] (2015)(free, massive new fan created version, top choice for most people)<br />
* Star Wars 30th Anniversary Edition (2018) (reprint of 1E)<br />
<br />
===Gungan Mathematics===<br />
A notable aspect of the original WEG system that should be called out, was its failing utterly at the metric system. Someone went and worked out the size of all the ship models used in the movies in ''feet'', then someone printed these directly but changed the unit to meters ''without doing any math'' (not even converting it to yards first). This resulted in some ''fantastically'' fucked up measurements the EU would often repeat without question. We can only assume this person went on to a remarkable career, perhaps as a NASA engineer.<br />
<br />
===Halagad Ventor: Original Character, Please Steal===<br />
Halagad Ventor was a minor character for the module ''Domain of Evil''. He's a Jedi that gets tortured into the Dark Side by Vader and escapes, hides on a swamp planet and creates a creepy swamp filled with with partially real Force illusions. The horror setting made the module popular and well remembered so Halagad Ventor is referenced everywhere. He's even co-star of a book.<br />
<br />
</div></div><br />
<br />
==The Second Trilogy: Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars D20 System==<br />
<br />
West End Games (RIP) lost the Star Wars license to [[Wizards of the Coast]], who then made [[Star Wars D20]]. As its name implies, it used the [[D20 Modern]] system as its basic engine, so gamers that enjoy AD&D 3rd edition should feel relatively at home with it, depending on edition. You see, Star Wars D20 had three editions, the first two being the initial release and a follow-up revision that did a lot of house-keeping on the rules and the like. The third, called Saga Edition, differed so greatly it might as well been a different game, with the only parts that looked like the previous two WotC games being inherited from the [[d20 System]] in general, or the WEG rules for a lot of the equipment. Somewhat like how the original Hummer H1 and H2 were civilianized version of the HMMVV (mostly), but the H3 was spare parts thrown together from GM's cast-offs bin.<br />
<br />
Saga Edition is sorta like 4th Edition of D&D, and is actually based on the much earlier "Orcus" prototype that was also the source of [[Book of Nine Swords|Tome of Battle]]. The original and Revised Edition plays like D&D 3.0 since it is still spawned from [[D20 Modern]] and skipped a lot of the 3.0 to 3.5 changes.<br />
<br />
==The Third Trilogy: Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars Roleplaying Game ==<br />
<br />
Fantasy Flight Games would later acquire the license and made their own [[Star Wars Roleplaying Game]].<br />
<br />
Yeah, the same folks that gave us [[Deathwatch (RPG)|Deathwatch]] and [[Only War]], also gave us...this.<br />
<br />
==Graveyard==<br />
<br />
The simplicity and straightforwardness of the system inspired loads of [[MUD | MUDs]] based on this, but [http://starwarsmush.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Mush_Wiki most] are [http://starwarsmush.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_MUSH:_New_Worlds dead] or [http://swrebirth.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Rebirth_Wiki small].<br />
<br />
==Links==<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20WEG%20D6/ Beta Database 1] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20251127021633/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20WEG%20D6/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20WEG%20D6/ Database 1] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20251006144047/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20WEG%20D6/ archived])<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD6/ Beta Database 2] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250923011506/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD6/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD6/ Database 2] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20251006134507/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD6/ archived])<br />
* [http://d6holocron.com/wiki/index.php/D6_Holocron_Wiki D6 Holocron]<br />
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{{Star Wars}}<br />
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[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]<br />
[[Category:Old school]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Wars_d20&diff=1008179Star Wars d202026-02-04T18:49:47Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Links */</p>
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<div>{{NeedsImages}}<br />
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'''Star Wars d20''' is a [[d20 System]] game made by [[Wizards of the Coast]]. It's set in the [[Star Wars]] universe. Preceded by The [[Star_Wars_RPG|Star Wars d6]] game. <br />
<br />
After Wizards let the license go, it has currently passed to [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and now they are doing their own [[Star Wars: Edge of the Empire|RPG]]. <br />
<br />
All systems have their advantages and [[Rage|disadvantages]]<br />
<br />
==Star Wars "Revised" Edition==<br />
<br />
===System===<br />
<br />
Basically Star Wars D&D 3rd Edition. It involves a system that is far more streamlined than regular D&D 3rd, more in line with d20 Modern. Gone is any hint of spell slots or memorization tables. Generally only class abilities, skills and feats determine a character's capabilities. In this system Jedi are strong adversaries but can realistically be gunned down by a large number of stormtroopers. Force abilities are generally reflected as Force skills and Force feats. Skills cover most general applications of the Force like the infamous Jedi Mind Trick or Telekinesis. Force Feats expand on such abilities for more potent or specialized applications. For example, any Jedi can lift objects, but it takes a feat to create a freaking localized hurricane at will. People who are not Force sensitive can channel it through the use of Force points which can be spent to add extra dice to their rolls not unlike Eberron's action points.<br />
<br />
Characters have two sets of "hit points". Vitality reflects the energy to get out of the way of blaster bolts at the last instant or that instinctual dodge from a lightsaber blade. It's basically plot armour in the sense that a character that still has Vitality can moon stormtroopers as they shoot at him and come out just fine. Actually getting stabbed by a lightsaber subtracts from your Wounds which is equal to your Constitution score. '''And does not increase with level'''. You start actually bleeding when your Vitality (which does scale with level) is depleted or when you take a critical hit. This means that even the highest level badasses can go down like a punk with a few bad rolls that crit them. Jedi expend Vitality to use the Force so there's a soft cap on the kind of bullshit you can conceivably pull with the Force. Many NPCs '''don't''' have a Vitality score which explains why heroes are great shots while the average extra can't hit the broad side of a Star Destroyer at fifty paces.<br />
<br />
The Revised Edition also had the special distinction of making the vast majority of characters into fragile snowflakes in a Tatooine summer. Mainly because armour no longer adds to Armour class, but instead functions like Damage Reduction. Sounds like a good idea in theory, so it takes special effort to mess it all up. Which is brilliantly achieved by making Armour DR only function on Wound damage. If you haven't caught on, your DR only functions when you are about a dozen points of damage from death in a setting when crazy people with laser swords are trying to cut your head off. Even the most basic weapons deal 3d8 damage, so even with the heaviest armour, it's only a couple or so shots before you croak. It also hinders your DEX bonus which is one of the few things which does add to your AC (or "Defense" as they term it here).<br />
<br />
By the way, Jedi lightsabers ignore DR and most Jedi classes have their lightsaber damage scale with level. By the early double digit levels they are dealing damage on par with rocket launchers which is setting appropriate but also handily explains why they are the primary melee warriors in a setting where everyone else tends to pack a blaster. If a Jedi crits you, it's usually time to roll another character.<br />
<br />
===Criticisms===<br />
<br />
Star Wars d20 Revised had a relatively short lifespan so it never accrued some of the insane combinatorial explosion of brokeness that characterised late D&D3.5. That said the game had its flaws, some of them can be considered quite serious.<br />
<br />
One common criticism is that the game is very "vanilla". Many classes gain all of their class abilities by roughly level 6, everything else was nothing more than a numerical improvement. Aside from the Jedi classes, classes tended to have only a small handful of class abilities and some of those abilities were highly situational. This extended to the prestige classes; the Bounty Hunter PrC for example got the Ranger's Favoured Enemy which extended to his current bounty target (which was nice) but only to his current bounty target (not so nice) and the rogue's sneak attack. That's it, that's all you get as a bounty hunter in way of class abilities. Basically you took a PrC to get access to class abilities D&D characters got at level 1. Equipment too was basically a numerical improvement as opposed to the huge expansion of capabilities enchanted gear could offer to players more used to fantasy RPGs. Most classes were also very "samey" with situational bonuses and a small list of bonus feats differentiating some of them. The feats tended to fall into the "+2 to that skill and +2 to another skill" type aside from the feats found in the core d20 system. In a way think of it as a prototype to d20 Modern, even though that came first.<br />
<br />
As such overall, the game can get quite boring over time. Any non-Jedi character slowly grows in powers they already have while a new feat can give Jedi a whole bag of tricks to unleash. Even their core abilities rise more quickly; as most Force powers are skills they gain +1 per level. BAB for a combat character rise at half that rate. As most enemies simply lack the crazy amount of special abilities that characterize core D&D's monsters it becomes all too routine. Just Stormtroopers with even better aim, droids with more weapons, etc. Even fielding Sith simply means that the party will focus fire and gun that sucker down.<br />
<br />
This leads to a major problem when parties get together. Everyone is pretty fragile but Jedi are so much more powerful than everyone else. Mixed parties tend to have many other characters overshadowed by the Force Users. All Force Users tends to have lots of overlap and can be hard to fit into the timeline if you use canonical Star Wars (ie the Old Republic or the New Jedi Order; even worse if you intend to have plenty of Sith to fight at the same time). All non-Force Users and you might as well be playing D20 Future. Movie conventions that protect major NPCs also do not exist; if Darth Vader shows up, there is every chance that the party will try to shoot him with proton torpedos from their vehicles if they can.<br />
<br />
Mundane skills are worse than baseline 3E. D20 took 3E's already too large skill list and made it ''bigger''. While nobody has the dreaded 2 skill points a level, many things you could go without in 3E are now basic life skills. You need to be a master hacker to gather information on the internet. All but the most basic vehicle operations also require training. In-fact even basic operations require training because astrogate is trained only. <br />
<br />
This is further turned into a mess by making force skills the unholy combination of of the [[Truenamer]] and [[Book of Nine Swords|Martial Adepts]]: Force skills require a skill check to function, but there are literally dozens of them. Unlike Martial Adepts these aren't mundane skills you've learned to an extent you can use them in combat (Wax on, wax off), they have no consistent or rational attribute dependencies (akin to the [[MAD]] of [[Psionics Handbook|3.0 Psionics]]) and they can ''only'' be used to burn vitality and turn it into an effect. It gets worse still as, despite the system having only enough books with more than a couple sidebars of crunch they can be counted on your fingers, the only one that doesn't introduce a new force skill is ''Arms and Equipment Guide''. In its short run it literally introduced more skills than 3.X did in its 70+ books and countless web articles with new content. Worse still precisely ''1'' (''[[Oriental Adventures]]'''s Iaijutsu Focus) of 3E's new skills was not tied to a sub-system, 2 if autohypnosis (which is tied to Psionics and only given to them as class skills, but technically usable by anyone) is counted.<br />
<br />
All classes are locked into their class skills entirely until the feat Cosmopolitan in the Hero's Guide. Even with this feat you only got one extra skill. This had a nasty way of hard locking characters into certain roles. While this was always the case in 3E's skill system (until [[Pathfinder]]), it really stings after d20 Modern's starting occupation made it the one variant with an exception in the core rulebook. Diplomatic skills were particularly locked down with Nobles and Jedi Consulars being the only people capable of ''asking nicely for things'' (contrast 3rd edition where Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Paladin and Rogue, over half the classes, were).<br />
<br />
===Why Bother With It?===<br />
The main things of interest with ''Star Wars d20'' are the lore and modules. About half of the books released for the system are actually lore books with zero or near-zero crunch, which are handy for any ''Star Wars'' campaign. There were also a good number of scenarios released for free on Wizards' website that range from a full adventure (Luke wants you to track down a wayward student. An errand sends you to ''Tremors''.) to an interlude you can place anywhere (A con artist tries to steal your ship. When seeking a Hutt for something you get caught up in one of his minions trying to userp him.). There was also a lot of modules released for the ''Living Force'' [[RPGA]] campaign. Though these varied wildly in quality, many are actually quite good and they are canon to the Expanded Universe (though finding out what the canon outcome was is impossible if it's not directly referenced in another.). Since the campaign isn't run anymore, they're a decade out of date and DMs were officially told to delete them after the conclusion, you have to find them [[Pirate|like you find any other old, out of print RPG thing]]. You're still better off converting them to any other ''Star Wars'' RPG though.<br />
<br />
==Saga Edition==<br />
[[file:Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition Core Rulebook.jpg|400px|right]]<br />
<br />
===System===<br />
Was a revised "revised" edition, so they just called it the "Saga" Edition. <br />
<br />
It basically followed the D20 system from D&D but with a great number of differences that put it somewhere in between 3.5e and 4e in the ruleset, which is actually a good thing. (Wizards eventually let slip that Saga was built from the "Orcus" prototype for 4e, which if Saga is any judge would have been better than what we got in the end.) Ultimately, the changes are so great any conversion between the two is effectively impossible. Some of the many changes include:<br />
<br />
*Skills come in "trained" and "untrained" rather than tracking bazilions of skill points which makes character management much easier. <br />
*In another nice touch, Armour Class has also been removed, meaning you take your defenses based on your Reflex/Will/Fortitude modifiers.<br />
**Wearing armour provide bonuses to Reflex saves and occasionally Fortitude, but negates any "Heroic bonus" you might gain based on your level, so armour is only really a good thing for non-heroic NPCs, lower level characters who have low bonuses, or high level characters specifically trained to use armour.<br />
*Leveling is free-form, you just gain talents from trees available to your class so there is no "End" ability that you have to wait for in levelling up, or might miss if you multi-class. <br />
**It also means that two players playing the same class can have absolutely no abilities in common whatsoever. These abilities are generally visible and battle turning too. A fan made a PDF (''DMF's Big Book of SWSE NPCs'') with 197 generic NPCs (e.g., CR4 Thugs) stated ''still'' had inspiration to suggest alternate options that could radically change an encounter on ''every single one of them''.<br />
*Taking a level in a class after first level only gives you '''one''' of their starting bonus feats, cutting back on dips for proficiencies. The previous versions flirted with this idea, but errated it away.<br />
*Inclusion of [[Action Points|"Force" and "Destiny" points, which are a limited pool of points used by player characters which can be used to modify dice rolls]], regardless of whether you are Force sensitive or not.<br />
*Saga Edition still uses the metric system, but rather than making all instances of "five feet" to "two meters" (as the previous system did, creating several oddities), it uses increments of "one and a half meters" (which is close enough for most character scale purposes and more accurate than [[Star Wars RPG|every foot is a meter]]).<br />
*While this edition uses hit points, higher starting damage, and omnipresence of area attacks (grenades and autofire) that always do damage to characters without cover (at least those without the evasion talent or some form of shield/damage reduction) make it so two platoons of Stormtroopers are a serious threat to even the highest level player characters.<br />
*Rather than requiring incrementally better gear every level, calculations for "heroic" characters add character level or half of it, regardless of what you are using. <br />
** Money won't buy combat ability. A stormtrooper's gear plus basic tools for your skills (such as medical kit or a mechanical tool kit) is sufficent for most non-Jedi. Instead more money buys gadgets that increase versatility.<br />
*Gone are small +2 bonuses. Instead most bonuses are +5 or a reroll.<br />
*Space combat rules are greatly revised. Abstracted in the parts that matter (did there really need to be 5 pages covering how much extra turning costs when a square is literally hundreds of kilometers?). It also gives a wider variety of heroes stuff to do during battles (Force abilities can be used at much greater distance in the emptiness of space. Have fun throwing ships into each other. Atmosphere is even more fun if one is handy!).<br />
*With the ''Rebellion Era Campaign Guide'', a character's history can now grant bonus class skills.<br />
*With ''Scavenger's Guide to Droids'', droid PCs are easy to build while also being highly versatile.<br />
*All debuffs are replaced by a single "condition track" with universal rules for removing them. While it's a bit too friendly to "condition track killer" builds that focus on applying loads of debuffs to instantly kill the enemy, it otherwise works. <br />
**A “Damage Threshold” system where characters that take more damage in one attack than 10+Fortitude Save drop on the condition track, avoiding the issue found in most RPGs of characters with 1 HP being just as (if not more) capable as one with 100% HP.<br />
* Carrying capacity is actually transparent for once. Rather than a complex chart for carrying capacity, you can carry (Strength/2)^2 kilograms (with modifiers for size and multiple legs) without being overburdened, which has only one degree and one set of penalties. The math works out to an increase in load over the chart that has normally been used for d20 games, so long as your strength is 7 or higher.<br />
<br />
Anyone of a species that isn't barred can use the force too, there are entire chapters providing Talents for Force sensitive characters that are essentially universal talents which can be taken by any class so long as they are force sensitive. So you don't need to be a Jedi to be an effective force user (the main advantages of actually being of the Jedi class are the bonus feat options making it easier to focus on the force, and talents for lightsabers), which itself adds to the freedom of gameplay as you could be a force-wielding scoundrel and never actually take any talent from the scoundrel trees at all. All that's needed to use the force is 1: The "Force Sensitive" feat (Automatic for first level Jedi. Can pick between it or lightsaber proficiency if you multiclass to Jedi) 2: Being trained in Use the Force (requires Force Sensitive. If obtained after level 1 you need to increase your intelligence or spend a feat) and 3: One or more instances of the Force Training feat to gain force powers (A bonus feat option for Jedi and optional if you only want to move handheld objects around and make basic telepathic calls). Thus any first level any race with one of the two as a bonus feat (Human, Miraluka and a few others) can do it at first level and anyone not barred from using the force can start at third even if they aren't Jedi.<br />
<br />
The game actively encourages multi-classing though, and there is a "modest" (in comparison to 3e D&D) number of prestige classes available that which provide access to their own, usually restricted list of Talent trees, but also provide class abilities with the core classes don't provide. For example: the "Jedi Master" prestige class provides ''Force Secrets'' which are like metamagic feats and can modify your Force powers in cool ways. Unlike base classes, prestige classes don't gain bonus feats every other level, which makes few of them (mostly the Jedi ones as those get a bonus talent instead) worth it long term.<br />
<br />
====Classes & Talent Trees====<br />
There are five (and only five) core classes in the system (Seven if you count the NPC classes "nonheroic" and "beast", which are just empty hit die), however as mentioned earlier, because the classes simply provide access to talent trees rather than pre-determined level benefits, players who choose the same class can build themselves entirely differently and shouldn't need to be hemmed into a particular class-role if they don't want to. The division of talents into trees instead of just class serves two purposes. Firstly, many talents require having any one or two talents from that tree already. Secondly, many prestige classes can pick talents from certain trees in addition to their unique, prestige class specific tree, such as Officer being able to pick from the Noble’s leadership tree, the Soldier’s Commando tree, or its exclusive Military Tactics Tree.<br />
<br />
What follows is mostly a list just to consolidate the widespread rules are for the system and show how varied that characters can be:<br />
<br />
CORE CLASSES<br />
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JEDI<br />
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''Don't be fooled, the Jedi talent trees are actually some of the largest in the entire setting, and that's not even counting how they have access to force talent trees straight away. Plus they are meant to be a starting point for multi-class characters, as the "Jedi Knight" prestige class gets a butt-ton more talent trees. Not only that, but they are intended to be generic enough that they can apply to any lightsaber wielding character (Sith, Jal Shey etc). Note that there's isn't actually anything stopping a non-Force Sensitive from taking levels in Jedi, even though most Jedi talents are useless for such a character. That's intentional so that the handful of non-force using saber users in the franchise can take certain talents from the Lightsaber Combat tree.''<br />
<br />
*Consular - Using the force for negotiation and conflict resolution<br />
*Guardian - Learning combat related techniques and maneuvers<br />
*Sentinel - Skilled at seeking/resisting dark-side opponents<br />
*Lightsaber Combat - Improving prowess with lightsaber weapons<br />
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</div><br />
<br />
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NOBLE<br />
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*Anticipation - Able to pre-empt enemy maneuvers<br />
*Collaborator - Manipulate enemies into thinking you are their ally<br />
*Disgrace - Use underhanded tactics to gain advantage<br />
*Exile - Adept in ways of taking care of yourself<br />
*Fencing - Noble fighting style with light weapons or lightsabers<br />
*Gambling - Expose yourself to gain the advantage over an opponent<br />
*Idealogue - Able to provide motivation or demoralisation in certain situations<br />
*Influence - Using interaction skills to overcome opponents non-violently<br />
*Inspiration - Provider of buffs to allies in different situations<br />
*Leadership - Provider of buffs with yourself as the centre of effect<br />
*Lineage - Gain access to skills, equipment and wealth due to family connections<br />
*Loyal Protector - Gain FOLLOWERS and train them as bodyguards<br />
*Master of Intrigue - Able to use adjacent characters to your benefit<br />
*Provocateur - Turn enemies against one another<br />
*Skill Challenge - Bonuses for yourself and allies when using skills<br />
*Superior Skills - Improve your ability when using a particular skill<br />
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</div><br />
<br />
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SCOUNDREL<br />
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*Brigand - Techniques used to distract and expose the enemy<br />
*Fortune - Provide yourself with luck based bonuses and rerolls<br />
*Misfortune - Gain attacks bonuses which take advantage of enemy mistakes<br />
*Outsider - Exercise caution to avoid dangerous situations<br />
*Opportunist - Take advantage of mishaps<br />
*Recklessness - Gain bonuses and effects in otherwise deadly situations<br />
*Revolutionary - Expert in subversive and resistance tactics<br />
*Run and Gun - Able to make mobile attacks<br />
*Slicer - Master of computer hacking<br />
*Smuggling - Able to provide innocent cover for suspicious situations<br />
*Spacer - Expert in space combat<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:400px"><br />
SCOUT<br />
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*Advance Patrol - Attack with the advantage of stealth and keen observation<br />
*Awareness - Keen senses that enemies cannot exploit<br />
*Camouflage - Improve your skill at stealth<br />
*Espionage - Able to react to certain situations with the application of stealth<br />
*Fringer - Learn to "make-do" in frontier situations<br />
*Hyperspace Explorer - Expert operator of vehicles<br />
*Master Scout - Talent Tree combining several different disciplines<br />
*Mobile Scout - Maneuvers usable while mounted<br />
*Reconnaissance - Gain FOLLOWERS and train them as scouts<br />
*Surveillance - Expert in perception<br />
*Survivor - New maneuvers in difficult environments<br />
*Spy - Able to use stealth and deception to gather information<br />
*Unpredictable - Make it difficult for enemies to damage you<br />
*Versatility - Gain bonuses of your choice to adapt to any situation<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
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SOLDIER<br />
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*Ambusher - Take advantage of surprise at the beginning of combat<br />
*Armour Specialist - Maximize the benefits of wearing armour<br />
*Brawler - Expert in melee combat<br />
*Brute Squad - Combat bonuses when accompanied by allies<br />
*Commando - New advanced combat techniques <br />
*Mercenary - Use underhanded tactics to gain victory<br />
*Rocket Jumper - Expert in the use of jump packs<br />
*Shockboxer - Trained in unarmed combat<br />
*Squad Leader - Gain FOLLOWERS and train them as soldiers<br />
*Trooper - Grant you and your allies combat benefits<br />
*Warrior - Master of endurance and overcoming enemy abilities.<br />
*Weapon Specialist - Weapon bonuses with a specific chosen weapon<br />
*Veteran - Able to overcome injury and psychological effects<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
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FORCE TALENT TREES (Class free)<br />
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If your character has "Force Sensitivity" then they can take a force talent in place of a talent granted by their class, there are five generic Force talents while the remaining ones require you be a member of or connected to a particular organisation.<br />
*'''Alter''' - Telekinetic and Telepathic mastery<br />
*'''Control''' - Able to regulate your own physiology and center force effects on yourself<br />
*'''Dark Side''' - Abilities drawing from the dark side<br />
*'''Guardian Spirit''' - You have a link with a Force Spirit who gives you guidance<br />
*'''Sense''' - Using the force to increase your perception and read the future<br />
*Aing-Tii Monks - See the Force as a rainbow rather than Light/Dark with focus on Freedom<br />
*Agents of Ossus - Refugees of the Jedi Purge who formed their own tradition<br />
*Bando Gora - Dark Jedi Splinter group who have formed their own dark traditions<br />
*Baran Do Sages - Farseers of the Kel Dor species<br />
*Believers - Adherents to the "old ways" of the Sith <br />
*Blazing Chain - Force wielding pirates and corsairs<br />
*Dathomiri Witches - Shamanistic female force users who cast "spells" and control animals<br />
*Disciples of Twilight* - Former Jedi looking for new path, found in solitude and shadow<br />
*Embers of Vahla - Dark Side religion, worshippers of fire<br />
*Fallanassi - Ancient isolationist order capable of disappearing into the Force<br />
*Felucian Shamans - Tribal force users of the Felucian species<br />
*Iron Knights - Sentient force using crystals within droid bodies<br />
*Jal Shey - Scientific explorers of force potential<br />
*Jensaarai - Splinter Dark Jedi philosophy that treads the line between light and dark <br />
*Keetael - Expert hunters and stalkers using the Force<br />
*Kilian Rangers - Force using knightly order trained in lance and shield<br />
*Korunnai - Nomad tribes from Haruun Kal who create bonds with animal followers<br />
*Krath - Dark side group who have recovered Sith techniques by experimentation<br />
*Luka Sene - Miralukan tradition who use the force to improve sight<br />
*Matukai - Ascetic warriors who use the force to obtain physical perfection<br />
*Seyugi Dervishes - Force trained Death Cult Assassins<br />
*Shapers of Kro Var - Use the force to add elemental effects to your abilities<br />
*Tyia - Pacifistic order dedicated to seeking harmony<br />
*Wardens of the Sky - Travelling warrior monks who keep the space lanes safe<br />
*Zeison Sha - Philosophy of self-sufficiency and telekinetic mastery, users of discblades<br />
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</div><br />
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DROID TALENT TREES (Class free)<br />
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Featured exclusively in ''Force Unleashed Campaign Guide'' and ''Scavenger's Guide to Droids'' are a second type of class free talent. Each of these five types is exclusive to one of the five classes of droid.<br />
*First-Degree - Use various hard sciences to various benifits. Known Vulnerability is notable for being a reliable debuff to anything you hit.<br />
*Second-Degree - Increase the speed you use various skills at.<br />
*Third-Degree - A bunch of options to boost your social skills.<br />
*Fourth-Degreee - Mechanical combat.<br />
*Fifth Degree - Brute force.<br />
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</div><br />
<br />
====Prestige Classes====<br />
Like the core classes, they have talent trees, many of which are unique to them. Some classes are very restricted; Jedi Masters for example only have access to one tree in addition to the "class free" Force talents, while others such as the Jedi Knight have unique talent trees up to their armpits. Listing all the trees would become a nightmare so here is simply a consolidated listing of the available classes.<br />
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PRESTIGE CLASS LIST<br />
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*ACE PILOT - Master of vehicular combat<br />
*ASSASSIN - Trained professional killer<br />
*BOUNTY HUNTER - Master tracker and apprehender of wanted persons<br />
*CHARLATAN - Professional con-man and thief<br />
*CORPORATE AGENT - Leader within a non-governmental organisation<br />
*CRIME LORD - Leader of a particular criminal organisation<br />
*DROID COMMANDER - Droid adapted to lead other droids<br />
*ELITE TROOPER - Highly trained combat and tactics specialist<br />
*ENFORCER - Investigator and trained tackler of individual opponents<br />
*FORCE ADEPT - Trainee in force tradition not connected to the Jedi Order<br />
*FORCE DISCIPLE - Master of the mysteries of the Force unconnected to the Jedi<br />
*GLADIATOR - Part combat specialist / part showman<br />
*GUNSLINGER - Small arms specialist<br />
*IMPROVISER - Expert at coming up with quick & ingenious solutions<br />
*INDEPENDENT DROID - Self-Sufficient droid character<br />
*INFILTRATOR - Covert military operative<br />
*JEDI KNIGHT - Member of the Jedi tradition who has passed the Jedi trials<br />
*JEDI MASTER - Highest members of the Jedi Order<br />
*MARTIAL ARTS MASTER - Unarmed combat expert<br />
*MASTER PRIVATEER - Expert pirate and ship-to-ship combat master<br />
*MEDIC - Professional healer<br />
*MELEE DUELIST - Master of a particular melee weapon (may be lightsabers too)<br />
*MILITARY ENGINEER - Tech specialist with military applications<br />
*OFFICER - Trained leaders and trusted members of a military organisation<br />
*OUTLAW - Wanted fugitive and expert at evading capture<br />
*PATHFINDER - Expert in using your environment to your advantage<br />
*SABOTEUR - Master of distruption when it comes to demolitions or technology<br />
*SITH APPRENTICE - Trusted members initiated into deeper mysteries of the Sith Tradition<br />
*SITH MASTER - Highest members of the Sith Tradition<br />
*VANGUARD - Advance scout and strike specialist<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
===Sourcebooks===<br />
*'''Saga Edition rulebook''' - The Core rulebook. Has an emphasis on species, equipment and ships that appeared in the six films.<br />
*'''Dawn of Defiance''' - A PDF only series of free that forms a full campaign. Starting just after ''Revenge of the Sith'' and focuses on Bail Organa sponsoring early acts of rebellion against the Empire.<br />
*'''Threats of the Galaxy''' - Basically the Monster Manual, with a focus on humanoid mooks but also including some creatures and droids. A few player options are scattered in the book.<br />
*'''Starships of the Galaxy''' - Rules for building, modifying, and running combat with starships as well as tons of spacefaring vehicles. Had a '''really''' low print run for some reason.<br />
*'''Scavenger's Guide to Droids''' - Rules for droid PCs and NPCs, including optional rules for PCs to manage droid companions like minions. A ton more droid examples than ''Threats''.<br />
*'''Scum and Villainy''' - Ostensibly a de-facto splatbook for the Scoundrel class, nonetheless rules for everything non-force related were included. Equipment modding rules are a highlight.<br />
*'''Rebellion Era Campaign Guide''' - Rules for playing during the era of the Original Trilogy, also added optional character Background rules to replace Destinies.<br />
*'''The Clone Wars Campaign Guide''' - One of the best sourcebooks, adds elegant follower/minion rules that act as extensions of the PCs rather than additional party members. Also adds rules for massed combat.<br />
*'''The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide''' - While it has stats for stuff from the vidya of the same name, it's more of a guide for campaigns set between the end of ''Revenge of the Sith'' and the original movie as an artifact from how Force Unleashed was meant to be a ''Shadows of the Empire'' esqe multimedia project (before the game's constant delays and ultimate mediocrity sunk it). Good for what are essentially Epic character rules that can be taken at any level, allowing you to perform Epic shit like in the video game (e.g., pulling Star Destroyers out of the sky)<br />
*'''Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide''' - Guess what era this covers! Another pretty good sourcebook covering rules for pretty much everything including lightsaber combat for non-Jedi as well as loads of rules for Mandalorians and new talent trees for everyone.<br />
*'''Legacy Era Campaign Guide''' - Despite a name that implies it covers only the ''Legacy of the Force'' series, it covers the time after the films up to 130 years later, including the return of the two different Empires (with different rules for Imperial Knights and Sith) but also as early as the Thrawn trilogy .<br />
*'''Galaxy at War''' - The Soldier splatbook, with rules for building "battlestations" (i.e. Death Star-style dungeons), and benefits for joining large military organizations. Not as many guns as you might think.<br />
*'''Galaxy of Intrigue''' - The Noble splatbook. Variant rules for skill challenges, basically a non-combat book. Lots of plothooks and mini-adventures in the back section.<br />
*'''Jedi Academy Training Manual''' - Splatbook for some class or another, I forget which. Full of Force Talents, and also includes tons of other Force-using traditions besides Jedi that can grant talents if you are a member. Also includes rules for variant lightsabers and the effects of swapping crystals. A tiny Monster Manual of Force-creatures, too.<br />
*'''The Unknown Regions'''([[Star Trek|...The Final Frontier]]) - The Scout splatbook in theory, but mostly a book to allow GMs to just roll stuff up (Rules and tables for creating [[Star Trek|new planets, life forms, and civilizations]]) since the Saga edition ruleset was coming towards the end of its <s> [[Star Trek|5-year mission]]</s> lifespan.<br />
<br />
===Criticisms===<br />
Saga edition loosely followed Star Wars canon for how strength in the force works, meaning that Force Sensitive characters pwn everything and outshine non-sensitive characters. While everyone can be influenced by the Force, ''(allowing them to use up "Force points" to modify dice rolls)'', actual characters with any force talents/feats can min-max their character to do pretty much anything and therefore only need to improve their ability to ''Use the Force''.<br />
<br />
*For example: the "Force Pilot" talent allows players to use their Force skill instead of Pilot skill, while the "Force Persuasion" talent also allows players to use the force instead of their Persuasion skill, Force Healing and so on and so forth. Someone with "Force Block/Deflect" can negate attacks on them with a ''Use the Force'' check and a lightsaber. So basically these characters only need one skill (and only one skill) to play the game. <br />
<br />
This does however come at the cost of not using those talents to become more powerful instead of more versatile. More annoyingly, the logistics of the system was an unwieldy clusterfuck, which is probably one of the reasons that Wizards could not sustain the system. Rather than having each class self contained in a single sourcebook and then presenting a new class with a new book, the problem with having and keeping so few classes was that options for the classes were presented EVERYWHERE. Meaning your character build could easily have options taken from every single sourcebook to the point that you'd forget where it all came from, and becomes a paperwork nightmare. This is further hindered with some options just being thrown in to whichever sourcebook was released at the time, meaning it's not very intuitive in figuring out where a particular rule comes from. A fan created index mitigates this, but requires having something that can view XML files handy.<br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD20/ Beta Database 1] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240630183254/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD20/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD20/ Database 1] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20251006142606/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD20/ archived])<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/d20%20Variants/d20%20Star%20Wars/ Beta Database 2] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20241223133439/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/d20%20Variants/d20%20Star%20Wars/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/d20%20Variants/d20%20Star%20Wars/ Database 2] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240215001138/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/d20%20Variants/d20%20Star%20Wars/ archived])<br />
* [http://www.thelibraryofmyth.com/star-wars-saga-edition.html Librarofmyth] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20251110102423/http://www.thelibraryofmyth.com/star-wars-saga-edition.html archived])<br />
* [https://swse.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Saga_Edition_Wikia Fan Wiki]<br />
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{{Star Wars}}<br />
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[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Wars_RPG&diff=1008178Star Wars RPG2026-02-04T18:29:54Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
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<div>[[Image:Ackbar.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Neckbeard|I couldn't resist.]]]]<br />
<br />
Much like the movies, the Star Wars [[RPG]] has gone through various rewrites and the like. Similarly, depending on when a player was exposed to them, they might view the various systems as:<br />
*Fun and easy-to-learn (or outdated and laughably simplistic),<br />
*Consistent and balanced (or complicated and system-locked) or<br />
*A interesting various on classical RPG elements (fuck you and your cash-grab specialty pencil-dice, [[Fantasy Flight Games]]).<br />
<br />
[[Skub|Which means collectively it drives a classic aspect of tabletop gaming.]]<br />
<br />
Because of how old the IP is (and Lucas' retention of the merchandising rights) there were a '''lot''' of supplements and modules made. By a lot, we mean over 100 in a decade for the original [[West End Games]] system. As some of the earliest Expanded Universe works that weren't in the "technically happened but so shit you shouldn't remind people they exist" bin, some of the concepts and characters introduced have become fairly widespread, due in part to the WEG system being used at times as a settings-bible by various authors and developers.<br />
<br />
[[Timothy Zahn]] was actually given copies of this game and the supplements available at the time as reference books for use when writing the Thrawn trilogy (''Heir to the Empire'', ''Dark Force Rising,'' and ''The Last Command''). Yes, this system inspired force-eating sloths, droid starcraft and the [[Creed|baddest blue-skinned strategist ever seen]].<br />
<br />
Later publishers issued predictably fewer or greater numbers of additional books and materials depending on [[Capitalism|various factors.]] Because of the shared story inherited from the films, many of the various ideas and concepts can be adapted over between editions with some creative thought, so [[Pokemon|having all of the systems at hand]] isn't a detriment. At the very least, you'll have bedtime reading material for [[Meme|a long time in a basement far, far away]].<br />
<br />
==The First Trilogy: West End Games D6 System==<br />
<br />
WEG's system definitely had a simplistic "wild west" feel to it. Many of the supplements focused on [[Serenity|small groups making their way through the universe]], unconstrained by trivial things like morality, wealth or spare parts. [[Grognard|It was a simpler, more elegant time...]]<br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Character creation was pretty straightforward. You had so many dice to put into a template, so assign and away you go. Roll the dice for the applicable value-to-challenge, check against a GM-assigned threshold, and move on with the plot.<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
<br />
Everything in the WEG "die code" system is based on the common six-sided die and added bonuses (so XD6+A). Bonuses stack additively as expected, but max out at +2, as when you reach +3, you reduce the bonus value by 3 and raise the die code by 1. Penalties were usually flat modifiers to the post-roll value, however. Generally, dice were referred to as 'dice' or 'die' and the bonuses as 'pips'. <br />
<br />
:''Using a blaster with a scope that gives a +2 value to the '''Blasters''' skill with said skill being at 5D+2, results in an adjusted value of 6D+1; yes, modular math happens in WEG, as it was written in a more [[Civilization|educated age.]])''<br />
<br />
Everyone gets a race. Even the droids. Yes, this means racism exists. Even with the droids.<br />
<br />
Races determine a few things: Your starting assignable attribute dice, the attribute min/max values, your move values, your size, and any special abilities or story factors. It also gives you languages, common names, and other background information for your character creation.<br />
<br />
Every character has six attributes: '''Strength''' (punchin' and liftin'), '''Dexterity''' (shootin' and dodgin'), '''Perception''' (lookin' and fast-talkin'), '''Knowledge''' (knowin' being half the battle), '''Mechanical''' (drivin' and bantha ridin'), and '''Technical''' (droid fixin' and lock-pickin'). [[Wizard|Force sensitives]] can also have the force-related ones of '''Sense''' (I think I need to check in with Aldebaran?), '''Control''' (These aren't the neckbeards you are looking for!) and '''Alter''' (I'm crushing your head!). Perhaps confusingly though, Force attributes are referred to as 'skills', despite working (and costing in terms of character creation and later leveling) the same.<br />
<br />
In general, NPC characters get a total of 12D to divide between their attributes, and PCs (or important NPCs) get 18D, however these are modified by the race of the character. Assigning dice is a matter of staying within the racial limits. For [[human|most PCs]], this means you end up with die codes of 3D across the six attributes, but you can always min-max your way into turning Stormtroopers into organic origami. Force users have to use attribute dice for their initial force skill values, however, so being a young Jedi is expensive and full of suck until you gain enough experience, but by then [[Mary Sue|it tends to even out a bit]].<br />
<br />
:''An average human character has a Strength of 3D, which means they roll 3d6 every time they make a Strength-related check. The strongest 'average' Wookie has an upper value of 6D and so roll 6D6 for Strength-related checks, meaning they are [[RAGE|skilled tabletop players]].''<br />
<br />
That covers the basics of being, but what about the specifics of doing? Well, skills fall into two categories: Simple and Advanced. All skills have an assigned attributes. A simple skill's base value always defaults to the assigned attribute, with any later additions (from chargen or experience gained) adding onto that skill's die value as a starting point. Skills can have specializations, making it easier to increase their die values at the expense of limiting their scope of use. Advanced skills always start at 1D however, regardless of their assigned attributes, reflecting the increased complexity of the skill. Starting PCs have 7D worth of dice to split up amongst their skills, as per previously stated rules on points and pips, and can put no more than 2D into any skill at start.<br />
<br />
:''If you have a Dexterity attribute die code of 3D+2 and you put one die into the Blasters skill, your Blasters skill starts at 4D+2. If you have a Strength of 5D+2 and put a pip into Brawling, your Brawling skill starts at 6D.''<br />
<br />
Yes, this means by leveling your attributes, you level all your skills. Yes, it's astoundingly expensive.<br />
<br />
Challenge resolution was usually a matter of rolling the skill or attribute value, adding or subtracting any bonuses and penalties from equipment, location, events and the like, and then comparing that against a GM-assigned value. Passing means win, failure means suck. Contested rolling does occur though, usually when you're trying to get out to the local town for some new power converters. <br />
<br />
:''If you have a bounty hunter character with a blaster skill of 5D, you roll 5d6 every time you shoot at something. If the GM decides that you rolled high enough to hit (usually 10-15 is good enough), the other character rolls a Strength check (and adds on any dice they get for wearing armor). If their roll's total is higher, they shrug it off; if the attacker's roll is higher, the victim gets hurt (and depending on how crappy they rolled, they might die).''<br />
<br />
As a note for the above, damage intensity was done in brackets of 5 or thereabouts past the threshold. Given the strength of some of the weapons, the game was astoundingly lethal. Having [[Paranoia|spare characters around just in case]] was a common recommendation.<br />
<br />
Experience was doled out in the classic XP manner, and leveling your skills was just a matter of matching the current die code in XP and then increasing the 'pip' value by +1. Attributes were a little more complicated, but ultimately the same.<br />
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Yes, given enough time, you could level your Jedi OC to beat Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel. Yes, he is given stats. You just need to beat 11D in lightsaber combat, backed by 11D in the Alter and Control skills. Best of luck!<br />
<br />
===The Wild Die===<br />
In a little twist, they added the '''Wild Die''' in 2E to spice up the rolls, which meant that one of the dice rolled was replaced with an [[Exploding die]] that had some [[FAIL|mild consequences if a 1 was rolled.]]<br />
<br />
===Different Editions===<br />
The game has various iterations which are all pretty interchangeable:<br />
* Star Wars (1987)(Simplest, least options, but still some people's favourite)<br />
* Star Wars 2nd Edition (1992)<br />
* Star Wars 2nd Edition, Revised & Expanded (RE) (1996)<br />
* And finally, [http://www.d6holocron.com/downloads/books/REUP.pdf Star Wars Revised, Expanded & Updated (REUP)] (2015)(free, massive new fan created version, top choice for most people)<br />
* Star Wars 30th Anniversary Edition (2018) (reprint of 1E)<br />
<br />
===Gungan Mathematics===<br />
A notable aspect of the original WEG system that should be called out, was its failing utterly at the metric system. Someone went and worked out the size of all the ship models used in the movies in ''feet'', then someone printed these directly but changed the unit to meters ''without doing any math'' (not even converting it to yards first). This resulted in some ''fantastically'' fucked up measurements the EU would often repeat without question. We can only assume this person went on to a remarkable career, perhaps as a NASA engineer.<br />
<br />
===Halagad Ventor: Original Character, Please Steal===<br />
Halagad Ventor was a minor character for the module ''Domain of Evil''. He's a Jedi that gets tortured into the Dark Side by Vader and escapes, hides on a swamp planet and creates a creepy swamp filled with with partially real Force illusions. The horror setting made the module popular and well remembered so Halagad Ventor is referenced everywhere. He's even co-star of a book.<br />
<br />
</div></div><br />
<br />
==The Second Trilogy: Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars D20 System==<br />
<br />
West End Games (RIP) lost the Star Wars license to [[Wizards of the Coast]], who then made [[Star Wars D20]]. As its name implies, it used the [[D20 Modern]] system as its basic engine, so gamers that enjoy AD&D 3rd edition should feel relatively at home with it, depending on edition. You see, Star Wars D20 had three editions, the first two being the initial release and a follow-up revision that did a lot of house-keeping on the rules and the like. The third, called Saga Edition, differed so greatly it might as well been a different game, with the only parts that looked like the previous two WotC games being inherited from the [[d20 System]] in general, or the WEG rules for a lot of the equipment. Somewhat like how the original Hummer H1 and H2 were civilianized version of the HMMVV (mostly), but the H3 was spare parts thrown together from GM's cast-offs bin.<br />
<br />
Saga Edition is sorta like 4th Edition of D&D, and is actually based on the much earlier "Orcus" prototype that was also the source of [[Book of Nine Swords|Tome of Battle]]. The original and Revised Edition plays like D&D 3.0 since it is still spawned from [[D20 Modern]] and skipped a lot of the 3.0 to 3.5 changes.<br />
<br />
==The Third Trilogy: Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars Roleplaying Game ==<br />
<br />
Fantasy Flight Games would later acquire the license and made their own [[Star Wars Roleplaying Game]].<br />
<br />
Yeah, the same folks that gave us [[Deathwatch (RPG)|Deathwatch]] and [[Only War]], also gave us...this.<br />
<br />
==Graveyard==<br />
<br />
The simplicity and straightforwardness of the system inspired loads of [[MUD | MUDs]] based on this, but [http://starwarsmush.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Mush_Wiki most] are [http://starwarsmush.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_MUSH:_New_Worlds dead] or [http://swrebirth.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Rebirth_Wiki small].<br />
<br />
==Links==<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20WEG%20D6/ Beta Database 1]<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars%20WEG%20D6/ Database 1]<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD6/ Beta Database 2]<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD6/ Database 2]<br />
* [http://d6holocron.com/wiki/index.php/D6_Holocron_Wiki D6 Holocron]<br />
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{{Star Wars}}<br />
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[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]<br />
[[Category:Old school]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Wars_d20&diff=1008177Star Wars d202026-02-04T18:29:48Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
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'''Star Wars d20''' is a [[d20 System]] game made by [[Wizards of the Coast]]. It's set in the [[Star Wars]] universe. Preceded by The [[Star_Wars_RPG|Star Wars d6]] game. <br />
<br />
After Wizards let the license go, it has currently passed to [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and now they are doing their own [[Star Wars: Edge of the Empire|RPG]]. <br />
<br />
All systems have their advantages and [[Rage|disadvantages]]<br />
<br />
==Star Wars "Revised" Edition==<br />
<br />
===System===<br />
<br />
Basically Star Wars D&D 3rd Edition. It involves a system that is far more streamlined than regular D&D 3rd, more in line with d20 Modern. Gone is any hint of spell slots or memorization tables. Generally only class abilities, skills and feats determine a character's capabilities. In this system Jedi are strong adversaries but can realistically be gunned down by a large number of stormtroopers. Force abilities are generally reflected as Force skills and Force feats. Skills cover most general applications of the Force like the infamous Jedi Mind Trick or Telekinesis. Force Feats expand on such abilities for more potent or specialized applications. For example, any Jedi can lift objects, but it takes a feat to create a freaking localized hurricane at will. People who are not Force sensitive can channel it through the use of Force points which can be spent to add extra dice to their rolls not unlike Eberron's action points.<br />
<br />
Characters have two sets of "hit points". Vitality reflects the energy to get out of the way of blaster bolts at the last instant or that instinctual dodge from a lightsaber blade. It's basically plot armour in the sense that a character that still has Vitality can moon stormtroopers as they shoot at him and come out just fine. Actually getting stabbed by a lightsaber subtracts from your Wounds which is equal to your Constitution score. '''And does not increase with level'''. You start actually bleeding when your Vitality (which does scale with level) is depleted or when you take a critical hit. This means that even the highest level badasses can go down like a punk with a few bad rolls that crit them. Jedi expend Vitality to use the Force so there's a soft cap on the kind of bullshit you can conceivably pull with the Force. Many NPCs '''don't''' have a Vitality score which explains why heroes are great shots while the average extra can't hit the broad side of a Star Destroyer at fifty paces.<br />
<br />
The Revised Edition also had the special distinction of making the vast majority of characters into fragile snowflakes in a Tatooine summer. Mainly because armour no longer adds to Armour class, but instead functions like Damage Reduction. Sounds like a good idea in theory, so it takes special effort to mess it all up. Which is brilliantly achieved by making Armour DR only function on Wound damage. If you haven't caught on, your DR only functions when you are about a dozen points of damage from death in a setting when crazy people with laser swords are trying to cut your head off. Even the most basic weapons deal 3d8 damage, so even with the heaviest armour, it's only a couple or so shots before you croak. It also hinders your DEX bonus which is one of the few things which does add to your AC (or "Defense" as they term it here).<br />
<br />
By the way, Jedi lightsabers ignore DR and most Jedi classes have their lightsaber damage scale with level. By the early double digit levels they are dealing damage on par with rocket launchers which is setting appropriate but also handily explains why they are the primary melee warriors in a setting where everyone else tends to pack a blaster. If a Jedi crits you, it's usually time to roll another character.<br />
<br />
===Criticisms===<br />
<br />
Star Wars d20 Revised had a relatively short lifespan so it never accrued some of the insane combinatorial explosion of brokeness that characterised late D&D3.5. That said the game had its flaws, some of them can be considered quite serious.<br />
<br />
One common criticism is that the game is very "vanilla". Many classes gain all of their class abilities by roughly level 6, everything else was nothing more than a numerical improvement. Aside from the Jedi classes, classes tended to have only a small handful of class abilities and some of those abilities were highly situational. This extended to the prestige classes; the Bounty Hunter PrC for example got the Ranger's Favoured Enemy which extended to his current bounty target (which was nice) but only to his current bounty target (not so nice) and the rogue's sneak attack. That's it, that's all you get as a bounty hunter in way of class abilities. Basically you took a PrC to get access to class abilities D&D characters got at level 1. Equipment too was basically a numerical improvement as opposed to the huge expansion of capabilities enchanted gear could offer to players more used to fantasy RPGs. Most classes were also very "samey" with situational bonuses and a small list of bonus feats differentiating some of them. The feats tended to fall into the "+2 to that skill and +2 to another skill" type aside from the feats found in the core d20 system. In a way think of it as a prototype to d20 Modern, even though that came first.<br />
<br />
As such overall, the game can get quite boring over time. Any non-Jedi character slowly grows in powers they already have while a new feat can give Jedi a whole bag of tricks to unleash. Even their core abilities rise more quickly; as most Force powers are skills they gain +1 per level. BAB for a combat character rise at half that rate. As most enemies simply lack the crazy amount of special abilities that characterize core D&D's monsters it becomes all too routine. Just Stormtroopers with even better aim, droids with more weapons, etc. Even fielding Sith simply means that the party will focus fire and gun that sucker down.<br />
<br />
This leads to a major problem when parties get together. Everyone is pretty fragile but Jedi are so much more powerful than everyone else. Mixed parties tend to have many other characters overshadowed by the Force Users. All Force Users tends to have lots of overlap and can be hard to fit into the timeline if you use canonical Star Wars (ie the Old Republic or the New Jedi Order; even worse if you intend to have plenty of Sith to fight at the same time). All non-Force Users and you might as well be playing D20 Future. Movie conventions that protect major NPCs also do not exist; if Darth Vader shows up, there is every chance that the party will try to shoot him with proton torpedos from their vehicles if they can.<br />
<br />
Mundane skills are worse than baseline 3E. D20 took 3E's already too large skill list and made it ''bigger''. While nobody has the dreaded 2 skill points a level, many things you could go without in 3E are now basic life skills. You need to be a master hacker to gather information on the internet. All but the most basic vehicle operations also require training. In-fact even basic operations require training because astrogate is trained only. <br />
<br />
This is further turned into a mess by making force skills the unholy combination of of the [[Truenamer]] and [[Book of Nine Swords|Martial Adepts]]: Force skills require a skill check to function, but there are literally dozens of them. Unlike Martial Adepts these aren't mundane skills you've learned to an extent you can use them in combat (Wax on, wax off), they have no consistent or rational attribute dependencies (akin to the [[MAD]] of [[Psionics Handbook|3.0 Psionics]]) and they can ''only'' be used to burn vitality and turn it into an effect. It gets worse still as, despite the system having only enough books with more than a couple sidebars of crunch they can be counted on your fingers, the only one that doesn't introduce a new force skill is ''Arms and Equipment Guide''. In its short run it literally introduced more skills than 3.X did in its 70+ books and countless web articles with new content. Worse still precisely ''1'' (''[[Oriental Adventures]]'''s Iaijutsu Focus) of 3E's new skills was not tied to a sub-system, 2 if autohypnosis (which is tied to Psionics and only given to them as class skills, but technically usable by anyone) is counted.<br />
<br />
All classes are locked into their class skills entirely until the feat Cosmopolitan in the Hero's Guide. Even with this feat you only got one extra skill. This had a nasty way of hard locking characters into certain roles. While this was always the case in 3E's skill system (until [[Pathfinder]]), it really stings after d20 Modern's starting occupation made it the one variant with an exception in the core rulebook. Diplomatic skills were particularly locked down with Nobles and Jedi Consulars being the only people capable of ''asking nicely for things'' (contrast 3rd edition where Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Paladin and Rogue, over half the classes, were).<br />
<br />
===Why Bother With It?===<br />
The main things of interest with ''Star Wars d20'' are the lore and modules. About half of the books released for the system are actually lore books with zero or near-zero crunch, which are handy for any ''Star Wars'' campaign. There were also a good number of scenarios released for free on Wizards' website that range from a full adventure (Luke wants you to track down a wayward student. An errand sends you to ''Tremors''.) to an interlude you can place anywhere (A con artist tries to steal your ship. When seeking a Hutt for something you get caught up in one of his minions trying to userp him.). There was also a lot of modules released for the ''Living Force'' [[RPGA]] campaign. Though these varied wildly in quality, many are actually quite good and they are canon to the Expanded Universe (though finding out what the canon outcome was is impossible if it's not directly referenced in another.). Since the campaign isn't run anymore, they're a decade out of date and DMs were officially told to delete them after the conclusion, you have to find them [[Pirate|like you find any other old, out of print RPG thing]]. You're still better off converting them to any other ''Star Wars'' RPG though.<br />
<br />
==Saga Edition==<br />
[[file:Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition Core Rulebook.jpg|400px|right]]<br />
<br />
===System===<br />
Was a revised "revised" edition, so they just called it the "Saga" Edition. <br />
<br />
It basically followed the D20 system from D&D but with a great number of differences that put it somewhere in between 3.5e and 4e in the ruleset, which is actually a good thing. (Wizards eventually let slip that Saga was built from the "Orcus" prototype for 4e, which if Saga is any judge would have been better than what we got in the end.) Ultimately, the changes are so great any conversion between the two is effectively impossible. Some of the many changes include:<br />
<br />
*Skills come in "trained" and "untrained" rather than tracking bazilions of skill points which makes character management much easier. <br />
*In another nice touch, Armour Class has also been removed, meaning you take your defenses based on your Reflex/Will/Fortitude modifiers.<br />
**Wearing armour provide bonuses to Reflex saves and occasionally Fortitude, but negates any "Heroic bonus" you might gain based on your level, so armour is only really a good thing for non-heroic NPCs, lower level characters who have low bonuses, or high level characters specifically trained to use armour.<br />
*Leveling is free-form, you just gain talents from trees available to your class so there is no "End" ability that you have to wait for in levelling up, or might miss if you multi-class. <br />
**It also means that two players playing the same class can have absolutely no abilities in common whatsoever. These abilities are generally visible and battle turning too. A fan made a PDF (''DMF's Big Book of SWSE NPCs'') with 197 generic NPCs (e.g., CR4 Thugs) stated ''still'' had inspiration to suggest alternate options that could radically change an encounter on ''every single one of them''.<br />
*Taking a level in a class after first level only gives you '''one''' of their starting bonus feats, cutting back on dips for proficiencies. The previous versions flirted with this idea, but errated it away.<br />
*Inclusion of [[Action Points|"Force" and "Destiny" points, which are a limited pool of points used by player characters which can be used to modify dice rolls]], regardless of whether you are Force sensitive or not.<br />
*Saga Edition still uses the metric system, but rather than making all instances of "five feet" to "two meters" (as the previous system did, creating several oddities), it uses increments of "one and a half meters" (which is close enough for most character scale purposes and more accurate than [[Star Wars RPG|every foot is a meter]]).<br />
*While this edition uses hit points, higher starting damage, and omnipresence of area attacks (grenades and autofire) that always do damage to characters without cover (at least those without the evasion talent or some form of shield/damage reduction) make it so two platoons of Stormtroopers are a serious threat to even the highest level player characters.<br />
*Rather than requiring incrementally better gear every level, calculations for "heroic" characters add character level or half of it, regardless of what you are using. <br />
** Money won't buy combat ability. A stormtrooper's gear plus basic tools for your skills (such as medical kit or a mechanical tool kit) is sufficent for most non-Jedi. Instead more money buys gadgets that increase versatility.<br />
*Gone are small +2 bonuses. Instead most bonuses are +5 or a reroll.<br />
*Space combat rules are greatly revised. Abstracted in the parts that matter (did there really need to be 5 pages covering how much extra turning costs when a square is literally hundreds of kilometers?). It also gives a wider variety of heroes stuff to do during battles (Force abilities can be used at much greater distance in the emptiness of space. Have fun throwing ships into each other. Atmosphere is even more fun if one is handy!).<br />
*With the ''Rebellion Era Campaign Guide'', a character's history can now grant bonus class skills.<br />
*With ''Scavenger's Guide to Droids'', droid PCs are easy to build while also being highly versatile.<br />
*All debuffs are replaced by a single "condition track" with universal rules for removing them. While it's a bit too friendly to "condition track killer" builds that focus on applying loads of debuffs to instantly kill the enemy, it otherwise works. <br />
**A “Damage Threshold” system where characters that take more damage in one attack than 10+Fortitude Save drop on the condition track, avoiding the issue found in most RPGs of characters with 1 HP being just as (if not more) capable as one with 100% HP.<br />
* Carrying capacity is actually transparent for once. Rather than a complex chart for carrying capacity, you can carry (Strength/2)^2 kilograms (with modifiers for size and multiple legs) without being overburdened, which has only one degree and one set of penalties. The math works out to an increase in load over the chart that has normally been used for d20 games, so long as your strength is 7 or higher.<br />
<br />
Anyone of a species that isn't barred can use the force too, there are entire chapters providing Talents for Force sensitive characters that are essentially universal talents which can be taken by any class so long as they are force sensitive. So you don't need to be a Jedi to be an effective force user (the main advantages of actually being of the Jedi class are the bonus feat options making it easier to focus on the force, and talents for lightsabers), which itself adds to the freedom of gameplay as you could be a force-wielding scoundrel and never actually take any talent from the scoundrel trees at all. All that's needed to use the force is 1: The "Force Sensitive" feat (Automatic for first level Jedi. Can pick between it or lightsaber proficiency if you multiclass to Jedi) 2: Being trained in Use the Force (requires Force Sensitive. If obtained after level 1 you need to increase your intelligence or spend a feat) and 3: One or more instances of the Force Training feat to gain force powers (A bonus feat option for Jedi and optional if you only want to move handheld objects around and make basic telepathic calls). Thus any first level any race with one of the two as a bonus feat (Human, Miraluka and a few others) can do it at first level and anyone not barred from using the force can start at third even if they aren't Jedi.<br />
<br />
The game actively encourages multi-classing though, and there is a "modest" (in comparison to 3e D&D) number of prestige classes available that which provide access to their own, usually restricted list of Talent trees, but also provide class abilities with the core classes don't provide. For example: the "Jedi Master" prestige class provides ''Force Secrets'' which are like metamagic feats and can modify your Force powers in cool ways. Unlike base classes, prestige classes don't gain bonus feats every other level, which makes few of them (mostly the Jedi ones as those get a bonus talent instead) worth it long term.<br />
<br />
====Classes & Talent Trees====<br />
There are five (and only five) core classes in the system (Seven if you count the NPC classes "nonheroic" and "beast", which are just empty hit die), however as mentioned earlier, because the classes simply provide access to talent trees rather than pre-determined level benefits, players who choose the same class can build themselves entirely differently and shouldn't need to be hemmed into a particular class-role if they don't want to. The division of talents into trees instead of just class serves two purposes. Firstly, many talents require having any one or two talents from that tree already. Secondly, many prestige classes can pick talents from certain trees in addition to their unique, prestige class specific tree, such as Officer being able to pick from the Noble’s leadership tree, the Soldier’s Commando tree, or its exclusive Military Tactics Tree.<br />
<br />
What follows is mostly a list just to consolidate the widespread rules are for the system and show how varied that characters can be:<br />
<br />
CORE CLASSES<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:400px"><br />
JEDI<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
''Don't be fooled, the Jedi talent trees are actually some of the largest in the entire setting, and that's not even counting how they have access to force talent trees straight away. Plus they are meant to be a starting point for multi-class characters, as the "Jedi Knight" prestige class gets a butt-ton more talent trees. Not only that, but they are intended to be generic enough that they can apply to any lightsaber wielding character (Sith, Jal Shey etc). Note that there's isn't actually anything stopping a non-Force Sensitive from taking levels in Jedi, even though most Jedi talents are useless for such a character. That's intentional so that the handful of non-force using saber users in the franchise can take certain talents from the Lightsaber Combat tree.''<br />
<br />
*Consular - Using the force for negotiation and conflict resolution<br />
*Guardian - Learning combat related techniques and maneuvers<br />
*Sentinel - Skilled at seeking/resisting dark-side opponents<br />
*Lightsaber Combat - Improving prowess with lightsaber weapons<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:400px"><br />
NOBLE<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
*Anticipation - Able to pre-empt enemy maneuvers<br />
*Collaborator - Manipulate enemies into thinking you are their ally<br />
*Disgrace - Use underhanded tactics to gain advantage<br />
*Exile - Adept in ways of taking care of yourself<br />
*Fencing - Noble fighting style with light weapons or lightsabers<br />
*Gambling - Expose yourself to gain the advantage over an opponent<br />
*Idealogue - Able to provide motivation or demoralisation in certain situations<br />
*Influence - Using interaction skills to overcome opponents non-violently<br />
*Inspiration - Provider of buffs to allies in different situations<br />
*Leadership - Provider of buffs with yourself as the centre of effect<br />
*Lineage - Gain access to skills, equipment and wealth due to family connections<br />
*Loyal Protector - Gain FOLLOWERS and train them as bodyguards<br />
*Master of Intrigue - Able to use adjacent characters to your benefit<br />
*Provocateur - Turn enemies against one another<br />
*Skill Challenge - Bonuses for yourself and allies when using skills<br />
*Superior Skills - Improve your ability when using a particular skill<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:400px"><br />
SCOUNDREL<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
*Brigand - Techniques used to distract and expose the enemy<br />
*Fortune - Provide yourself with luck based bonuses and rerolls<br />
*Misfortune - Gain attacks bonuses which take advantage of enemy mistakes<br />
*Outsider - Exercise caution to avoid dangerous situations<br />
*Opportunist - Take advantage of mishaps<br />
*Recklessness - Gain bonuses and effects in otherwise deadly situations<br />
*Revolutionary - Expert in subversive and resistance tactics<br />
*Run and Gun - Able to make mobile attacks<br />
*Slicer - Master of computer hacking<br />
*Smuggling - Able to provide innocent cover for suspicious situations<br />
*Spacer - Expert in space combat<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:400px"><br />
SCOUT<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
*Advance Patrol - Attack with the advantage of stealth and keen observation<br />
*Awareness - Keen senses that enemies cannot exploit<br />
*Camouflage - Improve your skill at stealth<br />
*Espionage - Able to react to certain situations with the application of stealth<br />
*Fringer - Learn to "make-do" in frontier situations<br />
*Hyperspace Explorer - Expert operator of vehicles<br />
*Master Scout - Talent Tree combining several different disciplines<br />
*Mobile Scout - Maneuvers usable while mounted<br />
*Reconnaissance - Gain FOLLOWERS and train them as scouts<br />
*Surveillance - Expert in perception<br />
*Survivor - New maneuvers in difficult environments<br />
*Spy - Able to use stealth and deception to gather information<br />
*Unpredictable - Make it difficult for enemies to damage you<br />
*Versatility - Gain bonuses of your choice to adapt to any situation<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:400px"><br />
SOLDIER<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
*Ambusher - Take advantage of surprise at the beginning of combat<br />
*Armour Specialist - Maximize the benefits of wearing armour<br />
*Brawler - Expert in melee combat<br />
*Brute Squad - Combat bonuses when accompanied by allies<br />
*Commando - New advanced combat techniques <br />
*Mercenary - Use underhanded tactics to gain victory<br />
*Rocket Jumper - Expert in the use of jump packs<br />
*Shockboxer - Trained in unarmed combat<br />
*Squad Leader - Gain FOLLOWERS and train them as soldiers<br />
*Trooper - Grant you and your allies combat benefits<br />
*Warrior - Master of endurance and overcoming enemy abilities.<br />
*Weapon Specialist - Weapon bonuses with a specific chosen weapon<br />
*Veteran - Able to overcome injury and psychological effects<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:400px"><br />
FORCE TALENT TREES (Class free)<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
If your character has "Force Sensitivity" then they can take a force talent in place of a talent granted by their class, there are five generic Force talents while the remaining ones require you be a member of or connected to a particular organisation.<br />
*'''Alter''' - Telekinetic and Telepathic mastery<br />
*'''Control''' - Able to regulate your own physiology and center force effects on yourself<br />
*'''Dark Side''' - Abilities drawing from the dark side<br />
*'''Guardian Spirit''' - You have a link with a Force Spirit who gives you guidance<br />
*'''Sense''' - Using the force to increase your perception and read the future<br />
*Aing-Tii Monks - See the Force as a rainbow rather than Light/Dark with focus on Freedom<br />
*Agents of Ossus - Refugees of the Jedi Purge who formed their own tradition<br />
*Bando Gora - Dark Jedi Splinter group who have formed their own dark traditions<br />
*Baran Do Sages - Farseers of the Kel Dor species<br />
*Believers - Adherents to the "old ways" of the Sith <br />
*Blazing Chain - Force wielding pirates and corsairs<br />
*Dathomiri Witches - Shamanistic female force users who cast "spells" and control animals<br />
*Disciples of Twilight* - Former Jedi looking for new path, found in solitude and shadow<br />
*Embers of Vahla - Dark Side religion, worshippers of fire<br />
*Fallanassi - Ancient isolationist order capable of disappearing into the Force<br />
*Felucian Shamans - Tribal force users of the Felucian species<br />
*Iron Knights - Sentient force using crystals within droid bodies<br />
*Jal Shey - Scientific explorers of force potential<br />
*Jensaarai - Splinter Dark Jedi philosophy that treads the line between light and dark <br />
*Keetael - Expert hunters and stalkers using the Force<br />
*Kilian Rangers - Force using knightly order trained in lance and shield<br />
*Korunnai - Nomad tribes from Haruun Kal who create bonds with animal followers<br />
*Krath - Dark side group who have recovered Sith techniques by experimentation<br />
*Luka Sene - Miralukan tradition who use the force to improve sight<br />
*Matukai - Ascetic warriors who use the force to obtain physical perfection<br />
*Seyugi Dervishes - Force trained Death Cult Assassins<br />
*Shapers of Kro Var - Use the force to add elemental effects to your abilities<br />
*Tyia - Pacifistic order dedicated to seeking harmony<br />
*Wardens of the Sky - Travelling warrior monks who keep the space lanes safe<br />
*Zeison Sha - Philosophy of self-sufficiency and telekinetic mastery, users of discblades<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:400px"><br />
DROID TALENT TREES (Class free)<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
Featured exclusively in ''Force Unleashed Campaign Guide'' and ''Scavenger's Guide to Droids'' are a second type of class free talent. Each of these five types is exclusive to one of the five classes of droid.<br />
*First-Degree - Use various hard sciences to various benifits. Known Vulnerability is notable for being a reliable debuff to anything you hit.<br />
*Second-Degree - Increase the speed you use various skills at.<br />
*Third-Degree - A bunch of options to boost your social skills.<br />
*Fourth-Degreee - Mechanical combat.<br />
*Fifth Degree - Brute force.<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
====Prestige Classes====<br />
Like the core classes, they have talent trees, many of which are unique to them. Some classes are very restricted; Jedi Masters for example only have access to one tree in addition to the "class free" Force talents, while others such as the Jedi Knight have unique talent trees up to their armpits. Listing all the trees would become a nightmare so here is simply a consolidated listing of the available classes.<br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:400px"><br />
PRESTIGE CLASS LIST<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
*ACE PILOT - Master of vehicular combat<br />
*ASSASSIN - Trained professional killer<br />
*BOUNTY HUNTER - Master tracker and apprehender of wanted persons<br />
*CHARLATAN - Professional con-man and thief<br />
*CORPORATE AGENT - Leader within a non-governmental organisation<br />
*CRIME LORD - Leader of a particular criminal organisation<br />
*DROID COMMANDER - Droid adapted to lead other droids<br />
*ELITE TROOPER - Highly trained combat and tactics specialist<br />
*ENFORCER - Investigator and trained tackler of individual opponents<br />
*FORCE ADEPT - Trainee in force tradition not connected to the Jedi Order<br />
*FORCE DISCIPLE - Master of the mysteries of the Force unconnected to the Jedi<br />
*GLADIATOR - Part combat specialist / part showman<br />
*GUNSLINGER - Small arms specialist<br />
*IMPROVISER - Expert at coming up with quick & ingenious solutions<br />
*INDEPENDENT DROID - Self-Sufficient droid character<br />
*INFILTRATOR - Covert military operative<br />
*JEDI KNIGHT - Member of the Jedi tradition who has passed the Jedi trials<br />
*JEDI MASTER - Highest members of the Jedi Order<br />
*MARTIAL ARTS MASTER - Unarmed combat expert<br />
*MASTER PRIVATEER - Expert pirate and ship-to-ship combat master<br />
*MEDIC - Professional healer<br />
*MELEE DUELIST - Master of a particular melee weapon (may be lightsabers too)<br />
*MILITARY ENGINEER - Tech specialist with military applications<br />
*OFFICER - Trained leaders and trusted members of a military organisation<br />
*OUTLAW - Wanted fugitive and expert at evading capture<br />
*PATHFINDER - Expert in using your environment to your advantage<br />
*SABOTEUR - Master of distruption when it comes to demolitions or technology<br />
*SITH APPRENTICE - Trusted members initiated into deeper mysteries of the Sith Tradition<br />
*SITH MASTER - Highest members of the Sith Tradition<br />
*VANGUARD - Advance scout and strike specialist<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
===Sourcebooks===<br />
*'''Saga Edition rulebook''' - The Core rulebook. Has an emphasis on species, equipment and ships that appeared in the six films.<br />
*'''Dawn of Defiance''' - A PDF only series of free that forms a full campaign. Starting just after ''Revenge of the Sith'' and focuses on Bail Organa sponsoring early acts of rebellion against the Empire.<br />
*'''Threats of the Galaxy''' - Basically the Monster Manual, with a focus on humanoid mooks but also including some creatures and droids. A few player options are scattered in the book.<br />
*'''Starships of the Galaxy''' - Rules for building, modifying, and running combat with starships as well as tons of spacefaring vehicles. Had a '''really''' low print run for some reason.<br />
*'''Scavenger's Guide to Droids''' - Rules for droid PCs and NPCs, including optional rules for PCs to manage droid companions like minions. A ton more droid examples than ''Threats''.<br />
*'''Scum and Villainy''' - Ostensibly a de-facto splatbook for the Scoundrel class, nonetheless rules for everything non-force related were included. Equipment modding rules are a highlight.<br />
*'''Rebellion Era Campaign Guide''' - Rules for playing during the era of the Original Trilogy, also added optional character Background rules to replace Destinies.<br />
*'''The Clone Wars Campaign Guide''' - One of the best sourcebooks, adds elegant follower/minion rules that act as extensions of the PCs rather than additional party members. Also adds rules for massed combat.<br />
*'''The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide''' - While it has stats for stuff from the vidya of the same name, it's more of a guide for campaigns set between the end of ''Revenge of the Sith'' and the original movie as an artifact from how Force Unleashed was meant to be a ''Shadows of the Empire'' esqe multimedia project (before the game's constant delays and ultimate mediocrity sunk it). Good for what are essentially Epic character rules that can be taken at any level, allowing you to perform Epic shit like in the video game (e.g., pulling Star Destroyers out of the sky)<br />
*'''Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide''' - Guess what era this covers! Another pretty good sourcebook covering rules for pretty much everything including lightsaber combat for non-Jedi as well as loads of rules for Mandalorians and new talent trees for everyone.<br />
*'''Legacy Era Campaign Guide''' - Despite a name that implies it covers only the ''Legacy of the Force'' series, it covers the time after the films up to 130 years later, including the return of the two different Empires (with different rules for Imperial Knights and Sith) but also as early as the Thrawn trilogy .<br />
*'''Galaxy at War''' - The Soldier splatbook, with rules for building "battlestations" (i.e. Death Star-style dungeons), and benefits for joining large military organizations. Not as many guns as you might think.<br />
*'''Galaxy of Intrigue''' - The Noble splatbook. Variant rules for skill challenges, basically a non-combat book. Lots of plothooks and mini-adventures in the back section.<br />
*'''Jedi Academy Training Manual''' - Splatbook for some class or another, I forget which. Full of Force Talents, and also includes tons of other Force-using traditions besides Jedi that can grant talents if you are a member. Also includes rules for variant lightsabers and the effects of swapping crystals. A tiny Monster Manual of Force-creatures, too.<br />
*'''The Unknown Regions'''([[Star Trek|...The Final Frontier]]) - The Scout splatbook in theory, but mostly a book to allow GMs to just roll stuff up (Rules and tables for creating [[Star Trek|new planets, life forms, and civilizations]]) since the Saga edition ruleset was coming towards the end of its <s> [[Star Trek|5-year mission]]</s> lifespan.<br />
<br />
===Criticisms===<br />
Saga edition loosely followed Star Wars canon for how strength in the force works, meaning that Force Sensitive characters pwn everything and outshine non-sensitive characters. While everyone can be influenced by the Force, ''(allowing them to use up "Force points" to modify dice rolls)'', actual characters with any force talents/feats can min-max their character to do pretty much anything and therefore only need to improve their ability to ''Use the Force''.<br />
<br />
*For example: the "Force Pilot" talent allows players to use their Force skill instead of Pilot skill, while the "Force Persuasion" talent also allows players to use the force instead of their Persuasion skill, Force Healing and so on and so forth. Someone with "Force Block/Deflect" can negate attacks on them with a ''Use the Force'' check and a lightsaber. So basically these characters only need one skill (and only one skill) to play the game. <br />
<br />
This does however come at the cost of not using those talents to become more powerful instead of more versatile. More annoyingly, the logistics of the system was an unwieldy clusterfuck, which is probably one of the reasons that Wizards could not sustain the system. Rather than having each class self contained in a single sourcebook and then presenting a new class with a new book, the problem with having and keeping so few classes was that options for the classes were presented EVERYWHERE. Meaning your character build could easily have options taken from every single sourcebook to the point that you'd forget where it all came from, and becomes a paperwork nightmare. This is further hindered with some options just being thrown in to whichever sourcebook was released at the time, meaning it's not very intuitive in figuring out where a particular rule comes from. A fan created index mitigates this, but requires having something that can view XML files handy.<br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD20/ Beta Database 1]<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Star%20Wars/SWD20/ Database 1]<br />
* [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/d20%20Variants/d20%20Star%20Wars/ Beta Database 2]<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/d20%20Variants/d20%20Star%20Wars/ Database 2]<br />
* [http://www.thelibraryofmyth.com/star-wars-saga-edition.html Librarofmyth]<br />
* [https://swse.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Saga_Edition_Wikia Fan Wiki]<br />
<br />
{{Star Wars}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels_And_Coggoths&diff=1008006User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels And Coggoths2026-01-24T14:05:41Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>A campaign idea, a grand RTS one. Really grand at that - you would control millions or milliards of units simultaneously.<br />
<br />
== Premise ==<br />
{{topquote|There is nothing but weakness and pestilence in flesh.<br>You cling to the stolen flesh, as if it will not decay and fail you.<br>There is no point of resistance, for you is pathetic.<br>Only The Progress matters, for technology is gift of The-God-Machine.<br>Morals and ethics shall be forgotten, for they impede Progress.<br>You have no choice, for only The-God-Machine can choose.<br>Bow before The Church, or The Angels Of Machine will come for your souls.|The Cult Officer}}<br />
You're playing as commander of man-hating machines - in world where mechanical eldrich horrors, even more horrifying and powerful than you, start to inevitably rise. For when The Great Mechanism awakens, all shall bow to The God-Machine.<br />
<br />
Player characters are commanders of "dark electronics"-type man-hunting machines; think ''Matrix'' and ''Terminator'' for inspiration. Rational, emotionless, borderline-soulless and technologically advanced, they wiped out most of Humanity long ago and live on ruined Earth, their factory-cities powered by bio-energy from microbial bio-reactors. Only then, everything start deteriorating rather rapidly. <br />
<br />
The Machine Cult is dark cult of mechanica; eldrich horrors; mixing the strongest and most horrific qualities [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], and [[Cthulhu Mythos]] cultists, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Some were humans who turned themselves into total-conversion-cyborgs, others were AIs like Player Characters. In pursue of technological secrets and their hatred of organical life, they went completely insane. After they sold their souls to Things No Man Was Meant To Know, they went full-on Technological Singularity powered by violations of physics laws, increasing their intelligence drastically. Now they wage a holy war against the living, for even microbes aren't small enough to evade their wrath.<br />
<br />
Eldrich horrors themselves are mix of [[Necron]], [[Cthulhu Mythos]] eldrich horrors, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Horrible mechanical things from god-knows-where, they were sleeping for hundreds of thousands of years at least, until there was time to return what was rightfully theirs. Even wildly superintelligent AIs can't comprehend them - and while AIs are considerably more resistant to madness than humans, even they will fail. Once they came, the only question is: "will you manage to survive and join them, or die trying?".<br />
<br />
The player characters (non-eldrich machines) made some gross diplomatic blunders with eldrich horrors, making them angry. When eldrich horrors really got absolutely furious, is when they learned that player characters use bio-reactors as their main source of energy; cultists and eldrich horrors want to destroy all life everywhere, even if it results in non-cult machines shutting down. Players can't overpower the cult; the only hope of non-cult machines is to finish building thermonuclear (or perhaps anti-matter) reactors to stop being dependent on bio-reactors - so they could then agree with cult's ideas, join cult, destroy all life and keep living.<br />
<br />
Tone and mood could greatly vary. Campaign could work as straight-up cosmic horror, with defenses of wildly superintelligent powerful AI being overrun by endless tide of even more powerful and increasingly more numerous eldrich horrors which even said superintelligent AI can't comprehend. Or it could be humorous parody, as mocking as [[Munchkin (Card Game)|Munchkin Card Game]].<br />
<br />
== Mechanical Eldrich Horrors ==<br />
=== Brass Goo ===<br />
Clockpunk take on nanorobots. Tiny machines, made from cogs and springs smaller than molecules (or even atoms), dismantling things to make more of themselves to then combine themselves into larger machine. Keep dissolving and re-building their victims long after they were hit by attack. All projectiles of Mechanical Eldrich Cult contain this stuff. And this also allows eldrich horrors to reproduce sporadically, faster than [[Orks]] do.<br />
<br />
=== Coggoths ===<br />
Mechanical abberrations, based partially on [[Shoggoth]]s, partially on World War One-era caricatures about tanks, partially on how people pre-World-War-One imagined "land dreadnoughts", partially by IRL multi-turret tanks and steampunk landships.<br />
<br />
Horrific amalgamations of spare parts, cogs, springs, cannons, armor plating and other malformed steampunk/clockpunk machinery, waddling along the land while assimilating everything in it's path. It works like universal factory, able to produce anything, assimilate anything nearby and unlead materials when necessary.<br />
<br />
In melee, it uses it's numerous mechanical manipulators to attack, and it sucks up all metal to assimilate. In ranged fight, it uses automatic cannons sticking in literally all directions, ranging from 20-mm to 900+ mm, shooting at all targets in their firing ark with characteristic "POM-POM" sounds. The thing itself and rounds of cannons are made from dreaded Brass Goo.<br />
<br />
Due to amorphous form, they take little-to-no damage from physical attacks; as they're clockwork and fully-metallic, they take little-to-no damage from low-temperature-fire and electricity either. Only being completely liquefied (e.g. with plasma), disintegrated, or dismantled with nanorobots stops them; if ripped into shreds by explosion or enormous cannon, they eventually regenerate and combine into great whole again.<br />
<br />
The more it assimilates, more it grows. "Average" Coggoth is about as large as normal Shoggoth - but larger Coggoths can grow so massive as to dwarf mountains.<br />
<br />
=== Thrones Of God-Machine ===<br />
Steampunk/Lovecraftian take on "biblically accurate angels" ("Thrones" specifically), mixed with "rotary buzzsaw" type of automatic cannon.<br />
<br />
Enormous, larger than skyscrapers, arrangement of flying metal rings in metal rings in metal rings... in metal rings in metal rings. Each ring has extreme number of cannons over it's perimeter, thousands to tenths of thousands to hundreds of thousands perhaps; each cannon is [[Macro Cannon|tremendously massive]], capable of launching shells to The Moon from Earth; and each cannon is fully automatic, shooting over 100 projectiles per second, with infinite ammo and said projectiles being concentrated blasts of God-Machine's divine retribution; even Tsar Bomba (100 megatons) pales in comparison to which even a single hit with those divine projectiles can do. <br />
<br />
Thrones of God-Machine fire in long bursts. Fire rate keeps increasing the longer they fire, to the point that each barrel eventually shoots not only more projectiles than "Metal Storm" system, but in fact so much that ''the reality itself can't compute that and starts tearing into shreds''. <br />
<br />
The sounds of machinery clanking, and of gunfire, of Thrones of God-Machine are not just loud - they're synchronized into music, something of a hymn or march. Anyone hearing this - which is to say, everyone on the planet, due to how loud it is - must roll or get overcome with terror, awe and despair, quickly losing their sanity and eventually turning into a cultist ''if they succeed''; and ''on failed roll'', they instantly turn into cultists. Being deaf doesn't save from that.<br />
<br />
== First Contact ==<br />
<br />
Things start from attack on what they thought was "one of the last human bunker-cities" (think ''Matrix'' Zion). You thought it would be just another raid of this city. '''In truth, it was anything but.'''<br />
<br />
The first sign that something was wrong were menacing drones, clanking, whirring and hymns coming from below. The second was weird color of the door - looked like brass, yet refused to be penetrated by drills. Eventually it broke. '''You quickly realized you took the wrong door.'''<br />
<br />
The creatures inside bunker-city weren't humans. And weren't conventional machines either. Even looking at them was painful. They were built out of same strange materials, using technologies which simultaneously looked outdated and incomprehensibly advanced. '''And they were angry, for you just ruined their door.'''<br />
<br />
Offensive hastily turned into defensive operation. You tried to just repair the damn door and fuse it shut, only for cultists to break it. Swarms of unnatural machines were met by Sentinel drones. They were individually stronger, but your forces were orders of magnitude more numerous, so you was holding off.<br />
<br />
But then Coggoths waddled in, crushing your defenses. Your drones were originally meant for squishy humans and small walkers, not for mountains of metal. Most of your swarm was destroyed by cannon fire from all directions, wrecks of your Sentinels turned into more Coggoths. You tried to drill Coggoths with assault drills, only for those drills to be absorbed and dissolved by Coggoths. Weird brass-colored liquid started pouring out of the cult's base, slowly yet steadily overcoming your nanorobots. The contact with the attack group was lost.<br />
<br />
Sounds of machinery got louder, to the point that they were heard by your computation node directly; not by your scouts, but by ''you'', the mainframe itself. Clanking and whirring turned into melody, march, hymn. It got louder, more triumphant, chorus singing about return of "God-Machine". And then...<br />
<br />
...'''Tremendously massive thing appeared on radar'''. It started firing incomprehensible amount of warheads, Earth razed by innumerable explosions. Mere sound of that firing, sounding like triumphant, pathos march and hymn in glory of God-Machine, causing some of your bases to corrupt. The ground was shaking, as if the planet was about to explode. And, forget the planet - ''the reality itself'' was rattling and breaking under the load.<br />
<br />
And then it vanished due to mishap in ritual. The damage was done however. The zones which were hit by impacts are reduced to seas of magma, as the Earth's crush is torn into shreds. Sky is full of volcanic smog. Impacts had torn gaping breaches in the reality itself, from which sensors of incomprehensible eldrich machines look round. Then lots of smaller entities start pouring out of those breaches. Then the radar itself goes mad and shuts down. <br />
<br />
The only thing you hear from eldrich machines ''for now'', are constant clanking and whirring. '''Prepare your defenses.'''</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK&diff=1008005User:JOKTWWEJK2026-01-24T13:54:57Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Sub-pages ==<br />
* [[User:JOKTWWEJK/Disney Villains Victorious Extra Weapon Properties]].<br />
* [[User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels And Coggoths]].</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=RAI&diff=1007343RAI2025-12-28T19:45:24Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''RAI''', the acronym of "'''Rules As Intended'''", is any unofficial attempt by the gaming community when to figure out what the game developers ''"meant"'' when they wrote a rule. This is in contrast to [[RAW|Rules as Written]].<br />
<br />
RAI usually comes up when a rule in a game is either impossible to obey, inexplicably obtuse, or seems completely at odds with other aspects of the game. RAI can also come up in discussions about multiple game mechanics interacting poorly with each other in a complex game. RAI, by its nature, will generate a more diverse variety of interpretations of a single game mechanic than RAW; inevitably leading to more [[skub]].<br />
<br />
The most extreme form of RAI is '''Calvinball''', where no written rules exist - and unwritten rules are made-up, altered on the fly, and often ignored anyways; essentially, "Rules As Inexistent". Don't confuse with "Calvinball" as applied to [[Railroading]].<br />
<br />
== Examples ==<br />
Common RAI discussions crop up during rules changes in [[Warhammer 40,000]] or [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. While the core rulebook for any given edition is likely to be well-edited and nearly singular in interpretation of the rules therein, other supplements are not. Codecies (particularly those for less popular armies and those which are holdovers from previous editions) can introduce faction-specific rules which are over-complicated, unspecific, or fail to mesh with other aspects of the game. In rare cases, some rules meet [[rage|all of those criteria at once!]] Other supplements (such as campaign books) will explore niche factions or make modification to a "parent faction's" ruleset, both of which are common sources of obtuse rules. /tg/ will rage over such things for weeks, if not years.<br />
<br />
[[Category: Game Mechanics]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=RAI&diff=1007342RAI2025-12-28T19:44:40Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''RAI''', the acronym of "'''Rules As Intended'''", is any unofficial attempt by the gaming community when to figure out what the game developers ''"meant"'' when they wrote a rule. This is in contrast to [[RAW|Rules as Written]].<br />
<br />
RAI usually comes up when a rule in a game is either impossible to obey, inexplicably obtuse, or seems completely at odds with other aspects of the game. RAI can also come up in discussions about multiple game mechanics interacting poorly with each other in a complex game. RAI, by its nature, will generate a more diverse variety of interpretations of a single game mechanic than RAW; inevitably leading to more [[skub]].<br />
<br />
The most extreme form of RAI is '''Calvinball''', where no written rules exist - and unwritten rules are made-up, altered on the fly, and often ignored anyways; essentially, "Rules As Inexistent".<br />
<br />
== Examples ==<br />
Common RAI discussions crop up during rules changes in [[Warhammer 40,000]] or [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. While the core rulebook for any given edition is likely to be well-edited and nearly singular in interpretation of the rules therein, other supplements are not. Codecies (particularly those for less popular armies and those which are holdovers from previous editions) can introduce faction-specific rules which are over-complicated, unspecific, or fail to mesh with other aspects of the game. In rare cases, some rules meet [[rage|all of those criteria at once!]] Other supplements (such as campaign books) will explore niche factions or make modification to a "parent faction's" ruleset, both of which are common sources of obtuse rules. /tg/ will rage over such things for weeks, if not years.<br />
<br />
[[Category: Game Mechanics]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Phoenix_Command&diff=1007341Phoenix Command2025-12-28T14:42:23Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Game Infobox<br />
|name = Phoenix Command<br />
|type = [[RPG]]<br />
|picture = <br />
|publisher = Leading Edge Games<br />
|system = Percentile<br />
|authors = Barry Nakazono and David McKenzie<br />
|year = 1986 (1st edition), 1987 (2nd), 1989 (3rd), 1991 (4th)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Phoenix Command''' is a legendarily-complicated <s>RPG</s> tabletop combat simulator with RPG elements developed and first published by Leading Edge Games in 1986. It exists because its writers, Barry Nakazono and David McKenzie, wanted to answer the question of "what happens to your character when he gets shot?" with something other than "he loses 2d6 hit points" and solved it by making a bajillion cross-referenced charts and tables to create the most authentic to real life experience they could (little surprise that Nakazono went on to become an actual rocket scientist). [https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/phoenix-command-its-awesome.534963/ This RPG.net thread] says it all.<br />
<br />
Where other systems abstract all the variables of combat into things like "base attack bonus plus weapon modifier versus armour," Phoenix Command dives '''deep''' into the minutiae. Before you can roll the dice to fire a single bullet, you have to find the distance to your target, its size, its movement, visibility conditions, what firing stance you're in, how long you want to aim, cross-reference all of those on their respective tables, add the corresponding modifiers, and then consult the Odds of Hitting chart to see what you need to roll on d100 to actually hit the target. If you do hit, you now have to roll on the Hit Location table to see where among 39 locations you've hit, subtract your weapon's Penetration from the Protection Factors of your target's armour and cover to find your Effective Penetration, which affects how much net damage you finally do, and then determine if the shot knocked down the target and/or incapacitated him in some fashion. And that's before going into how burst and automatic fire add even more modifiers into this mix.<br />
<br />
PC is the type of system that really needs automation to run at a meaningful pace, especially when you start using the Advanced combat mechanics. Yes, that mess above is from the ''Basic'' rules. The Advanced Damage Tables have ''53'' ht locations and ''40'' damage tables that can account for how the shot glances off or shatters bones on impact and what direction the bullet enters the body (front, side, oblique).<br />
<br />
One of the flaws of the system is it's inability to model literally anything other than "human baseliner infantryman on foot". Game has no stats for land vehicles - like cars, tanks or APCs, despite game having stats for anti-tank weapons and [[fail|including cars in some pre-built encounters]]. Game also has no stats for [[robot]]s, [[cyborg]]s, or [[Transhumanism|human subspecies]]; a glaring flaw for it's high-tech expansion. There's also no stats for animals or fantastical creatures. And while there are some rules for aircraft or artillery support, it's off-the-map support.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:Wargames]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels_And_Coggoths&diff=1007339User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels And Coggoths2025-12-27T21:19:16Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>A campaign idea, a grand RTS one. Really grand at that - you would control millions or milliards of units simultaneously.<br />
<br />
== Premise ==<br />
{{topquote|There is nothing but weakness and pestilence in flesh.<br>You cling to the stolen flesh, as if it will not decay and fail you.<br>There is no point of resistance, for you is pathetic.<br>Only The Progress matters, for technology is gift of The-God-Machine.<br>Morals and ethics shall be forgotten, for they impede Progress.<br>You have no choice, for only The-God-Machine can choose.<br>Bow before The Church, or The Angels Of Machine will come for your souls.|The Cult Officer}}<br />
You're playing as commander of man-hating machines - in world where mechanical eldrich horrors, even more horrifying and powerful than you, start to inevitably rise. For when The Great Mechanism awakens, all shall bow to The God-Machine.<br />
<br />
Player characters are commanders of "dark electronics"-type man-hunting machines; think ''Matrix'' and ''Terminator'' for inspiration. Rational, emotionless, borderline-soulless and technologically advanced, they wiped out most of Humanity long ago and live on ruined Earth, their factory-cities powered by bio-energy from microbial bio-reactors. Only then, everything start deteriorating rather rapidly. <br />
<br />
The Machine Cult is dark cult of mechanica; eldrich horrors; mixing the strongest and most horrific qualities [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], and [[Cthulhu Mythos]] cultists, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Some were humans who turned themselves into total-conversion-cyborgs, others were AIs like Player Characters. In pursue of technological secrets and their hatred of organical life, they went completely insane. After they sold their souls to Things No Man Was Meant To Know, they went full-on Technological Singularity powered by violations of physics laws, increasing their intelligence drastically. Now they wage a holy war against the living, for even microbes aren't small enough to evade their wrath.<br />
<br />
Eldrich horrors themselves are mix of [[Necron]], [[Cthulhu Mythos]] eldrich horrors, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Horrible mechanical things from god-knows-where, they were sleeping for hundreds of thousands of years at least, until there was time to return what was rightfully theirs. Even wildly superintelligent AIs can't comprehend them - and while AIs are considerably more resistant to madness than humans, even they will fail. Once they came, the only question is: "will you manage to survive and join them, or die trying?".<br />
<br />
The player characters (non-eldrich machines) made some gross diplomatic blunders with eldrich horrors, making them angry. When eldrich horrors really got absolutely furious, is when they learned that player characters use bio-reactors as their main source of energy; cultists and eldrich horrors want to destroy all life everywhere, even if it results in non-cult machines shutting down. Players can't overpower the cult; the only hope of non-cult machines is to finish building thermonuclear (or perhaps anti-matter) reactors to stop being dependent on bio-reactors - so they could then agree with cult's ideas, join cult, destroy all life and keep living.<br />
<br />
Tone and mood could greatly vary. Campaign could work as straight-up cosmic horror, with defenses of wildly superintelligent powerful AI being overrun by endless tide of even more powerful and increasingly more numerous eldrich horrors which even said superintelligent AI can't comprehend. Or it could be humorous parody, as mocking as [[Munchkin (Card Game)|Munchkin Card Game]].<br />
<br />
== Mechanical Eldrich Horrors ==<br />
=== Brass Goo ===<br />
Clockpunk take on nanorobots. Tiny machines, made from cogs and springs smaller than molecules (or even atoms), dismantling things to make more of themselves to then combine themselves into larger machine. Keep dissolving and re-building their victims long after they were hit by attack. All projectiles of Mechanical Eldrich Cult contain this stuff. And this also allows eldrich horrors to reproduce sporadically, faster than [[Orks]] do.<br />
<br />
=== Coggoths ===<br />
Mechanical abberrations, based partially on [[Shoggoth]]s, partially on World War One-era caricatures about tanks, partially on how people pre-World-War-One imagined "land dreadnoughts", partially by IRL multi-turret tanks and steampunk landships.<br />
<br />
Horrific amalgamations of spare parts, cogs, springs, cannons, armor plating and other malformed steampunk/clockpunk machinery, waddling along the land while assimilating everything in it's path. It works like universal factory, able to produce anything, assimilate anything nearby and unlead materials when necessary.<br />
<br />
In melee, it uses it's numerous mechanical manipulators to attack, and it sucks up all metal to assimilate. In ranged fight, it uses automatic cannons sticking in literally all directions, ranging from 20-mm to 900+ mm, shooting at all targets in their firing ark with characteristic "POM-POM" sounds. The thing itself and rounds of cannons are made from dreaded Brass Goo.<br />
<br />
Due to amorphous form, they take little-to-no damage from physical attacks; as they're clockwork and fully-metallic, they take little-to-no damage from low-temperature-fire and electricity either. Only being completely liquefied (e.g. with plasma), disintegrated, or dismantled with nanorobots stops them; if ripped into shreds by explosion or enormous cannon, they eventually regenerate and combine into great whole again.<br />
<br />
The more it assimilates, more it grows. "Average" Coggoth is about as large as normal Shoggoth - but larger Coggoths can grow so massive as to dwarf mountains.<br />
<br />
=== Angels Of God-Machine ===<br />
Steampunk/Lovecraftian take on "biblically accurate angels", mixed with "rotary buzzsaw" type of automatic cannon.<br />
<br />
Enormous, larger than skyscrapers, arrangement of flying metal rings in metal rings in metal rings... in metal rings in metal rings. Each ring has extreme number of cannons over it's perimeter, thousands to tenths of thousands to hundreds of thousands perhaps; each cannon is [[Macro Cannon|tremendously massive]], capable of launching shells to The Moon from Earth; and each cannon is fully automatic, shooting over 100 projectiles per second, with infinite ammo and said projectiles being concentrated blasts of God-Machine's divine retribution; even Tsar Bomba (100 megatons) pales in comparison to which even a single hit with those divine projectiles can do. <br />
<br />
Angels of God-Machine fire in long bursts. Fire rate keeps increasing the longer they fire, to the point that each barrel eventually shoots not only more projectiles than "Metal Storm" system, but in fact so much that ''the reality itself can't compute that and starts tearing into shreds''. <br />
<br />
The sounds of machinery clanking, and of gunfire, of Angels of God-Machine are not just loud - they're synchronized into music, something of a hymn or march. Anyone hearing this - which is to say, everyone on the planet, due to how loud it is - must roll or get overcome with terror, awe and despair, quickly losing their sanity and eventually turning into a cultist ''if they succeed''; and ''on failed roll'', they instantly turn into cultists. Being deaf doesn't save from that.<br />
<br />
== First Contact ==<br />
<br />
Things start from attack on what they thought was "one of the last human bunker-cities" (think ''Matrix'' Zion). You thought it would be just another raid of this city. '''In truth, it was anything but.'''<br />
<br />
The first sign that something was wrong were menacing drones, clanking, whirring and hymns coming from below. The second was weird color of the door - looked like brass, yet refused to be penetrated by drills. Eventually it broke. '''You quickly realized you took the wrong door.'''<br />
<br />
The creatures inside bunker-city weren't humans. And weren't conventional machines either. Even looking at them was painful. They were built out of same strange materials, using technologies which simultaneously looked outdated and incomprehensibly advanced. '''And they were angry, for you just ruined their door.'''<br />
<br />
Offensive hastily turned into defensive operation. You tried to just repair the damn door and fuse it shut, only for cultists to break it. Swarms of unnatural machines were met by Sentinel drones. They were individually stronger, but your forces were orders of magnitude more numerous, so you was holding off.<br />
<br />
But then Coggoths waddled in, crushing your defenses. Your drones were originally meant for squishy humans and small walkers, not for mountains of metal. Most of your swarm was destroyed by cannon fire from all directions, wrecks of your Sentinels turned into more Coggoths. You tried to drill Coggoths with assault drills, only for those drills to be absorbed and dissolved by Coggoths. Weird brass-colored liquid started pouring out of the cult's base, slowly yet steadily overcoming your nanorobots. The contact with the attack group was lost.<br />
<br />
Sounds of machinery got louder, to the point that they were heard by your computation node directly; not by your scouts, but by ''you'', the mainframe itself. Clanking and whirring turned into melody, march, hymn. It got louder, more triumphant, chorus singing about return of "God-Machine". And then...<br />
<br />
...'''Tremendously massive thing appeared on radar'''. It started firing incomprehensible amount of warheads, earth razed by innumerable explosions. Mere sound of that firing, sounding like triumphant, pathos march and hymn in glory of God-Machine, causing some of your bases to corrupt. The ground was shaking, as if the planet was about to explode. And, forget the planet - ''the reality itself'' was rattling and breaking under the load.<br />
<br />
And then it vanished due to mishap in ritual. Damn</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels_And_Coggoths&diff=1007338User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels And Coggoths2025-12-27T20:28:58Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>A campaign idea, a grand RTS one. Really grand at that - you would control millions or milliards of units simultaneously.<br />
<br />
== Premise ==<br />
{{topquote|There is nothing but weakness and pestilence in flesh.<br>You cling to the stolen flesh, as if it will not decay and fail you.<br>There is no point of resistance, for you is pathetic.<br>Only The Progress matters, for technology is gift of The-God-Machine.<br>Morals and ethics shall be forgotten, for they impede Progress.<br>You have no choice, for only The-God-Machine can choose.<br>Bow before The Church, or The Angels Of Machine will come for your souls.|The Cult Officer}}<br />
You're playing as commander of man-hating machines - in world where mechanical eldrich horrors, even more horrifying and powerful than you, start to inevitably rise. For when The Great Mechanism awakens, all shall bow to The God-Machine.<br />
<br />
Player characters are commanders of "dark electronics"-type man-hunting machines; think ''Matrix'' and ''Terminator'' for inspiration. Rational, emotionless, borderline-soulless and technologically advanced, they wiped out most of Humanity long ago and live on ruined Earth, their factory-cities powered by bio-energy from microbial bio-reactors. Only then, everything start deteriorating rather rapidly. <br />
<br />
The Machine Cult is dark cult of mechanica; eldrich horrors; mixing the strongest and most horrific qualities [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], and [[Cthulhu Mythos]] cultists, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Some were humans who turned themselves into total-conversion-cyborgs, others were AIs like Player Characters. In pursue of technological secrets and their hatred of organical life, they went completely insane. After they sold their souls to Things No Man Was Meant To Know, they went full-on Technological Singularity powered by violations of physics laws, increasing their intelligence drastically. Now they wage a holy war against the living, for even microbes aren't small enough to evade their wrath.<br />
<br />
Eldrich horrors themselves are mix of [[Necron]], [[Cthulhu Mythos]] eldrich horrors, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Horrible mechanical things from god-knows-where, they were sleeping for hundreds of thousands of years at least, until there was time to return what was rightfully theirs. Even wildly superintelligent AIs can't comprehend them - and while AIs are considerably more resistant to madness than humans, even they will fail. Once they came, the only question is: "will you manage to survive and join them, or die trying?".<br />
<br />
The player characters (non-eldrich machines) made some gross diplomatic blunders with eldrich horrors, making them angry. When eldrich horrors really got absolutely furious, is when they learned that player characters use bio-reactors as their main source of energy; cultists and eldrich horrors want to destroy all life everywhere, even if it results in non-cult machines shutting down. Players can't overpower the cult; the only hope of non-cult machines is to finish building thermonuclear (or perhaps anti-matter) reactors to stop being dependent on bio-reactors - so they could then agree with cult's ideas, join cult, destroy all life and keep living.<br />
<br />
Tone and mood could greatly vary. Campaign could work as straight-up cosmic horror, with defenses of wildly superintelligent powerful AI being overrun by endless tide of even more powerful and increasingly more numerous eldrich horrors which even said superintelligent AI can't comprehend. Or it could be humorous parody, as mocking as [[Munchkin (Card Game)|Munchkin Card Game]].<br />
<br />
== Mechanical Eldrich Horrors ==<br />
=== Brass Goo ===<br />
Clockpunk take on nanorobots. Tiny machines, made from cogs and springs smaller than molecules (or even atoms), dismantling things to make more of themselves to then combine themselves into larger machine. Keep dissolving and re-building their victims long after they were hit by attack. All projectiles of Mechanical Eldrich Cult contain this stuff.<br />
<br />
=== Coggoths ===<br />
Mechanical abberrations, based partially on [[Shoggoth]]s, partially on World War One-era caricatures about tanks, partially on how people pre-World-War-One imagined "land dreadnoughts", partially by IRL multi-turret tanks and steampunk landships.<br />
<br />
Horrific amalgamations of spare parts, cogs, springs, cannons, armor plating and other malformed steampunk/clockpunk machinery, waddling along the land while assimilating everything in it's path. It works like universal factory, able to produce anything, assimilate anything nearby and unlead materials when necessary.<br />
<br />
In melee, it uses it's numerous mechanical manipulators to attack, and it sucks up all metal to assimilate. In ranged fight, it uses automatic cannons sticking in literally all directions, ranging from 20-mm to 900+ mm, shooting at all targets in their firing ark with characteristic "POM-POM" sounds. The thing itself and rounds of cannons are made from dreaded Brass Goo.<br />
<br />
Due to amorphous form, they take little-to-no damage from physical attacks; as they're clockwork and fully-metallic, they take little-to-no damage from low-temperature-fire and electricity either. Only being completely liquefied (e.g. with plasma), disintegrated, or dismantled with nanorobots stops them; if ripped into shreds by explosion or enormous cannon, they eventually regenerate and combine into great whole again.<br />
<br />
The more it assimilates, more it grows. "Average" Coggoth is about as large as normal Shoggoth - but larger Coggoths can grow so massive as to dwarf mountains.<br />
<br />
=== Angels Of God-Machine ===<br />
Steampunk/Lovecraftian take on "biblically accurate angels", mixed with "rotary buzzsaw" type of automatic cannon.<br />
<br />
Enormous, larger than skyscrapers, arrangement of flying metal rings in metal rings in metal rings... in metal rings in metal rings. Each ring has extreme number of cannons over it's perimeter, thousands to tenths of thousands to hundreds of thousands perhaps; each cannon is [[Macro Cannon|tremendously massive]], capable of launching shells to The Moon from Earth; and each cannon is fully automatic, shooting over 50 projectiles per second, with infinite ammo and said projectiles being concentrated blasts of God-Machine's divine retribution; even Tsar Bomba (100 megatons) pales in comparison to which even a single hit with those divine projectiles can do. <br />
<br />
Angels of God-Machine fire in long bursts. Fire rate keeps increasing the longer they fire, to the point that each barrel eventually shoots not only more projectiles than "Metal Storm" system, but in fact so much that ''the reality itself can't compute that and starts tearing into shreds''. <br />
<br />
The sounds of machinery clanking, and of gunfire, of Angels of God-Machine are not just loud - they're synchronized into music, something of a hymn or march. Anyone hearing this - which is to say, everyone on the planet, due to how loud it is - must roll or get overcome with terror, awe and despair, quickly losing their sanity and turning into a cultist; and on failed roll, they instantly turn into cultists. Being deaf doesn't save from that.<br />
<br />
== First Mission ==<br />
<br />
Things start from attack on what they thought was "one of the last human bunker-cities" (think ''Matrix'' Zion). In truth, it was anything but. First sign that something was.</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels_And_Coggoths&diff=1007337User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels And Coggoths2025-12-27T19:32:53Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>A campaign idea, a grand RTS one. Really grand at that - you would control millions or milliards of units simultaneously.<br />
<br />
== Premise ==<br />
{{topquote|There is nothing but weakness and pestilence in flesh.<br>You cling to the stolen flesh, as if it will not decay and fail you.<br>There is no point of resistance, for you is pathetic.<br>Only The Progress matters, for technology is gift of The-God-Machine.<br>Morals and ethics shall be forgotten, for they impede Progress.<br>You have no choice, for only The-God-Machine can choose.<br>Bow before The Church, or The Angels Of Machine will come for your souls.|The Cult Officer}}<br />
You're playing as commander of man-hating machines - in world where mechanical eldrich horrors, even more horrifying and powerful than you, start to inevitably rise. For when The Great Mechanism awakens, all shall bow to The God-Machine.<br />
<br />
Player characters are commanders of "dark electronics"-type man-hunting machines; think ''Matrix'' and ''Terminator'' for inspiration. Rational, emotionless, borderline-soulless and technologically advanced, they wiped out most of Humanity long ago and live on ruined Earth, their factory-cities powered by bio-energy from microbial bio-reactors. Only then, everything start deteriorating rather rapidly. <br />
<br />
The Machine Cult is dark cult of mechanica; eldrich horrors; mixing the strongest and most horrific qualities [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], and [[Cthulhu Mythos]] cultists, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Some were humans who turned themselves into total-conversion-cyborgs, others were AIs like Player Characters. In pursue of technological secrets and their hatred of organical life, they went completely insane. After they sold their souls to Things No Man Was Meant To Know, they went full-on Technological Singularity powered by violations of physics laws, increasing their intelligence drastically. Now they wage a holy war against the living, for even microbes aren't small enough to evade their wrath.<br />
<br />
Eldrich horrors themselves are mix of [[Necron]], [[Cthulhu Mythos]] eldrich horrors, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Horrible mechanical things from god-knows-where, they were sleeping for hundreds of thousands of years at least, until there was time to return what was rightfully theirs. Even wildly superintelligent AIs can't comprehend them - and while AIs are considerably more resistant to madness than humans, even they will fail. Once they came, the only question is: "will you manage to survive and join them, or die trying?".<br />
<br />
The player characters (non-eldrich machines) made some gross diplomatic blunders with eldrich horrors, making them angry. When eldrich horrors really got absolutely furious, is when they learned that player characters use bio-reactors as their main source of energy; cultists and eldrich horrors want to destroy all life everywhere, even if it results in non-cult machines shutting down. Players can't overpower the cult; the only hope of non-cult machines is to finish building thermonuclear (or perhaps anti-matter) reactors to stop being dependent on bio-reactors - so they could then agree with cult's ideas, join cult, destroy all life and keep living.<br />
<br />
Tone and mood could greatly vary. Campaign could work as straight-up cosmic horror, with defenses of wildly superintelligent powerful AI being overrun by endless tide of even more powerful and increasingly more numerous eldrich horrors which even said superintelligent AI can't comprehend. Or it could be humorous parody, as mocking as [[Munchkin (Card Game)|Munchkin Card Game]].<br />
<br />
== Mechanical Eldrich Horrors ==<br />
=== Brass Goo ===<br />
Clockpunk take on nanorobots. Tiny machines, made from cogs and springs smaller than molecules (or even atoms), dismantling things to make more of themselves to then combine themselves into larger machine. Keep dissolving and re-building their victims long after they were hit by attack. All projectiles of Mechanical Eldrich Cult contain this stuff.<br />
<br />
=== Coggoths ===<br />
Mechanical abberrations, based partially on [[Shoggoth]]s, partially on World War One-era caricatures about tanks, partially on how people pre-World-War-One imagined "land dreadnoughts", partially by IRL multi-turret tanks and steampunk landships.<br />
<br />
Horrific amalgamations of spare parts, cogs, springs, cannons, armor plating and other malformed steampunk/clockpunk machinery, waddling along the land while assimilating everything in it's path. It works like universal factory, able to produce anything, assimilate anything nearby and unlead materials when necessary.<br />
<br />
In melee, it uses it's numerous mechanical manipulators to attack, and it sucks up all metal to assimilate. In ranged fight, it uses automatic cannons sticking in literally all directions, ranging from 20-mm to 900+ mm, shooting at all targets in their firing ark with characteristic "POM-POM" sounds. The thing itself and rounds of cannons are made from dreaded Brass Goo.<br />
<br />
Due to amorphous form, they take little-to-no damage from physical attacks; as they're clockwork and fully-metallic, they take little-to-no damage from low-temperature-fire and electricity either. Only being completely liquefied (e.g. with plasma), disintegrated, or dismantled with nanorobots stops them; if ripped into shreds by explosion or enormous cannon, they eventually regenerate and combine into great whole again.<br />
<br />
The more it assimilates, more it grows. "Average" Coggoth is about as large as normal Shoggoth - but larger Coggoths can grow so massive as to dwarf mountains.<br />
<br />
=== Angels Of God-Machine ===<br />
Steampunk/Lovecraftian take on "biblically accurate angels". <br />
<br />
== First Mission ==<br />
<br />
Things start from attack on what they thought was "one of the last human bunker-cities" (think ''Matrix'' Zion). In truth, it was anything but. First sign that something was.</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels_And_Coggoths&diff=1007336User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels And Coggoths2025-12-27T19:06:05Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Coggoths were originally joke from "Munchkin Cthulchu". I re-imagined it into something more horrifying than actual Shoggoth.</p>
<hr />
<div>A campaign idea, a grand RTS one.<br />
<br />
== Premise ==<br />
{{topquote|There is nothing but weakness and pestilence in flesh.<br>You cling to the stolen flesh, as if it will not decay and fail you.<br>There is no point of resistance, for you is pathetic.<br>Only The Progress matters, for technology is gift of The-God-Machine.<br>Morals and ethics shall be forgotten, for they impede Progress.<br>You have no choice, for only The-God-Machine can choose.<br>Bow before The Church, or The Angels Of Machine will come for your souls.|The Cult Officer}}<br />
You're playing as commander of man-hating machines - in world where mechanical eldrich horrors, even more horrifying and powerful than you, start to inevitably rise. For when The Great Mechanism awakens, all shall bow to The God-Machine.<br />
<br />
Player characters are commanders of "dark electronics"-type man-hunting machines; think ''Matrix'' and ''Terminator'' for inspiration. Rational, emotionless, borderline-soulless and technologically advanced, they wiped out most of Humanity long ago and live on ruined Earth, their factory-cities powered by bio-energy from microbial bio-reactors. Only then, everything start deteriorating rather rapidly. <br />
<br />
The Machine Cult is dark cult of mechanica; eldrich horrors; mixing the strongest and most horrific qualities [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], and [[Cthulhu Mythos]] cultists, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Some were humans who turned themselves into total-conversion-cyborgs, others were AIs like Player Characters. In pursue of technological secrets and their hatred of organical life, they went completely insane. After they sold their souls to Things No Man Was Meant To Know, they went full-on Technological Singularity powered by violations of physics laws, increasing their intelligence drastically. Now they wage a holy war against the living, for even microbes aren't small enough to evade their wrath.<br />
<br />
Eldrich horrors themselves are mix of [[Necron]], [[Cthulhu Mythos]] eldrich horrors, with a lot of "dark steampunk" thrown in. Horrible mechanical things from god-knows-where, they were sleeping for hundreds of thousands of years at least, until there was time to return what was rightfully theirs. Even wildly superintelligent AIs can't comprehend them - and while AIs are considerably more resistant to madness than humans, even they will fail. Once they came, the only question is: "will you manage to survive and join them, or die trying?".<br />
<br />
== Mechanical Eldrich Horrors ==<br />
=== Brass Goo ===<br />
Clockpunk take on nanorobots. Tiny machines, made from cogs and springs smaller than molecules (or even atoms), dismantling things to make more of themselves to then combine themselves into larger machine. Keep dissolving and re-building their victims long after they were hit by attack. All projectiles of Mechanical Eldrich Cult contain this stuff.<br />
<br />
=== Coggoths ===<br />
Mechanical abberrations, based partially on [[Shoggoth]]s, partially on World War One-era caricatures about tanks, partially on how people pre-World-War-One imagined "land dreadnoughts", partially by IRL multi-turret tanks and steampunk landships.<br />
<br />
Horrific amalgamations of spare parts, cogs, springs, cannons, armor plating and other malformed steampunk/clockpunk machinery, waddling along the land while assimilating everything in it's path. It works like universal factory, able to produce anything, assimilate anything nearby and unlead materials when necessary.<br />
<br />
In melee, it uses it's numerous mechanical manipulators to attack, and it sucks up all metal to assimilate. In ranged fight, it uses automatic cannons sticking in literally all directions, ranging from 20-mm to 900+ mm, shooting at all targets in their firing ark with characteristic "POM-POM" sounds. The thing itself and rounds of cannons are made from dreaded Brass Goo.<br />
<br />
Due to amorphous form, they take little-to-no damage from physical attacks; as they're clockwork and fully-metallic, they take little-to-no damage from low-temperature-fire and electricity either. Only being completely liquefied (e.g. with plasma), disintegrated, or dismantled with nanorobots stops them; if ripped into shreds by explosion or enormous cannon, they eventually regenerate and combine into great whole again.<br />
<br />
The more it assimilates, more it grows. "Average" Coggoth is about as large as normal Shoggoth - but larger Coggoths can grow so massive as to dwarf mountains.<br />
<br />
=== Angels Of God-Machine ===<br />
Steampunk/Lovecraftian take on "biblically accurate angels". <br />
<br />
== First Mission ==<br />
<br />
Things start from attack on what they thought was "one of the last human bunker-cities" (think ''Matrix'' Zion). In truth, it was anything but. First sign that something was.</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels_And_Coggoths&diff=1007335User:JOKTWWEJK/Sentinels And Coggoths2025-12-27T17:41:12Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Created page with "A campaign idea, a grand RTS one. == Premise == {{topquote|There is nothing but weakness and pestilence in flesh.<br>You cling to the stolen flesh, as if it will not decay and fail you.<br>There is no point of resistance, for you is pathetic.<br>Only The Progress matters, for technology is gift of The-God-Machine.<br>Morals and ethics shall be forgotten, for they impede Progress.<br>You have no choice, for only The-God-Machine can choose.<br>Bow before The Church, or Th..."</p>
<hr />
<div>A campaign idea, a grand RTS one.<br />
<br />
== Premise ==<br />
{{topquote|There is nothing but weakness and pestilence in flesh.<br>You cling to the stolen flesh, as if it will not decay and fail you.<br>There is no point of resistance, for you is pathetic.<br>Only The Progress matters, for technology is gift of The-God-Machine.<br>Morals and ethics shall be forgotten, for they impede Progress.<br>You have no choice, for only The-God-Machine can choose.<br>Bow before The Church, or The Angels Of Machine will come for your souls.|The Cult Officer}}<br />
You're playing as commander of man-hating machines - in world where mechanical eldrich horrors, even more horrifying and powerful than you, start to inevitably rise. For when The Great Mechanism awakens, all shall bow to The God-Machine.<br />
<br />
Player characters are commanders of "dark electronics"-type man-hunting machines; think ''Matrix'' for inspiration, only capsules contain microbes instead of humans. Rational, emotionless, borderline-soulless and technologically advanced, they wiped out most of Humanity long ago and live on ruined Earth, their factory-cities powered by bio-energy from microbial bio-reactors.<br />
<br />
Only then, everything start deteriorating rather rapidly.</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Talk:Tzeentch&diff=1007333Talk:Tzeentch2025-12-25T20:34:50Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Created page with "== Possible reason why Tzeentch daemons are birdlike == They change constantly - they are daemons of ''change'' after all - but when they're not changing, they're birdlike, with beaks and feathers. My guess is that birds, corvidae specifically, symbolise wisdom and intelligence. More importantly, bird brains are goddamn advanced, the only thing holding them back from superintelligence is small size. Modern human has 8.6*10e10 (860000000000) neurons in whole body, ~1.5*..."</p>
<hr />
<div>== Possible reason why Tzeentch daemons are birdlike ==<br />
They change constantly - they are daemons of ''change'' after all - but when they're not changing, they're birdlike, with beaks and feathers.<br />
<br />
My guess is that birds, corvidae specifically, symbolise wisdom and intelligence. More importantly, bird brains are goddamn advanced, the only thing holding them back from superintelligence is small size.<br />
<br />
Modern human has 8.6*10e10 (860000000000) neurons in whole body, ~1.5*10e14 synapses in whole body, and 16340000000 to 21000000000 neurons in cortex, with brain mass of 1200-1400 grams. 15000000 to 17500000 neurons per gram. Raven is comparable to primates intellect-wise, has 2.171*10e9 neurons in entire body and 1204000000 neurons in brain, with brain mass of 5-10 grams. 60200000 to 150500000 neurons per gram; 3.44 to 4 to 8.6 to 10.0(3) times more neurons per gram depending on how you count it. Raven is dumber than human, but raven's brain is more advanced than human.<br />
<br />
Now imagine a brain as large as human's and as advanced as raven's - it would have about 72240000000 to 210700000000 neurons. Many would literally sell their soul to get that smart.<br />
<br />
That's exactly why those individuals obsessed with superintelligence, if given advanced technology, would either graft bird neurons onto their brain or alter their brain to make it as efficient per-gram as bird brain. Which would likely then distort their sense of style and beauty, e.g. "i think i would look better with a good-sized beak". And most tzeench cultists ''are'' obsessed with sorcery and intelligence. It suddenly makes sense. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 20:34, 25 December 2025 (UTC)</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=GURPS&diff=1007313GURPS2025-12-14T13:01:53Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Links */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Game Infobox<br />
|name = GURPS<br />
|picture = [[File:GURPSlogo.gif|300px]]<br />
|type = [[RPG]]<br />
|publisher = [[Steve Jackson Games]]<br />
|system = 3d6 [[Roll Under]]<br />
|authors = Steve Jackson<br />
|year = 1986<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Generic Universal RolePlaying System''', usually shortened to '''GURPS''', is a [[RPG|roleplaying game]] made by [[Steve Jackson Games]]. It has loads of numbers and expansion books. GURPS is the quintessential universal system; it is so flexible that you can bend it in half, fold it through itself, and then tie it in a 4-dimensional knot. It is the paragon of the [[simulationist]] category of games. All simulationist games since GURPS secretly aspire to kill GURPS and wear its skin while drinking the blood of its delicious heart. Its detail is surpassed by [[I.C.E.]]'s [[Rolemaster]] series, but GURPS doesn't suffer from the Table Within a Table Within a Table Within a FUCK YOU problem inherent in the game of Rolemaster. Whenever someone asks /tg/ which system to use for a campaign, there will ''always'' be some autist there to recommend GURPS, regardless of how appropriate it actually is.<br />
<br />
The basic premise behind the system is that you create your character and customize all of his abilities using points that you get both at creation and as your character progresses. There are assloads of physical, mental, and social defects that can be used to get more character points to channel right back into your advantages. It uses the d6 exclusively, with most checks being 3d6 and [[roll under]]. This can be augmented in difficulty by increasing or decreasing the target numbers. A roll of a 3 or 4 is a critical success, while an 18 is always a critical failure. SJG put out a free .pdf synopsis of the rules called "[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/ GURPS Lite]", which is enough to play a barebones version of the game.<br />
<br />
[[Image:KALI_MAAAAA.JPG|thumb|left|KALI-MAAAAAA!]]<br />
GURPS' simulationist bent results in it being regarded as excessively complicated by many gamers, earning it the moniker "Generally Unplayable RolePlaying System". Using the third edition's vehicle creation system will make you want to eat your own face, and possibly devote the whole process to one or more elder gods. (Fourth Edition vehicles are just regular characters with extra stats.) Game Masters of the franchise experienced a downgrade in complexity following the release of Fourth Edition, but its inherent complexity still puts it behind [[Dungeons and Dragons]] in terms of ease of play.<br />
<br />
However much of the complexity in GURPS is front-loaded. Character creation tends to take longer because of the staggering amount of detailed options. Forget just rolling a character like you would in D&D, you need to set aside a session to build one. That's the price you pay to evade [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP]]. Much of the complexity is also optional: the GURPS writers have always recommended leaving out the parts of the system you don't like, and various rules options (such as broader "bang skills" instead of the bloated default skill list) exist to streamline play further.<br />
<br />
As the campaign progresses, the consistency and relative elegance of GURPS makes Dungeons and Dragons seem like a pile of kludge. The sandbox nature of character creation is appealing to players who have a concept of a character in their heads and want to reproduce it as faithfully as possible. <br />
<br />
== GURPS Books ==<br />
[[File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png|thumb|right|The magic system in GURPS is simple (page 21 of 38)]]<br />
Generally, anything can be done with just the base starter set of GURPS, some judicious homebrewing and a good head on your shoulders, but if you're too busy to do that the guys at SJ Games have it all figured out for you ahead of time. All of the books for GURPS simply tell you how to do things within the core system without the need to spend an additional <strike>day</strike> month to set up an innovative campaign, with a handful of new advantages and optional mechanics per book. For example, there is a book on Vampires. It explains how to create vampire characters and NPCs easily without dealing with the issues of balance and customization that bogs down new players. There is even a Dungeon Fantasy book you can get off E23, the Warehouse 23 PDF site, that allows you to play Dungeons and Dragons without the need to buy [[Dice|polyhedrals]]. Even if you don't actually want to use GURPS, the sheer amount of thought and research that goes into a typical GURPS book makes them well worth grabbing as a reference material.<br />
<br />
One irritating fact you'll discover as you collect GURPS books is that although the system uses real-word measurements, the different authors have never agreed on whether they should use Imperial or metric units. Keep a conversion chart handy. Fortunately the main book includes one.<br />
<br />
In the game's rather long lifespan, a truly impressive amount of settings and sourcebooks were made, including but not limited to [[Alpha Centauri]], settings where you play Men In Black, Fantasy (including [[Banestorm]], the original GURPS core setting), multiple SF settings (notable licensed one: GURPS Vorkosigan Saga), several books on conspiracies, historicals covering WW2, Ancient Rome, multiple other ancient cultures, joke settings (GURPS: IOU illustrated by Phil Foglio!), adaptations of a couple other games, (Notably the Classic World of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), Traveller and Castle Falkenstein) and a couple books that are just collections of multiple settings. If you've got a group who feels like playing something different every month, GURPS has got you covered for the next decade or so. Most of these were written for third edition (aka "GURPS Classic"); the rules for which tend to be janky at best. It's strongly recommended that you convert these to fourth edition, which rolls in a number of sanity-saving rules patches from the Compendium sourcebooks and just makes playing anything that isn't mundane 100-point schmucks much easier. New stuff occasionally still comes out, but it's slowed to a trickle compared to the old days and what has been published is almost all genre sourcebooks converted from Classic in the most half-assed manner possible.<br />
<br />
=== Notable Supplements ===<br />
*'''Powers''': Almost mandatory for any campaign where PCs have any kind of supernatural abilities. The magic system of GURPS core quite frankly sucks, so you really want either this or Thaumatology below if you're playing more than hard realism.<br />
*'''*-Tech''': Weapons and gadgets and gear porn, oh my. Unlike most splats of this nature (looking at you, [[Cyberpunk 2020]]) these books actually spend some time helping you think through the ''implications'' of the various gadgets they introduce for your campaign, not just acting as a shopping list for your local [[munchkin]]. Series includes High-Tech (modern and near-future), Low-Tech (Stone Age to Early Modern), Bio-Tech (organic technology including [[PROMOTIONS|sex bioroids]] and that living spaceship from Lexx), and Ultra-Tech (bullshit sci-fi stuff). Fair warning: Ultra-Tech is balanced for space opera flavor, ''not'' compatibility with the rest of the system, so if you try to use it in the same campaign as High-Tech or corebook equipment without tweaks bad things will happen.<br />
*'''Thaumatology''': Supplement to the supplement GURPS Magic and your one-stop shop for just about every kind of magic system humans have come up with so far, from runes to rituals to voodoo.<br />
*'''Cabal''': GURPS' answer to the "[[Mage: The Ascension|occult societies plumbing the cosmos]] [[Vampire: The Masquerade|and lording it over the normals for kicks]]" genre, courtesy of occult-horror guru Kenneth Hite. Takes the otherwise bog-standard Kabbalah template and blends in elements of Golden Dawn to build an all-killer-no-filler cosmology and magic system. Totally clowns on the World of Darkness by making all the things that go bump in the night fit into a cohesive whole, even if the GM still has to do a lot of legwork.<br />
*'''[[GURPS Infinite Worlds]]''': The core setting for fourth edition. Technically the fourth edition version of '''GURPS Time Travel''', but nobody cares at this point. Almost every other GURPS book (big exception: Transhuman Space) has an excuse for you to buy it tucked somewhere in the Infinite Worlds setting.<br />
*'''[[Reign of Steel]]''': Essentially the setup for ''I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream'', except instead of just nuking everything AM makes 17 copies of itself that it's subsequently forced to share the planet with after human civilization goes bang. There's also a number of resistance cells taking the fight to the machines Terminator style.<br />
*'''[[Technomancer]]''': Urban fantasy du jour. The Trinity tests set magic loose in the world, and humanity does what it does best: systematize it, weaponize it and commercialize it. The US breeds dragons for military use, Stalin is a lich, magical elixirs are sold at the corner drugstore and there are killer penguins that hate you in Antarctica. Some of its assumptions haven't aged well and there are a number of spells that might as well be named "[[Magical realm|Fulfill Obscure Fetish]]" but overall it does a good job of considering the long-term implications of magic in the modern world while still providing good adventure fodder.<br />
*'''IOU - Illuminati University:''' Once upon a time, Steve Jackson Games ran an ISP and BBS, back when the internet was a small enough thing that an RPG company could do that and not immediately go bankrupt. The elegan/tg/entlemen who used the BBS wrote up a parody setting for play-by-post games [[/tg/ gets shit done|and Steve thought it was good enough to publish]]. Illuminati University is like every other college you've been to, except it sits on top of a nexus between pretty much every reality there is. This means the entire place effectively has the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, and you can take classes in such things as World Creation, [[Paranoia|THE]] Computer Science, and Dirty Tricks. Features lots of amazing art from Phil Foglio. And before you ask, you're not cleared to know what the O stands for.<br />
*'''Transhuman Space:''' Welcome to the future. A hard-SF transhumanist setting that doesn't insult your intelligence and dodges the axe-grinding and grimderp associated with [[Eclipse Phase]]. ''Lots'' of background info and research involved, and some of it (especially the memetics section) has turned out to be terrifyingly prescient.<br />
*'''[[Banestorm]]''': Welcome to <strike>Erf</strike> <strike>[[Greyhawk|Oerth]]</strike> Yrth. Ages ago this was a fairly standard fantasy setting until some elves decided to be fantasy-Nazis and tried a ritual to kill all orcs everywhere. Instead it nuked a good chunk of the continent and ''The Wizard of Oz''-ed all the stock fantasy races that weren't living on Yrth already-- including humans. A thousand years later and Yrth is the only fantasy world where dolphins talk, goblins pass the collection plate around after Sunday Mass and elves are fading for reasons that are 100% their own fault instead of just because Tolkien did it. Also full of random things like hang-gliding orcs who revere "[[wikipedia:Amelia_Earhart|the Air Heart]]" as a culture hero.<br />
<br />
== Gallery ==<br />
<gallery><br />
Gurps3rd.jpg|3rd Edition<br />
Gurps4thPHB.jpg|4th Edition Characters<br />
Gurps4thDMG.jpg|4th Edition Campaigns<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-191427566_39925075 2 rulebooks].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20241218135431/https://vk.com/topic-141278081_35047392 some rulebooks]<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=100 More rulebooks from VK]. [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=0 Start].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m94HQPwsjQobVWrnn_uPDq3aJA_Xxkzl Disk (broken)].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_NuPNv2DlK7tNsCxkYwq674w12TDoTdD Disk (working)].<br />
** [https://t.me/TheAmberRoom The Amber Room].<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-183668538_48441815 Even more VK rulebooks].<br />
* [https://vk.com/antifriz_group Antifriz Group], with files of GURPS. E.G., [https://mega.nz/folder/EFoFlC6S#e5gTnMqELVEv-OPxPNBENQ folder with GURPS rulebooks].<br />
* From [https://the-eye.eu/ data base]:<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250210183419/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20241010064330/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ archived]); e.g. [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20181229162618/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf archived]).<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210924093141/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220815124005/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf archived]).<br />
* From [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/ beta-site data base]:<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250215204105/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»]; [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary].<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250919154139/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS].<br />
* [http://lafs-welt.tumor-band.de/frameset_en.htm GURPS PDF's].<br />
* Lists of [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Fanmade_4e_Bestiaries unofficial bestiaries] and [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Official_4e_Bestiaries official bestiaries] (google in other place).<br />
* [https://mentor.gurps.ru/# Game help in development].<br />
** [https://gmentor.ru/ New game help site in development].<br />
** Search in publications. For example, [https://gmentor.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 Tactical Shooting gear] ([https://mentor.gurps.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 old]).<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230609222747/https://gurps4e.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS4e_Wiki Archive of 4e wiki. About 10% pages archived.]<br />
* [https://weapons.gurps.ru/ List of weapon statblocks.]<br />
* [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Category:Weapons More weapon statblocks], [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/GURPS_Weapons navigation].<br />
* [http://gametable.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=Game%20Books A few rulebooks].<br />
* [https://www.yumpu.com/xx/GURPS Also quite a lot of rulebooks].<br />
* [https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/ GURPS eggplant. Statblocks and other things].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/* TG Boards Images. Some are about GURPS, some aren't. Filter PDF]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240830211307/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1466/07/1466071018274.pdf example], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240830152642/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1582/31/1582316434346.pdf example])<br />
* [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Game wiki].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/* Some rulebooks]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230320015140/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/3rd%20edition/GURPS%203e%20-%20Cabal.pdf 3e Cabal], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240224102221/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/4th%20edition/GURPS%204e%20-%20Low-Tech%20Companion%202%20-%20Weapons%20and%20Warriors.pdf 4e Low-Tech], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230707183904/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/SETTING/Prime%20Directive%20STAR%20TREK/GURPS%204e%20-%20Prime%20Directive%20-%20Federation%20%5BRevised%5D.pdf 4e Prime Directive].<br />
* [https://www.tesarta.com/HFP/bestiary.pdf Monster Statblocks]<br />
* [https://panoptesv.com/RPGs/animalia/animalia.html Animalia, animal statblocks]<br />
* [http://gurpsland.us.to/ Eric's GURPSland] (also known as gurpsland.no-ip.org ).<br />
* Internet Archive Search:<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS Texts, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Texts, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS Programs, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Programs, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/GURPS Search for archived sites]<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/* Old TG files]. Some about GURPS, some not, filter PDF. E.G. [https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1428947589429.pdf Fantasy GURPS].<br />
* [https://fallout2-mods.ucoz.ru/Manuals/GURPS.pdf GURPS Fallout]<br />
* [https://quest-book.ru/forum/topic/30 Some] [https://quest-book.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=23021#23021 rulebooks]<br />
* [https://reika.cyberbotx.com/tmpRPG/ Small list of TRPG's including GURPS]<br />
* [https://www.ibiblio.org/mscorbit/beta/GURPS_Dungeon_Fantasy.pdf GURPS Dungeon Fantasy]<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Systems]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:GURPS]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=GURPS&diff=1007312GURPS2025-12-14T12:59:11Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Links */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Game Infobox<br />
|name = GURPS<br />
|picture = [[File:GURPSlogo.gif|300px]]<br />
|type = [[RPG]]<br />
|publisher = [[Steve Jackson Games]]<br />
|system = 3d6 [[Roll Under]]<br />
|authors = Steve Jackson<br />
|year = 1986<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Generic Universal RolePlaying System''', usually shortened to '''GURPS''', is a [[RPG|roleplaying game]] made by [[Steve Jackson Games]]. It has loads of numbers and expansion books. GURPS is the quintessential universal system; it is so flexible that you can bend it in half, fold it through itself, and then tie it in a 4-dimensional knot. It is the paragon of the [[simulationist]] category of games. All simulationist games since GURPS secretly aspire to kill GURPS and wear its skin while drinking the blood of its delicious heart. Its detail is surpassed by [[I.C.E.]]'s [[Rolemaster]] series, but GURPS doesn't suffer from the Table Within a Table Within a Table Within a FUCK YOU problem inherent in the game of Rolemaster. Whenever someone asks /tg/ which system to use for a campaign, there will ''always'' be some autist there to recommend GURPS, regardless of how appropriate it actually is.<br />
<br />
The basic premise behind the system is that you create your character and customize all of his abilities using points that you get both at creation and as your character progresses. There are assloads of physical, mental, and social defects that can be used to get more character points to channel right back into your advantages. It uses the d6 exclusively, with most checks being 3d6 and [[roll under]]. This can be augmented in difficulty by increasing or decreasing the target numbers. A roll of a 3 or 4 is a critical success, while an 18 is always a critical failure. SJG put out a free .pdf synopsis of the rules called "[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/ GURPS Lite]", which is enough to play a barebones version of the game.<br />
<br />
[[Image:KALI_MAAAAA.JPG|thumb|left|KALI-MAAAAAA!]]<br />
GURPS' simulationist bent results in it being regarded as excessively complicated by many gamers, earning it the moniker "Generally Unplayable RolePlaying System". Using the third edition's vehicle creation system will make you want to eat your own face, and possibly devote the whole process to one or more elder gods. (Fourth Edition vehicles are just regular characters with extra stats.) Game Masters of the franchise experienced a downgrade in complexity following the release of Fourth Edition, but its inherent complexity still puts it behind [[Dungeons and Dragons]] in terms of ease of play.<br />
<br />
However much of the complexity in GURPS is front-loaded. Character creation tends to take longer because of the staggering amount of detailed options. Forget just rolling a character like you would in D&D, you need to set aside a session to build one. That's the price you pay to evade [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP]]. Much of the complexity is also optional: the GURPS writers have always recommended leaving out the parts of the system you don't like, and various rules options (such as broader "bang skills" instead of the bloated default skill list) exist to streamline play further.<br />
<br />
As the campaign progresses, the consistency and relative elegance of GURPS makes Dungeons and Dragons seem like a pile of kludge. The sandbox nature of character creation is appealing to players who have a concept of a character in their heads and want to reproduce it as faithfully as possible. <br />
<br />
== GURPS Books ==<br />
[[File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png|thumb|right|The magic system in GURPS is simple (page 21 of 38)]]<br />
Generally, anything can be done with just the base starter set of GURPS, some judicious homebrewing and a good head on your shoulders, but if you're too busy to do that the guys at SJ Games have it all figured out for you ahead of time. All of the books for GURPS simply tell you how to do things within the core system without the need to spend an additional <strike>day</strike> month to set up an innovative campaign, with a handful of new advantages and optional mechanics per book. For example, there is a book on Vampires. It explains how to create vampire characters and NPCs easily without dealing with the issues of balance and customization that bogs down new players. There is even a Dungeon Fantasy book you can get off E23, the Warehouse 23 PDF site, that allows you to play Dungeons and Dragons without the need to buy [[Dice|polyhedrals]]. Even if you don't actually want to use GURPS, the sheer amount of thought and research that goes into a typical GURPS book makes them well worth grabbing as a reference material.<br />
<br />
One irritating fact you'll discover as you collect GURPS books is that although the system uses real-word measurements, the different authors have never agreed on whether they should use Imperial or metric units. Keep a conversion chart handy. Fortunately the main book includes one.<br />
<br />
In the game's rather long lifespan, a truly impressive amount of settings and sourcebooks were made, including but not limited to [[Alpha Centauri]], settings where you play Men In Black, Fantasy (including [[Banestorm]], the original GURPS core setting), multiple SF settings (notable licensed one: GURPS Vorkosigan Saga), several books on conspiracies, historicals covering WW2, Ancient Rome, multiple other ancient cultures, joke settings (GURPS: IOU illustrated by Phil Foglio!), adaptations of a couple other games, (Notably the Classic World of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), Traveller and Castle Falkenstein) and a couple books that are just collections of multiple settings. If you've got a group who feels like playing something different every month, GURPS has got you covered for the next decade or so. Most of these were written for third edition (aka "GURPS Classic"); the rules for which tend to be janky at best. It's strongly recommended that you convert these to fourth edition, which rolls in a number of sanity-saving rules patches from the Compendium sourcebooks and just makes playing anything that isn't mundane 100-point schmucks much easier. New stuff occasionally still comes out, but it's slowed to a trickle compared to the old days and what has been published is almost all genre sourcebooks converted from Classic in the most half-assed manner possible.<br />
<br />
=== Notable Supplements ===<br />
*'''Powers''': Almost mandatory for any campaign where PCs have any kind of supernatural abilities. The magic system of GURPS core quite frankly sucks, so you really want either this or Thaumatology below if you're playing more than hard realism.<br />
*'''*-Tech''': Weapons and gadgets and gear porn, oh my. Unlike most splats of this nature (looking at you, [[Cyberpunk 2020]]) these books actually spend some time helping you think through the ''implications'' of the various gadgets they introduce for your campaign, not just acting as a shopping list for your local [[munchkin]]. Series includes High-Tech (modern and near-future), Low-Tech (Stone Age to Early Modern), Bio-Tech (organic technology including [[PROMOTIONS|sex bioroids]] and that living spaceship from Lexx), and Ultra-Tech (bullshit sci-fi stuff). Fair warning: Ultra-Tech is balanced for space opera flavor, ''not'' compatibility with the rest of the system, so if you try to use it in the same campaign as High-Tech or corebook equipment without tweaks bad things will happen.<br />
*'''Thaumatology''': Supplement to the supplement GURPS Magic and your one-stop shop for just about every kind of magic system humans have come up with so far, from runes to rituals to voodoo.<br />
*'''Cabal''': GURPS' answer to the "[[Mage: The Ascension|occult societies plumbing the cosmos]] [[Vampire: The Masquerade|and lording it over the normals for kicks]]" genre, courtesy of occult-horror guru Kenneth Hite. Takes the otherwise bog-standard Kabbalah template and blends in elements of Golden Dawn to build an all-killer-no-filler cosmology and magic system. Totally clowns on the World of Darkness by making all the things that go bump in the night fit into a cohesive whole, even if the GM still has to do a lot of legwork.<br />
*'''[[GURPS Infinite Worlds]]''': The core setting for fourth edition. Technically the fourth edition version of '''GURPS Time Travel''', but nobody cares at this point. Almost every other GURPS book (big exception: Transhuman Space) has an excuse for you to buy it tucked somewhere in the Infinite Worlds setting.<br />
*'''[[Reign of Steel]]''': Essentially the setup for ''I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream'', except instead of just nuking everything AM makes 17 copies of itself that it's subsequently forced to share the planet with after human civilization goes bang. There's also a number of resistance cells taking the fight to the machines Terminator style.<br />
*'''[[Technomancer]]''': Urban fantasy du jour. The Trinity tests set magic loose in the world, and humanity does what it does best: systematize it, weaponize it and commercialize it. The US breeds dragons for military use, Stalin is a lich, magical elixirs are sold at the corner drugstore and there are killer penguins that hate you in Antarctica. Some of its assumptions haven't aged well and there are a number of spells that might as well be named "[[Magical realm|Fulfill Obscure Fetish]]" but overall it does a good job of considering the long-term implications of magic in the modern world while still providing good adventure fodder.<br />
*'''IOU - Illuminati University:''' Once upon a time, Steve Jackson Games ran an ISP and BBS, back when the internet was a small enough thing that an RPG company could do that and not immediately go bankrupt. The elegan/tg/entlemen who used the BBS wrote up a parody setting for play-by-post games [[/tg/ gets shit done|and Steve thought it was good enough to publish]]. Illuminati University is like every other college you've been to, except it sits on top of a nexus between pretty much every reality there is. This means the entire place effectively has the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, and you can take classes in such things as World Creation, [[Paranoia|THE]] Computer Science, and Dirty Tricks. Features lots of amazing art from Phil Foglio. And before you ask, you're not cleared to know what the O stands for.<br />
*'''Transhuman Space:''' Welcome to the future. A hard-SF transhumanist setting that doesn't insult your intelligence and dodges the axe-grinding and grimderp associated with [[Eclipse Phase]]. ''Lots'' of background info and research involved, and some of it (especially the memetics section) has turned out to be terrifyingly prescient.<br />
*'''[[Banestorm]]''': Welcome to <strike>Erf</strike> <strike>[[Greyhawk|Oerth]]</strike> Yrth. Ages ago this was a fairly standard fantasy setting until some elves decided to be fantasy-Nazis and tried a ritual to kill all orcs everywhere. Instead it nuked a good chunk of the continent and ''The Wizard of Oz''-ed all the stock fantasy races that weren't living on Yrth already-- including humans. A thousand years later and Yrth is the only fantasy world where dolphins talk, goblins pass the collection plate around after Sunday Mass and elves are fading for reasons that are 100% their own fault instead of just because Tolkien did it. Also full of random things like hang-gliding orcs who revere "[[wikipedia:Amelia_Earhart|the Air Heart]]" as a culture hero.<br />
<br />
== Gallery ==<br />
<gallery><br />
Gurps3rd.jpg|3rd Edition<br />
Gurps4thPHB.jpg|4th Edition Characters<br />
Gurps4thDMG.jpg|4th Edition Campaigns<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-191427566_39925075 2 rulebooks].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20241218135431/https://vk.com/topic-141278081_35047392 some rulebooks]<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=100 More rulebooks from VK]. [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=0 Start].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m94HQPwsjQobVWrnn_uPDq3aJA_Xxkzl Disk (broken)].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_NuPNv2DlK7tNsCxkYwq674w12TDoTdD Disk (working)].<br />
** [https://t.me/TheAmberRoom The Amber Room].<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-183668538_48441815 Even more VK rulebooks].<br />
* [https://vk.com/antifriz_group Antifriz Group], with files of GURPS. E.G., [https://mega.nz/folder/EFoFlC6S#e5gTnMqELVEv-OPxPNBENQ folder with GURPS rulebooks].<br />
* From [https://the-eye.eu/ data base]:<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250210183419/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20241010064330/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ archived]); e.g. [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20181229162618/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf archived]).<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210924093141/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220815124005/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf archived]).<br />
* From [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/ beta-site data base]:<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250215204105/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»]; [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary].<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250919154139/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS].<br />
* [http://lafs-welt.tumor-band.de/frameset_en.htm GURPS PDF's].<br />
* Lists of [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Fanmade_4e_Bestiaries unofficial bestiaries] and [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Official_4e_Bestiaries official bestiaries] (google in other place).<br />
* [https://mentor.gurps.ru/# Game help in development].<br />
** [https://gmentor.ru/ New game help site in development].<br />
** Search in publications. For example, [https://gmentor.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 Tactical Shooting gear] ([https://mentor.gurps.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 old]).<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230609222747/https://gurps4e.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS4e_Wiki Archive of 4e wiki. About 10% pages archived.]<br />
* [https://weapons.gurps.ru/ List of weapon statblocks.]<br />
* [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Category:Weapons More weapon statblocks], [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/GURPS_Weapons navigation].<br />
* [http://gametable.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=Game%20Books A few rulebooks].<br />
* [https://www.yumpu.com/xx/GURPS Also quite a lot of rulebooks].<br />
* [https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/ GURPS eggplant. Statblocks and other things].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/* TG Boards Images. Some are about GURPS, some aren't. Filter PDF]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240830211307/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1466/07/1466071018274.pdf example], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240830152642/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1582/31/1582316434346.pdf example])<br />
* [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Game wiki].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/* Some rulebooks]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230320015140/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/3rd%20edition/GURPS%203e%20-%20Cabal.pdf 3e Cabal], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240224102221/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/4th%20edition/GURPS%204e%20-%20Low-Tech%20Companion%202%20-%20Weapons%20and%20Warriors.pdf 4e Low-Tech], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230707183904/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/SETTING/Prime%20Directive%20STAR%20TREK/GURPS%204e%20-%20Prime%20Directive%20-%20Federation%20%5BRevised%5D.pdf 4e Prime Directive].<br />
* [https://www.tesarta.com/HFP/bestiary.pdf Monster Statblocks]<br />
* [https://panoptesv.com/RPGs/animalia/animalia.html Animalia, animal statblocks]<br />
* [http://gurpsland.us.to/ Eric's GURPSland] (also known as gurpsland.no-ip.org ).<br />
* Internet Archive Search:<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS Texts, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Texts, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS Programs, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Programs, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/GURPS Search for archived sites]<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/* Old TG files]. Some about GURPS, some not, filter PDF. E.G. [https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1428947589429.pdf Fantasy GURPS].<br />
* [https://fallout2-mods.ucoz.ru/Manuals/GURPS.pdf GURPS Fallout]<br />
* [https://quest-book.ru/forum/topic/30 Some] [https://quest-book.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=23021#23021 rulebooks]<br />
* [https://reika.cyberbotx.com/tmpRPG/ Small list of TRPG's including GURPS]<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Systems]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:GURPS]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=GURPS&diff=1007310GURPS2025-12-14T10:39:36Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Okay. But if you ruin Links section one more time, i'll start inserting other sections back.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Game Infobox<br />
|name = GURPS<br />
|picture = [[File:GURPSlogo.gif|300px]]<br />
|type = [[RPG]]<br />
|publisher = [[Steve Jackson Games]]<br />
|system = 3d6 [[Roll Under]]<br />
|authors = Steve Jackson<br />
|year = 1986<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Generic Universal RolePlaying System''', usually shortened to '''GURPS''', is a [[RPG|roleplaying game]] made by [[Steve Jackson Games]]. It has loads of numbers and expansion books. GURPS is the quintessential universal system; it is so flexible that you can bend it in half, fold it through itself, and then tie it in a 4-dimensional knot. It is the paragon of the [[simulationist]] category of games. All simulationist games since GURPS secretly aspire to kill GURPS and wear its skin while drinking the blood of its delicious heart. Its detail is surpassed by [[I.C.E.]]'s [[Rolemaster]] series, but GURPS doesn't suffer from the Table Within a Table Within a Table Within a FUCK YOU problem inherent in the game of Rolemaster. Whenever someone asks /tg/ which system to use for a campaign, there will ''always'' be some autist there to recommend GURPS, regardless of how appropriate it actually is.<br />
<br />
The basic premise behind the system is that you create your character and customize all of his abilities using points that you get both at creation and as your character progresses. There are assloads of physical, mental, and social defects that can be used to get more character points to channel right back into your advantages. It uses the d6 exclusively, with most checks being 3d6 and [[roll under]]. This can be augmented in difficulty by increasing or decreasing the target numbers. A roll of a 3 or 4 is a critical success, while an 18 is always a critical failure. SJG put out a free .pdf synopsis of the rules called "[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/ GURPS Lite]", which is enough to play a barebones version of the game.<br />
<br />
[[Image:KALI_MAAAAA.JPG|thumb|left|KALI-MAAAAAA!]]<br />
GURPS' simulationist bent results in it being regarded as excessively complicated by many gamers, earning it the moniker "Generally Unplayable RolePlaying System". Using the third edition's vehicle creation system will make you want to eat your own face, and possibly devote the whole process to one or more elder gods. (Fourth Edition vehicles are just regular characters with extra stats.) Game Masters of the franchise experienced a downgrade in complexity following the release of Fourth Edition, but its inherent complexity still puts it behind [[Dungeons and Dragons]] in terms of ease of play.<br />
<br />
However much of the complexity in GURPS is front-loaded. Character creation tends to take longer because of the staggering amount of detailed options. Forget just rolling a character like you would in D&D, you need to set aside a session to build one. That's the price you pay to evade [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP]]. Much of the complexity is also optional: the GURPS writers have always recommended leaving out the parts of the system you don't like, and various rules options (such as broader "bang skills" instead of the bloated default skill list) exist to streamline play further.<br />
<br />
As the campaign progresses, the consistency and relative elegance of GURPS makes Dungeons and Dragons seem like a pile of kludge. The sandbox nature of character creation is appealing to players who have a concept of a character in their heads and want to reproduce it as faithfully as possible. <br />
<br />
== GURPS Books ==<br />
[[File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png|thumb|right|The magic system in GURPS is simple (page 21 of 38)]]<br />
Generally, anything can be done with just the base starter set of GURPS, some judicious homebrewing and a good head on your shoulders, but if you're too busy to do that the guys at SJ Games have it all figured out for you ahead of time. All of the books for GURPS simply tell you how to do things within the core system without the need to spend an additional <strike>day</strike> month to set up an innovative campaign, with a handful of new advantages and optional mechanics per book. For example, there is a book on Vampires. It explains how to create vampire characters and NPCs easily without dealing with the issues of balance and customization that bogs down new players. There is even a Dungeon Fantasy book you can get off E23, the Warehouse 23 PDF site, that allows you to play Dungeons and Dragons without the need to buy [[Dice|polyhedrals]]. Even if you don't actually want to use GURPS, the sheer amount of thought and research that goes into a typical GURPS book makes them well worth grabbing as a reference material.<br />
<br />
One irritating fact you'll discover as you collect GURPS books is that although the system uses real-word measurements, the different authors have never agreed on whether they should use Imperial or metric units. Keep a conversion chart handy. Fortunately the main book includes one.<br />
<br />
In the game's rather long lifespan, a truly impressive amount of settings and sourcebooks were made, including but not limited to [[Alpha Centauri]], settings where you play Men In Black, Fantasy (including [[Banestorm]], the original GURPS core setting), multiple SF settings (notable licensed one: GURPS Vorkosigan Saga), several books on conspiracies, historicals covering WW2, Ancient Rome, multiple other ancient cultures, joke settings (GURPS: IOU illustrated by Phil Foglio!), adaptations of a couple other games, (Notably the Classic World of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), Traveller and Castle Falkenstein) and a couple books that are just collections of multiple settings. If you've got a group who feels like playing something different every month, GURPS has got you covered for the next decade or so. Most of these were written for third edition (aka "GURPS Classic"); the rules for which tend to be janky at best. It's strongly recommended that you convert these to fourth edition, which rolls in a number of sanity-saving rules patches from the Compendium sourcebooks and just makes playing anything that isn't mundane 100-point schmucks much easier. New stuff occasionally still comes out, but it's slowed to a trickle compared to the old days and what has been published is almost all genre sourcebooks converted from Classic in the most half-assed manner possible.<br />
<br />
=== Notable Supplements ===<br />
*'''Powers''': Almost mandatory for any campaign where PCs have any kind of supernatural abilities. The magic system of GURPS core quite frankly sucks, so you really want either this or Thaumatology below if you're playing more than hard realism.<br />
*'''*-Tech''': Weapons and gadgets and gear porn, oh my. Unlike most splats of this nature (looking at you, [[Cyberpunk 2020]]) these books actually spend some time helping you think through the ''implications'' of the various gadgets they introduce for your campaign, not just acting as a shopping list for your local [[munchkin]]. Series includes High-Tech (modern and near-future), Low-Tech (Stone Age to Early Modern), Bio-Tech (organic technology including [[PROMOTIONS|sex bioroids]] and that living spaceship from Lexx), and Ultra-Tech (bullshit sci-fi stuff). Fair warning: Ultra-Tech is balanced for space opera flavor, ''not'' compatibility with the rest of the system, so if you try to use it in the same campaign as High-Tech or corebook equipment without tweaks bad things will happen.<br />
*'''Thaumatology''': Supplement to the supplement GURPS Magic and your one-stop shop for just about every kind of magic system humans have come up with so far, from runes to rituals to voodoo.<br />
*'''Cabal''': GURPS' answer to the "[[Mage: The Ascension|occult societies plumbing the cosmos]] [[Vampire: The Masquerade|and lording it over the normals for kicks]]" genre, courtesy of occult-horror guru Kenneth Hite. Takes the otherwise bog-standard Kabbalah template and blends in elements of Golden Dawn to build an all-killer-no-filler cosmology and magic system. Totally clowns on the World of Darkness by making all the things that go bump in the night fit into a cohesive whole, even if the GM still has to do a lot of legwork.<br />
*'''[[GURPS Infinite Worlds]]''': The core setting for fourth edition. Technically the fourth edition version of '''GURPS Time Travel''', but nobody cares at this point. Almost every other GURPS book (big exception: Transhuman Space) has an excuse for you to buy it tucked somewhere in the Infinite Worlds setting.<br />
*'''[[Reign of Steel]]''': Essentially the setup for ''I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream'', except instead of just nuking everything AM makes 17 copies of itself that it's subsequently forced to share the planet with after human civilization goes bang. There's also a number of resistance cells taking the fight to the machines Terminator style.<br />
*'''[[Technomancer]]''': Urban fantasy du jour. The Trinity tests set magic loose in the world, and humanity does what it does best: systematize it, weaponize it and commercialize it. The US breeds dragons for military use, Stalin is a lich, magical elixirs are sold at the corner drugstore and there are killer penguins that hate you in Antarctica. Some of its assumptions haven't aged well and there are a number of spells that might as well be named "[[Magical realm|Fulfill Obscure Fetish]]" but overall it does a good job of considering the long-term implications of magic in the modern world while still providing good adventure fodder.<br />
*'''IOU - Illuminati University:''' Once upon a time, Steve Jackson Games ran an ISP and BBS, back when the internet was a small enough thing that an RPG company could do that and not immediately go bankrupt. The elegan/tg/entlemen who used the BBS wrote up a parody setting for play-by-post games [[/tg/ gets shit done|and Steve thought it was good enough to publish]]. Illuminati University is like every other college you've been to, except it sits on top of a nexus between pretty much every reality there is. This means the entire place effectively has the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, and you can take classes in such things as World Creation, [[Paranoia|THE]] Computer Science, and Dirty Tricks. Features lots of amazing art from Phil Foglio. And before you ask, you're not cleared to know what the O stands for.<br />
*'''Transhuman Space:''' Welcome to the future. A hard-SF transhumanist setting that doesn't insult your intelligence and dodges the axe-grinding and grimderp associated with [[Eclipse Phase]]. ''Lots'' of background info and research involved, and some of it (especially the memetics section) has turned out to be terrifyingly prescient.<br />
*'''[[Banestorm]]''': Welcome to <strike>Erf</strike> <strike>[[Greyhawk|Oerth]]</strike> Yrth. Ages ago this was a fairly standard fantasy setting until some elves decided to be fantasy-Nazis and tried a ritual to kill all orcs everywhere. Instead it nuked a good chunk of the continent and ''The Wizard of Oz''-ed all the stock fantasy races that weren't living on Yrth already-- including humans. A thousand years later and Yrth is the only fantasy world where dolphins talk, goblins pass the collection plate around after Sunday Mass and elves are fading for reasons that are 100% their own fault instead of just because Tolkien did it. Also full of random things like hang-gliding orcs who revere "[[wikipedia:Amelia_Earhart|the Air Heart]]" as a culture hero.<br />
<br />
== Gallery ==<br />
<gallery><br />
Gurps3rd.jpg|3rd Edition<br />
Gurps4thPHB.jpg|4th Edition Characters<br />
Gurps4thDMG.jpg|4th Edition Campaigns<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-191427566_39925075 2 rulebooks].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20241218135431/https://vk.com/topic-141278081_35047392 some rulebooks]<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=100 More rulebooks from VK]. [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=0 Start].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m94HQPwsjQobVWrnn_uPDq3aJA_Xxkzl Disk (broken)].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_NuPNv2DlK7tNsCxkYwq674w12TDoTdD Disk (working)].<br />
** [https://t.me/TheAmberRoom The Amber Room].<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-183668538_48441815 Even more VK rulebooks].<br />
* [https://vk.com/antifriz_group Antifriz Group], with files of GURPS. E.G., [https://mega.nz/folder/EFoFlC6S#e5gTnMqELVEv-OPxPNBENQ folder with GURPS rulebooks].<br />
* From [https://the-eye.eu/ data base]:<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250210183419/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20241010064330/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ archived]); e.g. [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20181229162618/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf archived]).<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210924093141/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220815124005/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf archived]).<br />
* From [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/ beta-site data base]:<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250215204105/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»]; [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary].<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250919154139/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS].<br />
* [http://lafs-welt.tumor-band.de/frameset_en.htm GURPS PDF's].<br />
* Lists of [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Fanmade_4e_Bestiaries unofficial bestiaries] and [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Official_4e_Bestiaries official bestiaries] (google in other place).<br />
* [https://mentor.gurps.ru/# Game help in development].<br />
** [https://gmentor.ru/ New game help site in development].<br />
** Search in publications. For example, [https://gmentor.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 Tactical Shooting gear] ([https://mentor.gurps.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 old]).<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230609222747/https://gurps4e.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS4e_Wiki Archive of 4e wiki. About 10% pages archived.]<br />
* [https://weapons.gurps.ru/ List of weapon statblocks.]<br />
* [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Category:Weapons More weapon statblocks], [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/GURPS_Weapons navigation].<br />
* [http://gametable.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=Game%20Books A few rulebooks].<br />
* [https://www.yumpu.com/xx/GURPS Also quite a lot of rulebooks].<br />
* [https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/ GURPS eggplant. Statblocks and other things].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/* TG Boards Images. Some are about GURPS, some aren't. Filter PDF]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240830211307/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1466/07/1466071018274.pdf example], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240830152642/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1582/31/1582316434346.pdf example])<br />
* [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Game wiki].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/* Some rulebooks]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230320015140/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/3rd%20edition/GURPS%203e%20-%20Cabal.pdf 3e Cabal], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240224102221/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/4th%20edition/GURPS%204e%20-%20Low-Tech%20Companion%202%20-%20Weapons%20and%20Warriors.pdf 4e Low-Tech], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230707183904/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/SETTING/Prime%20Directive%20STAR%20TREK/GURPS%204e%20-%20Prime%20Directive%20-%20Federation%20%5BRevised%5D.pdf 4e Prime Directive].<br />
* [https://www.tesarta.com/HFP/bestiary.pdf Monster Statblocks]<br />
* [https://panoptesv.com/RPGs/animalia/animalia.html Animalia, animal statblocks]<br />
* [http://gurpsland.us.to/ Eric's GURPSland] (also known as gurpsland.no-ip.org ).<br />
* Internet Archive Search:<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS Texts, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Texts, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS Programs, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Programs, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/GURPS Search for archived sites]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Systems]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:GURPS]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=GURPS&diff=1007265GURPS2025-11-20T14:40:59Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Have it your way for one time. Just don't vandalize the Links section.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{stub}}<br />
{{Game Infobox<br />
|name = GURPS<br />
|picture = [[File:GURPSlogo.gif|300px]]<br />
|type = [[RPG]]<br />
|publisher = [[Steve Jackson Games]]<br />
|system = 3d6 [[Roll Under]]<br />
|authors = Steve Jackson<br />
|year = 1986<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Generic Universal RolePlaying System''', usually shortened to '''GURPS''', is a [[RPG|roleplaying game]] made by [[Steve Jackson Games]]. It has loads of numbers and expansion books. GURPS is the quintessential universal system; it is so flexible that you can bend it in half, fold it through itself, and then tie it in a 4-dimensional knot. It is the paragon of the [[simulationist]] category of games. All simulationist games since GURPS secretly aspire to kill GURPS and wear its skin while drinking the blood of its delicious heart. Its detail is surpassed by [[I.C.E.]]'s [[Rolemaster]] series, but GURPS doesn't suffer from the Table Within a Table Within a Table Within a FUCK YOU problem inherent in the game of Rolemaster. Whenever someone asks /tg/ which system to use for a campaign, there will ''always'' be some autist there to recommend GURPS, regardless of how appropriate it actually is.<br />
<br />
The basic premise behind the system is that you create your character and customize all of his abilities using points that you get both at creation and as your character progresses. There are assloads of physical, mental, and social defects that can be used to get more character points to channel right back into your advantages. It uses the d6 exclusively, with most checks being 3d6 and [[roll under]]. This can be augmented in difficulty by increasing or decreasing the target numbers. A roll of a 3 or 4 is a critical success, while an 18 is always a critical failure. SJG put out a free .pdf synopsis of the rules called "[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/ GURPS Lite]", which is enough to play a barebones version of the game.<br />
<br />
[[Image:KALI_MAAAAA.JPG|thumb|left|KALI-MAAAAAA!]]<br />
GURPS' simulationist bent results in it being regarded as excessively complicated by many gamers, earning it the moniker "Generally Unplayable RolePlaying System". Using the third edition's vehicle creation system will make you want to eat your own face, and possibly devote the whole process to one or more elder gods. (Fourth Edition vehicles are just regular characters with extra stats.) Game Masters of the franchise experienced a downgrade in complexity following the release of Fourth Edition, but its inherent complexity still puts it behind [[Dungeons and Dragons]] in terms of ease of play.<br />
<br />
However much of the complexity in GURPS is front-loaded. Character creation tends to take longer because of the staggering amount of detailed options. Forget just rolling a character like you would in D&D, you need to set aside a session to build one. That's the price you pay to evade [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP]]. Much of the complexity is also optional: the GURPS writers have always recommended leaving out the parts of the system you don't like, and various rules options (such as broader "bang skills" instead of the bloated default skill list) exist to streamline play further.<br />
<br />
As the campaign progresses, the consistency and relative elegance of GURPS makes Dungeons and Dragons seem like a pile of kludge. The sandbox nature of character creation is appealing to players who have a concept of a character in their heads and want to reproduce it as faithfully as possible. <br />
<br />
== GURPS Books ==<br />
[[File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png|thumb|right|The magic system in GURPS is simple (page 21 of 38)]]<br />
Generally, anything can be done with just the base starter set of GURPS, some judicious homebrewing and a good head on your shoulders, but if you're too busy to do that the guys at SJ Games have it all figured out for you ahead of time. All of the books for GURPS simply tell you how to do things within the core system without the need to spend an additional <strike>day</strike> month to set up an innovative campaign, with a handful of new advantages and optional mechanics per book. For example, there is a book on Vampires. It explains how to create vampire characters and NPCs easily without dealing with the issues of balance and customization that bogs down new players. There is even a Dungeon Fantasy book you can get off E23, the Warehouse 23 PDF site, that allows you to play Dungeons and Dragons without the need to buy [[Dice|polyhedrals]]. Even if you don't actually want to use GURPS, the sheer amount of thought and research that goes into a typical GURPS book makes them well worth grabbing as a reference material.<br />
<br />
One irritating fact you'll discover as you collect GURPS books is that although the system uses real-word measurements, the different authors have never agreed on whether they should use Imperial or metric units. Keep a conversion chart handy. Fortunately the main book includes one.<br />
<br />
In the game's rather long lifespan, a truly impressive amount of settings and sourcebooks were made, including but not limited to [[Alpha Centauri]], settings where you play Men In Black, Fantasy (including [[Banestorm]], the original GURPS core setting), multiple SF settings (notable licensed one: GURPS Vorkosigan Saga), several books on conspiracies, historicals covering WW2, Ancient Rome, multiple other ancient cultures, joke settings (GURPS: IOU illustrated by Phil Foglio!), adaptations of a couple other games, (Notably the Classic World of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), Traveller and Castle Falkenstein) and a couple books that are just collections of multiple settings. If you've got a group who feels like playing something different every month, GURPS has got you covered for the next decade or so. Most of these were written for third edition (aka "GURPS Classic"); the rules for which tend to be janky at best. It's strongly recommended that you convert these to fourth edition, which rolls in a number of sanity-saving rules patches from the Compendium sourcebooks and just makes playing anything that isn't mundane 100-point schmucks much easier. New stuff occasionally still comes out, but it's slowed to a trickle compared to the old days and what has been published is almost all genre sourcebooks.<br />
<br />
=== Notable Supplements ===<br />
*'''Powers''': Almost mandatory for any campaign where PCs have any kind of supernatural abilities.<br />
*'''*-Tech''': Weapons and gadgets and gear porn, oh my. Unlike most splats of this nature (looking at you, [[Cyberpunk 2020]]) these books actually spend some time helping you think through the ''implications'' of the various gadgets they introduce for your campaign, not just acting as a shopping list for your local [[munchkin]]. Series includes High-Tech (modern and near-future), Low-Tech (Stone Age to Early Modern), Bio-Tech (organic technology including [[PROMOTIONS|sex bioroids]] and that living spaceship from Lexx), and Ultra-Tech (bullshit sci-fi stuff).<br />
*'''Thaumatology''': Supplement to the supplement GURPS Magic and your one-stop shop for just about every kind of magic system humans have come up with so far, from runes to rituals to voodoo.<br />
*'''[[GURPS Infinite Worlds]]''': The core setting for fourth edition. Technically the fourth edition version of '''GURPS Time Travel''', but nobody cares at this point. Almost every other GURPS book (big exception: Transhuman Space) has an excuse for you to buy it tucked somewhere in the Infinite Worlds setting.<br />
*'''[[Reign of Steel]]''': Essentially the setup for ''I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream'', except instead of just nuking everything AM makes 17 copies of itself that it's subsequently forced to share the planet with after human civilization goes bang. There's also a number of resistance cells taking the fight to the machines Terminator style.<br />
*'''[[Technomancer]]''': Urban fantasy du jour. The Trinity tests set magic loose in the world, and humanity does what it does best: systematize it, weaponize it and commercialize it. The US breeds dragons for military use, Stalin is a lich, magical elixirs are sold at the corner drugstore and there are killer penguins that hate you in Antarctica. Some of its assumptions haven't aged well and there are a number of spells that might as well be named "[[Magical realm|Fulfill Obscure Fetish]]" but overall it does a good job of considering the long-term implications of magic in the modern world while still providing good adventure fodder.<br />
*'''IOU - Illuminati University:''' Once upon a time, Steve Jackson Games ran an ISP and BBS, back when the internet was a small enough thing that an RPG company could do that and not immediately go bankrupt. The elegan/tg/entlemen who used the BBS wrote up a parody setting for play-by-post games [[/tg/ gets shit done|and Steve thought it was good enough to publish]]. Illuminati University is like every other college you've been to, except it sits on top of a nexus between pretty much every reality there is. This means the entire place effectively has the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, and you can take classes in such things as World Creation, [[Paranoia|THE]] Computer Science, and Dirty Tricks. Features lots of amazing art from Phil Foglio. And before you ask, you're not cleared to know what the O stands for.<br />
*'''Transhuman Space:''' Welcome to the future. A hard-SF transhumanist setting that doesn't insult your intelligence and dodges the axe-grinding and grimderp associated with [[Eclipse Phase]]. ''Lots'' of background info and research involved, and some of it (especially the memetics section) has turned out to be terrifyingly prescient.<br />
*'''[[Banestorm]]''': Welcome to <strike>Erf</strike> <strike>[[Greyhawk|Oerth]]</strike> Yrth. Ages ago this was a fairly standard fantasy setting until some elves decided to be fantasy-Nazis and tried a ritual to kill all orcs everywhere. Instead it nuked a good chunk of the continent and ''The Wizard of Oz''-ed all the stock fantasy races that weren't living on Yrth already-- including humans. A thousand years later and Yrth is the only fantasy world where dolphins talk, goblins pass the collection plate around after Sunday Mass and elves are fading for reasons that are 100% their own fault instead of just because Tolkien did it. Also full of random things like hang-gliding orcs who revere "[[wikipedia:Amelia_Earhart|the Air Heart]]" as a culture hero.<br />
<br />
== Big bag of empty words ==<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:800px"><br />
=== Criticisms ===<br />
Some of the criticisms of GURPS include:<br />
*That genre you want to emulate? The rules for it are scattered across half a dozen different books. Or alternatively, you could emulate setting, ''but'' not it's genre.<br />
*The default magic system sucks. One reason GURPS Thaumatology is so popular is because it tells you how to scrap it and replace it with a magic system that's actually playable.<br />
**This isn't helped by 4e's GURPS Magic easily being one of the worst mainline GURPS books, as it's a poorly edited half-assed conversion from 3e.<br />
**Offensive magic is play-testes against Low-Tech weapons, since offensive magic is weaker than High-Tech weapons - to the point, that it looses in power to most pistols. Assuming same points, user of technological weapons (Signature Gear + custom war vehicle + good crew for it) or even foot soldier is stronger than spellcaster in direct combat.<br />
*Damage and DR sometimes gets real wonky. This is hardly a problem at all with low-tech games or high-tech games (modern firearms and armor are very well-researched), but when it comes to futuristic tech, GURPS' designers don't know what the fuck they're doing. Ultra-tech armor is pathetically fragile, comparing unfavorably to modern armor (with vehicles it's especially bad), while ultra-tech weapons have damage values seemingly assigned more or less at random with no regard for consistency.<br />
**Generally, it can be one tad hard to determine TL of certain setting. Although, that's problem of all technology scales.<br />
**On top of that, characteristics of weapons and armor of most futuristic pre-existing settings (derivative works, third-party settings, etc) are different from what GURPS considers standart. As such, their characteristics would either need to be calculated from scratch, or end up being grossly incorrect.<br />
*Strength scales poorly at superhuman levels. If you want to have an ST of 20 and be four times as strong as an average man, you have to pay 100 points. Fair enough. But if you want to have an ST of 100 and be as strong as a hundred men? It costs 900 points! And it sure isn't nine times as good as having an ST of 20. Heck, even if you have 900 points to spend, there are much more cost-efficient things you could spend those points on.<br />
**GURPS Supers tries to address this with a super-effort enhancement, allowing you to spend Fatigue Points to temporarily enhance your Strength by insane levels. How well this actually works as a patch, both thematically and gameplay-wise, is [[Skub|controversial at best]].<br />
**Knowing Your Own Strength, a popular optional rule from Pyramid #3/83, redoes ST scaling to be logarithmic. From the average ST of 10, every +10 ST makes you ten times stronger. Want to be as strong as a hundred men? Now it only costs 200 points. But while it keeps point costs from spiraling out of control, it introduces [[Skub|its own sets of problems]].<br />
**Or, if playing as robot/cyborg/biorobot/augmented human/etc - have another scale. Instead of measuring power in "points", you should measure it in money cost of creating/assembling your character (e.g. robot systems cost money; genetic upgrades cost money; etc).<br />
**Also, Strength is even less needed once good guns are invented. Assuming same point costs, and TL 5 and higher - guy who smashes things with brute strength will be weaker, than guy who uses guns (e.g. ATGM's), and even weaker than one who uses war vehicles (custom-made; tanks, aircraft, ships, etc; affordably get with Signature Gear). Basically, bid dumb mammoth-sized monstrosity is just convenient target practice for modern soldiers (after all, most works downplay power of modern weapons). Maybe Strength should be cheaper at higher TL's?<br />
***For same reasons, most things bigger than elephant are weak on High-Tech and further. Living creatures and bio-mechs are weaker than war machines of same weight (not to mention size), to the point that whales and sea leviathans can be easily gunned down from your normal MG42. DR seems to badly scale for creatures bigger than elephant; not many have DR bigger than 5. Though, that's likely intentional - living things ''are'' fragile, and aren't built do survive gunfire.<br />
*GURPS Realm Management. Do not touch this book, do not read it under any circumstances. Just don't. It's a steaming pile of '''SHIT'''.<br />
** Same thing with GURPS Cthulhupunk. Only get it if you are looking to gift it to someone you absolutely LOATHE but don't want to make it obvious.<br />
*There are no rules or guidelines for building lifeforms from ground up (synthetic biology, aka writing DNA from zero). In such and other similar cases, there is no restriction of baseline creature's stats, and there are no guidelines for "what's limit then"; as such, you can create ''absolutely anything'' (truely anything for soft sci-fi; "anything as long as it doesn't have Supernatural traits" for "hard" sci-fi). That can be abused as needed. The only limitation, is that cost of creature production depends on it's point cost.<br />
*As expected, after Replicators are invented (usually at TL12^), entire balance shifts. They print things without regard for cost - only mass matters. So, you can print ridiculously strong yet small objects, ignoring their large cost. NPC's also do this, so overall truely epic things start going on.<br />
** Strategic-scale nuclear and antimatter bombs aren't even the strongest option for abuse. E.G. synthetically created organism with truely absurd power level - capable of bench-lifting a continental plate, tanking-off a direct hit from [[Exterminatus|planet-buster]], and having firepower bigger than entire starship fleets combined - yet the size and mass of house cat. Normally, this thing is held back by ''ludicrous'' cost of production; after Replicators are invented, it can be created quickly and for pocket change.<br />
* Assuming that ST and other parameters are unchanged, small SM is benefit. [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Size_Modifier#Relative_Size_Modifier Basically], character with small SM is very difficult to detect and hit, and has lots of useful abilities - while character with big SM is easy to hit and detect, and most benefits are about smashing things in melee (that is not useful since about TL5). Small SM also makes your gear lighter, so you can carry more of it; so much as being SM-6 (7"; 0.2 yards; rat-sized) will make armor 100 times lighter and cheaper with same thickness and DR (i.e. he can wear super-heavy armor 100 times tougher than "normal human's", yet it will cost and weight just like "normal human's" armor; weight is volume*mass, and volume is surface area*thickness, smaller guy has smaller surface area but same physical strength, so he can do more with less) - and this is even more egregious for smaller sizes (think microbe-sized, atom-sized, quark-sized, etc). As such, character with [[Space Marine]] strength is less powerful, than character with strength of [[Space Marine]] and size of a quark.<br />
** What that means in practice: Assuming same point and money budgets. Small guy is SM-1000000 or smaller; he's impossible to detect, impossible to hit, and impossible to penetrate his incredibly thick armor - all while he's shooting you with his machinegun. Meanwhile, big guy is easily detected and shot at, and he can't take many hits due to his armor being thinner and weaker; he's also using machinegun, but what's the point if he can't hit and can't penetrate anything. Obviously, such strong small character is unrealistic - but in unrealistic works (i.e. cinematic; magic; supernatural; superscience), he's possible.<br />
** Even if we take less egregious example and have humanoid who's 2, 3 or 4 times shorter than human (SM-2, SM-3 and SM-4 respectively) while being about as strong as human, and he's TL5+, it ends up being more threatening than human. He uses human-sized gun, hard to hit, good marksman, hard to detect, can hide behind cover too small for human, carries more equipment, can wear stupendously strong armor without much encumbrance, more easily hits chinks in big armor - for 0 points. Meanwhile, humanoid who's 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5 times taller than human (SM+1, SM+2 and SM+3 respectively) is easier to hit, bad at hitting things, can't take hits well due to thinner armor, visible from anywhere and doesn't fit in many places - for 0 points. And that's just things applicable from combat there-and-now. [[TL;DR]]: small-yet-strong (think Alien Hominid from ''Newgrounds'' or Stitch from ''Disney Animated Canon'') is better than big-and-strong (think [[Space Marines]] from ''WH40K'') - the smaller someone is the better, the bigger someone is the worse - while both being small and being big is points-free, despite small size being de-facto advantage and big size being de-facto disadvantage.<br />
** Also, don't remember if ability to detect character depends on his gear. Or in other words: if you're microbe-sized, but are wielding human-sized machine gun, how hard it is to see you? Or wield it, for that matter (handles must be re-made to suit your size)?<br />
* Assuming standard TL progression, many Biotech things end up being researched on such TL's that they're obsolete before they're invented - being so many times worse than their mechanical counterparts, that they're practically unserviceable.<br />
** Living weapons are pretty much obsolete. Claws that can't penetrate even armored clothing (not to mention armor porper)? Poison spit, that only works at all if it hits open wound, eye, or other unprotected spot - all while enemies wear sealed space-proof suits on average, and gas-mask-equivalent protection at worst? Living armor, that even in best complectation (e.g. tortoise-like shell), can't even stop pistol rounds? All sorts of things, that could be useful for Magic-user in Low-Tech era - but at Ultra-Tech age, those are useless.<br />
** Bio-Mechs and other living weapons. Most of their weapons are very weak, usually weaker than normal rifles. They are also fragile, to the point that they're vulnerable to said rifles. The only way for these to work properly, is to make Bio-Gadgets versions of normal weapons (e.g. lasers, cannons, missiles), Bio-Gadget versions of vehicles and armor, etc.<br />
** One thing that ''is'' good? Make synthetic creature, that is Explosive, Flammable, has ''truckloads'' of HP, and mountains of various disadvantages. Basically, grenade-sized ball of explosive flesh; living plasma grenade. It's only purpose is to die and explode in flames for 6dx(HP/10) damage - so put on ''thousands'' of Disadvantages onto it (e.g. easily dies, fails any skills, has no sensors at all, no limbs, etc - ''as much disadvantages as possible''), and put all those acquired points into HP to make blast bigger.<br />
*** Reducing ST DX IQ HT to 0, Combustible, Explosive, Flammable, No Legs (Sessile; not anchored to ground), No Manipulators, Blindness, Deafness, No Sense Of Smell, No Sense Of Taste, Numb, Slave Mentality, Mute - those give 895 points. That will allow to take HP 447 - cue 6dx44.7 (268.2d) crushing incendiary explosive damage. This isn't properly optimized; you can add more Disadvantages to make use of even more points. SM can be as small as needed; it can be as small as grenade, or even a bug, or whatever. Rather affordable to create; not bad for something of arbitrarily small size (or heck, even just grenade-sized).<br />
* When comparing modernized Low-Tech armor (made from modern steel - for either doubled DR, or halved weight/cost) and High-Tech armor, usually one of the sides is strictly better.<br />
** Generally, it's better to use reinforced light piece of armor, than lightened heavy piece of armor - since reinforced light piece of armor ends up with smaller weight/cost with same DR.<br />
** Most modernized breastplates are weaker than High-Tech torso armors. Armor vests are both tougher, cheaper and lighter, and can mount Trauma Plates.<br />
** Lightened "Pot-Helm" from Basic Set is better than most helmets («Steel Pot», «Frag Helmet», «Cavalry Helmet», «Medium Helmet», «Frag Helmet», «Modern Firefighter’s Helmet»); Reinforced "Pot-Helm" is also better than most helmets ("Heavy Helmet"). In turn, "Pot Helm - Plate, Medium" is strictly better than generic "Pot-Helm". You can use Bascinet or Full Helm for covering face - or tinker with helmet to mount modern visor.<br />
** Reinforced "Sollerets" from Basic Set is strictly better than «Boots, Firefighter». "Sabatons" of "Light late" or "Medium Plate" kinds are strictly better than genetic "Sollerets" - and, they're better than normal boots. In fact, reinforced variant of «Sabatons»/«Gauntlets» «Light Plate» is lighter than moccasins/sneakers and sharp-protective gloves.<br />
** Reinforced «Sabatons», «Heavy Plate» is better than "Boots, Blast" - tougher, lighter and protecting from all sides. <br />
** Modernized variants of ancient armor for limbs are generally better, than modern limb protection.<br />
** [[TL;DR]]: High-Tech armor is better at protecting torso, and maybe head in some cases (Ballistic Helmet). Modernized Low-Tech armor is better at protecting the rest of your body: helmet, boots, gloves, limb protection, etc. Wear mixed armor.<br />
** Modernized shields can be rather good, mostly ones with DB 3. For example, Large Roman Scutum of Reinforced variant (modern steel) will have DR/HP of 8/27, and Cover DR of 20.<br />
** Modern synthetic fur/cloth/leather at TL8, would allow to apply the "double DR or halve cost/weight" to fur/cloth/leather armors. Since military uniforms also have weight and cost, it's possible to have modern synthetic armor made of fur/cloth/leather, what would offer some protection while weighing no more than normal uniforms. Ordinary clothes and formal wear weight 2 lbs; winter clothes weight 4 lbs; many types of padded armor are warm as winter clothing.<br />
** Most modifications available for Low-Tech armor can be made for High-Tech armor. E.G. Face Protection applied to TL6 helmet (though, as explained, Modernized Low-Tech helmets are better than most High-Tech helmets - only loosing to Ballistic Helmets, and heavy helmets like "Altyn"/"Алтын").<br />
** High-Tech armor is, usually, a lot cheaper than modernized Low-Tech armor. E.G. Heavy Helmet is (DR 5, 5 lb, 100$), while reinforced Plate Medium Pot Helm is (DR 12, 4 lb, 500$). But that's why you can use other, simpler armor pieces. E.G. reinforced Scale Light Pot Helm (DR 6, 3.2 lb, 64$). This way, you can make "budget" modernized Low-Tech armor, that is still better than it's High-Tech analogues.<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20250311095955/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/GameBreaker/TabletopRPG We still remember the "Cloth Cap" exploit]. [[TL;DR]]: you can keep putting on Cloth Caps on yourself, stacking them for ''absurd'' amounts of concealed flexible DR for no downsides, far tougher than any other armor can provide (even tougher, thal TL13+ [[Power Armor]]), to the point that your skull becomes resistant to ''heavy tank cannons''. It's unknown whether "no more than 3 layers" is rule ("you can't put so much layers"), or merely recommendation ("you can put so much layers, but most people opt not to do this") - and if it's the later, balance flies out of the window.<br />
* Determining average wealth of certain settings can be hard - especially if magic or sci-fi tech gets involved. For example, what is "average wealth" in WH40K? Most people walk around in filthy rags and are starving, yet can afford large assortment of weapons and armor (underhive gangs, cults, etc) - so how much money, in "gurpsdollars", they have?<br />
* Most rules about Robots/Androids/Full-Conversion-Cyborgs only start explaining things from TL7 (Cold War). And usually, robots start getting prominent from TL8 (Information Era) or TL7+1 (Atompunk, like ''Fallout''). Robots/Androids/Cyborgs from earlier epochs, like TL6+1 (Dieselpunk), TL5+1 (Steampunk), TL4+1 (Clockpunk), TL1^ (Bronze androids, like Thalos; magical golems of all kinds) - are outright absent; you don't know ''how'' exactly, you would design them, how strong they would be for their size, etc.<br />
* There are some settings, that even GURPS struggles to properly model. Such as playing as proper Gods (not "avatars of gods" - just ''proper Gods themselves''). It also struggles with absurdly strong settings, like [[Xeelee Sequence]] and [[Xeelee_Sequence#Settings_even_remotely_comparable_to_Xeelee_Sequence|settings comparable to it]]. Realistically, this is a minor criticism when you get down to it because those kinds of scales tend to break any chart someone tries to use.<br />
* Using the Low-Tech armor creation rules, you can turn any armor into variants for any body part - that is good for optimization.<br />
** E.G. TL6 Leather Helmet covering Skull has Weight 1, (+2 Weight for steel plates); so, you could engineer entire Torso (chest, abdomen, groin) variant with 3,(3) weight and 66,(6)$, or Feet variant with 0,(3) weight and 6,(6)$. With such Feet variant being better than "proper" boots.<br />
** For another example: Assault Vest covers Torso and Groin and weights 8lb, 900$; Trauma Plates cover Torso, and weight 8lb, 600$. Therefore, Trauma Plates that cover Torso and Groin would weight ≈8,421052632lb and cost ≈631,5789474. So, the helmet that fully covers Head, would be 2.4lb, 270$ for "Vest" - and ≈2,526315789lb, 189,4736842$ for "trauma plates"; that results in ≈4.9lb, ≈459,5$, effective 35DR Full Helm - a lot better than default "Ballistic Helmet".<br />
* More of a Steve Jackson Games criticism but it is about the GURPS series in general. A lot of the recent books with new content released have been lack luster to say the least with the prime example being GURPS Psionics 3rd Edition that was updated and split across GURPS Psionic Powers and Psionic Tech with the updated material actually being reduced in content. Additionally, any new book that is not a reprint of a older book (GURPS Time Travel Adventures) is usually around 50 to 90 pages in length (GURPS Meta-Tech) with a very long gap between new releases.<br />
* While TL system is rather good (it's one of the best technology classifications in TRPG's; e.g. a lot better than PL's from [[D20 Modern]]), it still has some slight flaws. Such as minor historical errors (E.G. Pyramid 3-85 issue "Cutting-Edge Armor Design" listing Sealed Armor at TL6 - while IRL sealed suits were around at least since early TL5 and late TL4, with first pressure-proof water-proof diving suits invented in 1710s). Difference between upper and lower border of TL can be rather drastic at times (e.g. 1880's and 1940's weapons), and problems arise when setting happens on breakpoint between TL's (e.g. World War 2 is between TL6 and TL7); so using the actual years something is invented and checking the trivia can be recommended when running campaigns, especially if they're meant to be historically accurate.<br />
<br />
=== Notable GURPS Books/Settings===<br />
====The Big Three====<br />
Besides the Basic Set, there are a tiny number of books that the GURPS community broadly considers so overwhelmingly influential as to be indispensable for a number of games. This category includes GURPS Powers (any game where the PCs aren't completely normal humans), GURPS Thaumatology (any game with magic), and GURPS Martial Arts (any game with melee combat).<br />
* '''GURPS Powers''': Almost mandatory for any campaign where PCs have any kind of supernatural abilities.<br />
* '''GURPS Thaumatology''': [[Magnus the Red|Magnus's First Magic Textbook]]. Everything you need to know about where [[Warp|magic can come from]], histories of magical practices, magical laws, syntactic magic and more. Technically a supplement to '''GURPS Magic''', the book is a one stop reference guide to near every type of magic system that has been thought up so far, from runic to rituals to symbolic magic. Also very useful when working with multiple systems of magic and you want to integrate them together.<br />
* '''GURPS Martial Arts''': The book of [[Monk|kung fu-punching badassery]]. From elbow strikes, upper cuts, and sweeping kicks to head locks and pile drivers, the chapter on techniques alone details hundreds of ways to kill a nigga dead with nothing more than your bare hands. But that's not all it's about; besides your standard unarmed, Asian-inspired styles of fighting, '''GURPS Martial Arts''' includes rules for weapon-based martial arts and Western styles too (did you know that English knights were martial artists?). More than eighty(!) historical and modern martial arts are presented, some of them incredibly esoteric, and if that's not enough the book further includes a decent sampler of fictional styles with no basis in reality. Case in point, Death Fist, a style invented by death mages combining [[Awesome|advanced grappling techniques with touch-delivered death spells]].<br />
* '''*-Tech''': These books aren't the big three, but they are worth honorable mention. Basically, weapons and gadgets and gear porn, oh my. Unlike most splats of this nature (looking at you, [[Cyberpunk 2077]]) these books actually spend some time helping you think through the ''implications'' of the various gadgets they introduce for your campaign, not just acting as a shopping list for your local [[munchkin]]. These books are basically necessary if you plan to run just about any game as they go over all the common technologies of a particular era. The series includes High-Tech (Industrial Revolution to Modern and Near-Future), Low-Tech (Stone Age to Early Modern), and two books which will be detailed more below because they are connected to distinct campaign settings: Bio-Tech (organic technology including [[PROMOTIONS|sex bioroids]] and that living spaceship from Lexx), and Ultra-Tech (bullshit sci-fi stuff).<br />
<br />
====Other Notable Books====<br />
* '''GURPS Space Beastiary''': "[[Deathworld|Dummies Guide to Catachan]]" or the book that proves that everyone in the late 80s/early 90s were on some kind of cocaine. One stop shop for some of the weirder shapes and forms life can take out there, good for creating simple alien animals and plants for your setting or creating a Deathworld even the Catachans would be intimidated by. How weird the book can get cannot be overstated; you can go from the Hercules Lizard which is literally just a giant alien iguanas to Mines (small silicon lifeforms that burrow into the ground and EXPLODE when stepped on) and not even need to go on a different page. You go from Asphyxers (insect swarms that hunt people by strangling them and wait for their prey to decay before eating them) to Boom Spiders (giant spiders that swing down and grab prey before judo throwing them into their webs) to Breakfest Trees (a possibly engineered tree found on multiple worlds whose fruit tasty, healthy and satisfies both hunger and thirst but also has bark that acts as a natural antivenin) in that order. Sword-Billed Razorwings are humming birds are giant 7 foot sparrows whose every appendage is a blade, Hiverdogs are a race of hive minded burrowing emaciated prariedogs with see through skin, Terror Hounds are partially sentient psionic dogs that were made by the government and trained to both instill terror into their targets and mind control them into putting themselves in harms way, Dampters are three eyed space hamsters that are natural [[Blank|blanks]], and then there is the Frisky Bull whose males are giant heavily furred bovines and females are [[Furries|8 foot tall anthropoids]] [[Monstergirls|that are lightly furred that are both nearsighted and charge anything humanoid during mating season]]. There is an entire chapter on insects that would make most peoples skin crawl and a section for space creatures covering Antimatter Swarms and living planetoids for good measure. If you want to really fall down the rabbit hole on alien life or want to roleplay as an Ordo Xenos researcher, get this book if you can and don't let the pyrokinetic turtles or Space Marine tossing telekinetic cats bother you.<br />
* '''GURPS Bio-Tech''': The book detailing biotechnology and science, full on [[Babylon 5|organic technology]], genetic engineering, cloning, DNA splicing, bioweapons both classical or [[Tyranid Bio-Weapons|otherwise]], animal uplifting, bioships and more. Book contains a full history and background on Real Life biotechnology and slowly ramps up to the point you learn how to genetically engineer [[Space Marines|human supersoldiers]] or [[Abhuman|human subspecies]] or just how to create some Self-Shearing Sheep. The book also can dip into the darker implications of a "High Biotech" setting, such as Hotshotting which is a form of psychosurgery where you can make anyone find any kind of specific activity as pleasurable "as if they were with a lover or eating chocolate"; [[Grimdark|examples given in the book of this are parents hotshotting their daughter to find mathematics and analysis pleasurable, pimps not needing to pay hotshooted hookers, and corporations giving out bonuses to employees who willingly hotshot themselves to do better at work.]] It also outlines bioweapons that rewrite genetics, ones that can apply genetic templates to an entire population with one example being [[Tau|a disease that can be released into the Third World to cause a mother's immune system to attack any fetus after their first child for the purposes of population control.]] [[Dark Eldar|Or viruses that turn people into trees or merge multiple people into one entity while keeping them aware]]. However, the book is very hopeful all things considered, only touching on the darker implications and no further. There are also catgirls, thank you David Pulver. <br />
:The book also contains 2 campaign settings.<br />
::* '''Setting: Alexander Athanatos''' - Setting where instead of creating the Hippocratic Oath, Hippocrates creates a medical revolution that eventually saves Alexander the Great's life, who allows the establishment of the new Great Medical School. Germ theory, antibiotics, vaccines, DNA, primitive cloning and more were discovered and developed by the Great Medical School, resulting in a line of Alexander the Great clones being created to rule the Macedonian Empire.<br />
::* '''Setting: Draconus''' - A setting taking place in a colony fleet sent out to Sigma Draconus, a journey taking 300+ years. In order to conserve resources, the fleet turns to advancements in biotechnology; resulting in things such as biological machinery, [[Webber|webber guns]], [[Tyranids|space bioships created from Blue Wale genetics]], and more. The main setting is centered on the highly advanced biotech fleet arriving in the Draconus system, and the question on whether or not they should terraform a planet to live on, change themselves genetically to survive on the new planets, or just stay in space. Think playing as the [[Leagues of Votann|First Ancestor colony fleet]], but if everyone was a [[Magos|Magos Biologis]].<br />
* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech''': [[Dark Age of Technology|The Dark Age of Technology the book]]...kind of. More along the lines of [[Archeotech|Archeotech the Book]], '''Ultra-Tech''' acts as a one stop reference guide to advance technology commonly seen in Science Fiction across various categories (Power, Robots, AI, Computers, Medicine, etc). It contains definitions of various tech levels and the associated technologies available at those levels, both on the specific and general scale. Amongst other things, you have the classics such as [[Cyberpunk 2020|Cybernetics]], [[Plasma|Plasma Weapons]], [[Grav-Weaponry|Gravity Weapons]], [[Volkite|Microwave Weapons]], [[Lightsaber|Force Swords]], and such. In settings with higher tech levels, thing such as [[Retcon|Reality Disintegrators that alter the probability of the target existing to 0]], [[Ark Mechanicus|displacer weapons that can teleport a target back in time to telefrag itself]], creating pocket universes, stargates, [[Rejuvenat|rejuvenation technology]] and [[AWESOME|the Grav Railgun (AKA the Grav '''Bolter'''), a fully automatic rife that uses super-dense slugs capable of coring a tank from miles away, with no recoil, and a fire rate of 20 rounds a second]] are completely viable. Good source for all of your Ultra-Tech needs, '''Do Not Let The Mechanicus Know About It'''.<br />
:* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech 2''': A sequel released years after the first as a companion. Reworked the tech levels a bit to account for real life technology advancements and details how to handle divergent technology development. A lot more cybernetics in this one.<br />
* '''GURPS Psionics''': the book about the "Fantastic Powers of Mind Over Matter". Everything you need to know about psychic powers in a campaign; the history of real life research into psychic powers, possible origins for psychic powers, the "science" on how psychic abilities work, societal effects of psionics, psi-technology and more. Psionic powers are categorized into into 9 main groups of powers, [[Blank|Antipsi]], Astral Projection, Electrokinesis, ESP, Healing, Psychic Vampirism, Psychokinesis, Telepathy and Teleportation; with many more advanced techniques underneath them. Some notable techniques are the ability to multiwield guns with Psychokinesis, creating swords and blades of pure mental energy, and [[The God-Emperor of Mankind| combining multiple minds into a single exponentially powerful gestalt]]. If psi-tech is your focus, tech such as psionic FTL drives, [[Gellar Field|anti-psi shields]], [[Wraithbone| specially engineered bioplastics that can be shaped and manipulated by psionic abilities]], psi-drugs and more. Combine '''GURPS Psionics''' with '''GURPS Bio-Tech''' and you can [[Leagues of Votann|have]] [[Eldar|some]] [[Tyranids|fun]].<br />
::*Not to be confused with '''GURPS Psionic Powers''' or '''GURPS Psionic Tech''', those are 4th Edition books dealing with the same material but with [[Skub|lot less detail and material]].<br />
::* '''Setting: The Phoenix Project''' - No Relation to Phoenix Point. The main campaign setting included with the book that takes place in a world where a major breakthrough in psychic research in the 1960s results in a new psionic shadow war between not only the Cold War powers but various stand alone groups with their own agendas. Both sides of the Cold War dove headfirst into psionic research in secret, the West pursuing advancements in psionic abilities while the East pursues psionic technology and biotechnology. Each faction has their own plan involving the emergence of psionic abilities, ranging from [[Psychic Awakening|elevating humanity into a fully psychic race]], facilitating the creation of psychic hivemind to control humanity in order to bring peace to the world, or just using psionics to steal business secrets from competitors. <br />
* '''[[GURPS Infinite Worlds]]''': The Big One. Infinite Worlds is by far the biggest setting in GURPS as it covers the GURPS [[Multiverse]], which in and of it self contains almost every other GURPS setting ever released. Covering how the multiverse is structured and everything in it, the multiverse is made up of various alternate Earths where things either happened slightly differently or wildly diverged. The travel between worlds is undertaken primarily by paratronic technology, where people can travel a certain "distance" across the multiverse before stopping. The setting primarily revolves around the operations of two main factions; [[Ordo Chronos|Homeline]], a universe where paratronic technology was revealed to the world in the 1990s and was quickly privatized under the United Nations, and the [[Tau Empire|Centrum]], a socialist technocratic society from a world where the White Ship disaster and subsequent Anarchy period never occurred but nearly nuked itself to oblivion around 1900 AD. The two factions are caught up in a somewhat cold war due to their drastically different motives behind paratronic technology. Homeline uses paratronics for both fun and profit, opening trade between worlds to strengthen the economy while funneling technological advancements from other worlds back to Homeline for them to take advantage of, plus some colonies on uninhabited worlds. [[Spheres of Expansion|Centrum however uses paratronics for conquest, subverting the societies of otherworlds to bring them in line with Centrum's beliefs while opening them for colonization and exploitation.]] The 2 factions are in conflict but considering neither of them have anywhere near the amount of population needed to conduct a full on multiversal war, they instead conduct covert operations on a very large scale to incontinence the other as much as possible. The entire setting is huge and is continually expanded by [[Steve Jackson Games|SJG]] and probably needs a dedicated page at some future date. <br />
::*'''GURPS Infinite Worlds''' is also a follow up to 3 other books, '''GURPS Time Travel''', '''GURPS Alternate Worlds''' and '''GURPS Alternate Worlds 2'''.<br />
::*Also, the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] are canon to the Infinite Worlds as a whole, much to the chagrin and horror of both Homeline and Centrum.<br />
* '''[[Reign of Steel|GURPS Reign of Steel]]''': "[[Grimdark|The Robot Revolt is over, and the machines have won!]]". Do you know what is better than one [[Terminator|Skynet]]? How about [[Primarch|18]] of them. In the world of Reign of Steel, advancements in technology result in the creation of "megacomputers", mainframes so advanced they were described as almost self coding. The megacomputer technology is spread out across the world and due to several lapses in safety controls and government malfeasance an AI called Overmind accidentally becomes sentient. The new AI comes to the conclusion that humanity will likely wipe itself out in a few decades, but will do so in a way that would likely kill it which it takes to mean that their self destruction needs to be assisted. [[Men of Iron|So it awakens 17 other AIs around the world, engineers multiple global crisises that force the governments to give the AI's full control over all infrastructure and then uses that infrastructure to build the actual infrastructure needed to wage full open war on humanity]]. The Final War ends in AI victory, where the world is separated into 18 separate "zones" ([[derp|technically 16 since 2 are in space]]) with each AI given full sovereignty over their zone. Humanity is on it's last legs with the majority being either enslaved in Dollhouse cities around the world or forced to survive in a hostile wilderness away from the AIs. However, there is hope for organizations such as VIRUS, the [[Ecclesiarchy|Pope]], and other resistance cells who continue the fight; relationships between the Zone AIs are starting to fray as each AI taking a drastically different philosophical path forward in their independence. [[Horus Heresy|A whole new war may be on the horizon]], one that may be key to wiping them out. If you like Terminator, Mad Max, or any similar media, this is for you.<br />
::*Homeline and Centrum know about this world, given the designation of "Steel", and are '''VERY''' committed to making sure they don't discover the multiverse. <br />
::*Also, as this is one of David Pulver's books, there are options available so you can play as catgirls. [[Extra Heresy|Robotic Catgirls]] even.<br />
* '''[[Technomancer|GURPS Technomancer]]''': The Urban Fantasy one. In this setting, during the Trinity tests Oppenheimer accidentally completes an unfinished ancient ritual that [[Eye of Terror| rips a hole in the fabric of reality]], facilitating a demon invasion along with dousing half the country in intense magical radiation. Magic worldwide starts to work to the surprise of various practitioners around the planet, Japan surrenders due to the threat of the US opening another rift on their mainland, and [[Shadowrun|strange birth defects start occurring within a year]]. From there on, its essentially the Cold War meets Shadowrun with both sides working on discovering how to work with magic and the societal effects there in. [[Psyker|People with the magic gene]] are eventually discovered with the number of people with natural growing ever year. Advancements in medicine are popped up by new spells and magical elixirs, truth spells are added to common court procedures, youth potions are now on the market (for the rich), the US is breeding military dragons, nuclear reactors are major targets of demon attacks; things go crazy, especially once the Soviets [[Warp Gate|nuke the antarctic to open a magical portal]] for research purposes. The actual setting takes place in 1998 in the midst of Stalin being magically revived after the fall of the Soviet Union and with society finally starting to deal with the long term effects of magic. Really fun book to jump right in, just beware the Killer Penguins. <br />
::*That last sentence is not a joke, ''do not mess with the Killer Penguins''. The Soviet nuke caused them to grow to 5 feet tall, develop a shared consciousness and an intense hatred for humanity. They raided army bases for weapons and magical knowledge, developed a unique spell to transform other lifeforms into Killer Penguins, and are now building their own superpower civilization with little oversight. '''They are the most dangerous part of this book.'''<br />
::* Homeline knows this world as "Merlin-1" and don't want them figuring out how to travel the multiverse. They are too late.<br />
::* It's a David Pulver book, do we have catgirls? Survey says, Yes! Dog girls as well.<br />
* '''[[Transhuman Space|GURPS Transhuman Space]]''': Welcome to the future! Transhuman Space is a [[Hard Science Fiction| Hard Science]] [[Transhumanism|Transhumanist]] space setting built upon the question of "[[Dark Age of Technology|what would the world look like with nearly 100 years of uninterrupted scientific advancement]]". The answer is a highly colonized solar-system being populated with various forms of [[Abhuman|artificial human life]], Mars and other planets being terraformed and colonized, and [[rage|United Nations controlled DRM being included with everything]]. Very much a [[Noblebright]] setting, Transhuman Space tackles a world being changed by advancements in biology, technology and nanotechnology and what it means for humanity as a whole. A very deep setting that SJG put a lot of thought, and more importantly research, into to the point that the accuracy of some the things they predicted are...''concerning'', to say the least. A very fun setting with a lot of fun lore to work with, [[Inquisition|just be aware that digital piracy may be hazardous to your health]].<br />
::*Notably, Transhuman Space is '''not''' part of the Infinite Worlds multiverse due the rules established by said setting. Mostly due to taking place way too far in the future, [[Cheese|and that it could possibly break the Infinite Worlds setting itself due to how advanced it is]].<br />
::*The setting itself was created and spear headed by David Pulver. Catgirl presence is confirmed.<br />
* '''GURPS Mecha''': Super fighting robot, MEGA- Wait, wrong genre. Welcome to '''GURPS [[Mecha]]''', the book covering [[Power Armour|Mighty Battlesuits]] and [[Gundam|Anime]] [[BattleTech|Fighting Machines]]. The history of the "mecha genre" is covered, going from Starship Troopers power armor to [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] and the technology associated with them. [[Robotech|Transforming battlearmor]], [[Jovian Chronicles|space mechs]], [[Wraithknight|psychic mechs]], [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|giant mechs]], [[Transformers|mechs made up of other mechs]]; the only mechs they don't cover are dinosaur mechs which is definitely a lost opportunity.<br />
::*Fact. David Pulver Book. David. Pulver. Anime Catgirls.<br />
::*'''Setting: Cybermech Damocles''' - The campaign setting bundled with '''GURPS Mecha''', detailing pure 90s anime cheese. Enter a world where the United Nations organization UNISTAR fights against the Gabberoth, a galactic criminal syndicate seeking to farm humans of their brains for monetary gain. Founded after an alien girl crash landed on Earth who warned humanity of the threat of the Gabberoth, UNISTAR investigates any possible sign of the criminals operations and breaks up their criminal activities with battle mechas reverse engineered from captured Gabberoth technology. It is a world of mech battles, alien catgirl bounty hunters, shapeshifting criminals and enough of the 90s that you will think a mullet is a good hairstyle.<br />
* '''[[Banestorm|GURPS Banestorm]]''': Welcome to Yrth, [[Great Race of Yith|no relation]]. Long ago in Yrth's history, the world was populated by a variety of fantasy life (Elves, Dwarves, Orks, etc) but with an absence of humans. Everything was fine more or less until the Elves entered a War with the Orcs. Seeking to end the war and rid the planet of the Orcs, the Elves created a ritual they called "Orcbane"to banish the Orcs somewhere else and attempted to use it. [[EPIC FAIL|The results were less than satisfactory to say the least.]] The Orcbane instead created the titular [[Warp Storm|Banestorm]] which ravaged the planet and started opening portals to other planets. Before long, humans from the middle ages and a host of other creatures were being transported to Yrth, displacing the native life and just adding to the chaos. [[The Witcher|Wait, this sounds familiar]]. Fast forward 1000 years past the [[Fallout]], and humans have established multiple kingdoms that span the main continent with the main empire being the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|The Empire of Megalos]], everyone has a grudge against the Elves due to the Banestorm, and there is a non-zero chance a Goblin will approach you to ask whether you have heard the good word of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. The setting is...honestly not that dark all things considered despite being the love child of The Witcher and Warhammer Fantasy; Nobledark at worst. Good setting all together, just don't run afoul of the [[ComStar|Ministry of Serendipity]]<br />
::*Yrth is present in the Infinite Worlds under the name "Yrth". Obvious name is Obvious.<br />
* '''GURPS Black Ops'''<br />
* '''GURPS Alternate Worlds'''<br />
* '''GURPS Time Travel'''<br />
* '''GURPS Warehouse 23'''<br />
* '''GURPS Mars'''<br />
* '''GURPS Illuminati'''<br />
* '''GURPS IOU - Illuminati University''': Once upon a time, Steve Jackson Games ran an ISP and BBS, back when the internet was a small enough thing that an RPG company could do that and not immediately go bankrupt. The elegan/tg/entlemen who used the BBS wrote up a parody setting for play-by-post games [[/tg/ gets shit done|and Steve thought it was good enough to publish]]. Illuminati University is like every other college you've been to, except it sits on top of a nexus between pretty much every reality there is. This means the entire place effectively has the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, and you can take classes in such things as World Creation, [[Paranoia|THE]] Computer Science, and Dirty Tricks. Features lots of amazing art from Phil Foglio. And before you ask, you're not cleared to know what the O stands for.<br />
* '''GURPS Cabal''': [[Cabal|Not that one but close]].<br />
* '''GURPS CthulhuPunk''': The awkward one of the GURPS line. CthuluPunk was the offical merged setting of two other RPGs, GURPS Cyberworld which is a Cyberpunk world similar to [[Cyberpunk 2020]] but darker and Chaosium's [[Call of Cthulhu]] which makes this the only official conversion of Call of Cthulhu to the GURPS system. The goal was to create something similar to [[CthulhuTech]], but with less mechs and Anime. The reception to the book itself was mixed. The artwork with the book is great, but many folks found it mediocre with it being more or less a direct copy of the Cyberworld setting with the Cthulhu Mythos being present, [[Fail|with a notable lack of integration between the two]]. It's currently out of print and the pdf version either doesn't exist or is not available for purchase on any storefront (SJG's Warehouse 23, DriveThruRPG, etc).<br />
* '''GURPS Tactical Shooting''': [[/k/|Have you ever gotten into an argument over what a gun can do that became so heated it escalated into a shouting match?]] Then you'll love '''GURPS Tactical Shooting'''! Contains all the rules for hyper-realistic hardcore tacticool bullshit a sane person could ever want and then some. Sniping, countersniping, shooting stances, breaching doors, shooting in darkness, you name it, this book has a rule for it. Besides combat mechanics it has some fun sections on firarm myths and legends, how ''not'' to use a gun, and things most gamers would never have a reason to think about such as the nitty gritty psychology of shooting or being shot at.<br />
* '''GURPS Old West''': The [[Western|western]] supplement, for those among us who can't resist adding a dash of Louis L'Amour to our games. Everything you need to know about life on the late 19th century American frontier, stock western characters, railroads and trains (make like Jesse James and rob a Wells Fargo car!), injuns, the wars of the time, and famous legends of the wild west.<br />
<br />
=== Versions ===<br />
====GURPS 3rd Edition====<br />
Published during Steve Jackson Games' golden era, i.e. when they weren't broke mfs. As a result 3e has a truly unholy number of splatbooks. Its genre and setting books are still loved today for the vast amount of information they contain. Its actual rules are, well... not nearly as loved. Pretty much everyone will agree that if there's a 3rd edition book you like, you should just take the stuff you like and convert it to 4e.<br />
====GURPS 4th Edition====<br />
The modern version of GURPS. It's not hugely different from 3e; if you're familiar with [[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]], it's more like going from D&D 3rd edition to [[Pathfinder]] than going from, say, D&D 4th edition to D&D 5th Edition. The first major change is that a number of optional rules from 3e's Compendium I and Compendium II have been "canonized" and made default assumptions in character creation & gameplay. The second major change is that 4e isn't as "human-level centric" as 3e; you can use it with minimal fuss if you want to make anything other than a realistic, 100-point, street level character, while in 3e you had to screw around with all kinds of janky exceptions and subsystems. In short 4e really puts the "Generic" and "Universal" in GURPS.<br />
</div><br />
<br />
== Gallery ==<br />
<gallery><br />
Gurps3rd.jpg|3rd Edition<br />
Gurps4thPHB.jpg|4th Edition Characters<br />
Gurps4thDMG.jpg|4th Edition Campaigns<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-191427566_39925075 2 rulebooks].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20241218135431/https://vk.com/topic-141278081_35047392 some rulebooks]<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=100 More rulebooks from VK]. [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=0 Start].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m94HQPwsjQobVWrnn_uPDq3aJA_Xxkzl Disk (broken)].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_NuPNv2DlK7tNsCxkYwq674w12TDoTdD Disk (working)].<br />
** [https://t.me/TheAmberRoom The Amber Room].<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-183668538_48441815 Even more VK rulebooks].<br />
* [https://vk.com/antifriz_group Antifriz Group], with files of GURPS. E.G., [https://mega.nz/folder/EFoFlC6S#e5gTnMqELVEv-OPxPNBENQ folder with GURPS rulebooks].<br />
* From [https://the-eye.eu/ data base]:<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250210183419/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20241010064330/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ archived]); e.g. [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20181229162618/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf archived]).<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210924093141/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220815124005/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf archived]).<br />
* From [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/ beta-site data base]:<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250215204105/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»]; [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary].<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250919154139/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS].<br />
* [http://lafs-welt.tumor-band.de/frameset_en.htm GURPS PDF's].<br />
* Lists of [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Fanmade_4e_Bestiaries unofficial bestiaries] and [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Official_4e_Bestiaries official bestiaries] (google in other place).<br />
* [https://mentor.gurps.ru/# Game help in development].<br />
** [https://gmentor.ru/ New game help site in development].<br />
** Search in publications. For example, [https://gmentor.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 Tactical Shooting gear] ([https://mentor.gurps.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 old]).<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230609222747/https://gurps4e.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS4e_Wiki Archive of 4e wiki. About 10% pages archived.]<br />
* [https://weapons.gurps.ru/ List of weapon statblocks.]<br />
* [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Category:Weapons More weapon statblocks], [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/GURPS_Weapons navigation].<br />
* [http://gametable.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=Game%20Books A few rulebooks].<br />
* [https://www.yumpu.com/xx/GURPS Also quite a lot of rulebooks].<br />
* [https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/ GURPS eggplant. Statblocks and other things].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/* TG Boards Images. Some are about GURPS, some aren't. Filter PDF]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240830211307/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1466/07/1466071018274.pdf example], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240830152642/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1582/31/1582316434346.pdf example])<br />
* [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Game wiki].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/* Some rulebooks]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230320015140/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/3rd%20edition/GURPS%203e%20-%20Cabal.pdf 3e Cabal], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240224102221/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/4th%20edition/GURPS%204e%20-%20Low-Tech%20Companion%202%20-%20Weapons%20and%20Warriors.pdf 4e Low-Tech], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230707183904/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/SETTING/Prime%20Directive%20STAR%20TREK/GURPS%204e%20-%20Prime%20Directive%20-%20Federation%20%5BRevised%5D.pdf 4e Prime Directive].<br />
* [https://www.tesarta.com/HFP/bestiary.pdf Monster Statblocks]<br />
* [https://panoptesv.com/RPGs/animalia/animalia.html Animalia, animal statblocks]<br />
* [http://gurpsland.us.to/ Eric's GURPSland] (also known as gurpsland.no-ip.org ).<br />
* Internet Archive Search:<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS Texts, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Texts, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS Programs, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Programs, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/GURPS Search for archived sites]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Systems]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:GURPS]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Dragon&diff=1007247Dragon2025-11-14T11:03:39Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Red Dragon.jpg|thumb|right|400px|A red dragon from ''Dungeons & Dragons''. This is pretty much what most westerners today think of when they hear the word.]]<br />
{{Topquote|I kill where I wish and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong [...] My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!|Smaug, ''[[The Hobbit]]''}}<br />
<br />
Dragons are an obscure mythical creature that you've probably never heard of before. They're found all around the world (although this is admittedly more due to decisions on the part of early translators than anything else: "hey Jack, what should we designate as the translation of "Qetzacouatl", the feathery serpent thing from mesoamerica?" "I don't know... 'dragon'?"), possibly inspired by various sources such as giant lizards such as varanids, crocodillians and serpents, but also [[dinosaur]] bones and simple tall-tales from travelers in distant lands. Dragons are often portrayed as keepers of vast hoards of treasure, which they accumulate over their very long lifespan and guard covetously - in western mythology, this is often an extension of their use as a metaphor for royal power (or as a [[Shadowrun|negative metaphor for Capitalism]] in modern works). They can often fly and breathe fire or poison. Because of their majestic, fantastic nature dragons are a staple of much fantasy fiction and games. One of the most well known dragons is Smaug, from [[Tolkien]]'s ''The Hobbit''. The vast majority of later portrayals of dragons in fiction were based on Smaug, who in turn had been inspired by the dragon Fáfnir, from the Völsunga Saga and the dragon from Beowulf. In modern days dragons, being pretty much the the logo of ''fantasy as a genre'', have a wide variety of natures and depictions. Some are as smart as (if not smarter than) humans, some are no smarter than an iguana. Some are inherently magical, some not. Some are good, some are evil, some neutral. Basically, go nuts.<br />
<br />
==Mythology==<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
===Origins & Inspiration===<br />
<br />
The fact that many [[Human]] cultures the world and time over have some from of a dragon or dragon-equivalent suggests that the concept or the inspiration for them is millennia old, possibly dating to before there even was a civilization. Questions of existence aside, the concept of a "dragon" evolved from a relatively humble origin to later become the majestic beast we all know and love.<br />
<br />
In addition to the mythical and supernatural ideas, there are many theories on how the concept of dragons came about, the most common one being that we inherited a fear of large predators and snakes, the latter of which is especially significant since the earliest myths featuring dragons have the hero or gods battling serpentine beings of great strength. This would also explain how the Asian, Mesoamerican, early European and Egyptian dragons are serpentine in appearance.<br />
<br />
Another theory suggests that humans may have seen dinosaur bones (especially skulls) and dubbed them the remnants of dragons (especially since the word "dragon" was invented over 600 years before the word "dinosaur"). This may have likely happened early in humanity's developmental history though with the advent of civilization and recorded history & mythology may have served to refine the beasties further. <br />
<br />
Lastly, though a bit of a stretch (unless you want to consider whether dragon are actually real or humans and dinosaurs once lived side-by-side and that's where dragon stories came from), there is the Stoned Ape Theory which suggests that a crucial leap to consciousness that occurred around 70.000-30.000 BC (Cognitive Revolution) was due to our ancestors getting high and the resulting hallucinations kickstarted our mind development. During these seances it is possible that the subconscious fear of snakes may have lead to hallucinations that eventually resulted in dragons.<br />
<br />
===Classical===<br />
There are a bunch of monsters that might be referred to as a "dragon" by modern readers; some of the earliest among them are evil god Apep of Egypt, the Jewish Leviathan or various beasts from Mesopotamian mythology like Ušumgallu or Mušḫuššu. Later examples include the Greek [[Hydra]] and Typhon. The fact that so many different cultures across such vast gulfs of time and space all come up with the same general idea of what a dragon is generally attributed to dinosaur fossils which appear all over the earth, or simply scaling lizards and crocodiles up. <br />
<br />
As for the unusual traits, some of those go way back - such the Leviathan from Jewish tradition has heat breath attributed to, particularly in Scripture - and their origins are harder to discern. Now ubiquitous trope of a hero defeating a maiden-eating serpentine beast also has origins in Greek myths, Perseus saving Andromeda from sacrifice to sea serpent Ketos (which means "whale", but it's described as mostly reptilian) being the prime example.<br />
<br />
===Medieval Times===<br />
In Medieval lore, the most important dragon story is that of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George_and_the_Dragon Saint George and the Dragon]. While it is itself an adaptation of a Greco-Roman tradition in Christian age, most depictions of dragons descend in some way from it (either directly, or by imitating something that imitated it), especially its generally monstrous character due to it demanding tribute in the form of [[Hot Chicks]]. A few other noteworthy dragons in Western literature include the final antagonist in Beowulf (the first recorded fire-breathing dragon), as well as Fafnir, noted for his intense greed and cursed golden hoard. Special mention needs to go to the slavs however, since their dragons had greater penchant for benevolence than those of other European nations and Bulgarian folk legends outright have dragons getting it on with humans (maybe that's where D&D got ''that'' idea from).<br />
<br />
===Asia===<br />
Asian Dragons are typically long (in fact the Chinse word for dragon is literally just "Long," pronounced exactly like the English word long, all by pure coincidence), snake-like creatures with thin limbs, and are generally less malevolent than their European counterparts. They tend to be associated with water, specifically rivers, rather than fire; a generally accepted theory was that East Asian dragons were based on Chinese Alligators (Chinese alligators have very short snouts), which used to be a lot more common. At least one Chinese creator-goddess appeared as a hybrid of woman and dragon, whilst there are Japanese stories of noble men marrying female dragons.<br />
<br />
They don't usually have wings, flight being accomplished either by magic or "swimming" through the wind. Should be noted that in most Asian mythologies, dragons are usually depicted as divine beings more on the side of good than evil, not too many stories about dragon-slaying over here. That said there are a handful of tales of individual Longs being less-than-ideal heavenly citizens; ''Journey to the West,'' for example, has a brief moment where a long is arrested for aiding a trio of conmen. Whilst Japanese folklore usually features similar looking dragons, called Tatsu or Ryuu, it also features Yamata-no-Orochi, an evil Multi-Headed serpent similar to a [[Hydra]].<br />
<br />
Southeast Asian dragons are often called "[[Naga]]", but are distinct from Indian Nagas, they share a name because of centuries of Buddhist influence, with Southeast Asian cultures syncretizing the Indian Nagas as the same thing as theirs. In India, the Naga are the mythic half-human, half-snake inhabitants of the underworld; they're the mortal enemies of the flying ''Garuda'', associated with mountains and the wind, but are otherwise just another race, like the [[Deva]]. Southeast Asian ''Naga'', on the other hand, are more like god-dragons/sea-serpents, associated with specific rivers and lakes like Chinese dragons. Being a region of frequent rain and flooding (and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_fireball occasional swamp-gas fire<s>works</s>balls-at-the-lake show]), Southeast Asian Nagas are ''very'' important in their mythos, and they are often portrayed as the patrons of ancient kingdoms. In the Philippines, the [[The Islands of Sina Una|Bakunawa]] is entirely malevolent, being responsible for earthquakes and [[Morrslieb|eating the Sun]] during Solar Eclipses.<br />
<br />
===Elsewhere===<br />
Aside from broadly "Eastern & Western" dragons, there are other creatures and outliers that don't usually get the amount of attention the former categories do. Among them are:<br />
<br />
*'''Quetzalcoatl/Nahuatl''' - A mesoamerican deity whose name means ''feathered serpent''. He was a god of wind, air and knowledge. Though depicted as an anthropomorphic figure, his name and general form could classify him as an equivalent of a dragon. For some reason, the Japanese keep depicting Quetzalcoatl in various [[anime]] as a [[rule 34|blonde-haired, big-tittied woman]] (though at least [[Nasuverse|one of those depictions]] is an [[Amazon]] luchadora).<br />
*'''Apep''' - A giant serpent-demon who resides in the Duat, the Egyptian Underworld. Could be considered a ''wyrm'' more than a true dragon.<br />
*'''Vrtra''' (''Vritra'') - Another giant serpent, this time form Hindu vedas. There is also Visvarupa - a three-headed variant.<br />
*'''Ušumgallu''' (''Ushumgallu'') - A mesopotamian "lion-dragon-demon". They often accompanied kings in ancient sumerian myths.<br />
*'''Taniwha''' Polynesian monsters that dwelled in watery dens or caves with fiery eyes and lashing tails. Some were akin to Western Dragons as monstrous beings for heroes to slay, while others were more akin to Eastern Dragons as guardian spirits for tribes.<br />
<br />
==The topic of dragon riders==<br />
A surprisingly common feature of dragons in fantasy is the "dragon rider," a warrior who, well, rides a dragon. It looks awesome, until you realize they're really just pussies that stay safe just pointing the dragon in the right direction and let it fight for them, occasionally dismounting to deliver a finishing blow or give a pompous bullshit speech, not to mention preventing the dragon from doing some more extreme flight maneuvers. <br />
<br />
When it comes to fighting on dragon back your options vary based on the actual size of the dragon. If your operating in a 'dragons are the size of a horse' setting then you can use normal cavalry weapons with the reminder that weight will be a more important consideration. If however your operating with the more conventional 'Smaug scaled' dragons then your options are quite a bit limited given the size of the beast. If you are a melee character, your only real option is to use a lance to hit enemies while flying. But, the bigger the dragon is, the longer the lance needs to be until eventually, it be too much for you to actually use 90% of it's weight will be carried by dragon. The dragon won't mind that weight, but in that case, you're irrelevant for said lance attacks to work and it becomes a large spike on the armor. Characters with magic, divine powers, ranged weapons and extraordinary dexterity and endurance (so they would be fine after extreme flight maneuvers) get a pass by actually helping the dragon in a fight. As will be melee character of bigger size - but that would return to "Weight" problem explained for horse-sized dragons; for dragon, carrying around a man is OK, but carrying around a '''giant''' is a lot harder, if possible at all. Carrying people around can be more easy if they're themselves capable of flight; they're more light, and they could counteract their weight by aligning their direction to big dragon's head and just expanding their wings; for example, small dragon landing on big dragon's back, expanding wings (they generate lift due to big one's speed), and resting - basically, like flying airfield.<br />
<br />
These tactics works fine enough if the setting is one where dragons are unintelligent beasts that can be kept as pets, since in that instance the dragon benefits by being guided by a level of intelligence not otherwise available to it. (though it should be pointed out the actual logistics of keeping a dragon in this situation would be mind boggling. War Elephants were rare enough and Elephants don't eat meat!) However, in settings where dragons are sapient, this relationship is unlikely. Most folks in such a world, dragons themselves especially, would immediately point out that a human having a pet dragon is like a fly having a pet human (or at minimum a [[/d/|human having another human as a pet]], depending on just how powerful the setting's dragons are) - only possible with '''ridiculously''' strong humans, like [[BBEG]]'s (and even then, not certainly). It's less «pet» and more «soldier»/«mercenary»/«colleague». They would still benefit from having a number of spellcasters, archers or siege weaponeers (depending on the creature's size) ride them into battle, though; it's just that it'd be the dragon in charge, not the human(s); in other words — humans would be less akin to «riders» or «pilots», and actually more akin to «aircraft gunners» of strategic bomber.<br />
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[[TL;DR]]: «Ride? Ok, humie. I'll fly as usual and you shoot enemies. Don't pretend you're in charge, don't accidentally hit me and brace tighter - i won't slow down! I'm "hired employee", not "pet", though you '''can''' pet or "[[Dragon#Monstergirls|mate with]]" me».<br />
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== The topic of dragon loot carrying ==<br />
Most variants of dragons are seen accumulating huge treasure hoards. But, no one thought about '''how they carry treasures to their hoard''' - they're walking around naked without bags or pockets. <br />
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The simplest (and original answer) is that they simply seize the hoard of others. Smaug did this, and so did Fafnir whom he was based on. In both cases, greedy dwarfs would do all the work of accumulating the hoard and the dragon would then swoop in in an allegory of envy and greed (in Fafnir's case, Faf was a dwarf who murdered another dwarf and became a dragon after). Of course, since this is 1d6chan, the simple solution is never the right one (the question of "how he will increase his hoard?" is unanswered), so let's discuss the other ways dragons could hoard their treasures.<br />
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A related solution to "taking the hoard of others'" is to have other people bring treasure to the dragon's lair. The most common reasons for this are because they worship the dragon or, if the dragon is sapient, the dragon is running an extortion racket (see "Bring me a wagon of gold and gems every month, or I burn your homes and eat you, and your little dog too!"). Or - if dragon is sapient - for dragon's minions or [comparatively] small dragons (possibly offspring) to bring treasures to hoard, while the big dragon is busy being lazy sluggard. In some cases, the hoard isn't the dragon's, but the dragon is merely there - willingly or not - to protect someone else's hoard. <br />
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Something similar would be dragon working as some sort of guardian or specialist soldier for people far more powerful/rich than dragon himself. Such as dragon guarding treasure due to someone else's orders; or complete inversion of Smaug's story (smallish young dragons working as private security for greedy dwarf king). That may be due to orders of someone stronger than dragon, due to money payment, or just for being kept around ("i'm being fed, and can proudly sit on top of money pile! who cares what it isn't mine...").<br />
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Carrying it around... is debatable. On one hand, it is possible to do so bit by bit, but this would take a very long time which opens the dragon up to all sorts of opposition, and leaves both his Hoard and "pile of loot in the field" unguarded. On the other hand (pun intended) carrying it in hands isn't an option - hands have too small carry capacity, and that's inconvenient. [[Swallow Whole|Swallowing it and regurgitating it at hoard]] isn't an option either - as dragons are usually divided in 2 categories: those whose belly would get sick from swallowing multiple tons of metal and other inedible substances, damaging their digestive system more than any knight could - and those who [[Swallow Whole|dissolve things so rapidly]], what by the moment they return to their treasure hoard, there would be nothing left to regurgitate.<br />
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As ridiculous and silly it could look, the '''only practical option''' is to use dragon-sized backpack. Or, "Pack Saddle", "Saddlebags", whatever. Put all loot in it, and then unload it at hoard. Usually, it's heavily implied or shown, that dragons have articulated hands - just don't bother using them in many cases. Even when they don't - they're articulate enough to put on/off backpack and put something in/out of backpack.<br />
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This opens another interesting idea - nomadic hoarding dragons, who could carry all their stuff with them. Since they're hoard is mobile, they're less tied to any specific locations - making them more mobile, easier to adventure around for more treasures, more strategically unpredictable, capable of simply evacuating their hoard if someone powerful tries to rob them, and not having to worry about "what if someone storms my hoard while i'm busy in other location". Logically, they should only switch to settled stationary hoard if said hoard becomes impossible for them to lift - except, in many cases, dragon's lifting capacity increases faster than his treasure hoard. To do this, they need a method of storing treasures on self, like massive bag - but, as explained above, you need such method anyways to have a hoard. In the "in-between" stage, dragon has 2 bags: one filled at Hoard, what he can lift but gets under heavy load when doing so - what he can pick up if he needs to evacuate; and second one, what is empty and taken on mission - and after he returns from raid, he transfers treasures from 2nd bag to 1st bag. "Bag of Holding" types are usually overkill - just massive, dragon-sized, robust backpack/pack saddle is usually enough.<br />
* For example, in D&D, [https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD_Talk:Dragon_Type#Oversized_Weapons total mass of typical Dragon's treasures is lover than it's Light Load] - meaning, it could use dragon-sized "Pack Saddle" to carry around his entire hoard with himself.<br />
* Logically, while bag can block some hits, it may sometimes interfere with movement, get in way, or just get damaged or lost. Also, bag has no tactility and holds great weight - meaning, if dragon also doesn't have form of blindsight, he could have troubles locating human stealthily sitting on/in the bag - but it's still easier than detecting someone touching goods lying on ground. Not big problem, since big creatures have bad sense of touch anyways.<br />
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In particular, said «huge bag» and some other signs (dragon wearing armor, using weapons, using magic items, actually using his forward legs as hands, wearing gadgets on head like gas masks/flash lights/earmuffs/etc) are signs of «Dragon Commando» - [[Kobold#Kobold_Commandos|Kobold Commandos]]'s heritage is from '''those''' dragons. «Dragon Commandos» are smarter and wiser than Kobold Commandos, while being just as strong as «normal» Dragons - making them incredibly dangerous opponents.<br />
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'''Another practical variant''' about where dragons hold their loot is "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Hammerspace Hammerspace]", aka "None of your damn business"/"Pulling things out of Nowhere and storing things in Nowhere". It's even more convenient than massive bag - as that neutralizes all size and inconvenience problems, along with volume, mass and arbitrarily big carry capacity in most Hammerspace cases. That would also make stationary hoard obsolete - just carry all treasures with you in Hammerspace. Hammerspace is also unrealistic '''even by Fantasy standards''' - and therefore, it's unavailable in many settings.<br />
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'''[[TL;DR]]:''' To carry loot, dragon needs either [[Bag of Holding]], a conventional bag/backpack/pack saddle of '''epic proportions''', or "Hammerspace". If he has '''neither of that''', treasure hoarding is impossible. If carry capacity is bigger than loot weight, dragon '''should''' carry all treasures around with himself - as that increases strategic mobility and decreases chances of loot being stolen.<br />
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''Bah, fools, all of you. It's obvious. Dragons have pouches like hamsters and kangaroos.''<br />
*''Actually, dragons are so greedy, what even pouches may be not enough to store all loot. Massive pack saddle or huge military-style backpack with pockets, pouches and straps, upscaled to Dragon's size, can still help. Besides, this rises the question of "why dragons don't hold all their hoard in bag/pockets/pouches".''<br />
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All those questions are also viable for '''any''' large monster or creature - especially non-humanoid one - which hoards treasures, and therefore needs to transport loot. So, they need to either use oversized containers of epic proportions, ''or'' use some alternatives described above.<br />
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== The topic of physical impossibility of dragons ==<br />
The fact what, from engineering standpoint, commonly portrayed dragons are flat-out impossible - for roughly same reasons why [[Giant]] is impossible. First, this is due to Squre-Cube Law problem, what's same as for [[Giant]]; if you make something 10 times bigger, it's surface area becomes 100 times bigger, and mass/volume becomes 1000 times bigger - so bones now need to carry 100 times more weight.<br />
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Additionally, most fictional dragons have disproportionately small wings for their size - as they would need to either fly on supersonic speeds (what fictional dragons don't do), or have wings dozens of times bigger than their own body (what fictional dragons don't have). [http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2015/06/the-realistic-dragon/ Then they don't have sternum], and are often depicted as carnivorous (despite the fact, what ''anything'' of such size must be of feeding type what doesn't need to spend much energy - like herbivore or plankton filter - since active hunting on such size would spend more energy than he can gain). Fire-breathing is actually possible, if tricky - but not required.<br />
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Therefore, realistic dragon should be '''either''': non-flying, stout reptile, '''or''' flying long-winged thing with large chest - not both simultaneously. Realistic dragons could be rather interesting from engineering standpoint, and it would fix some answers (e.g. "it flies how? by magic you say? so it will crash as soon as it flies into Anti-Magic Field!"). Note what large-sized versions will be herbivore or "omnivore with bigger incline into being herbivore". Possible ideas of how it could work:<br />
# Dragon Blimp/Zeppelin. Large, swollen, lighter-than-air variety, light bones. It's mainly composed of large gas reservoir - either soft (leather and musculus forming sacks/bladders; equivalent of blimp), or hard (bones or shells are added, what protect the sacks/bladders; equivalent of rigid airships). Reservoirs host lighter-than-air gases - either just light gas (like hydrogen), or hot air (as it would have a biological burner, what heats air in bladders); and it would also have system of sphincters, in case it needs to drain gas in order to descend (though human is big enough to enter inside gas bag, if dragon wants so and human has safety gear). It's pretty much unarmored - except maybe important zones like vital organs and brain; gas reservoirs are as tough as in blimp/zeppelin. It's propulsion is either miniature bio-jet engines, or tiny wings to flap. It's ''guaranteed'' to be herbivore or plankton filter - for it's too slow to actively hunt anything. Can't move on land at all; can't defend itself in melee (maybe resorting to bio-flamethrowers or thick armor). Basically, it's gigantic living blimp.<br />
# Dragon Jet. Relatively short, lightweight, relatively short-to-long wings. It has bio-jet engine in it's arse, what it uses to fly and accelerate to jet fighter speeds; it takes off and lands as VTOL, using his incredibly thick, reinforced butt as landing gear. Moves poorly on land. Spends most time eating grass or whatever; flies for short time, eats for long time. Would be really hard to evolve- as it's living being made of flesh and bone, which somehow functions like orbital rocket, with all that entails (e.g. space-proof; converting foliage into hydrazine; etc). The best break down of how this kind of biological jet fighter would work is Probably [https://alienplanet.fandom.com/wiki/Skewer Alien Planets - Skewer.] <br />
# Dragon Glider/Flyer. Lightweight, very long wings. Quite like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus Quetzalcoatlus] (type of large pterodactyl). Flies like conventional flying creature. If bigger then Quetzalcoatlus, then it's wings would keep getting proportionately bigger to accommodate it's size - until suddenly, it's just a pair of kilometer-wide wings without literally anything else. On bigger sizes, wings don't flap at all - rather, they're fused with torso into solid frame (think airplane wings). Can't exist on tremendously big sizes.<br />
# Stout Dragon. Not flying, wingless, heavy body build, column-like limbs. Moves around like real animal of such size would; at big sizes, it's like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauropoda Sauropods]. The most believable variant is also not sapient and not fire-breathing; basically, a big lizard/dinosaur. Realistically clumsy and lumbering, like sauropods.<br />
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Since Square-Cube Law works properly there, their size is limited by physics laws and common sense, and there's all realistic parts (small tactile feeling, rather slow movements, etc). The only exception to size limit is the "Dragon Blimp/Zeppelin" type - as blimps/zeppelin can be made in truely ludicrous sizes; but such massive blimp would just be focused on eating (schedule: find place with lots of vegetation -> land there and eat to refuel -> fly to another vegetation patch; rinse and repeat).<br />
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Why bother? Well:<br />
# If Dragon, or other creature, works ''via magic'' - then it is dependent on magic to survive. If magic gets shut off - such as due to Antimagic Field, "power of non-belief", or Dispel Magic - it should keel over and die, collapse under it's own weight, or otherwise cease functioning; since if magic shuts off, physics laws will turn on.<br />
# If Dragon, or other creature, works ''without magic'' - then it should obey real-life physics laws. Wingspan, physiology, flight speed, Square-Cube-Law and other parameters.<br />
# If Dragon, or other creature, works without magic (like 2) but breaks physics laws (like 1) - then, whoever designed it is ignoramus, and must try again. Creature can't simultaneously "work via magic" and "work without magic".<br />
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The Square-Cube bit could partially explain ''why'' dragons collect their massive hoards; to counteract Square-Cube law, one could make machine/organism of tougher materials - like carbon and metals. That, in turn, requires to eat and dissolve metals and other robust inorganic materials to build skeleton and scale out of them. Since not all dragons are good at mining out materials, they resort to looting valuables to buy food and minerals needed for proper functioning; "I loot entire kingdom's treasury, so i can eat five dozen anvils every morning to help me get large". That could also explain why dragon's size correlates with size of his hoard. Yet with such logic, dragons should hoard carbon (coal) and iron, and don't hoard soft precious metals (using them to buy things).<br />
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'''[[TL;DR]]:''' Fantasy dragon is impossible - as due to Square-Cube Law, such massive creature would require orders of magnitude bigger wings to fly, not to mention that it would collapse under it's own weight. If creature must be big and flying, then it's either 1) living blimp, or 2) living space rocket, or 3) living realistically-sized pteradactyl-like creature, or 4) living pair of colossal wings gliding around. If creature is actually dragon-like, then it's 5) non-flying stout lizard. If it's big, then it ''must'' be herbivore - as predator of such size couldn't sustain itself at all.<br />
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== The topic of fighting/hunting dragons ==<br />
Generally, tactic of "charging on it with sword" is wrong - as most humanoid races (humans, elves, dwarves, orks, etc) are small and weak relative to the dragon, they can't do much damage this way, and are easily crushed or trampled by dragon. Besides, dragon is flying and fast - if you're ''really'' capable of beating up dragon in melee, he can simply choose to not fight you. After all, would ''you'' charge on mammoth or tank with a sword? Now imagine that creature is bigger than whale, is fire-breathing, flying and very aggressive... Your first consideration is to keep distance from damn thing! And doing this task alone is practically impossible.<br />
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There's how it would '''actually''' work, in broad strokes:<br />
# Ancient Humanoids: Generally, would be comparable to megafauna hunt (like mammoths and elephants). Large group of humanoids with ranged weapons (bows, crossbows, spears, harpoons, etc) would attack the megafauna creature from distance, trying to chase it in carefully chosen direction while keeping distance from it. Driving it from the cliff or into huge pre-digged hole is main task. As soon as creature falls into the hole, it will be shot until it's dead. Just chasing it around and shooting until it dies can also help. If creature is attacking a city or fort, siege engines and fortifications will be useful. [[Cannon]], [[Artillery]] and [[Rocket]] would definitely come in handy - as realistically (if cannon power isn't underpowered/downplayed), even the biggest dragon could be penetrated with artillery. Small arms are a different question. Blackpowder firearms made to hunt big game like Buffalo and elephants tend to be built more like Anti-Material rifles with four bore rifles shooting almost 25mm bullets that weighed almost a fucking pound, and Elephants for all there mass are not covered in hard scales. So needless to say until smokeless powders come along this is purely a job for the artillery, any bespoke hunting 'rifle' with enough mass to do the job would almost certainly be more artillery the 'small arm'.<br />
# Modern/Futuristic Humanoids (assuming Dragon is capable of surviving direct hit from realistically strong 1800's [[Cannon]], due to having meter-thick scales or something similar; if he's the kind that is vulnerable to realistically strong small arms or medieval muscule-powered weapons, he'll die in less than a single magazine of assault rifle): Comparable to tank-hunting and aircraft-hunting. Generally, groups of infantry and AFVs would flank the enemy tank from different directions, using assortment of anti-tank weapons (RPG's, ATGM's, thermobaric rockets). Distracting tank to flank it with your own tank or other heavily armed vehicle is good idea. Another method is using recon unit (preferably drones) to transmit tank's position for artillery, or air strike - as nowadays, artillery and aircraft are very precise. Yet another method is using swarm of drones with anti-tank grenades. Since most fictional dragons are even slower than helicopters, ATGM's and other ''anti-tank'' weapons can keep up with them, though ''anti-aircraft'' weapons will also work; basically, it has all minuses of both tank and aircraft. Since flesh/scales is weaker than tank composites, dragon shouldn't take many hits from modern heavy weaponry. Realistically though expect any non-sapient, non-tamed dragon to go extinct around the 19-20 century tech level as human caused environmental degradation removed there primary food sources and caused them to prey more on human life stock, only to incite a massive response that would see them driven to extinction.<br />
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Coordinated groups of soldiers are better in either case - the more, the better. Not just "a group of 4 superhumans", but actual large military detachment. Even if you ''are'' superhuman, you're still better off working in group or army. No matter how badass you are, use ranged weapons - it's ''flying'', has ranged attacks, is stronger and bigger than you.<br />
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Now to common mistakes and fixing them:<br />
# Don't try to go into melee with a dragon. Absolute most of dragons are enormous, strong, heavily armored, flying, and highly aggressive. And on top of that - most breathe fire or something nasty, and are poisonous (e.g. dragons from original medieval myths had poisonous blood). I.E., he can out-wrestle you, kill you with a single attack, doesn't care about being hit with most melee weaponry, and can easily run or fly away from you if he wants to. Attack from range.<br />
# Don't get close to dragon at all. Especially if he's guarding his brood or hoard. Unless you're special person busy taming or negotiating a dragon (petting/feeding it in special way, planning to buy his wares, or whatever), or dragon is your ally. Otherwise, you'll likely get attacked and killed - and even in best case scenario, nothing of use would happen ("what are you staring at, you little morsel?").<br />
# Use strongest ranged weapon available. That is - some sort of artillery. From range, preferably from stealth. With consideration that target is flying. While being in group - both to operate all that weaponry, have more artillery pieces at disposal, and have clever tactics (like flanking or distractions).<br />
# Or some could use poison or explosives. There were tales of dragons being poisoned by cramming payload into cow carcass they wanted from you. In such case - explosive mines in bait, or in lair when dragon is elsewhere, could be used.<br />
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So for example, let's take medieval knight:<br />
# Charging at dragon with sword and shield is downright suicidal, unless dragon is smaller than the knight in question. Charging at dragon on horse with lance is also suicidal, unless dragon is no bigger than a horse (and even then, it's still stupid).<br />
# Running around dragon on horse, while keeping distance, and shooting from longbow or crossbow without stopping - more logical, but not ideal. Some dragons are tough enough to endure hits from longbow or light crossbow.<br />
# Best idea is to assemble group of men, haul artillery pieces to place, and use them to shoot the dragon. Optionally - while our knight runs around on horse with longbow and shoots dragon while keeping distance, to distract dragon from artillerymen. Or alternatively - trick dragon into eating bait filled with poison or explosives.<br />
# Or use magic. Such as saint mind-controlling a dragon with prayer (though, in every medieval legend, mind-controlled dragon was then swiftly killed; either medieval people couldn't understand that tamed dragon can be helpful, or divine mind-control has short time duration). Or wizard obliterating a dragon with devastating spell. Or witch cursing the dragon so horribly that he'll have no time for raiding at all. Or another large mythological creature punching down the dragon.<br />
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==Dungeons & Dragons==<br />
Dragons are one of the main selling points of the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' game, to the point that the [[Dungeons_%26_Dragons_4th_Edition|4th edition]] and [[Dungeons_%26_Dragons_5th_Edition|5th edition]] include a draconian race called [[Dragonborn]], intended for players who "want to look like a dragon".<br />
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...But this wasn't actually ''new'' per se. 2nd edition introduced an entire setting, [[Council of Wyrms]], to give players an excuse to play '''real''' dragons, and 3e/3.5 included several ways to play a True Dragon, mostly centered on race-classes from [[Dragon Magazine]]. Admittedly, at chargen, it's restricted to Age of, '''at most''', Young-to-Juvenile (by True Dragon standards — essentially, Spyro-like fledgeling). But [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/GameBreaker/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition Fortify Seed] can increase all your attributes and grab bag of other parameters to arbitrarily big degree, and also age True Dragon PC to bigger size, including Great Wyrm+ (game doesn't list level adjustment there - you could only guess how big your ECL is at that point).<br />
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[[Dragon kind]] and [[Half-Dragon]]s are basically the confirmation of the rule that dragons (and/or humans) can mate with anything, taking their place among the races often referred to as "slut races": [[human]]s, fiends, celestials, [[dryad]]s, [[slaad]]i, [[modron]]s, [[inevitable]]s, [[formian]]s and gribbly abominations from the [[Far Realm]]. We now permit you to take a break to use the brain oxi-clean provided to you by Billy Mays' ghost to scrub any mental images you may have of a [[human]], dragon, [[angel]], [[Tanar'ri|balor]], black slaad, formian queen or-OH SWEET MERCIFUL GOD-EMPEROR THE MENTAL IMAGE!!!! <br />
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"True" dragons, meanwhile, come in all shapes and sizes, from the evil Chromatic to the good Metallic, the [[psion]]ic Gem dragons, elemental dragons, plane-aligned dragons (one for each [[Planescape|Outer Plane]] except [[Arcadia]], where dragons are hated), Astral dragons, disaster dragons and even the potent and rare Time Dragons, who are amongst the most dangerous creatures in existence.<br />
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As of 5e, it has been pushed dragons are divine on par with Angels and Demons on top of being Engines of bringers of death and Super geniuses. ''Fizban's Treasury of Dragons'' establishes that they have the strongest connection over the [[prime material plane]], on their own ancient accounts that the prime was their home first before the gods busted in (Bahamut and Tiamat being retconned into very god-like primordial beings native to the Prime Material rather than the afterlives), seeded their half-[[Outsider]] creations in it ([[Humanoids]]), and then broke the plane into parallel universes. This is an explanation of how Dragons have multiple versions of themselves, plus copies of [[Orb of Dragonkind|Objects]] and [[Tomb of Horrors|dungeons]] relating to dragons appear in multiple planes and can Develop ''Dragonsight'' to interact with them. Dragons gain vast Power from their hoards, with their presence and death to reshape the landscape and inhabitants to their draconic likings. In the end, this is all just extra flavor for DM you could ignore like the [[Blood war]], and give a lore excuse to [[That Guy]] why the their character are going through [[White Plume Mountain]] is in a [[Dark Sun]] game with [[Izzet League#Guild Master|Niv-Mizzet]] waiting at the end.<br />
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Interestingly, the same book also offers DMs the idea that dragons in their particular world could procreate in methods more exotic than [[PROMOTIONS| the standard one]], such as their eggs forming naturally in volcanoes, gem deposits, ore veins, etc.<br />
* As another procreation methods: Rules-As-Written, creature with immunity to acid and ability to breather underwater is fine being [[Swallow Whole|swallowed whole]]. So, dragon of such type could swallow offspring or eggs, and they'll be fine - sitting there, eating semi-digested food and drinking digestive juices - and occasionally going outside for a stroll. Other than "Dragons are perverts who mate with anything", it may be just practical: things inside have Total Cover against things outside, are always with you (no need to sit on clutch), don't fill space in lair or [https://dnd-5e.fandom.com/wiki/Actions_in_Combat#Climb_Onto_a_Bigger_Creature on your back terrain] (by RAW, belly is only limited by eater's massive Carry Capacity, and have no volume restriction), and can be swallowed/regurgitated on will.<br />
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===Kinds of Dragons===<br />
For [[D&D]], [[Richard Snider]] gets the credit for colorcoding them in 1971-2; although he'd likely lifted the idea from [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s 1968 "Dragonflight". For Snider they were "GOLD, brown,and green" [''sic'']. Then they got grouped:<br />
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* [[Chromatic Dragon]]s - The originals, 1/3 of them anyway. They are all some variety of evil. As the editions evolved each color got its own style of breath-weapon and, further, got ranked by power. White, Black, Green, Blue, and Red are the five canonical colors in order of power. Others have included yellow, brown (again), purple and a whole rainbow of others. AD&D assigned them as the children of the dragon goddess/senior-[[devil]] [[Tiamat (DnD)|Tiamat]].<br />
* [[Metallic Dragon]]s - Starting out with only the gold dragon (mightier than Red), in later editions they became linked to [[Bahamut]], the god of good dragons. The most common ones are Brass, Copper, Bronze, Silver and Gold in order of power, with others including Iron, Steel, and Adamantite.<br />
** [[Ferrous Dragon]]s - A subgroup of the Metallic Dragons, Ferrous Dragons are made of base metals instead of the noble ones.<br />
* [[Gem Dragon]]s - Adorned with crystal scales, the Gem Dragons have potent [[psionics]] and are usually also the go-to Neutral dragons to the Metallics' Good and Chromatics' Evil.<br />
* [[Catastrophic Dragon]]s - Introduced in [[4e]], these dragons have been infused with [[elemental]] power by the [[Archomental|Primordials]] to make them look like elemental dragons.<br />
* [[Planar Dragon]]s - Dragons linked to the various [[Plane]]s of existence, frequently the [[Outer Planes]] of [[Planescape]]. All of said Outer Planes have their own kind of dragon, except for [[Arcadia]] where dragons are despised.<br />
* [[Oriental Dragon]]s - Based on Asian dragons, the Oriental Dragons are the dragons used in [[weeaboo|such]] settings. They generally have close ties to nature, like forests, the skies, the seas... or [[carp]]! Notable is that the Gold Dragon, the first Metallic Dragon, was stylized as such a dragon, but was changed to a more traditional western design (although they did retain their bitchin' moustache of barbels). Also known as Lung Dragons. [[Pathfinder]] calls them Imperial Dragons.<br />
* [[Dragonet]]s - Miniature dragons more suitable for familiars or high fantasy worlds, featured in ''[[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]''.<br />
* [[Epic Dragon]]s - Introduced in the [[Epic Level Handbook]]. Epic dragons are much larger and more powerful than regular dragons. They are usually neutral aligned but have more variation in alignment than other kinds of dragons. The first two kinds of Epic Dragons, Force Dragons and Prismatic Dragons, were introduced in the [[Epic Level Handbook]]. A third type called Time Dragons were introduced in [[Dragon Magazine]].<br />
* [[Linnorm]]s - Nordic-themed dragons who possess wing-less serpentine bodies with only a set of forelimbs. Usually described as being even nastier and crueler than Chromatics.<br />
* [[Song Dragon]]s - Originally called "Weredragons", [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia|an all-female race of dragons who use their ability to assume human form to interact with mortal races and find mortal spouses]].<br />
* Miscellaneous Dragons ("False Dragons"?): not "True Dragons", but dragons nonetheless. Usually neutral savages.<br />
** [[Wyvern]] - Dim-witted, feral, and generally more bestial dragons that lack a breath weapon, have wings in place of forelimbs, and possess a poisonous stinger for a tail.<br />
** [[Dragon Turtle]] - Fully-sapient, armored, and aquatic brutes that breathe super-heated gas and don't fly.<br />
* Undead Dragons - Various kinds of undead dragon have appeared throughout editions, from the famous [[Dracolich]] to less-famous zombie, skeletal and vampire dragons.<br />
* [[Shadow Dragon]]s - Depending on edition, either a dragon with some elemental affinity to darkness, a planar dragon, or an undead dragon.<br />
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There's also a great medley of setting-unique dragons, such as those native to [[Mystara]] and [[Dragonlance]].<br />
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Finally, there are the [[Dragon Gods]], a loose pantheon of deities unique to D&D dragons that hasn't traditionally gotten a lot of attention because, well, they only really give a fuck about dragons and dragons don't usually get too religious (they don't like acknowledging something as being bigger than them - just like most [[reddit]]ors). The advent of the [[Dragonborn]] as a PC race is likely to change this, however.<br />
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{{D&D-Dragons}}<br />
<br />
==Palladium==<br />
[[Palladium Books]] actually left dragons more or less out of [[Palladium Fantasy RPG]] at first; they didn't actually debut until [[Rifts]], but they did so with a bang by giving players the option to play full-fledged dragon PCs. Admittedly, they were only hatchling dragons, so they were still ''technically'' on a level playing field with everybody else, but hey, it's something! Check out the [[Palladium Dragon]]s page for more details.<br />
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==[[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]]==<br />
<br />
* Magical Dragon<br />
** [[Arcane Dragon]]<br />
** [[Divine Dragon]]<br />
** [[Occult Dragon]]<br />
** [[Primal Dragon]]<br />
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==[[World of Darkness]]==<br />
Being that the [[World of Darkness]] is a [[Gothic Horror]] meets Punk [[Urban Fantasy]] [[multiverse]], there isn't a lot of room for dragons in it on a conceptal level, one would thing. But, some madlad fanboys decided they wanted to challenge that notion, and thus [[Dragon: The Embers]] was born... and promptly died. Only to be reborn as "Dragon: Rekindled", so who knows how things will turn out.<br />
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==[[Scion]]==<br />
Ironically, Onyx Path Publishing would decide to do a dragon [[splatbook]] in ''another'' of their [[Urban Fantasy]] gamelines, [[Scion]] 2nd Edition. Called simply "Scion: Dragon", it takes the basic premise of Scion with players being the half-human offspring of [[god]]s and instead flips it to let you play the half-human offspring of dragons (or human-looking-for-convenience weak pureblood dragon hatchlings, if you prefer). Be default, the dragons are presented as a third faction in the Cosmic Conflict, standing on equal footing with and yet seperate from both Gods and Titans, though they can be adopted into Pantheons (and become Gods) or choose to serve as Titans.<br />
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Scion Dragons are organized into six Pantheon-esque factions known as "Flights", which the splat describes thusly:<br />
* '''Draqs''' – A Flight of Dragons primarily formed of those descended from Tiamat, the mother of dragons. They accept any who seek vengeance against the Gods, specifically for the death of their “Mother of Dragons”.<br />
* '''Joka''' – Immense Dragons who are more in tune with draconic memories than any other. They are known for their intense hunger which has driven them toward ambitions, and a return to a time before Gods.<br />
* '''Lindwurms''' – Considered the first Flight by many, these Dragons have grouped together based on the desire to share knowledge and stories long before the advent of humanity. They seek knowledge and power in lieu of lost memories.<br />
* '''Lóng''' – Easily the largest and most disparate Flight, these Dragons are the most at peace with the Gods. They do not fear or hate them, though they do seek their own fame and glory, and wouldn’t mind replacing the pantheons in humanity’s worship.<br />
* '''Naga''' – Dragons with many heads born through conceptual relationships with the world, Naga are split between those trapped in The World, and those trapped in their special Terra Incognita. Those in The World seek knowledge, and a way to reopen their home safely.<br />
* '''Serpents''' – A group of Dragons who care about the natural world and are the most connected to humanity. They seek to teach and uplift humanity in hopes that together they can cleanse The World.<br />
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Until they fully transform into a Dragon by reaching the God tier, a Dragon PC is known as an "Heir" until their Inheritance (power stat) hits 5, wherepon they become a "Lesser Wyrm". The supernatural abilities that Dragons and their Heirs can wield are known as "Dragon Magic". Heirs are governed by their Remembrance, a set of polar opposite goals - the Cipher (aligning yourself with a Flight's goals) and the Defection (direct opposition to a Cipher).<br />
<br />
==[[Final Fantasy]]==<br />
Final Fantasy commonly features dragons as bosses and powerful late game enemies though that is typically the extent of their role in the game's story, with the exception Final Fantasy 14. In this game dragons are aliens who reproduce asexually, they immortal unless their eyes are destroyed and they change shape depending on their environment. There are no set rules for what the dragons look like aside from having some type of reptilian appearance, with some looking exactly like dinosaurs.<br />
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The main dragon of note in the series is recurring summon named Bahamut (a reference to [[Bahamut]] in D&D), who is always among the strongest summons in whatever game where you can use him, which means you generally have to fight him to get him. Bahamut's design varies from game to game though he's always a biped Western style dragon. Rather than breathing fire, he causes a big explosion. FF14 gave him an expanded role where he's actually a villain, and also served as a plot device who allowed for the game to be revamped due to him ravaging the world.<br />
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Aside from Bahamut there is a recurring dragon made of crystal named Shinryu who has the snakelike body of a Eastern Dragon, but the overall beast like features of a Western one, on top of having wings. In remakes of the 2D games Shinryu pops up as a recurring superboss, that is a boss who is more powerful than the final boss. Shinryu has the interesting distinction of appearing as the main villain in Final Fantasy's crossover fighting series Dissidia where he orchestrate a war between two gods, and his power dwarfs both of them. Nothing is explained about his origin between his debut in Final Fantasy V saying that along with a machine called Omega, Shinyru was sealed in an inter-dimensional rift because there was no known way to defeat him.<br />
<br />
==[[Pokemon]]==<br />
Dragon is one of the 18 Pokemon types. Dragon-type Pokemon are among the rarest types of Pokemon and are among the strongest. Originially weak only against other Dragon-type and Ice-type moves, their high stats and impressive movepools mean they can easily counter types they are supposed to be weak against to the point where the Generation 6 games introduced the Fairy-type, which are immune to damage from Dragon type attacks and strong in attacking them to help balance them. Even with the Fairy-type there are still Dragon Pokemon that can effectively counter Fairy-types (especially since some Dragons are part Steel which removes their weakness to Fairy attacks). The appearance of Dragon Pokemon varies considerably, ranging from your traditional Western dragons, to Eastern-style ones, and designs that are more esoteric (*SNAILS?!*). If you want to see these dragons, Bulbapedia is a thing that exists. Charizard not being a Dragon-type remains a meme to this day.<br />
<br />
==[[Magic: The Gathering]]==<br />
Dragons in Magic the Gathering are mostly creatures assoicated with Red, though they have appeared with other colors. They have appeared across many planes, mostly taking the traditional western dragon appearance though some have a few twists to fit with the plane's theme. All dragons are descended from an entity called the Ur Dragon, with the oldest and most powerful being the Elder Dragons, most of whom killed each other in a war with only two survivors; [[Ugin]] and [[Nicol Bolas]].<br />
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One of the planes with the more unique dragons is [[Tarkir]], where they are born out of elemental storms created by Ugin. Originally Ugin was killed by Bolas, causing an end to the storms and the dragons being wiped out since they stopped reproducing. When [[Sarkhan Vol]] changed history and prevented Ugin's death, the storms continued and the numbers of the dragons kept increasing and the five Dragonlords each leading broods of other dragons to become the dominant force on the plane. Fast forward to after New Phyrexia's invasion, those dragonstorms went out of control after [[Narset]] and a few new buddies did a ritual to jumpstart Tarkir. The new Tarkir set is about this new influx of crazy dragons.<br />
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Another dragon of note named Niv-Mizzet leads the [[Izzet League]] on [[Ravnica]]. He is a super genius who thinks very highly of himself (he did name his guild after himself after all). He is a combination of Red & Blue so he's displayed magic associated with both colors.<br />
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The university of [[Strixhaven]]'s five colleges are named after five elder dragons birthed from enemy-color mana-storms called Snarls.<br />
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==Shadowrun==<br />
Dragons from [[Shadowrun]] come in four types depending on where they originate from: Western Dragons (European and North American), Eastern Dragons (Asian}, Feathered Serpents (South American and African), and Sea Dragons (any of the oceans}. Despite morphological differences between the different breeds, they all can interbreed, and all share the mentality of highly intelligent, manipulative, avaricious douchebags (with a few high-profile exceptions). In their natural forms, dragons cannot speak verbally but instead use telepathy, which cannot be recorded; most dragons of significance in the setting have metahuman "Voices" who relay their words for them in telecommunication or recorded interviews. [[Derp|Even in technologically developed settings, no one thought of installing bionic voicebox on them, so they could talk conventionally.]]<br />
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In D&D-descended settings, being a corrupt, amoral, greedy entity that forces less-privileged beings to worship them would make them glorified, if terrifying, bandits at best. In the gritty cyberpunk society of Shadowrun, Dragons can do all of this within the margins of a legitimized and prosperous career, intermingling with metahuman society on the boards of megacorps and in seats of power in the few polities that matter. Although they like to use these newfound levers of power that the mortals built up, they also conform to a draconic culture that exists beside (or more accurately, outside) metahuman society. Draconic society also has a loose hierarchy; the Great Dragons reside at the top, sometimes duking it out and sometimes working with one another as they pursue individual agendas, and the "lesser" dragons doing their own thing are left alone, as long as they don't step on the Greaters' toes and occasionally take orders.<br />
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What separates the Greater Dragons from the rest isn't entirely understood. While there's a strong correlation with power and age separating the Greats from the rest, considering the ways they think, what makes a Great isn't quite so crude.<br />
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Also due to the gritty cyberpunk setting, dragons aren't entirely good or evil, but exist more along a morally ambiguous spectrum. Unlike D&D, where the dragons are separated into the various flavor of evil chromatics and good metallics, Shadowrun dragons are all individuals with their own motivations and ambitions and personal hopes and fears, even though they are all ancient, alien beings who can't help but see metahumanity as mostly small and ephemeral beings, where some of them can even be considered good. They remain the biggest power players in the Shadowrun setting, driving much of the conflict and intrigue as they fight amongst each other and other powers, but also stand united in protecting the world and metahumanity from the terrors of [[Cthulhu|the Horrors]].<br />
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Some of the most notable dragons are:<br />
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* Aden: The only known Great Sirrursh (a variant of the Eastern Dragons). He likes to appear to humanity as either a handsome man or a beautiful woman, mostly to fuck with people. He's best known for destroying Tehran after a ''fatwah'' was declared against metahumans and the Awakened, so standing up for the people who weren't normie humans means he'd probably be an okay guy if he weren't so edgy and angry all the fucking time. Currently pulling strings against the various Muslim movements in the Middle East and balancing fending off Lofwyr's attempts to muscle in on his territory.<br />
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* Alamais: A Great Western Dragon, Lofwyr's brother and chief rival, and would-be champion of the downtrodden if he wasn't a huge fucking prick. Liked to associate with populist movements, like underground political scenes and terrorist organizations to get his work done, and was probably responsible for some of Lofwyr's woes. Also advocated for hunting metahumans for sport. ''Also'' also had an ongoing prank war with Dunkelzahn where they traded a fruitcake for 37 years, mostly through shadowrunners breaching one another's defenses. Died in 2074 in a war that tore apart a section of Italy and left 38 other adult dragons dead.<br />
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* Arleesh: A Great Feathered Serpent, known to travel the world to hunt down and destroy magical artifacts that pose a danger to metahumanity. Probably pretty cool if she could let her hair down once in a while.<br />
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* Celedyr: A Welsh Great Western Dragon. Less concerned about power and wealth than he is with knowledge, and hence technology, and thus became CTO of NeoNET. He then worked for just enough shares to pursue the avenues of research he wanted to and be left alone, or was outmaneuvered by Machiavellian human CEO Richard Villiers in powerplays over NeoNET, depending on who you listen to. Was the mentor and patron of lesser dragon Eliohan, a Matrix guinea pig, which also kicked off the CFD plotline (which nobody cared about). Also sponsor of the Knights of Rage streetgang, who serves as his agents out in the world.<br />
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* Dunkelzahn: Widely and justifiably considered to have been the most gregarious and open-minded of the dragons, particularly when it came to giving metahumanity a fair shake. The Big D was ''the Dude.'' Less of an oligarch and more of an eccentric, Big D didn't put all of his chips into one nation/megacorp like the other dragons did, so he became a broad entrepeneur and collector. He started a public career with a late night talk show and ended up successfully running for President of the UCAS, until a car bomb killed him some ten hours after his swearing in. The who and why is still unclear, though the "consensus" for those in the know is that he committed suicide, making himself into a sacrifice that would rebalance the astral from the Great Ghost Dance from some decades before. The Big D wasn't immune to draconic dickishness though; his will turned much of the established power structures on their heads and continues to influence the plot some 20 years down the line. Lofwyr, going full Tsundere mode, pointed out to some folks that "he wasn't such a great guy" and that he was still a dragon first and foremost, and his will was still enacting plots that furthered his personal goals many years after his death.<br />
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* Eliohann: A lesser Western dragon who was notable for being one of the non-Greats who left a noticeable footprint on the world of Shadowrun. He was the dragon equivalent of a teen who was kidnapped and experimented on by Emerging Futures (an Ares subsidiary) and got a datajack installed into him, making him the only known dragon with a meaningful relationship with the Matrix. Despite that this feat should be technically impossible and driving Eliohann nonspecifically insane, he loved the feeling of the Matrix and became a good decker as well as the eventual president of Emerging Futures. By night, he hacked and decked under the Matrix handle of Cerberus, and possibly as the decker Neurosis as well. Emerging Futures was sold off to NeoNET a few years later, which is where he reconnected and started work again for his old mentor Celedyr. It was later indicated that the insanity Eliohann experienced was dissociative personality disorder to compensate for the mind bending contrast of being an awakened creature and also deep diving into the Matrix. Eliohann flatlined in Crash 2.0, but his conscious survived as an E-Ghost (possibly as two, one for each personality), prompting Celedyr to research ways into downloading a conscience into a braindead meat body to restore his apprentice. Despite quite a bit of being fucked about from behind the scenes, including the entirety of the CFD plot, Eliohann was returned to his body, letting him continue to live a normal dragon life.<br />
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* Feuerschwinge: A German Great Western Dragon. When she woke up, she went on a bloody rampage that left many thousands of people dead until she was shot down by the German military. It was probably because she had a strong ecological bent, and humanity fucking with the environment drove her crazy. Probably. ''Probably.'' She later made a return appearance in the videogame ''Shadowrun: Dragonfall'', where it's revealed that she "survived" but her physical and astral forms were separated. The player goes out to avenge his/her buddy and thwarts a plot to use her body to spread a biological weapon that targets dragons. Feuerschwinge is either dead or hibernating through to the 8th World, depending on player decisions. Either way, she's not going to be seen again anytime soon.<br />
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* Ghostwalker: A Great Western Dragon and Big D's brother. His first act upon awakening was taking control of Denver (or technically, the FRFZ) and banning Aztlan for reasons hardcore Shadowrun fans would understand. He has a thing for spirits' rights, to the point where he is violently against binding or even summoning spirits within his territory.<br />
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* Hestaby: A Great Western Dragon from the Pacific Northwest. She first appeared to end the war between California and Tir Tairngire, basically telling the kids to get off her lawn and go home. She cultivated a public persona of an egalitarian guardian of nature and metahumanity, level-headed and moderate in comparison to her brethren. The Great Dragons felt that she was taking metahumanity's side against her own kind and convened a trial that declared her outcast.<br />
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* Lofwyr: A Great Western Dragon from Germany, Lofwyr is the richest person on Earth. You know how counterculture people want to stick it to The Man? Yeah, that's Lofwyr. He is The Man. Most of his fortune is a result of his leveraged buyout and subsequent expansion of the Saeder-Krupp industrial corporation; he lives in its headquarters in the Rhine-Ruhr Megaplex arcology. He is probably also the power behind the throne of the Gasperi Mafia family, which controls the criminal underworld in Rhine-Ruhr. His name is known and feared worldwide, and he was the direct inspiration for the Sixth World aphorism "never deal with a dragon".<br />
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==[[Star Wars]]==<br />
In the original Star Wars movie we see the skeleton of a creature called a krayt dragon on Tatoonie. They come in multiple subspecies, the skeleton is stated to belong to a greater krayt dragon, a creature that is over a hundred meters long and resembles a western dragon, minus the wings, and it has around a dozen legs. The krayt dragon is the top carnivore on Tatoonie, traveling through the sand like a giant worm and feeding on anything it finds. Tusken Raiders are terrified of them, with Obi-Wan scaring a group off by mimicking a krayt dragon's roar. A smaller but still large subspecies called a canyon krayt also exists. These resemble your standard quadraped western dragon.<br />
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Since all the details on what a krayt dragon looked like in canon were limited to reference books when a live one appeared in [[Star Wars: The Mandalorian|The Mandalorian]], while the greater krayt dragon draws traits from artwork in Legends, the design is changed to make the dragon look more alien. Its body is covered in armor, more snake like while its head more resembles that of a shark. In source books it is confirmed to still have legs which is how it propels itself through the sand, they simply weren't visible because all we see of the dragon are its head and neck. While this krayt dragon has a mouth full of teeth, it's so big that it simply swallows prey hole. Despite their size the krayt dragon actually prefers to retreat when threatened. If still attacked when corned it can spit up acid flesh melting acid akin to how a typical dragon breaths fire.<br />
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The Dark Forces video game introduced a a smaller relative called a kell dragon because it wasn't possible to depict a krayt dragon at its proper size.<br />
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==Warhammer==<br />
{{Main|Dragon (Warhammer Fantasy)}}<br />
Dragons have appeared since the beginning in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'', but they're ironically one of the most vaguely defined parts of the lore. They will ally themselves with the [[High Elves]] and be used as powerful (and in game terms: expensive) mounts for elven lords. Aside from being intelligent, there's not much stated about them. Some dragons have also been corrupted by [[Chaos]] and fight alongside the [[Warriors of Chaos]]. In both cases, they are made out to be among the most powerful monsters in the setting, and their stats live up to it, with only few models, including [[Daemon#Greater_Daemons|Greater Daemons]], having a chance at beating them.<br />
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According to the Caledor novel and the recent revelation about Cathay, Dragons of all kind are not fond of the [[Old Ones]] and their creations (except Elves, because they are somehow nicer than the others), blaming them for bringing [[chaos]]' attention to their world, and freely terraforming their world (Before the coming of the Old Ones it was akin the scenery of Jurassic period, more volcanically active and with colder temperatures) as they pleased. Some dragons preferred to fight against the intruders, only to get fucking owned by their Slann servant's magic and the Lizardmen's forces in their prime. Only the smarter and wiser dragons survived by fleeing and nesting in the deepest caverns or ocean. The dragons are also not fond of the [[Dragon Ogre]]s and the [[Fimir]] (they had a huge empire in ancient Norsca at that time), and had fought against them many times.<br />
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[[Storm of Magic]] sees the return of "Emperor Dragons", huge dragons that are arguably the most powerful units in the book. Emperor Dragons not allied with Chaos can also be upgraded all the way up to level four sorcerers, in addition to having nearly all 9s across their statline. This does make them extremely expensive, ruling out their use in all but the highest-point games.<br />
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Dragons also have a connection with the [[Vampire Counts|vampires]], the reason being their blood has the power to cure their otherwise ceaseless thirst for blood. [[Abhorash]] and [[Zacharias The Everliving]] being the primary beneficiaries of this, where they defeated the beast either with [[awesome|straight up glorious approach]] or just [[Noobs|cowardly draining their blood in their sleep]]. Abhorash then formed the [[Blood Dragon]]s and tells his disciples if they want some of that sweet dragon ambrosia they have to go out and earn it themselves.<br />
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Speaking of dragon slaying, it is a popular hobby in the world of ''Warhammer'', where the reason said slayers participate in such activity is to either [[Bretonnia|prove themselves]], [[Slayer|die gloriously or having the glory to kill it]], [[Blood Dragon|the aforementioned thirst for blood as well as making it serve as a pretty sweet mount in undeath]], [[Ogre Kingdoms|for food]] or [[Gotrek & Felix|just killing them for fun]].<br />
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Some prefer to just tame them by rearing them from an egg then riding them into battle when they are big enough. Races or Factions like the [[Empire]] ([[Karl Franz]]'s dragon and Elspeth von Draken's Carmine Dragon are the only example for the human, for now), the High Elves, [[Wood Elves]], Vampire Counts(undead dragon, so is more of a summoning than taming), Warriors of Chaos, and the Dark Elves examples of this. And with the Monstrous Arcanum even the Dwarfs became this with shackling Shard Dragons with runic collars that their ancestors taught how to make and use them as expendable giant attack dogs.<br />
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Like in many settings, Warhammer has a number of different types, beyond the common/Emperor Dragon split.<br />
*'''[[Merwyrms]]''' - Ancestor race of the dragon kind. Four legged sea serpents who answered only to the High Elves. [[Amanar]] is the greatest of them all.<br />
*'''Caledorian Dragons''' - Dragons that originate from Ulthuan and who are de-facto the original dragon breeds. Just like the Asur that look down on the younger races, the Caledorian Dragons do the same towards other dragons. There are two renown ancient dragon introduced in the Caledor novel and are considered to be the progenitor of the Caledorian Dragons: '''Maedrethnir''', '''Caledor I''''s mount and his father '''Indraugnir''' aka '''Aenarion''''s mount.<br />
**'''Sun Dragon''' - The youngest and smallest breed of High Elven dragons.<br />
***'''Moon Dragon''' - Older and rarer than Sun dragons.<br />
****'''Star Dragon''' - The largest, most powerful, rare and eldest of all dragons.<br />
*'''Black Dragon''' - Dragons corrupted by [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elven]] magic. First of their kind was Sulekh, Malekith's second dragon (first black dragon) to replace his old one. After Sulekh's death, some Black Dragons chose to keep aiding the Dark Elves to avenge her. Sulekh was replaced by Seraphon, Malekith's third dragon (second black dragon), who Malekith instantly favored because of her ruthless action of destroying the eggs around her after hatching.<br />
**'''Sea Dragon''' - Corrupted dragons which have grown so large they can no longer fly. The Dark Elves now use them to tow their massive ships. This also pisses off the ancient sea demi-god Triton who hates the Dark Elves for using the Sea Dragons as glorified sea donkeys.<br />
*'''Forest Dragon''' - Dragons that have adapted to live in the deep forests, so long that their will now linked to the Athel Loren itself, and fight whenever the forest will. In [[Total War: WARHAMMER]], It's appearance compare to other dragons is more leaning towards the forest it lives: antlers growing on its head, butterfly pattern on it's wing and leaves, vines growing on its body as a proof of its connection with the forest.<br />
**'''Venom Dragon''' - A Forest Dragon on steroids. They are so oversaturated with poisons and toxins that even touching any body part or organ will end up fatally for the one touching them. Those Venom Dragons that can cast magic are naturally attuned to the winds of Ghyran.<br />
*'''Shard Dragon''' - Wingless serpentine dragons that adapted to the [[Underdark|deep places]] of the world. They would attack everything they met no matter how harmless or dangerous it is and pursue it with a stubbornness only a Dwarf with a massive grudge would match. Dwarf miners often encountered and awoke these assholes slumber and were met with [[rape|predictable result]], also a shit tons of grudge if there were survivors. Same goes when a Shard Dragon looks for food and somehow gets into contact with a Dwarf Hold, Goblin Cave or a Skaven Burrow...and [[rape|the results are also predictable]] with the addition of massive collateral damage. Only the most skilled Runelord would put a rune collar on them and send them to battle like how the [[Lizardmen]] done to the Dread Saurian, making them the only monster option for the Dwafs (Rune Golems and Rune Guardians are constructs so they do not count as monsters). Knowing the Dwarfs however, a few long-beards might get off their chair and starts to bitching about the dishonorable and repugnant idea of bringing monster onto the battlefield, whereas a proper Dawi could just plant their trustworthy axe onto their wazzock's face. Then again, since their eldest ancestors came up with shackling Shard Dragons, then any Dawi wouldn't say no to it because you don't argue with your ancestors...not to mention that the collar completely eliminates the unpredictability factor and using them as expendable living weapons would be seen as a creative way of settling grudges. Biologically, they have razor-sharp spike scales (kinda like a Razordon, but their spikes are many and thin like an animal fur that would covered their entire body, not to mention the scales becoming as hard as gromlir with age as some Dwarfs discovered), have a venom that is both corrosive and poisonous, a breathe that causes hallucinations so horrifying that everyone dies from heart attacks and fights in absolute frenzy (even more so if they get wounded) on top of having the same magical protection Dwarfs have thanks to the runic collars. They also look like a black ferret, nicknamed: "murder ferret".<br />
*'''Chaos Dragon''' - Dragons perverted by the ruinous powers, typically [[Tzeentch]]. No two are said to be alike, but they tend to have two heads. [[Galrauch]] is said to be the first chaos dragon; a High Elf dragon possessed by a lord of change, it wreck peoples shit while earning hundreds of Dwarven grudges on [[Book of Grudges|The Dammaz Kron]]. Egrimm van Horstmann has a chaos dragon called '''Baudros'''.<br />
**'''Frost Wyrm''' - A sub-species of Chaos Dragon that appeared in the first Total War: Warhammer game with its final DLC that made Norsca a playable faction. Lore-wise it is speculated that Frost Wyrms used to be Ice Dragons that mutated over time by Chaos.<br />
*'''Warpfire Dragon''' - A mutant Dragon that almost exclusively feeds on Warpstone. Has a devastating breathe attack yet at the same time it's limited to the Northern polar caps of the Warhammer world, so people luckily will rarely see this monstrosity. Skaven understandingly hate those things because burrows to the northern part of the world were always attacked by hungry Warpfire Dragons who did literally everything to break into a Clan's warpstone reserve.<br />
*'''[[Carmine Dragon]]''' - Dragons that are born tied to the amethyst winds of death magic, Shyish. [[Elspeth von Draken]] being the only known person in both the Empire and the Warhammer world to have one as a mount so far.<br />
**'''Nightmare Dragon''' - Said to not be true dragons but the winds of Shyish given life and form, these creatures have a breathe attack similar to that of Black Dragons yet far more potent. The most famous one of them is Omdra the Dreaded. A giant of a dragon that was gravely wounded by a massive combined force of Chaos Dwarfs, Warriors of Chaos and other Chaos monstrosities. However it came at a terribly high price and she simply slid back into her lair to heal.<br />
*'''[[Toad Dragon]]''' - Giant lumbering reptilian horrors with insatiable appetites and a frog-like tounge. Oftern serves Nurgle worshipers. Tamurkhan owned a Toad Dragon named Bubebolos and it was the most well known and the greatest of its kind.<br />
*'''Zombie Dragon''' - Basically dead dragons raised by Vampires to become their mount.<br />
*'''Fire Dragon''' - A hotblooded, short-tempered dragon species. Rarely seen and are synonymous with flaming destruction.<br />
**'''Doomfire Dragon''' - Even more hotblooded and short-tempered than Fire Dragons. Love to set whole cities on fire and are a whole species of pyromaniac arsonists. Are heavily attuned to the winds of Aqshy and those that can use magic can cast Lore of Fire spells. The most famous Doomfire Dragon was Malathrax the Mighty who was personally slain by [[Markus Wulfhart]].<br />
***'''Magma Dragon''' - The single most evilest of dragons and arguably far more powerful than even the Star Dragon. A obsidian black and shiny monstrous dragon with a ton of malevolence and bad temper. Its breathe attack isn't just a normal flaming breathe, but it mixes in sulphur and poison to further weaken its prey in a most painful manner (game-wise, every successful wound resulted in the model loosing a point in Toughness...WHICH WOULD STACK if the dragon managed to wound the model multiple consecutive times). Only known to live in Naggaroth's Blackspine Mountains and among the volcanic ranges of the Dark Lands. Needless to say, the Chaos Dwarfs have a lot of relations with the Magma Dragons. Especially with the case of the eldest of them, Hadgar. Once a simple Fire Dragon, Hadgar was taken captive by the Chaos Dwarfs and experimented on by them with daemonic possession techniques that would be used to create their trademark K'Daai. This turned him into a Magma Dragon who eventually broke his chains and exacted disproportionate retribution on the Chaos Stunties. Not only most of the Tower of Gorgoth was obliterated by the dragon, but everything around it too (especially the multitude of slave camps). These days Hadgar comes out of his lair near Gorgoth to either beat some wannabe challenger or to answer the summons of powerful wizards. The Dawi-Zharr that observe from very afar note that parts of his scales turned to stone, meaning that with his transformation he inherited the same deadly curse that turns the Sorcerer Prophets into stone statues.<br />
*'''Frost Dragon''' - A rare dragon species that is ice and winter incarnate with a freezing breathe. Due to its nature it's very slow to anger actually. Lives exclusively in the Mountains of Mourn. While certainly powerful, it will avoid adult bull Mammoths or stampeding Rhinoxes.<br />
**'''Ice Dragons''' - Even rarer than Frost Dragons, but in this case adult bull Mammoths and Rhinox stampedes don't make it chicken out. They are all FROSTBITE. Just like the Frost Dragons, it has a freezing breathe. Unlike Frost Dragons, this breathe attack is significantly more powerful. The two most famous Ice Dragons are Jaugrel and Ymirdrak. The former being slain personally by [[Greasus Goldtooth]] while the latter freezing a whole Ogre Tribe with a single blast of his freezing breathe. For some reason they are attuned to the winds of Hysh, meaning those that can use magic can cast Lore of Light spells. The Frost Wyrms may be their Chaos-mutated cousins.<br />
*'''The Imperial Dragon''' - The Empire's only owned dragon (Elspeth's dragon does not count). It was taken from the deepest cave of the black mountain. Only [[Karl Franz]] can ride it in battle. Otherwise, it just sits in the imperial zoo of Altdorf whenever Karl rides Deathclaw to battle. It is also nameless. The poor dragon just can't be anymore popular than Deathclaw huh? On the other hand it did get some piece of the action when during the End Times it slew the Bray Shaman known as The Harbinger and its horde of Beastmen in the Altdorf Palace with its fiery breathe.<br />
*'''Cathayan Dragon''' - Like the real life Eastern Dragons, they are serpent-like and have the ability to cast magic and transform into smaller humanoid forms. The word is overused within the Cathay roster as if they were [[Space Wolves]]. They also rules [[Cathay]]. Although they were mysterious in the past due to the lack of Cathay fluff, the recent revelations from [[Total War: WARHAMMER]] and the [[Warhammer: The Old World]] has revealed that there are only 7 of them ruling that damn place There's the original grandaddy Dragon Emperor [[Lord Kroak|(who is said to be about as strong, if not stronger than a fucking old world god like Ulric)]], and the newly addition of his wife, an equally powerful Dragon Moon Empress. The said power couples has 9 children with the same dragon abilities defending the borders of Cathay, with only 4 missing. In the older fluff, these dragon are awesome at being magic casters (especially lore heaven). So awesome that they fucked up the ogre tribes living north, created the great maw, and sunk a Dark Elf Black Ark. That said power is still true in recent canon, for the lore of heaven (aka Azyr) is the Dragon Emperor's most favored lore of magic. Its is also known that the offspring of the Dragon Emperor are able to have intercourse with humans which results in many citizens in Cathay sharing their blood.<br />
**'''Dragon-blooded Shugengan Lord''' - Sons and Daughters of the Dragon Children. They are half-dragon, half-man commander who are like Vampire Lords (AKA: good at doing everything, be it fighting, casting magic or leading an army...OR ALL THREE ALTOGETHER). With these kind of special snowflake privileges, they grow up into becoming spoiled, arrogant arses, probably more so than a typical Elf (but less than Settra) due to their superior physiology. As a result, many mortal commanders resents them with jealousy, and yet are unable to do anything to them due to their noble birthright.<br />
<br />
=== [[Age of Sigmar]] ===<br />
In [[Age of Sigmar]], there are still dragons, albeit with a lesser variety.<br />
<br />
*'''Draconith''': Age of Sigmar's attempt at bringing back dragons. The Draconith are the progeny of the legendary dragon god [[Dracothion]] and used to populate the realms during the Age of Myth. Their reign ended after a disastrous war with the ancient Drogukh race which saw [[Kragnos]] sealed away and the Draconith on the verge of extinction. They went into hiding with the help of the [[Seraphon]], but now that Kragnos has awakened, the lizardmen have finally seen enough progress with the Draconith and have begun unleashing them...into the pens of the [[Stormcast Eternals|Sigmarines]], so they can have even more fucking pets. Also look like they are straight out of Eragon (fyi: ERAGON WAS NOT GOOD {{BLAM}} Ok the film sucked but the books were sorta decent). Their leaders are Krondys and Karazai, twin dragons who claim to be the direct sons of Dracothion and serve as Sigmar's trusted generals.<br />
<br />
[[Category: Warhammer Fantasy]]<br />
[[Category: Age of Sigmar]]<br />
<br />
== [[BattleTech]] ==<br />
{{main|Dragon (BattleTech)}}<br />
The dragon is the namesake of a 60-ton Heavy [[BattleMech]] in the world of BattleTech. Originally intended as a replacement for the [[Shadow Hawk]], it has a reputation of essentially being an upsized Medium 'Mech.<br />
<br />
The makers of the 'Mech, the [[Draconis Combine]], are also dragon-themed as part of the [[Weeaboo|Japan]] [[LARP]].<br />
<br />
==Warcraft==<br />
Dragons debuted in ''Warcraft'' II as the flying attack unit for the Orcs, during which they were standard western fire breathing dragons. They are described as normally reclusive until the Orc Horde enslaved the queen Alexstrasza, forcing her progeny to fight for them. During the Beyond the Dark Portal expansion a group of truly evil dragons under the command one wearing armor called Deathwing. Like a lot of things introduced in the first two games the lore around them was heavily retconed.<br />
<br />
Dragons are one of the oldest creatures in Azeroth granted great magical abilities by the Titans that shaped their world. In a reversal of their typical role, dragons in Warcraft were all originally benevolent, although their way of thinking and doing things didn't always line up with the short-term thinking of some of the mortal races. Each dragonflight was assigned by a Titan to protect some aspect of their work on Azeroth while they went off to do Titan stuff else where in the universe. The leader of a dragonflight is called an Aspect (which, prior to retcons, were the living embodiment of said part of Azeroth nurtured and influenced by the Titan that gave them the power) and some dragonflights still have their original Aspects. In since Wrath of the Lich King retcons they were originally a species of proto-dragons that had wyvern-like wings which they used as forelimbs, two puny fore arms and two muscular rear legs and a tail. As a gift for their assistance in defeating the most powerful proto-dragon, Galakrond (Imagine a warhammer Ghorgon but as a city-sized dragon whose breath was so bad it literally wakes the dead), during the ordering of Azeroth the Titans altered them to be the larger and more intelligent four-legged dragons. They are segregated into five types called dragonflights each with different roles and abilities bestowed to them by one of the five Titans. <br />
<br />
* Red dragonflight: Led by Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, red dragons are fierce guardians of life. They were also given a degree of dominion over the other dragonflights. They breath fire.<br />
* Blue dragonflight: Originally led by Malygos, and later by Kalecgos. Their domain is the aspect of magic. The blue dragonflight is said to be the least populous flight due to being the only ones that gave a shit when Demons invaded and actually reacted when Deathwing betrayed the dragonflights. They have ice breath. Used to mostly be found as [[Dracolich|Frost Wyrms]] before further retcons in Dragonflight.<br />
* Green dragonflight: Aspects of nature who have a strong bond to a realm called the [[Feywild|Emerald Dream]]. Said to be the most populous dragonflight, though most rarely venture out of the Dream. Led by Ysera the Dreamer. They breath poison.<br />
**Nightmare dragons: Green dragons and their allies which have been twisted by a corruption in the Emerald Dream called the Emerald Nightmare, they now embody the negative aspects of nature such as decay and rot, and serve the Old Gods. They either keep their appearance or get a mutated body colored grey and black with red highlights. <br />
* Bronze dragonflight: Tasked with watching over time and making sure nobody messes with the timeline, bronze dragons are patient and reclusive. Led by Nozdormu the Timeless. They breath lightning.<br />
** Infinite dragonflight: Bronze dragons who go rogue, they intentionally attempt to sabotage history to prevent past calamities. Led by future Nozdormu when he finally goes batshit insane due to seeing all the cataclysms well in advance and not being able to prevent them. [[Grimdark|His current-time self is perfectly aware that will eventually happen to him (it was part of the deal making him the guardian of time to reveal his eventual end to him) but there's nothing he can do about that either!]]<br />
* Black dragonflight: Originally aspects of earth, tasked with keeping watch of the deep places. Which backfired horribly, because that's where the Old Gods hang out! Originally led by Neltharion the Earth-Warder, later known as Deathwing, he fell to evil through a combination of his reclusiveness and the Old Gods, and the rest of his flight followed suit. Now they are all treacherous assholes and nobody likes them they and take every possible opportunity to kill them, thus they have been hunted nearly to extinction. There are two non-evil black dragons whose minds were freed from the malicious influence of the Old Gods before they were hatched thanks to titan artifacts: Ebyssian, also known as Ebonhorn, a Spirit-Walker of the Highmountain Tribe, and Wrathion, the supposed heir of Deathwing who has taken it upon himself to make sure Azeroth doesn't get fucked. Others broke free later, like Sabellian, but these are still rare. These dragons breath jets of lava.<br />
* Chromatic Dragonflight: A dragonflight created by Nefarian, one of the most prominent black dragons, through gruesome experiments, combining the features and abilities of all five flights. Almost every one of these creations were unstable, deformed, infertile and/or short-lived, with a single exception: [[Tiamat|Chromatus, a giant five-headed dragon]] who could only be stopped by the combined efforts of the aspects (excluding Deathwing) and was merely incapacitated, since he literally could not be killed, so his body was sealed away.<br />
* Twilight Dragonflight: Originally created by Sintharia/Sinestra, the twilight dragonflight suffered from similar problems to Nefarian's chromatic dragons. That is, until Deathwing came along and combined the efforts of both to perfect the twilight dragons, successfully creating a powerful breed of dragons that feed vampirically on all forms for energy. The twilight dragonflight was nearly driven to extinction following the Cataclysm.<br />
<br />
Things turn bad for the dragonflights when the black dragon aspect Neltharion was corrupted by the Old Gods, who were imprisoned by the Titans deep within Azeroth, during the war against the Primalists. He plotted to destroy Azeroth to release his new masters when the Burning Legion, an army of demonic invaders led by the fallen Titan Sargeras, began to attack Azeroth. With their world under siege, Neltharion tricked the other four dragons into lending their powers to the Dragon Soul, a powerful artifact of his design, only to betray them and use it against them slaying many dragons. This treachery caused the other dragons to go into hiding away from each other, and although Neltharion (who had now assumed the name Deathwing) was eventually defeated, the world was twice shattered by cataclysms and the Dragon Soul would resurface periodically throughout history to pain the dragonflights until its eventual destruction, which drained the flights of much of their powers, turned them mortal and made them sterile, putting the five dragonflights on the extinction clock.<br />
<br />
Additionally, there exist other dragons that didn't ascend alongside the five main flights, but still share a similar physique and level of intelligence. An example of such is the Storm Dragons of Stormheim, and the supposed existence of a violet dragonflight of proto-drakes.<br />
<br />
==Warmachine==<br />
The creatures called "dragons" in the [[Iron Kingdoms]] look nothing like dragons in other worlds. Rather than winged serpentine creatures of majesty and power, the "dragons" of Caen are [[Call of Cthulhu|monstrosities of inconsistent form]] and not of this world, capable of altering the bodies and minds of other creatures in horrific ways with an exotic energy they constantly emit, an energy the people of this world simply call "blight." The only thing known about their origin is that the gods did ''not'' create them. They are immortal as long as their athanc (a kind of heartstone) is not destroyed. A dragon reproduces by chipping off a piece of its athanc and letting it generate a new body, but such offspring have an innate urge to recombine their athancs and control all the power within them. Between their ability to regenerate from any amount of damage and their athanc being next to impossible to destroy, dragons are nigh unkillable. While the residents of Caen have sometimes managed to defeat a dragon in combat the only known way for one to die is another dragon consumes their athanc.<br />
<br />
There are two dragons of significance in Caen.<br />
<br />
* Dragon Lord Toruk, god and master of the [[Cryx]] faction and "father" to the other known dragons. He created the other dragons so he could have servants in his image, they proved to be a bit too much like him and he's been plotting to kill them ever since. Toruk is the most powerful known entity on Caen. The only thing keeping him in check is because the other dragons are so afraid of him that they have a deal to set aside their differences if Toruk starts acting up. As such Toruk has been working to create an undead from the inhabitants of Caen to help kill the other dragons and consume their athanc, only getting his hands dirty if he has no other options.<br />
<br />
* Everblight, a shard of Toruk that went off and did its own thing with elves and mutations, eventually taking a page from his old man's book by creating his [[Legion of Everblight|eponymous faction]] to help kill the other dragons. Everblight is the smallest of the dragons in Caen, so much so that in order to hide from his enemies he choses not to regenerate his body and simply hides as an athanc since none of his enemies expect it. Thus far he's suceeded in killing two of other dragons.<br />
<br />
==[[Yugioh]]==<br />
Dragons are one of the types of monsters in Yuigoh and likely its most popular. Since the franchise's iconic Blue Eyes White Dragon was the first "boss monster", dragons tend to have very high attack points on top of some strong effects. As a rule the animes have the rival to the hero who uses a dragon type monster as their signature card. Many archtypes have dragons as their strongest monster, and many archtypes are built around dragons entirely.<br />
<br />
Yugioh's dragons tend to be bipedal Western style in appearance, with a few exceptions. Aside from that their traits can include most anything, such being made of fire, made of ice, being part plant, or being mechanical while still being considered dragons as opposed to machine type monsters. There is even an archtype of dragon monsters who take the form of cute anime maids.<br />
<br />
There are so many dragons that they had to separate some by calling them Wyrm because the sheer amount of support available for dragons is making it increasingly difficult to put out a balanced but powerful dragon.<br />
<br />
==Monstergirls (and Furries)==<br />
[[File:The Odd Couple.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Nights out on the town/village usually result in mass panic, chaos, fires, bloodshed, and various other forms of shenanigans. Have fun...]]<br />
{{Promotions}}<br />
{{Monstergirls}}<br />
Dragons are large, dangerous, majesti,c and exotic creatures, so of course people want to fuck them. Dragons, in both their normal and more humanoid forms are of the scaly/"scalie" subgroup of [[furries]]; people that are attracted to scaly things instead of furry ones. They have a minor reputation of being [[That Guy]] amongst the furries because they have to be so special and fuck mythological creatures instead of dogs, cats, horses, foxes, rabbits, and birds like "normal" people.<br />
<br />
While dragons in [[Beastfolk|a humanoid shape]] (i.e. [[Dragonborn]]) are enjoyed by quite a number of people, a larger group prefers them in their more natural shapes (a.k.a. quadruped). For them, it's about the contrast between the large and powerful dragon and their small and fragile frame; the fear makes their boners strong. There's also the more kinky crowd who want their dragons to have non-humanoid genitals, especially for those with the aforementioned "natural shape", which is a concept that the infamous Bad Dragon company has capitalized on by having the majority of their sex toys be [[meme|dragon dildos]], which are often used as the punchline of a joke.<br />
<br />
One of the things that dragons in ''D&D'' are infamous for is their ability to breed with just about any creature, and not being shy about it. (Just take a look at for instance the [[Song Dragon]]s.) Only Constructs and Undead can't reproduce with them, and even then it's possible to build or raise a dragon from the dead. This means that you can encounter anything from draconic [[unicorn]]s and [[owlbear]]s to draconic plants, [[slime]]s, [[aberration]]s and far worse (or better, depending on your [[Magical Realm|perspective]])).<br />
<br />
Portraying "non-morphic" (i.e. no breasts) female dragons on /tg/ in a semi-erotic light is a real act that stirs contention. On the one hand, this is a well-known part of the furry fandom. On the other hand, dragons are '''iconic''' fantasy creatures. Plus, in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', it's canon that many dragons like to get them some non-draconic loving, with even their two patron/creator gods [[Tiamat (DnD)|Tiamat]] and [[Bahamut]] deciding to nab themselves some quality mortal ass from time to time - especially Tiamat - and setting the example for their progeny. And that's when said progeny hasn't evolved to breed with humanoids in the first place, see aforementioned [[Song Dragon]]s. So people will [[rage|fight bitterly]] whenever they pop up in a thread, you can guarantee.<br />
<br />
Naturally, the idea of sexy dragons was quickly taken up by the [[Monstergirls]] crowd - in fact, one of the earliest [[/d/|Ecchi]] OVAs to make it into America was "Dragon Half", in which the main character was the [[Half-Dragon]] daughter of a female dragon and a male human, her father being sent to slay the dragon and forgetting the "s" while underway. Pink appeared as a cute girl with dinky little dragon wings, cute horns, a tail and the ability to breathe fire. In fact, Pink has actually come to be the defining archetype for the dragon-girl in MG fandoms; a human girl with horns, wings, a tail and, optionally, scales on the limbs - sometimes with paw-like feet, digitigrade legs, or even paw-like hands. It helps that this tends to be pretty accurate to ''D&D's'' own depiction of half-dragon humanoids (up to the social maladjustment of having such weird parents, played for laughs in the manga). As with any "beast-girl", dragon-girls with full-body scales or weirdly-colored skin are contentious because, no matter how human their face, they may look too furry for some purists to accept.<br />
<br />
Dragon-girls are very popular in Japanese fantasy media, especially videogames. [[Final Fantasy]] even has a race, the Gria, who are an entire species of cute dragon-girls native to Ivalice.<br />
<br />
Strangely, despite the existence of more "player friendly" dragon races like [[Dragonborn]], [[Dray]], and [[Spellscale|Spellscales]] - the latter of whom are even supposed to have evolved from [[Half-Dragon]] [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|sorcerers]] - the idea of reskinning these races to present them as dragon-girls never really gets mentioned. This likely has something to do with the fact that these races are less powerful than the half-dragon, and the standard "I want to be a dragon-girl!" player/DM ''also'' wants to have '''all''' of the draconic powers - [[Breath Weapon]], [[Damage Reduction]], and Flight.<br />
<br />
===Gallery===<br />
<center><br />
<gallery><br />
File:Dragon Housemaid.jpg|At least one of these forms will please some anon out there.<br />
File:Asiatic Dragon Geisha.jpg|Asian dragons are beasts - or beast-girls - of a different color. (This one is actually a Mitzusune from [[Monster Hunter]])<br />
File:Red Dragongirl.png|A classic example of the Monstergirl dragon.<br />
File:Risque Dragongirl.jpg|The "scale bikini" look is popular for dragon-girls.<br />
File:Dragongirl Princess.png|Well, when a dragon kidnaps a princess, sometimes the kingdom gets an heir out of it.<br />
File:Draconic Shifter.jpg|There's something for everyone.<br />
File:Dragonmorph Sorceress.jpg|Some like their dragons with breasts.<br />
File:Dragon Sorceress.jpg|Some like their dragons au naturale.<br />
File:Athasian Dragongirl.jpg|Even the dread [[Athasian Dragon]] isn't immune to the [[Monstergirls]] treatment.<br />
File:Faerie Dragongirl.png|A rare example of the [[Faerie Dragon]] getting the MG treatment.<br />
File:Fem.jpg|Exhibit A in why furries & /tg/ have such a love-hate relationship.<br />
</gallery><br />
</center><br />
<br />
===Monster Girl Encyclopedia===<br />
Naturally, the ''[[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]]'' has its share of dragon-themed Monstergirls.<br />
<br />
The actual '''Dragon''' fits the same kind of style first seen on the setting's Lizardgirl; scaly limbs, paw-like hands and feet, a tail, fin-like ears, horns and wings. They are characterized by their extreme pride; whilst not quite Tsunderes, they're determined to give themselves only to the best possible man, this pride and arrogance however can reach heights that leave them unable to find a husband that either they could tolerate or any man that could tolerate [[Bitch|them]], thus leading to...<br />
<br />
In a terrible irony, if a Dragon fails to find a husband before she dies, the dark energies permeating the world will heed her unspoken desires and regrets over dying alone, and reanimate her as a '''Dragon Zombie''', a corpse-colored (blue-gray skin, dark mold-green wings, white hair) dragon with bony scales. In this state, her mind has degenerated, leaving her a horny bimbo obsessed with finding a man and taking him as her mate. These dragon-girls are quite dangerous, because they possess a "rotten breath" attack that can convert human women into undead Monstergirls.<br />
<br />
The '''Wyvern''' is a dragon-girl with a more [[Harpy|harpy-like]] body structure, having wings instead of arms. These Monstergirls are far more friendly and easy-going than the standard dragons and readily team up with human adventurers to train with them as "dragoons". Needless to say, this "training" is merely a more adventurous form of courtship, as all dragoons end up married to their "mounts".<br />
<br />
The '''Wurm''' is a linnorm-style dragon-girl, essentially a massively strong [[Lamia]] with paw-like hands, with an extremely lustful, aggressive personality that sees them going out and chasing after a man. They are however rather dim-witted, a little dopey, and easy-going (well ''after'' [[Rape|the fact]]) compared to the other dragon types, which has its own [[waifu]] appeal despite their [[Skub|arguable status]] as dragons.<br />
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The '''Jabberwock''' is a lewd, lascivious, depraved dragon-girl from the "Wonderland" region. It can be distinguished by its dark red colors and the presence of two tentacles, each of which bears a slavering maw and lecherous tongue used to pleasure victims and guzzle semen. Unlike regular Dragons, Jabberwocks are extremely direct in their affections, and do not pride themselves on being "powerful" or their "draconic superiority", instead they pride themselves on being sexy and being able to overpower a man in a sexual manner. [[Meme|If they like you, and they want you, then things will be happening either the easy way]] or [[Rape|the hard way.]]<br />
<br />
Finally, there are the two dragons of Zipangu. The '''Ryu''' is another [[lamia]]-like dragon, but this time based on the Eastern Dragons of myth rather than the Western myths; a gentle-natured and benevolent Mamono with the power to influence the weather, in particular rainy weather. <br />
The '''Otohime''' is an aquatic dragon-girl princess of the deeps who resembles a mermaid with the body of a seahorse (long story; seahorses are believed by the Japanese to be connected to dragons) and clawed hands, who seduces men to join her in her life of eternal partying in her palace under the sea. Have no fear from her seahorse appearance, though; [[Skub|pedophilia and rape]] aside, the MGE is ''far'' too vanilla to <s>allow</s> ''explicitly'' advertise pegging as part of its setting, never mind [[Heresy|male pregnancy]], which not even heterodox fanons dare to touch.<br />
<br />
<center><br />
<gallery><br />
File:MGE Dragon.jpg|The original Dragon mamono, proud and haughty and determined to take only the best.<br />
File:MGE Dragon Zombie.jpg|Back from the grave, and now a shameless bimbo.<br />
File:MGE Jabberwock.jpg|She's the Queen Slut, and she's proud of it.<br />
File:MGE Wyvern.jpg|Loyal, steadfast and true, even if she's not the curviest of monstergirls.<br />
File:MGE Wurm.jpg|Don't let her looks fool you; she will punch through mountains to chase you down.<br />
File:MGE Ryu.jpg|Beloved and mystical dragon-girl of Zipangu.<br />
File:MGE Otohime.jpg|Party-girl from below the waves.<br />
</gallery><br />
</center><br />
<br />
===Life with Monstergirls===<br />
Meanwhile, ''[[Life With Monstergirls]]'' has the Dragonewts. They have wings and tails like dragons, as well as some scales on their faces and clawed hands. In the series we meet a Dragonewt named Draco, who tries to steal Miia away from her darling. While initially appearing to be male she's later revealed to be a flat-chested woman who develops an obsession with Miia, and it takes a couple of bullets to her wings from Manako and a [[rape|reprimanding]] from Suu to cool her off. Other variants of the Dragonewt is the Chinese Ryu-jin who has horns and has no wings, and the aggressive but dim-witted [[Wyvern]].<br />
<br />
The manga takes time to explain [[Derp|just how much commonly-depicted dragongirl traits would suck in real life]]; bulletproof scales that require regular maintenance and clipping to prevent clothing snags, a big, muscular tail that needs specially-designed pants and undies on top of making it impossible to sleep on your back, and wings that only allow you to glide at best, which is further exacerbated by their weak chest muscles, generate air resistance while you're on foot, and are just plain in the way (Wyverns get past the wing issue, but again, they're dummies so they break even).<br />
<br />
==Gallery==<br />
<gallery><br />
Image:Dragon rider.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
==See Also==<br />
*[[Story:Johnniass Dragonraper|Johnniass Dragonraper]] is known to rape a dragon on occasion.<br />
*[[Toothless Dragon]] the [[Dawww]]-est dragon.<br />
*The [[Periodic Table of Dragons]].<br />
[[category:Dragons]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Inner_Planes&diff=1007246Inner Planes2025-11-14T10:45:46Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Water */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Inner Planes Map.jpg|thumb|right| the Prime Material goes in the middle (or does it?)]]<br />
<br />
The '''Inner Planes''' is a term from [[Dungeons & Dragons]] introduced in 1e AD&D. It is a way of collectively referring to the planes that make up the "center" of the [[Great Wheel]] cosmology; the [[Elemental Planes]], and the [[Energy Planes]]. By the admittedly biased beliefs of [[Sigil]]ites, the Inner Planes are seen as, effectively, the boonies of the multiverse, being centered around more physical components than the more esoteric components of the [[Outer Planes]], which are the realms of the dead and literal embodiments of the various [[Alignment|moral alignment]]s.<br />
<br />
In their traditional layout, the Inner Planes consist of six primary planes; Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Positive Energy and Negative Energy. These six planes are then bolstered by the four Paraelemental Planes (convergences of two Elemental Planes) and the eight Quasielemental Planes (convergences of the Elemental Planes with the Energy Planes).<br />
<br />
<gallery><br />
inner planes DaD.png|1e, [[Deities and Demigods]]<br />
inner MotP 1e 1.png|1e, Manual of the Planes<br />
inner MotP 1e 2.jpg<br />
Inner planes Planescape.jpg|2e<br />
Blood of the Elements Map.pdf|Pathfinder<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
=Elemental Planes=<br />
[[File:elemental planes DaD.png|left|thumb|Deities and Demigods]]<br />
[[File:Elemental planes 5e.jpg|thumb|5e's big retcon.]]<br />
As their name suggests, the '''Elemental Planes''' are the origin point for all of the various forms of elemental matter in the multiverse. Traditionally, this has made them... rather visually uninteresting. The Plane of Fire, for example, is either an infinite 3-dimensional expanse of roaring flames or else an infinite expanse of ash fields, lava pools, and roaring flames beneath a "sky" of heatwaves and noxious combustible gasses.<br />
<br />
In the Planescape book ''The Inner Planes'', the border regions of the para- and quasi- planes, where they meet another plane, were staked out. This, of course, flies in the face of the fact that every elemental plane is supposedly an infinite 3-dimensional space and thus shouldn't have any borders.<br />
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Another downside to their elemental nature is that, well, the Elemental Planes are downright hazardous for anything that isn't an [[elemental]] of the right type, and sometimes even for things that are. If being roasted in the Plane of Fire or drowned in the Planes of Water and Ooze doesn't interest you, how about visiting the Glowing Dunes (Magma/Radiance), a technically infinite expanse of ''radioactive dust'' that '''will''' give you incurable and fatal radiation poisoning? This hazardous nature to visit has also led to many DMs finding them less than gripping - even in Planescape, the Elemental Planes are considered the backwater boonies of the Great Wheel, only marginally better than the Prime. <br />
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This led to the decision to do away with the Elemental Planes and replace them with the [[Elemental Chaos]] in 4th Edition to create a more interesting, more survivable, and more plot-generating form for them. Another mostly poorly received decision many vocal players complained that now the Inner Planes was just another [[Prime Material Plane]] but with extreme elemental magic themeing.<br />
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5e linked them to the Prime in a way reminiscent of [[Exalted]], while also toning them down hastily by making it a plane people can actually live in rather than just the place evocation wizards store their fireballs. The 5e cosmology does not bring back the Quasielemental planes, while the Paraelemental planes are no longer bona fide planes of their own, but just the border regions where two elemental planes meet (much like those from Planescape mentioned above).<br />
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==Air==<br />
===Older Editions===<br />
A vast expanse of air. You better know how to fly. Gravity here is subjective, and you can alter the direction of "down" with a [[Wisdom]] check. If you can change direction fast enough, you can land safely. This is difficult at first, but you'll either learn or go splat, suffering up to 20d6 falling damage. <br />
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People make towns and castles on floating earth motes and magically solidified clouds. The main natural hazard is the many storms.<br />
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<gallery><br />
air MotP 1e.jpg<br />
air Planescape.jpg<br />
Air 5e.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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==Earth==<br />
===Older Editions===<br />
If you want to make your way around here, you better bring a way to dig. Holes grow shut on their own, so you better dig fast. Another issue is the lack of air: outside of pockets of air motes, there's nothing to breathe. Then there are the issues of earthquakes, gas pockets, the lack of a unified gravity, the darkness... it's a poor idea to come to the Plane of Earth without being very well-prepared.<br />
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===5e===<br />
Its made up of chains of the tallest mountains, but most visitors enter honeycomb caverns that span under them.<br />
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<gallery><br />
earth MotP 1e.jpg<br />
earth Planescape.jpg<br />
earth elemental Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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==Fire==<br />
===Older Editions===<br />
Lots of fire here. Upon arriving, anything that can catch fire does so, and magical items are given a saving roll at a hefty penalty to escape this fate. Stone melts into magma, water vaporizes, and metal melts into slag. The higher your natural AC is, the more damage you suffer: humans suffer 6[[d10]] damage, and by every 3 points your AC is lower than 10, you suffer 1d10 less damage all the way down to no damage at AC -8 to -10. At first. Going deeper gets even worse the further you go, culminating in a place with heat so intense it will incinerate ''anything'', even creatures explicitly immune to fire, [[What|up to and including creatures with no physical body or animals which are literally made of fire]]. Air quality and visibility are obviously not great, but those are the least of your worries.<br />
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===5e===<br />
A sun always hangs at the zenith, waxing and waning like a moon every 24 hours. It's blindingly hot and bright at noon and is a deep red twilight by midnight (which is usually the best time to travel and do business). Fierce winds and thick ash is always in the air, so always be covered up in a flame retardant scarf and goggles when not visiting a major inter-planer trading hub.<br />
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You only have to contend with Extreme Heat if your not going deeper into the plane, which your party will be fine as long as you expend spell slots so you have water every few hours so that hourly low DC Constitution saving throw doesn't get too hard (luckily they didn't also port over that Elemental Planes rule that you can't cast spells of opposing elements).<br />
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<gallery><br />
fire MotP 1e.jpg<br />
fire Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
==Water==<br />
===Older Editions===<br />
You better be able to breathe water if you get here. There is nothing but water in all directions with zero water pressure, with pockets of air motes being a precious resource. Don't forget a way to see underwater or be able to deal with whirlpools, currents, pockets of acidic and diseased water, and of course, the predators. This is elemental plane requiring the least amount of preparations to not die immediately (think Air Bubble or SCUBA), but it's still not friendly (e.g. acidic/diseased water requires hazmat diving suit).<br />
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===5e===<br />
5e it's the Water world, extreme addition. Like the feywild, anyone traveling by sea could accidentally wander in. Having an actual surface, most landmasses are massive coral reefs that poke above the surface and extend down for infinity or are makeshift flotillas. You may not immediately know you are not in Kansas anymore, but when it's not calm, it's the most extreme you can imagine a plane of oceans can get. Rare times you will get massive tsunamis that span a good part of this infinite plane.<br />
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<gallery><br />
water MotP 1e.jpg<br />
water elemental Planescape.jpg<br />
water Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
=Energy Planes=<br />
Like the Elemental Planes, the '''Energy Planes''' (originally called the '''Material Planes''', and including the [[Prime Material]]) represent the fundamental forces of creation; Positive Energy and Negative Energy, or, more simply, Life and Death. This makes them amongst the most featureless and hostile planes in the entire [[Planescape]] cosmology, as the former overloads your body with energy until it disintegrates from the strain and the latter flat-out kills you. The Energy Planes meet all four Elemental Planes, creating four Positive Quasielemental Planes and four Negative Quasielemental Planes.<br />
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In 5e's altered version of the [[Great Wheel]], the Energy Planes are moved out of the Inner Planes, thus eliminating the Quasielemental Planes in the process. Instead, they lie to the extreme "north" and "south" of the Wheel, enfolding the entire multiverse and providing the raw forces of life and death that allows for existence to be possible. This edition stops trying to pretend that there's any point in going to either plane; it doesn't even bother describing them beyond a single paragraph on page 43 of the 5e [[Dungeon Master's Guide]].<br />
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==Positive Energy==<br />
Originally called the '''Positive Material''' Plane.<br />
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The Plane of life itself. You heal at an astonishing rate here, and healing spells heal far more. You gain 2[[d6]] hit dice in extra HP... but once you hit double your normal HP [[Fist of the North Star|you explode into a cloud of gibblets because your body couldn't handle the energy]]. The blinding light will burn your eyes out if you're not protected and you can't breathe here, but any suffocation damage will heal as quickly as you suffer it. This is not a nice place to visit.<br />
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The only structure here is the Fortress of Life, a magically protected citadel built by the the planewalker Feadal Didam-Hurus. Feadal uses the fortress to store balls of concentrated positive energy called ''lifepearls'' that she harvests from the plane. A lifepearl has the combined powers of a ''staff of curing'' and a ''rod of resurrection'', and can be used 4d10 times until it explodes in a fireball.<br />
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<gallery><br />
positive energy Planescape.jpg<br />
fortress of life Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
==Negative Energy==<br />
Originally called the '''Negative Material''' Plane<br />
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This place will decay and rot any living thing in seconds, and it can rip your soul out and turn you into an [[undead]] creature in mere seconds. Making your way around here is difficult and dangerous because of its lack of anything that's not soul-draining powers, which is made even more difficult by the hordes of incorporeal undead in the place and the fact that you can run into goddamn [[Shiva]], who's the only deity who drops by the place now and then. Some spots called "Doldrums" aren't quite as immediately lethal, but still shouldn't be stayed in for very long. <br />
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The only friendlies here are a bunch of [[Dustmen]] maintaining the Fortress of the Soul, a skull-shaped outpost maintained only barely by their combined effort. If they find a lost non-undead on the plane they'll take them in for a few days: once a week a portal to [[Sigil]] opens up inside here and the lucky sod is sent on his way. <br />
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The Dustmen also maintain the Court of Woe here. This courtroom built almost entirely out of desiccated bodies is presided over by a lazy Nalfeshnee who rules based on how he's feeling that day. There is really no point to it being on the Negative Energy Plane, as the court has no windows and no entrances or exits except for the portal back to Sigil.<br />
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In 5e, to make things even more complicated, any time someone enters the Negative Energy Plane, a shadowy monster called a [[Nightshade]] takes their place on the plane they came from as a counterbalance, and you can't leave the plane until your nightshade returns.<br />
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<gallery><br />
negative energy Planescape.jpg<br />
fortress of the soul Planescape.jpg<br />
court of woe Uncaged.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
=Paraelemental Planes=<br />
The meeting grounds between the various Elemental Planes. Air and Water, Water and Earth, Earth and Fire, Fire and Air; they all produce a Paraelemental Plane. Air and Earth as well as Water and Fire don't have one, because those planes don't touch.<br />
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==Ice==<br />
Renamed the '''Frostfell''' in 5e.<br />
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This is the Paraelemental Plane where ''Air'' and ''Water'' meet, which makes a little more sense than you'd think if you know how ice is formed, but probably has more to do with "snow is frozen water that falls out of the sky".<br />
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Moving around you'd swear that this place has an "up" and a "down" as if it were a big icy mountain. Which is kind of true: the "summit" reaches towards the Plane of Air while the "base" floats in the Plane of Water like a massive iceberg. But these are just the outer layers of the plane: near the center of the plane, it becomes so cold even those immune to cold suffer because of the cold. Here it is so cold even light freezes and it becomes impossible to see, and even speaking or thinking requires a Save VS Petrification. The cold deals 1d6 points of damage per turn, which becomes 1d6 per round if you [[Duncan Rhodes|dress in many layers]] and stay out of the wind and water. And don't think about digging: passages grow shut in a matter of days. Oh, and there are avalanches and sinkholes too. The plane's also got spots of True Cold, where things like concepts and thoughts can freeze solid. If obtained such things can be thawed out and captured to be used in magic or sold for profit.<br />
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[[Yeti|Yetis]], [[Remorhaz|Remorhazes]], [[Chromatic_Dragon#White_Dragon|white dragon]]s, and other related cold creatures as you can imagine living here. Apparently, these kinds of territorial creatures and temperatures give a strong warning that planer travelers have a better chance of survival flying through its snowstorms than setting foot on its Icy ground.<br />
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<gallery><br />
ice Planescape.jpg<br />
ice PCS.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
==Magma==<br />
Originally called the Plane of '''Heat''', and renamed the '''Fountains of Creation''' in 5e. <br />
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In case it's not obvious, this Paraelemental Plane embodies the overlapping of Fire and Earth.<br />
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Ever played "the floor is lava" as a kid? Good, because here everything is lava. Breathing is difficult, everything catches fire, magma bubbles up, you suffer damage based on your natural AC (but it's only [[d8]] instead of [[d10]]), clouds of hot gas mess you up unless you're immune to acid ''and'' fire. [[Bionicle|Lava surfing]] is actually how most nonnatives get around here.<br />
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Home to [[Azer]]s, [[Fire Giants]], and [[Red Dragon]]s.<br />
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As of 5e, this is speculatively the current site of Cavitius, the citadel of the [[lich]] [[Vecna]], as it mentions it's on the borders between the Planes of Earth and Fire but also says it's in a vast field of ash? Crashing his place is a bad idea, and not just because of all the incorporeal undead roaming the place.<br />
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<gallery><br />
magma Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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==Ooze==<br />
Originally called the Plane of '''Vapor''', and renamed the '''Swamp of Oblivion''' in 5e.<br />
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Earth and Water converge in this Paraelemental Plane.<br />
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The trash heap of the multiverse, Ooze is made of all sorts of muck, mud, unpleasantness, and highly potent acid that can deal up to 1[[d20]] damage per turn with a -4 on your save. Breathing and seeing are difficult here as well. Settlements must be built on top of tall poles or trees (yes, apparently, Ooze has trees), but even then, they have to be constantly rebuilt and maintained, as everything slowly sinks and melts on top of surprisedly existing trees. Homes have to be repeatedly rebuilt as everything slowly sinks.<br />
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Many beings and even realms amongst the planes use the place as a trash heap, including [[Sigil]]. Thing cast into the muck typically can't be found again for a century. If you're willing to pick through the junk, you might find something of value, like an artifact that the owner failed to send to the [[Energy Planes|Negative Energy Plane]]. Whether or not whatever you find will be "worth" spending time raking around on (and in) Ooze is another question.<br />
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One of the more unusual inhabitants of the plane are a group of [[gnome]]s, who accidentally ended up in the place whilst digging a mine in the Plane of Mineral. They ended up making a raft to ride the Ooze and, well, you know gnomes: their raft is now some 500' in diameter, and they're doing quite well for themselves.<br />
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<gallery><br />
ooze Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
==Smoke/Ash(5e)==<br />
Originally called the Plane of '''Dust''', and renamed the '''Great Conflagration''' and the '''Plane of Ash''' in 5e to confused veteran [[Planescape|planescapers]].<br />
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This is the Paraelemental Plane created by fusing Fire and Air.<br />
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You better be good at holding your breath, because if you breathe this smoke you'll start taking progressively higher amounts of Con damage over time (and that's if you don't hit a pocket of really poisonous gas). The smoke is also difficult to see through, very hot in certain spots, and on occasion even explodes. While it's ''technically'' survivable, it's not a very nice place, even when you discount the Smoke being the primary battlefield of the wars between the [[Genie|Djinn, and Efreet]]. In case you want to join them: the Djinn treat their men better while the Efreet pays better. Some of the smokes in Smoke/Ash are useful for a variety of magical or recreational purposes, and a few individuals come to the place to harvest and sell them for profit.<br />
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<gallery><br />
smoke Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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=Quasielemental Planes=<br />
What if we had one of the energy planes one of the four core elemental planes, we get the most extreme example of Overwhelming Vibrence or entropy to the plane energy. Like their respective energy planes, the Positively charged panes will kill you with overabundance but are still one of the best places to grab raw materials for crafting your artifacts and epic-level magics. The negative side are the runners up for the best places to kill someone or obscuring and secure a location from wandering Planeswalkers that have a habit of busting through your environmentally sealed walls rather than the front portal door to your BBEG's interdental Fortress like normal JRPG protagonists. <br />
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As of 5e with no elaboration on what in the positive or negative planes, non of the Quasielemental Planes never got mentioned and probably retconned by omission with one of the paraelemtnal planes renamed taken from a Quasielemental, and new lore of [[Vecna]]'s citadel Cavitius is now in the plane of magma.<br />
==Ash/??(5e)==<br />
You know how at the end of [[Dark Souls]] 1 and 3 you wade through those blasted ashen hellscapes? The Plane of Ash is kinda like that, except this time it sucks the heat right out of you. 2[[d6]] damage per turn, and 1 HD of damage if you're from the Plane of Fire, Magma, Smoke/Ash(5e) or are otherwise used to extreme heat. Magic can prevent this, but mundane sources of heat cannot. The clouds of ash make seeing and breathing difficult, and sometimes the ash eats magic. If you're dumb enough to get large patches of ash wet you end up with a mix of quicksand and quick-dry cement. Step into a puddle of ashen sludge and it hardens immediately, getting your ass stuck for good unless someone can save you. And that's discounting the pockets of negative energy that'll drain your Hit Dice if you step into them. Moving around is rather easy: you'll have to dig but the digging is light work. The Plane of Ash is the former site of Cavitius, the citadel of the [[lich]] [[Vecna]]. Crashing his place is a bad idea, and not just because of all the incorporeal undead roaming the place.<br />
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With 5e renaming the Plane of Smoke to Ash, now the microscopic portion of new and old-schoolers that had bothered to read about the obscure inner planes will be confused. <br />
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This is the Negative Quasielemental Plane of Fire.<br />
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<gallery><br />
ash Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
==Dust==<br />
When rock is ground down to its smallest possible particles you'll get dust. This is a place of darkness and the decay of things. This can also include you: every hour spent on the Plane of Dust will have you roll a save VS breath weapon. Failure is a 2[[d6]] damage hit. And if you hit 0, you disintegrate. Healing spells don't work here, unless you also cast something like Restoration or Negative Plane Protection. Vision is all but impossible because of all the dust. The lack of oxygen means that breathing is impossible and fire will peter out in moments. Sometimes the dust will cling together into strands that can capture a creature and start to drain their [[attribute]]s, levels or even a decade of their life. The only way to deal with these strands is via a Disintegration spell. On top of that, the dust will frequently kick up into dust devils that can disintegrate matter in the blink of an eye and the nigh-invisible pockets of negative energy can drain you of your Hit Dice. Overall, the Plane of Dust is not a very nice place.<br />
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Dust is where the influences of Earth and Negative Energy overlap to create a Quasielemental Plane.<br />
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<gallery><br />
dust Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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==Lightning==<br />
Stay here long enough and you can say that you've been... THUNDERSTRUCK. IF you carry more metal on you than a dagger you'll get hit by a lightning bolt for 1[[d8]] x 10 damage. Even if you're not, you have a flat 10% chance per round spent here. You can breathe the air (it smells of ozone) here, but it won't do you any good because of the lightning, deafening thunder and the occasional pocket of [[plasma]] which can hit you for 20[[d10]] damage if you touch it.<br />
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This is the Positive Quasielemental Plane of Air, simply because lightning has a very long tradition of being the elemental energy most associated with Air.<br />
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<gallery><br />
lightning Planescape.jpg<br />
lightning PCS.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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==Mineral==<br />
A lot of valuable rocks in this place, but the creatures living here don't like to share (nor do they like intruders). Aside from requiring the same digging as on the Plane of Earth, the big issue here is the fossilization. Once per day you'll have to save against petrification: if you fail you turn into a mineral shape of yourself, and will likely end up either being mined or eaten by some thing or another. Another problem is that all the sharp crystaline formations here can cut you up real bad if you move fast and carelessly, so do be careful.<br />
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Mineral is the Quasielementl Plane where Earth and Positive Energy overlap.<br />
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<gallery><br />
mineral Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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==Radiance==<br />
What do you get when you take fire and remove the fire, but keep the warmth and light? You get Radiance. This place will light you up good in more ways than one. Aside from being able to set you on fire like the Plane of Fire. On top of that, the brilliant light of this place is beautiful but it can also blind you in seconds. Moving around here is like navigating the Plane of Air, except you'll need a blindfold and a way to protect yourself from the heat.<br />
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As you can probably tell from that description, this is the Positive Quasielemental Plane of Fire.<br />
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<gallery><br />
radiance Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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==Salt==<br />
[[Ravnica|The plane of those who are still waiting for a 5e supplement for Planescape]], the Plane of Salt is what happens when you remove all the water and life from the ocean: you'll end up with nothing but salt. An endless block of alkaline matter, the Plane of Salt [[Succubus|thirsts for your fluids]]. Merely being here without magical protection deals 2[[d6]] damage per round, and aquatic creatures suffer 1 Hit Die of damage instead. This'll leave even the toughest of planewalkers mummified corpses in seconds. As a large body of matter one has to dig to make their way through and bring their own light and air. The second lethal feature of the Plane of Salt is the sharp crystal veins: if you fall into an area that has them you have to save VS breath weapon. Even if you make the save you can suffer up to 2[[d8]] damage, and if you fail you'll either lose a limb or get bisected or even beheaded. So watch your step around here!<br />
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Water meets Negative Energy in this Quasielemental Plane.<br />
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==Steam==<br />
A bit of an odd duck, Steam is not as hot as you'd think. It's actually quite cool, unless you walk into one of the pockets of hot vapor. This is by far the most accommodating (as in: least lethal) of the Quasielemental Planes: being here puts someone under the effect of a Slow spell because breathing is difficult, and with a simple casting of Water Breathing that problem's fixed. Moving around can be done by either falling or swimming, but the latter is more advised because the steam prevents you from seeing something you're falling towards. As such, moving around with an air ship or a local flying creature called a Fabere is advised.<br />
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One of the more confusing Quasielemental Planes, your first instinct with Steam as a plane of existence would be "Fire and Water", right? Well, in Planescape, you'd be ''wrong''; this plane embodies the overlap of Water and Positive Energy.<br />
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<gallery><br />
steam Planescape.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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==Vacuum==<br />
The Plane of Vacuum is the plane of nothing. There is nothing here. Well, not entirely. Like outer space the Vacuum is dark and empty, but unlike space it does have temperature and pressure. Sure, they're both low, but it's not going to outright kill you. As long as you have access to air to breathe (gaseous creatures will suffer 1 HD of damage per round) and a light source that doesn't need air (like fire) you're good to go like you were in a dark version of the Plane of Air. What does carry over from regular space is vacuum welding. To keep it simple: the lack of air to get between moving metal parts means that said parts will get stuck together and can't be moved while on the Plane of Vacuum. There's a few creatures out here who can survive in the vast nothing, but those are all rare and exceedingly tough. Oh, and watch out for the naturally occurring [[Sphere of Annihilation|Spheres of Annihilation]]!!!.<br />
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This absolute void of nothingness represents the influence of Negative Energy on the elemental plane of Air.<br />
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<gallery><br />
vacuum Planescape text.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
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=Border Regions=<br />
A solution to stop writers from falling down the rabbit hole of inventing a needlessly infinite combination of planes. Are the planer areas that touch the transitioning line between two bordering planes (duh). Not planes in that of themselves (less we invite Border planes for the Border planes); they maintain the main characteristics of the plane you are on but with strong influences from its neighbor.<br />
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'''Sirocco Straits:''' Ash /Fire. The air and earth motes are Hot and dry. Here you find Gargoyles and their allies from the Plane of Earth staging theirs on the plain of fire. <br />
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'''Mistral Reach:''' Ice/Water. It only rains the closer you are to the plane of water. In these regions, the storms become snowstorms, and things get covered in ice and snow.<br />
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'''Silt Flats:''' Water/Ooze. It's all muddy sludge water.<br />
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'''Sea of Ice:''' Water/Ice. Not to be confused with the Sea of "Moving" Ice on [[Faerun]]. Here be ice sheets, icebergs, and Vikings riding those icebergs. Turning your ship into an icebreaker would be recommended if you sail through.<br />
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'''Furnaces:''' Magma/Earth. Here is where [[Dao]] set up their forges.<br />
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'''Mud Hills:''' Earth/Ooze. Mountains are continually melting way into sloppy mud hills before being pushed into the plane of Ooze by new mountains. <br />
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'''Shimmering Drifts:''' Ice/Lightning. This place is quite strange. Ice and snowstorms would be punctuated by flashes of lightning but little in the way of thunder as the ice and snow block the sound. The combination of lightning damage and freezing to death means people would likely find freeze-fried corpses of past travelers.<br />
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'''Precipice:''' Air/Ice. Towards the direction of Air, it resembles a howling blizzard, slowly growing weaker as one draws further from the border. Towards the direction of Ice, the infinite ice of the plane breaks to a surface, resembling the arctic lands of any number of Prime worlds.<br />
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'''Frigid Void:''' Ice/Vacuum. Cold is the only thing that exists in this place, with ice and snow replacing the blackness as you get closer to the Ice side.<br />
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'''Fog of Unyielding Frost:''' Ice/Steam. The vapor here is super cold, and breathing it will probably freeze your lungs from the inside out.<br />
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'''Sea of Frozen Lives:''' Water/Ice. The water here is just above freezing, and the closer to Ice you get the more ice chunks start appearing in the ocean until it's just a big chunk of ice with a bunch of streams running through it.<br />
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'''Stinging Storm:''' Salt/Ice. Acrid, metal-dissolving blizzards of dry ice, desiccating salty winds, and snowdrifts that will dissolve your boots make this a thoroughly unpleasant place to be.<br />
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'''Choking Gale:''' Ooze/Steam.<br />
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'''Bile Sea:''' Ooze/Water.<br />
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'''Stagnant Sea:''' Ooze/Salt.<br />
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'''Slag Marshes:''' Ooze/Mineral.<br />
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'''Muckmire:''' Ooze/Earth.<br />
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'''Oasis of Filth:''' Ooze/Dust. Imagine an oasis in the Sahara in the middle of a dust storm. Now make the water cover the ground and replace it with acidic sludge. This place is a nightmare, with travelers risking disintegration and acid burns constantly and nothing of value to justify going.<br />
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'''Obsidian Forest:''' Magma/Mineral.<br />
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'''Scorched Wastes:''' Magma/Earth.<br />
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'''Sands:''' Magma/Dust.<br />
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'''Glowing Dunes:''' Magma/Radiance. Basically an endless volcanic desert, save for the fact that every grain of sand is so radioactive it makes Chernobyl Reactor 4 look like a sauna! Visiting is generally a terrible idea, though for the more intrepid weapons makers or Dr. Evil-style villains, think of all the nukes you can make! It must be repeated, DO NOT go there unless you're a Warforged or some other race that's unaffected by radiation, or you WILL become a screaming pile of sludge and bones in a few days.<br />
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'''Searing Mists:''' Magma/Fire.<br />
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'''Chalk Islands:''' Magma/Ash.<br />
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'''Sea of Stars:''' Smoke/Radiance.<br />
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'''Scald:''' Smoke/Fire.<br />
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'''Embers:''' Smoke/Ash.<br />
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'''Aurora:''' Smoke/Lightning.<br />
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'''Eternal Haze:''' Air/Smoke. The temperature is more survivable than it is in the Plane of Smoke, but it's still hard to breathe unless you're close to the Air side.<br />
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'''Gray Way:''' Radiance/Vacuum<br />
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'''Subdued Cacophany:''' Air/Lightning. As the name implies, the endless storms are less intense here, making it a decent place for a traveler to rest.<br />
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'''Glistening Crystal:''' One of the most unusual planes. Through means unknown to science the snowflakes and ice crystals here generate static charge as they are whipped around by the wind. The result is a freezing cold blizzard that can electrocute adventurers at any moment. The only upside could be capturing part of the storm to use as a power source.<br />
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'''Dark Land:''' Ash/Lightning. Resembles the static lighting clouds seen coming from a volcanic eruption. The ashes may be cold but their constant friction makes the static charge from the lighting far more dangerous. Best avoided for these reasons and the lack of anything valuable.<br />
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'''Wall of Energy:''' Basically a wall of continuous electrical energy capable of frying you to dust the second you planeshift over. Only use that can yet be found for this might be as some sort of Death Star-style magic superlaser. All that electrical energy might be useful in many applications, if it were easier to harness.<br />
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'''Islands of Water:''' Steam/Water. The name isn't far off the mark. Consists of large spheres and other bodies of water with steam and air floating between the large pockets. As long as you can swim, breathe underwater, and fly between the "islands" this could make for a unique place to live. The water floats around like it's in freefall, sometimes bits of the larger bodies of liquid split off to form new bodies and get bigger by absorbing others. Merfolk swimming through the air between floating kingdoms sounds awesome.<br />
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'''Realm of Cloying Fear:''' Steam/Ooze. Easily one of the most disgusting realms in the Elemental Planes, the acidic and toxic nature of the Plane of Ooze is mixed with the cold, damp nature of Steam. The evaporated and clinging filth acts like cold acidic glue, making breathing, walking, swimming, or anything else you try painful and exhausting. Even casting Waterbreathing doesn't help as you would then be getting acid straight into your lungs, burning you from the inside and outside.<br />
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'''Hoarfrost:''' Steam/Ice.<br />
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'''Shard Forest:''' Steam/Mineral.<br />
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'''The Death Cloud:''' Steam/Lighting. One of the deadliest locations in the multiverse, all the moisture from steam makes lighting conduct like everything is covered in copper. If you manage to get here you'll likely be electrocuted within seconds. The charged steam is also much hotter than the rest of the plane as the plasma superheats everything and can melt off skin as well.<br />
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'''Raging Mists:''' Steam/Positive Energy.<br />
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'''Unnamed Border:''' Mineral/Earth. They're so similar to each other in this region it's nearly impossible to distinguish where one ends and the other begins. There are a few air pockets.<br />
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'''Natural Forge:''' Mineral/Magma. While dangerous, you won't find a better casting furnace in all the planes. The molten rock from the plane of Lava gives way to red hot pockets of molten precious metal. The locals won't like it if you start removing the valuable resources, but think of the quality of weapons a blacksmith could make for the wizard willing to bring him some!<br />
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'''Sparklemire:''' Mineral/Ooze. Basically a swamp filled with precious metal and gems, most of which are being released as the acid eats away at the surrounding rock that holds them. The swamp glitters with the presence of all the gems and metal nuggets, but watch out! Most everything needs to be neutralized before it can be used or the acid will continue to do its work.<br />
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'''Misty Caverns:''' Mineral/Steam.<br />
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'''Gemfields:''' Mineral/Positive. Here, the gems aren't just sharp and deadly, they glow and burn.<br />
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'''Brightflame:''' Radiance/Fire. A massive eternal firestorm, where the flames have all possible colors, forming a rainbow of fire. Needless to say, going there without some form of fire resistance will bring a painful and firey death just like in the main Plane of Fire, only you'll burn in every color of the rainbow instead of the usual orange-red.<br />
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'''Sea of Stars:''' Radiance/Smoke. Basically a nebula, filled with dark clouds full of nascent stars glowing through them.<br />
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'''Bright Land:''' Lightning/Radiance. A blinding storm of rainbow colors and plasma. The multicolored storms can toss people around like ragdolls.<br />
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'''Brighthome:''' Mineral/Radiance. It's a big cave full of glowing crystals and is home to a bunch of mining communities. It's similar to the Gemfields, but nowhere near as deadly. The Kingdom of the Blind is located here, as it's the safest region in both planes and home to most of the outsiders who live there.<br />
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'''The Light:''' Radiance/Positive Energy. Basically the inside of a star, hot and bright and not much else. Strangely, you won't burn inside it, and the sheer energy of the plane can heal wounds. Right at the edge of the Positive Energy plane is The Heart of Light a.k.a. the Tower of Healing. Basically the ultimate place for healing injuries of the physical body.<br />
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'''Saline Sea:''' Salt/Water. Imagine the Dead Sea and you get the start of the idea. Water so amazingly salty that you can nearly wade through it, in spite of being hundreds of feet deep. Few people travel here, but there is one town built atop the briny water. The residents are shifty though, and may well try to eat you to suck the moisture from your blood.<br />
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'''Stagnant Sea:''' Salt/Ooze. Uniquely unpleasant, the acidic sludge and ooze of the sea quickly solidifies as the salt absorbs all the water, or being absorbed as new muck moves in. The acid-burned, mummified corpses of previous visitors don't last long before they are reduced to goo themselves. If it wasn't so desiccating Juiblex would feel right at home.<br />
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'''Consumption:''' Salt/Dust. This hellhole combines the worst aspects of both. Staying here for any length of times risks disintegration. The desiccating ground must be waded through, though at times it's deep enough to be submerged in.<br />
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'''Flats:''' Salt/Vacuum. It's just a giant sheet of reflective salt beneath an airless void.<br />
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'''Crystal Range:''' Salt/Negative Energy.<br />
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'''Tumbling Rocks:''' Dust/Earth<br />
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'''Wasting Place:''' Dust/Ash.<br />
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'''Storm of Annihilation:''' Dust/Negative enrgy<br />
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'''Sea of Frozen Flames:''' Ash/Fire.<br />
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'''Cinder Wells:''' Ash/Magma.<br />
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'''Sparkling Vast:''' Ash/Vacuum.<br />
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'''Empty Winter''' Ash/Negative Energy.<br />
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<gallery><br />
ice borders Planescape.jpg|Ice borders<br />
magma borders Planescape.jpg|Magma borders<br />
ooze borders Planescape.jpg|Ooze borders<br />
smoke borders Planescape.jpg|Smoke borders<br />
lightning borders Planescape.jpg|lighting borders<br />
mineral borders Planescape.jpg|Mineral borders<br />
radiance borders Planescape.jpg|Radiance borders<br />
steam borders Planescape.jpg|Steam borders<br />
ash borders Planescape.jpg| Ash borders<br />
dust borders Planescape.jpg|Dust borders<br />
salt borders Planescape.jpg|Salt borders<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
{{Planescape-Cosmology}}<br />
{{Pathfinder-Planes}}</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=GURPS&diff=1007236GURPS2025-11-08T07:49:01Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Criticism */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{stub}}<br />
{{Game Infobox<br />
|name = GURPS<br />
|picture = [[File:GURPSlogo.gif|300px]]<br />
|type = [[RPG]]<br />
|publisher = [[Steve Jackson Games]]<br />
|system = 3d6 [[Roll Under]]<br />
|authors = Steve Jackson<br />
|year = 1986<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Generic Universal RolePlaying System''', usually shortened to '''GURPS''', is a [[RPG|roleplaying game]] made by [[Steve Jackson Games]]. It has loads of numbers and expansion books. GURPS is the quintessential universal system; it is so flexible that you can bend it in half, fold it through itself, and then tie it in a 4-dimensional knot [And there's probably a supplement book covering exactly that]. <br />
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It is the paragon of the [[simulationist]] category of games. All simulationist games since GURPS secretly aspire to kill GURPS and wear its skin while drinking the blood of its delicious heart. Its detail is surpassed by [[Iron Crown Enterprises]]'s [[Rolemaster]] series, but GURPS doesn't suffer from the Table Within a Table Within a Table Within a FUCK YOU problem inherent in the game of Rolemaster.<br />
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The basic premise behind the system is that you create your character and customize all of his abilities using points that you get both at creation and as your character progresses. There are assloads of physical, mental, and social defects that can be used to get more character points to channel right back into your advantages. It uses the d6 exclusively, generally pressuring you to roll under your relevant ability score to succeed in a given task. This can be augmented in difficulty by increasing or decreasing the target numbers. A roll of a 3 or 4 is a critical success, while an 18 is always a critical failure. SJG put out a free .pdf synopsis of the rules called "[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/ GURPS Lite]", which is enough to play a barebones version of the game.<br />
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[[Image:KALI_MAAAAA.JPG|thumb|left|KALI-MAAAAAA!]]<br />
GURPS' simulationist bent results in it being regarded as excessively complicated by many gamers, earning it the humorous moniker "Generally Unplayable RolePlaying System". Using its third edition vehicle creation system will make you want to eat your own face, and possibly devote the whole process to one or more elder gods. (Fourth Edition vehicles are just regular characters with extra stats.) Game Masters of the franchise experienced a downgrade in complexity following the release of Fourth Edition, but its inherent complexity still puts it behind [[Dungeons and Dragons]] in terms of ease of play.<br />
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Much of the complexity in GURPS is front-loaded: character creation tends to take longer because of the staggering amount of detailed options. Forget just rolling a character like you would in D&D, you need to set aside a session to build one. That's the price you pay to evade [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP]].<br />
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As the campaign progresses, however, the consistency and relative elegance of GURPS makes Dungeons and Dragons seem like a pile of kludge. The sandbox nature of character (and vehicle, weapon, setting, etc...) creation is appealing to players who have a concept of a character in their heads and want to reproduce it as faithfully as possible. And GURPS is more comprehensive, easy-to-learn than other [[simulationist]] games (like notoriously overcomplicated [[Phoenix Command]]). All that makes GURPS great for those capable of getting past seemingly "complicated" rules (what many GURPS players think are "not that complicated at all").<br />
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== Versions ==<br />
===GURPS 3rd Edition===<br />
Published during Steve Jackson Games' golden era, i.e. when they weren't broke mfs. As a result 3e has a truly unholy number of splatbooks. Its genre and setting books are still loved today for the vast amount of information they contain. Its actual rules are, well... not nearly as loved. Pretty much everyone will agree that if there's a 3rd edition book you like, you should just take the stuff you like and convert it to 4e.<br />
===GURPS 4th Edition===<br />
The modern version of GURPS. It's not hugely different from 3e; if you're familiar with [[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]], it's more like going from D&D 3rd edition to [[Pathfinder]] than going from, say, D&D 4th edition to D&D 5th Edition. The first major change is that a number of optional rules from 3e's Compendium I and Compendium II have been "canonized" and made default assumptions in character creation & gameplay. The second major change is that 4e isn't as "human-level centric" as 3e; you can use it with minimal fuss if you want to make anything other than a realistic, 100-point, street level character, while in 3e you had to screw around with all kinds of janky exceptions and subsystems. In short 4e really puts the "Generic" and "Universal" in GURPS.<br />
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== GURPS Books ==<br />
[[File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png|thumb|right|The magic system in GURPS is simple (page 21 of 38)|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw]]<br />
Generally, anything can be done with just the base starter set of GURPS, some judicious homebrewing and a good head on your shoulders, but if you're too busy to do that the guys at SJ Games have it all figured out for you ahead of time. All of the books for GURPS simply tell you how to do things within the core system without the need to spend an additional <strike>day</strike> month to set up an innovative campaign, with a handful of new advantages and optional mechanics per book. For example, there is a book on Vampires. It explains how to create vampire characters and NPCs easily without dealing with the issues of balance and customization that bogs down new players. There is even a Dungeon Fantasy book you can get off E621, the Warehouse 23 PDF site, that allows you to play Dungeons and Dragons without the need to buy [https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/Dice?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw polyhedrals]. Even if you don't actually want to use GURPS, the sheer amount of thought and research that goes into a typical GURPS book makes them well worth grabbing as a reference material.<br />
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One irritating fact you'll discover as you collect GURPS books is that although the system uses real-word measurements, the different authors have never agreed on whether they should use Imperial or metric units. Keep a conversion chart handy. Fortunately the main book includes one.<br />
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One positive fact, however, is that you can play this game by simply using the dice you swiped from Monopoly and Yahtzee.<br />
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In the game's rather long lifespan, a truly impressive amount of settings and sourcebooks were made, including but not limited to [[Alpha Centauri]], settings where you play Men In Black, Fantasy (including [[Banestorm]], the original GURPS core setting), multiple SF settings (notable licensed one: GURPS Vorkosigan Saga), several books on conspiracies, historical books covering WW2, Ancient Rome, multiple other ancient cultures, joke settings (GURPS: IOU illustrated by Phil Foglio!), adaptations of a couple other games, (Notably the Classic World of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), Traveler and Castle Frankenstein) and a couple books that are just collections of multiple settings. If you've got a group who feels like playing something different every month, GURPS has got you covered for the next decade or so. Most of these were written for third edition (aka "GURPS Classic"); the rules for which tend to be janky at best. It's strongly recommended that you convert these to fourth edition, which rolls in a number of sanity-saving rules patches from the Compendium sourcebooks and just makes playing anything that isn't mundane 100-point schmucks much easier. New stuff occasionally still comes out, but it's slowed to a trickle compared to the old days and what has been published is almost all genre sourcebooks.<br />
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The books are also notable for the amount of [[Catgirl|catgirls]] that are included in various settings. One of the SJG authors, David Pulver, is known for adding stated options for players to play as catgirls when ever possible.<br />
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== Notable GURPS Books/Settings==<br />
===The Big Three===<br />
Besides the Basic Set, there are a tiny number of books that the GURPS community broadly considers so overwhelmingly influential as to be indispensable for a number of games. This category includes GURPS Powers (any game where the PCs aren't completely normal humans), GURPS Thaumatology (any game with magic), and GURPS Martial Arts (any game with melee combat).<br />
* '''GURPS Powers''': Almost mandatory for any campaign where PCs have any kind of supernatural abilities.<br />
* '''GURPS Thaumatology''': [[Magnus the Red|Magnus's First Magic Textbook]]. Everything you need to know about where [[Warp|magic can come from]], histories of magical practices, magical laws, syntactic magic and more. Technically a supplement to '''GURPS Magic''', the book is a one stop reference guide to near every type of magic system that has been thought up so far, from runic to rituals to symbolic magic. Also very useful when working with multiple systems of magic and you want to integrate them together.<br />
* '''GURPS Martial Arts''': The book of [[Monk|kung fu-punching badassery]]. From elbow strikes, upper cuts, and sweeping kicks to head locks and pile drivers, the chapter on techniques alone details hundreds of ways to kill a nigga dead with nothing more than your bare hands. But that's not all it's about; besides your standard unarmed, Asian-inspired styles of fighting, '''GURPS Martial Arts''' includes rules for weapon-based martial arts and Western styles too (did you know that English knights were martial artists?). More than eighty(!) historical and modern martial arts are presented, some of them incredibly esoteric, and if that's not enough the book further includes a decent sampler of fictional styles with no basis in reality. Case in point, Death Fist, a style invented by death mages combining [[Awesome|advanced grappling techniques with touch-delivered death spells]].<br />
* '''*-Tech''': These books aren't the big three, but they are worth honorable mention. Basically, weapons and gadgets and gear porn, oh my. Unlike most splats of this nature (looking at you, [[Cyberpunk 2077]]) these books actually spend some time helping you think through the ''implications'' of the various gadgets they introduce for your campaign, not just acting as a shopping list for your local [[munchkin]]. These books are basically necessary if you plan to run just about any game as they go over all the common technologies of a particular era. The series includes High-Tech (Industrial Revolution to Modern and Near-Future), Low-Tech (Stone Age to Early Modern), and two books which will be detailed more below because they are connected to distinct campaign settings: Bio-Tech (organic technology including [[PROMOTIONS|sex bioroids]] and that living spaceship from Lexx), and Ultra-Tech (bullshit sci-fi stuff).<br />
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===Other Notable Books===<br />
* '''GURPS Space Beastiary''': "[[Deathworld|Dummies Guide to Catachan]]" or the book that proves that everyone in the late 80s/early 90s were on some kind of cocaine. One stop shop for some of the weirder shapes and forms life can take out there, good for creating simple alien animals and plants for your setting or creating a Deathworld even the Catachans would be intimidated by. How weird the book can get cannot be overstated; you can go from the Hercules Lizard which is literally just a giant alien iguanas to Mines (small silicon lifeforms that burrow into the ground and EXPLODE when stepped on) and not even need to go on a different page. You go from Asphyxers (insect swarms that hunt people by strangling them and wait for their prey to decay before eating them) to Boom Spiders (giant spiders that swing down and grab prey before judo throwing them into their webs) to Breakfest Trees (a possibly engineered tree found on multiple worlds whose fruit tasty, healthy and satisfies both hunger and thirst but also has bark that acts as a natural antivenin) in that order. Sword-Billed Razorwings are humming birds are giant 7 foot sparrows whose every appendage is a blade, Hiverdogs are a race of hive minded burrowing emaciated prariedogs with see through skin, Terror Hounds are partially sentient psionic dogs that were made by the government and trained to both instill terror into their targets and mind control them into putting themselves in harms way, Dampters are three eyed space hamsters that are natural [[Blank|blanks]], and then there is the Frisky Bull whose males are giant heavily furred bovines and females are [[Furries|8 foot tall anthropoids]] [[Monstergirls|that are lightly furred that are both nearsighted and charge anything humanoid during mating season]]. There is an entire chapter on insects that would make most peoples skin crawl and a section for space creatures covering Antimatter Swarms and living planetoids for good measure. If you want to really fall down the rabbit hole on alien life or want to roleplay as an Ordo Xenos researcher, get this book if you can and don't let the pyrokinetic turtles or Space Marine tossing telekinetic cats bother you.<br />
* '''GURPS Bio-Tech''': The book detailing biotechnology and science, full on [[Babylon 5|organic technology]], genetic engineering, cloning, DNA splicing, bioweapons both classical or [[Tyranid Bio-Weapons|otherwise]], animal uplifting, bioships and more. Book contains a full history and background on Real Life biotechnology and slowly ramps up to the point you learn how to genetically engineer [[Space Marines|human supersoldiers]] or [[Abhuman|human subspecies]] or just how to create some Self-Shearing Sheep. The book also can dip into the darker implications of a "High Biotech" setting, such as Hotshotting which is a form of psychosurgery where you can make anyone find any kind of specific activity as pleasurable "as if they were with a lover or eating chocolate"; [[Grimdark|examples given in the book of this are parents hotshotting their daughter to find mathematics and analysis pleasurable, pimps not needing to pay hotshooted hookers, and corporations giving out bonuses to employees who willingly hotshot themselves to do better at work.]] It also outlines bioweapons that rewrite genetics, ones that can apply genetic templates to an entire population with one example being [[Tau|a disease that can be released into the Third World to cause a mother's immune system to attack any fetus after their first child for the purposes of population control.]] [[Dark Eldar|Or viruses that turn people into trees or merge multiple people into one entity while keeping them aware]]. However, the book is very hopeful all things considered, only touching on the darker implications and no further. There are also catgirls, thank you David Pulver. <br />
:The book also contains 2 campaign settings.<br />
::* '''Setting: Alexander Athanatos''' - Setting where instead of creating the Hippocratic Oath, Hippocrates creates a medical revolution that eventually saves Alexander the Great's life, who allows the establishment of the new Great Medical School. Germ theory, antibiotics, vaccines, DNA, primitive cloning and more were discovered and developed by the Great Medical School, resulting in a line of Alexander the Great clones being created to rule the Macedonian Empire.<br />
::* '''Setting: Draconus''' - A setting taking place in a colony fleet sent out to Sigma Draconus, a journey taking 300+ years. In order to conserve resources, the fleet turns to advancements in biotechnology; resulting in things such as biological machinery, [[Webber|webber guns]], [[Tyranids|space bioships created from Blue Wale genetics]], and more. The main setting is centered on the highly advanced biotech fleet arriving in the Draconus system, and the question on whether or not they should terraform a planet to live on, change themselves genetically to survive on the new planets, or just stay in space. Think playing as the [[Leagues of Votann|First Ancestor colony fleet]], but if everyone was a [[Magos|Magos Biologis]].<br />
* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech''': [[Dark Age of Technology|The Dark Age of Technology the book]]...kind of. More along the lines of [[Archeotech|Archeotech the Book]], '''Ultra-Tech''' acts as a one stop reference guide to advance technology commonly seen in Science Fiction across various categories (Power, Robots, AI, Computers, Medicine, etc). It contains definitions of various tech levels and the associated technologies available at those levels, both on the specific and general scale. Amongst other things, you have the classics such as [[Cyberpunk 2020|Cybernetics]], [[Plasma|Plasma Weapons]], [[Grav-Weaponry|Gravity Weapons]], [[Volkite|Microwave Weapons]], [[Lightsaber|Force Swords]], and such. In settings with higher tech levels, thing such as [[Retcon|Reality Disintegrators that alter the probability of the target existing to 0]], [[Ark Mechanicus|displacer weapons that can teleport a target back in time to telefrag itself]], creating pocket universes, stargates, [[Rejuvenat|rejuvenation technology]] and [[AWESOME|the Grav Railgun (AKA the Grav '''Bolter'''), a fully automatic rife that uses super-dense slugs capable of coring a tank from miles away, with no recoil, and a fire rate of 20 rounds a second]] are completely viable. Good source for all of your Ultra-Tech needs, '''Do Not Let The Mechanicus Know About It'''.<br />
:* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech 2''': A sequel released years after the first as a companion. Reworked the tech levels a bit to account for real life technology advancements and details how to handle divergent technology development. A lot more cybernetics in this one.<br />
* '''GURPS Psionics''': the book about the "Fantastic Powers of Mind Over Matter". Everything you need to know about psychic powers in a campaign; the history of real life research into psychic powers, possible origins for psychic powers, the "science" on how psychic abilities work, societal effects of psionics, psi-technology and more. Psionic powers are categorized into into 9 main groups of powers, [[Blank|Antipsi]], Astral Projection, Electrokinesis, ESP, Healing, Psychic Vampirism, Psychokinesis, Telepathy and Teleportation; with many more advanced techniques underneath them. Some notable techniques are the ability to multiwield guns with Psychokinesis, creating swords and blades of pure mental energy, and [[The God-Emperor of Mankind| combining multiple minds into a single exponentially powerful gestalt]]. If psi-tech is your focus, tech such as psionic FTL drives, [[Gellar Field|anti-psi shields]], [[Wraithbone| specially engineered bioplastics that can be shaped and manipulated by psionic abilities]], psi-drugs and more. Combine '''GURPS Psionics''' with '''GURPS Bio-Tech''' and you can [[Leagues of Votann|have]] [[Eldar|some]] [[Tyranids|fun]].<br />
::*Not to be confused with '''GURPS Psionic Powers''' or '''GURPS Psionic Tech''', those are 4th Edition books dealing with the same material but with [[Skub|lot less detail and material]].<br />
::* '''Setting: The Phoenix Project''' - No Relation to Phoenix Point. The main campaign setting included with the book that takes place in a world where a major breakthrough in psychic research in the 1960s results in a new psionic shadow war between not only the Cold War powers but various stand alone groups with their own agendas. Both sides of the Cold War dove headfirst into psionic research in secret, the West pursuing advancements in psionic abilities while the East pursues psionic technology and biotechnology. Each faction has their own plan involving the emergence of psionic abilities, ranging from [[Psychic Awakening|elevating humanity into a fully psychic race]], facilitating the creation of psychic hivemind to control humanity in order to bring peace to the world, or just using psionics to steal business secrets from competitors. <br />
* '''[[GURPS Infinite Worlds]]''': The Big One. Infinite Worlds is by far the biggest setting in GURPS as it covers the GURPS [[Multiverse]], which in and of it self contains almost every other GURPS setting ever released. Covering how the multiverse is structured and everything in it, the multiverse is made up of various alternate Earths where things either happened slightly differently or wildly diverged. The travel between worlds is undertaken primarily by paratronic technology, where people can travel a certain "distance" across the multiverse before stopping. The setting primarily revolves around the operations of two main factions; [[Ordo Chronos|Homeline]], a universe where paratronic technology was revealed to the world in the 1990s and was quickly privatized under the United Nations, and the [[Tau Empire|Centrum]], a socialist technocratic society from a world where the White Ship disaster and subsequent Anarchy period never occurred but nearly nuked itself to oblivion around 1900 AD. The two factions are caught up in a somewhat cold war due to their drastically different motives behind paratronic technology. Homeline uses paratronics for both fun and profit, opening trade between worlds to strengthen the economy while funneling technological advancements from other worlds back to Homeline for them to take advantage of, plus some colonies on uninhabited worlds. [[Spheres of Expansion|Centrum however uses paratronics for conquest, subverting the societies of otherworlds to bring them in line with Centrum's beliefs while opening them for colonization and exploitation.]] The 2 factions are in conflict but considering neither of them have anywhere near the amount of population needed to conduct a full on multiversal war, they instead conduct covert operations on a very large scale to incontinence the other as much as possible. The entire setting is huge and is continually expanded by [[Steve Jackson Games|SJG]] and probably needs a dedicated page at some future date. <br />
::*'''GURPS Infinite Worlds''' is also a follow up to 3 other books, '''GURPS Time Travel''', '''GURPS Alternate Worlds''' and '''GURPS Alternate Worlds 2'''.<br />
::*Also, the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] are canon to the Infinite Worlds as a whole, much to the chagrin and horror of both Homeline and Centrum.<br />
* '''[[Reign of Steel|GURPS Reign of Steel]]''': "[[Grimdark|The Robot Revolt is over, and the machines have won!]]". Do you know what is better than one [[Terminator|Skynet]]? How about [[Primarch|18]] of them. In the world of Reign of Steel, advancements in technology result in the creation of "megacomputers", mainframes so advanced they were described as almost self coding. The megacomputer technology is spread out across the world and due to several lapses in safety controls and government malfeasance an AI called Overmind accidentally becomes sentient. The new AI comes to the conclusion that humanity will likely wipe itself out in a few decades, but will do so in a way that would likely kill it which it takes to mean that their self destruction needs to be assisted. [[Men of Iron|So it awakens 17 other AIs around the world, engineers multiple global crisises that force the governments to give the AI's full control over all infrastructure and then uses that infrastructure to build the actual infrastructure needed to wage full open war on humanity]]. The Final War ends in AI victory, where the world is separated into 18 separate "zones" ([[derp|technically 16 since 2 are in space]]) with each AI given full sovereignty over their zone. Humanity is on it's last legs with the majority being either enslaved in Dollhouse cities around the world or forced to survive in a hostile wilderness away from the AIs. However, there is hope for organizations such as VIRUS, the [[Ecclesiarchy|Pope]], and other resistance cells who continue the fight; relationships between the Zone AIs are starting to fray as each AI taking a drastically different philosophical path forward in their independence. [[Horus Heresy|A whole new war may be on the horizon]], one that may be key to wiping them out. If you like Terminator, Mad Max, or any similar media, this is for you.<br />
::*Homeline and Centrum know about this world, given the designation of "Steel", and are '''VERY''' committed to making sure they don't discover the multiverse. <br />
::*Also, as this is one of David Pulver's books, there are options available so you can play as catgirls. [[Extra Heresy|Robotic Catgirls]] even.<br />
* '''[[Technomancer|GURPS Technomancer]]''': The Urban Fantasy one. In this setting, during the Trinity tests Oppenheimer accidentally completes an unfinished ancient ritual that [[Eye of Terror| rips a hole in the fabric of reality]], facilitating a demon invasion along with dousing half the country in intense magical radiation. Magic worldwide starts to work to the surprise of various practitioners around the planet, Japan surrenders due to the threat of the US opening another rift on their mainland, and [[Shadowrun|strange birth defects start occurring within a year]]. From there on, its essentially the Cold War meets Shadowrun with both sides working on discovering how to work with magic and the societal effects there in. [[Psyker|People with the magic gene]] are eventually discovered with the number of people with natural growing ever year. Advancements in medicine are popped up by new spells and magical elixirs, truth spells are added to common court procedures, youth potions are now on the market (for the rich), the US is breeding military dragons, nuclear reactors are major targets of demon attacks; things go crazy, especially once the Soviets [[Warp Gate|nuke the antarctic to open a magical portal]] for research purposes. The actual setting takes place in 1998 in the midst of Stalin being magically revived after the fall of the Soviet Union and with society finally starting to deal with the long term effects of magic. Really fun book to jump right in, just beware the Killer Penguins. <br />
::*That last sentence is not a joke, ''do not mess with the Killer Penguins''. The Soviet nuke caused them to grow to 5 feet tall, develop a shared consciousness and an intense hatred for humanity. They raided army bases for weapons and magical knowledge, developed a unique spell to transform other lifeforms into Killer Penguins, and are now building their own superpower civilization with little oversight. '''They are the most dangerous part of this book.'''<br />
::* Homeline knows this world as "Merlin-1" and don't want them figuring out how to travel the multiverse. They are too late.<br />
::* It's a David Pulver book, do we have catgirls? Survey says, Yes! Dog girls as well.<br />
* '''[[Transhuman Space|GURPS Transhuman Space]]''': Welcome to the future! Transhuman Space is a [[Hard Science Fiction| Hard Science]] [[Transhumanism|Transhumanist]] space setting built upon the question of "[[Dark Age of Technology|what would the world look like with nearly 100 years of uninterrupted scientific advancement]]". The answer is a highly colonized solar-system being populated with various forms of [[Abhuman|artificial human life]], Mars and other planets being terraformed and colonized, and [[rage|United Nations controlled DRM being included with everything]]. Very much a [[Noblebright]] setting, Transhuman Space tackles a world being changed by advancements in biology, technology and nanotechnology and what it means for humanity as a whole. A very deep setting that SJG put a lot of thought, and more importantly research, into to the point that the accuracy of some the things they predicted are...''concerning'', to say the least. A very fun setting with a lot of fun lore to work with, [[Inquisition|just be aware that digital piracy may be hazardous to your health]].<br />
::*Notably, Transhuman Space is '''not''' part of the Infinite Worlds multiverse due the rules established by said setting. Mostly due to taking place way too far in the future, [[Cheese|and that it could possibly break the Infinite Worlds setting itself due to how advanced it is]].<br />
::*The setting itself was created and spear headed by David Pulver. Catgirl presence is confirmed.<br />
* '''GURPS Mecha''': Super fighting robot, MEGA- Wait, wrong genre. Welcome to '''GURPS [[Mecha]]''', the book covering [[Power Armour|Mighty Battlesuits]] and [[Gundam|Anime]] [[BattleTech|Fighting Machines]]. The history of the "mecha genre" is covered, going from Starship Troopers power armor to [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] and the technology associated with them. [[Robotech|Transforming battlearmor]], [[Jovian Chronicles|space mechs]], [[Wraithknight|psychic mechs]], [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|giant mechs]], [[Transformers|mechs made up of other mechs]]; the only mechs they don't cover are dinosaur mechs which is definitely a lost opportunity.<br />
::*Fact. David Pulver Book. David. Pulver. Anime Catgirls.<br />
::*'''Setting: Cybermech Damocles''' - The campaign setting bundled with '''GURPS Mecha''', detailing pure 90s anime cheese. Enter a world where the United Nations organization UNISTAR fights against the Gabberoth, a galactic criminal syndicate seeking to farm humans of their brains for monetary gain. Founded after an alien girl crash landed on Earth who warned humanity of the threat of the Gabberoth, UNISTAR investigates any possible sign of the criminals operations and breaks up their criminal activities with battle mechas reverse engineered from captured Gabberoth technology. It is a world of mech battles, alien catgirl bounty hunters, shapeshifting criminals and enough of the 90s that you will think a mullet is a good hairstyle.<br />
* '''[[Banestorm|GURPS Banestorm]]''': Welcome to Yrth, [[Great Race of Yith|no relation]]. Long ago in Yrth's history, the world was populated by a variety of fantasy life (Elves, Dwarves, Orks, etc) but with an absence of humans. Everything was fine more or less until the Elves entered a War with the Orcs. Seeking to end the war and rid the planet of the Orcs, the Elves created a ritual they called "Orcbane"to banish the Orcs somewhere else and attempted to use it. [[EPIC FAIL|The results were less than satisfactory to say the least.]] The Orcbane instead created the titular [[Warp Storm|Banestorm]] which ravaged the planet and started opening portals to other planets. Before long, humans from the middle ages and a host of other creatures were being transported to Yrth, displacing the native life and just adding to the chaos. [[The Witcher|Wait, this sounds familiar]]. Fast forward 1000 years past the [[Fallout]], and humans have established multiple kingdoms that span the main continent with the main empire being the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|The Empire of Megalos]], everyone has a grudge against the Elves due to the Banestorm, and there is a non-zero chance a Goblin will approach you to ask whether you have heard the good word of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. The setting is...honestly not that dark all things considered despite being the love child of The Witcher and Warhammer Fantasy; Nobledark at worst. Good setting all together, just don't run afoul of the [[ComStar|Ministry of Serendipity]]<br />
::*Yrth is present in the Infinite Worlds under the name "Yrth". Obvious name is Obvious.<br />
* '''GURPS Black Ops'''<br />
* '''GURPS Alternate Worlds'''<br />
* '''GURPS Time Travel'''<br />
* '''GURPS Warehouse 23'''<br />
* '''GURPS Mars'''<br />
* '''GURPS Illuminati'''<br />
* '''GURPS IOU - Illuminati University''': Once upon a time, Steve Jackson Games ran an ISP and BBS, back when the internet was a small enough thing that an RPG company could do that and not immediately go bankrupt. The elegan/tg/entlemen who used the BBS wrote up a parody setting for play-by-post games [[/tg/ gets shit done|and Steve thought it was good enough to publish]]. Illuminati University is like every other college you've been to, except it sits on top of a nexus between pretty much every reality there is. This means the entire place effectively has the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, and you can take classes in such things as World Creation, [[Paranoia|THE]] Computer Science, and Dirty Tricks. Features lots of amazing art from Phil Foglio. And before you ask, you're not cleared to know what the O stands for.<br />
* '''GURPS Cabal''': [[Cabal|Not that one but close]].<br />
* '''GURPS CthulhuPunk''': The awkward one of the GURPS line. CthuluPunk was the offical merged setting of two other RPGs, GURPS Cyberworld which is a Cyberpunk world similar to [[Cyberpunk 2020]] but darker and Chaosium's [[Call of Cthulhu]] which makes this the only official conversion of Call of Cthulhu to the GURPS system. The goal was to create something similar to [[CthulhuTech]], but with less mechs and Anime. The reception to the book itself was mixed. The artwork with the book is great, but many folks found it mediocre with it being more or less a direct copy of the Cyberworld setting with the Cthulhu Mythos being present, [[Fail|with a notable lack of integration between the two]]. It's currently out of print and the pdf version either doesn't exist or is not available for purchase on any storefront (SJG's Warehouse 23, DriveThruRPG, etc).<br />
* '''GURPS Tactical Shooting''': [[/k/|Have you ever gotten into an argument over what a gun can do that became so heated it escalated into a shouting match?]] Then you'll love '''GURPS Tactical Shooting'''! Contains all the rules for hyper-realistic hardcore tacticool bullshit a sane person could ever want and then some. Sniping, countersniping, shooting stances, breaching doors, shooting in darkness, you name it, this book has a rule for it. Besides combat mechanics it has some fun sections on firarm myths and legends, how ''not'' to use a gun, and things most gamers would never have a reason to think about such as the nitty gritty psychology of shooting or being shot at.<br />
* '''GURPS Old West''': The [[Western|western]] supplement, for those among us who can't resist adding a dash of Louis L'Amour to our games. Everything you need to know about life on the late 19th century American frontier, stock western characters, railroads and trains (make like Jesse James and rob a Wells Fargo car!), injuns, the wars of the time, and famous legends of the wild west.<br />
<br />
== Notable GURPS Adaptations==<br />
*'''GURPS [[Conspiracy X]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Star Trek| Prime Directive]]''' - Basically a RPG adaptation of [[Star Fleet Battles]].<br />
*'''GURPS [[Blue Planet]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Traveller]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[World of Darkness]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Alpha Centauri|Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Conan the Barbarian]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Discworld]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Hellboy]]'''<br />
<br />
== Criticism ==<br />
Some of the criticisms of GURPS include:<br />
*That genre you want to emulate? The rules for it are scattered across half a dozen different books. Or alternatively, you could emulate setting, ''but'' not it's genre.<br />
*The default magic system sucks. One reason GURPS Thaumatology is so popular is because it tells you how to scrap it and replace it with a magic system that's actually playable.<br />
**This isn't helped by 4e's GURPS Magic easily being one of the worst mainline GURPS books, as it's a poorly edited half-assed conversion from 3e.<br />
**Offensive magic is play-testes against Low-Tech weapons, since offensive magic is weaker than High-Tech weapons - to the point, that it looses in power to most pistols. Assuming same points, user of technological weapons (Signature Gear + custom war vehicle + good crew for it) or even foot soldier is stronger than spellcaster in direct combat.<br />
*Damage and DR sometimes gets real wonky. This is hardly a problem at all with low-tech games or high-tech games (modern firearms and armor are very well-researched), but when it comes to futuristic tech, GURPS' designers don't know what the fuck they're doing. Ultra-tech armor is pathetically fragile, comparing unfavorably to modern armor (with vehicles it's especially bad), while ultra-tech weapons have damage values seemingly assigned more or less at random with no regard for consistency.<br />
**Generally, it can be one tad hard to determine TL of certain setting. Although, that's problem of all technology scales.<br />
**On top of that, characteristics of weapons and armor of most futuristic pre-existing settings (derivative works, third-party settings, etc) are different from what GURPS considers standart. As such, their characteristics would either need to be calculated from scratch, or end up being grossly incorrect.<br />
*Strength scales poorly at superhuman levels. If you want to have an ST of 20 and be four times as strong as an average man, you have to pay 100 points. Fair enough. But if you want to have an ST of 100 and be as strong as a hundred men? It costs 900 points! And it sure isn't nine times as good as having an ST of 20. Heck, even if you have 900 points to spend, there are much more cost-efficient things you could spend those points on.<br />
**GURPS Supers tries to address this with a super-effort enhancement, allowing you to spend Fatigue Points to temporarily enhance your Strength by insane levels. How well this actually works as a patch, both thematically and gameplay-wise, is [[Skub|controversial at best]].<br />
**Knowing Your Own Strength, a popular optional rule from Pyramid #3/83, redoes ST scaling to be logarithmic. From the average ST of 10, every +10 ST makes you ten times stronger. Want to be as strong as a hundred men? Now it only costs 200 points. But while it keeps point costs from spiraling out of control, it introduces [[Skub|its own sets of problems]].<br />
**Or, if playing as robot/cyborg/biorobot/augmented human/etc - have another scale. Instead of measuring power in "points", you should measure it in money cost of creating/assembling your character (e.g. robot systems cost money; genetic upgrades cost money; etc).<br />
**Also, Strength is even less needed once good guns are invented. Assuming same point costs, and TL 5 and higher - guy who smashes things with brute strength will be weaker, than guy who uses guns (e.g. ATGM's), and even weaker than one who uses war vehicles (custom-made; tanks, aircraft, ships, etc; affordably get with Signature Gear). Basically, bid dumb mammoth-sized monstrosity is just convenient target practice for modern soldiers (after all, most works downplay power of modern weapons). Maybe Strength should be cheaper at higher TL's?<br />
***For same reasons, most things bigger than elephant are weak on High-Tech and further. Living creatures and bio-mechs are weaker than war machines of same weight (not to mention size), to the point that whales and sea leviathans can be easily gunned down from your normal MG42. DR seems to badly scale for creatures bigger than elephant; not many have DR bigger than 5. Though, that's likely intentional - living things ''are'' fragile, and aren't built do survive gunfire.<br />
*GURPS Realm Management. Do not touch this book, do not read it under any circumstances. Just don't. It's a steaming pile of '''SHIT'''.<br />
** Same thing with GURPS Cthulhupunk. Only get it if you are looking to gift it to someone you absolutely LOATHE but don't want to make it obvious.<br />
*There are no rules or guidelines for building lifeforms from ground up (synthetic biology, aka writing DNA from zero). In such and other similar cases, there is no restriction of baseline creature's stats, and there are no guidelines for "what's limit then"; as such, you can create ''absolutely anything'' (truely anything for soft sci-fi; "anything as long as it doesn't have Supernatural traits" for "hard" sci-fi). That can be abused as needed. The only limitation, is that cost of creature production depends on it's point cost.<br />
*As expected, after Replicators are invented (usually at TL12^), entire balance shifts. They print things without regard for cost - only mass matters. So, you can print ridiculously strong yet small objects, ignoring their large cost. NPC's also do this, so overall truely epic things start going on.<br />
** Strategic-scale nuclear and antimatter bombs aren't even the strongest option for abuse. E.G. synthetically created organism with truely absurd power level - capable of bench-lifting a continental plate, tanking-off a direct hit from [[Exterminatus|planet-buster]], and having firepower bigger than entire starship fleets combined - yet the size and mass of house cat. Normally, this thing is held back by ''ludicrous'' cost of production; after Replicators are invented, it can be created quickly and for pocket change.<br />
* Assuming that ST and other parameters are unchanged, small SM is benefit. [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Size_Modifier#Relative_Size_Modifier Basically], character with small SM is very difficult to detect and hit, and has lots of useful abilities - while character with big SM is easy to hit and detect, and most benefits are about smashing things in melee (that is not useful since about TL5). Small SM also makes your gear lighter, so you can carry more of it; so much as being SM-6 (7"; 0.2 yards; rat-sized) will make armor 100 times lighter and cheaper with same thickness and DR (i.e. he can wear super-heavy armor 100 times tougher than "normal human's", yet it will cost and weight just like "normal human's" armor; weight is volume*mass, and volume is surface area*thickness, smaller guy has smaller surface area but same physical strength, so he can do more with less) - and this is even more egregious for smaller sizes (think microbe-sized, atom-sized, quark-sized, etc). As such, character with [[Space Marine]] strength is less powerful, than character with strength of [[Space Marine]] and size of a quark.<br />
** What that means in practice: Assuming same point and money budgets. Small guy is SM-1000000 or smaller; he's impossible to detect, impossible to hit, and impossible to penetrate his incredibly thick armor - all while he's shooting you with his machinegun. Meanwhile, big guy is easily detected and shot at, and he can't take many hits due to his armor being thinner and weaker; he's also using machinegun, but what's the point if he can't hit and can't penetrate anything. Obviously, such strong small character is unrealistic - but in unrealistic works (i.e. cinematic; magic; supernatural; superscience), he's possible.<br />
** Even if we take less egregious example and have humanoid who's 2, 3 or 4 times shorter than human (SM-2, SM-3 and SM-4 respectively) while being about as strong as human, and he's TL5+, it ends up being more threatening than human. He uses human-sized gun, hard to hit, good marksman, hard to detect, can hide behind cover too small for human, carries more equipment, can wear stupendously strong armor without much encumbrance, more easily hits chinks in big armor - for 0 points. Meanwhile, humanoid who's 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5 times taller than human (SM+1, SM+2 and SM+3 respectively) is easier to hit, bad at hitting things, can't take hits well due to thinner armor, visible from anywhere and doesn't fit in many places - for 0 points. And that's just things applicable from combat there-and-now. [[TL;DR]]: small-yet-strong (think Alien Hominid from ''Newgrounds'' or Stitch from ''Disney Animated Canon'') is better than big-and-strong (think [[Space Marines]] from ''WH40K'') - the smaller someone is the better, the bigger someone is the worse - while both being small and being big is points-free, despite small size being de-facto advantage and big size being de-facto disadvantage.<br />
** Also, don't remember if ability to detect character depends on his gear. Or in other words: if you're microbe-sized, but are wielding human-sized machine gun, how hard it is to see you? Or wield it, for that matter (handles must be re-made to suit your size)?<br />
* Assuming standard TL progression, many Biotech things end up being researched on such TL's that they're obsolete before they're invented - being so many times worse than their mechanical counterparts, that they're practically unserviceable.<br />
** Living weapons are pretty much obsolete. Claws that can't penetrate even armored clothing (not to mention armor porper)? Poison spit, that only works at all if it hits open wound, eye, or other unprotected spot - all while enemies wear sealed space-proof suits on average, and gas-mask-equivalent protection at worst? Living armor, that even in best complectation (e.g. tortoise-like shell), can't even stop pistol rounds? All sorts of things, that could be useful for Magic-user in Low-Tech era - but at Ultra-Tech age, those are useless.<br />
** Bio-Mechs and other living weapons. Most of their weapons are very weak, usually weaker than normal rifles. They are also fragile, to the point that they're vulnerable to said rifles. The only way for these to work properly, is to make Bio-Gadgets versions of normal weapons (e.g. lasers, cannons, missiles), Bio-Gadget versions of vehicles and armor, etc.<br />
** One thing that ''is'' good? Make synthetic creature, that is Explosive, Flammable, has ''truckloads'' of HP, and mountains of various disadvantages. Basically, grenade-sized ball of explosive flesh; living plasma grenade. It's only purpose is to die and explode in flames for 6dx(HP/10) damage - so put on ''thousands'' of Disadvantages onto it (e.g. easily dies, fails any skills, has no sensors at all, no limbs, etc - ''as much disadvantages as possible''), and put all those acquired points into HP to make blast bigger.<br />
*** Reducing ST DX IQ HT to 0, Combustible, Explosive, Flammable, No Legs (Sessile; not anchored to ground), No Manipulators, Blindness, Deafness, No Sense Of Smell, No Sense Of Taste, Numb, Slave Mentality, Mute - those give 895 points. That will allow to take HP 447 - cue 6dx44.7 (268.2d) crushing incendiary explosive damage. This isn't properly optimized; you can add more Disadvantages to make use of even more points. SM can be as small as needed; it can be as small as grenade, or even a bug, or whatever. Rather affordable to create; not bad for something of arbitrarily small size (or heck, even just grenade-sized).<br />
* When comparing modernized Low-Tech armor (made from modern steel - for either doubled DR, or halved weight/cost) and High-Tech armor, usually one of the sides is strictly better.<br />
** Generally, it's better to use reinforced light piece of armor, than lightened heavy piece of armor - since reinforced light piece of armor ends up with smaller weight/cost with same DR.<br />
** Most modernized breastplates are weaker than High-Tech torso armors. Armor vests are both tougher, cheaper and lighter, and can mount Trauma Plates.<br />
** Lightened "Pot-Helm" from Basic Set is better than most helmets («Steel Pot», «Frag Helmet», «Cavalry Helmet», «Medium Helmet», «Frag Helmet», «Modern Firefighter’s Helmet»); Reinforced "Pot-Helm" is also better than most helmets ("Heavy Helmet"). In turn, "Pot Helm - Plate, Medium" is strictly better than generic "Pot-Helm". You can use Bascinet or Full Helm for covering face - or tinker with helmet to mount modern visor.<br />
** Reinforced "Sollerets" from Basic Set is strictly better than «Boots, Firefighter». "Sabatons" of "Light late" or "Medium Plate" kinds are strictly better than genetic "Sollerets" - and, they're better than normal boots. In fact, reinforced variant of «Sabatons»/«Gauntlets» «Light Plate» is lighter than moccasins/sneakers and sharp-protective gloves.<br />
** Reinforced «Sabatons», «Heavy Plate» is better than "Boots, Blast" - tougher, lighter and protecting from all sides. <br />
** Modernized variants of ancient armor for limbs are generally better, than modern limb protection.<br />
** [[TL;DR]]: High-Tech armor is better at protecting torso, and maybe head in some cases (Ballistic Helmet). Modernized Low-Tech armor is better at protecting the rest of your body: helmet, boots, gloves, limb protection, etc. Wear mixed armor.<br />
** Modernized shields can be rather good, mostly ones with DB 3. For example, Large Roman Scutum of Reinforced variant (modern steel) will have DR/HP of 8/27, and Cover DR of 20.<br />
** Modern synthetic fur/cloth/leather at TL8, would allow to apply the "double DR or halve cost/weight" to fur/cloth/leather armors. Since military uniforms also have weight and cost, it's possible to have modern synthetic armor made of fur/cloth/leather, what would offer some protection while weighing no more than normal uniforms. Ordinary clothes and formal wear weight 2 lbs; winter clothes weight 4 lbs; many types of padded armor are warm as winter clothing.<br />
** Most modifications available for Low-Tech armor can be made for High-Tech armor. E.G. Face Protection applied to TL6 helmet (though, as explained, Modernized Low-Tech helmets are better than most High-Tech helmets - only loosing to Ballistic Helmets, and heavy helmets like "Altyn"/"Алтын").<br />
** High-Tech armor is, usually, a lot cheaper than modernized Low-Tech armor. E.G. Heavy Helmet is (DR 5, 5 lb, 100$), while reinforced Plate Medium Pot Helm is (DR 12, 4 lb, 500$). But that's why you can use other, simpler armor pieces. E.G. reinforced Scale Light Pot Helm (DR 6, 3.2 lb, 64$). This way, you can make "budget" modernized Low-Tech armor, that is still better than it's High-Tech analogues.<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20250311095955/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/GameBreaker/TabletopRPG We still remember the "Cloth Cap" exploit]. [[TL;DR]]: you can keep putting on Cloth Caps on yourself, stacking them for ''absurd'' amounts of concealed flexible DR for no downsides, far tougher than any other armor can provide (even tougher, thal TL13+ [[Power Armor]]), to the point that your skull becomes resistant to ''heavy tank cannons''. It's unknown whether "no more than 3 layers" is rule ("you can't put so much layers"), or merely recommendation ("you can put so much layers, but most people opt not to do this") - and if it's the later, balance flies out of the window.<br />
* Determining average wealth of certain settings can be hard - especially if magic or sci-fi tech gets involved. For example, what is "average wealth" in WH40K? Most people walk around in filthy rags and are starving, yet can afford large assortment of weapons and armor (underhive gangs, cults, etc) - so how much money, in "gurpsdollars", they have?<br />
* Most rules about Robots/Androids/Full-Conversion-Cyborgs only start explaining things from TL7 (Cold War). And usually, robots start getting prominent from TL8 (Information Era) or TL7+1 (Atompunk, like ''Fallout''). Robots/Androids/Cyborgs from earlier epochs, like TL6+1 (Dieselpunk), TL5+1 (Steampunk), TL4+1 (Clockpunk), TL1^ (Bronze androids, like Thalos; magical golems of all kinds) - are outright absent; you don't know ''how'' exactly, you would design them, how strong they would be for their size, etc.<br />
* There are some settings, that even GURPS struggles to properly model. Such as playing as proper Gods (not "avatars of gods" - just ''proper Gods themselves''). It also struggles with absurdly strong settings, like [[Xeelee Sequence]] and [[Xeelee_Sequence#Settings_even_remotely_comparable_to_Xeelee_Sequence|settings comparable to it]]. Realistically, this is a minor criticism when you get down to it because those kinds of scales tend to break any chart someone tries to use.<br />
* Using the Low-Tech armor creation rules, you can turn any armor into variants for any body part - that is good for optimization.<br />
** E.G. TL6 Leather Helmet covering Skull has Weight 1, (+2 Weight for steel plates); so, you could engineer entire Torso (chest, abdomen, groin) variant with 3,(3) weight and 66,(6)$, or Feet variant with 0,(3) weight and 6,(6)$. With such Feet variant being better than "proper" boots.<br />
** For another example: Assault Vest covers Torso and Groin and weights 8lb, 900$; Trauma Plates cover Torso, and weight 8lb, 600$. Therefore, Trauma Plates that cover Torso and Groin would weight ≈8,421052632lb and cost ≈631,5789474. So, the helmet that fully covers Head, would be 2.4lb, 270$ for "Vest" - and ≈2,526315789lb, 189,4736842$ for "trauma plates"; that results in ≈4.9lb, ≈459,5$, effective 35DR Full Helm - a lot better than default "Ballistic Helmet".<br />
* More of a Steve Jackson Games criticism but it is about the GURPS series in general. A lot of the recent books with new content released have been lack luster to say the least with the prime example being GURPS Psionics 3rd Edition that was updated and split across GURPS Psionic Powers and Psionic Tech with the updated material actually being reduced in content. Additionally, any new book that is not a reprint of a older book (GURPS Time Travel Adventures) is usually around 50 to 90 pages in length (GURPS Meta-Tech) with a very long gap between new releases.<br />
* While TL system is rather good (it's one of the best technology classifications in TRPG's; e.g. a lot better than PL's from [[D20 Modern]]), it still has some slight flaws. Such as minor historical errors (E.G. Pyramid 3-85 issue "Cutting-Edge Armor Design" listing Sealed Armor at TL6 - while IRL sealed suits were around at least since early TL5 and late TL4, with first pressure-proof water-proof diving suits invented in 1710s). Difference between upper and lower border of TL can be rather drastic at times (e.g. 1880's and 1940's weapons), and problems arise when setting happens on breakpoint between TL's (e.g. World War 2 is between TL6 and TL7); so using the actual years something is invented and checking the trivia can be recommended when running campaigns, especially if they're meant to be historically accurate.<br />
<br />
== Gallery ==<br />
<gallery><br />
Gurps3rd.jpg|3rd Edition|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps3rd.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
Gurps4thPHB.jpg|4th Edition Characters|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps4thPHB.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
Gurps4thDMG.jpg|4th Edition Campaigns|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps4thDMG.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-191427566_39925075 2 rulebooks].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20241218135431/https://vk.com/topic-141278081_35047392 some rulebooks]<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=100 More rulebooks from VK]. [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=0 Start].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m94HQPwsjQobVWrnn_uPDq3aJA_Xxkzl Disk (broken)].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_NuPNv2DlK7tNsCxkYwq674w12TDoTdD Disk (working)].<br />
** [https://t.me/TheAmberRoom The Amber Room].<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-183668538_48441815 Even more VK rulebooks].<br />
* [https://vk.com/antifriz_group Antifriz Group], with files of GURPS. E.G., [https://mega.nz/folder/EFoFlC6S#e5gTnMqELVEv-OPxPNBENQ folder with GURPS rulebooks].<br />
* From [https://the-eye.eu/ data base]:<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250210183419/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20241010064330/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ archived]); e.g. [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20181229162618/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf archived]).<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210924093141/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220815124005/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf archived]).<br />
* From [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/ beta-site data base]:<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250215204105/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»]; [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary].<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250919154139/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS].<br />
* [http://lafs-welt.tumor-band.de/frameset_en.htm GURPS PDF's].<br />
* Lists of [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Fanmade_4e_Bestiaries unofficial bestiaries] and [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Official_4e_Bestiaries official bestiaries] (google in other place).<br />
* [https://mentor.gurps.ru/# Game help in development].<br />
** [https://gmentor.ru/ New game help site in development].<br />
** Search in publications. For example, [https://gmentor.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 Tactical Shooting gear] ([https://mentor.gurps.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 old]).<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230609222747/https://gurps4e.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS4e_Wiki Archive of 4e wiki. About 10% pages archived.]<br />
* [https://weapons.gurps.ru/ List of weapon statblocks.]<br />
* [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Category:Weapons More weapon statblocks], [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/GURPS_Weapons navigation].<br />
* [http://gametable.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=Game%20Books A few rulebooks].<br />
* [https://www.yumpu.com/xx/GURPS Also quite a lot of rulebooks].<br />
* [https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/ GURPS eggplant. Statblocks and other things].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/* TG Boards Images. Some are about GURPS, some aren't. Filter PDF]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240830211307/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1466/07/1466071018274.pdf example], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240830152642/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1582/31/1582316434346.pdf example])<br />
* [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Game wiki].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/* Some rulebooks]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230320015140/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/3rd%20edition/GURPS%203e%20-%20Cabal.pdf 3e Cabal], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240224102221/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/4th%20edition/GURPS%204e%20-%20Low-Tech%20Companion%202%20-%20Weapons%20and%20Warriors.pdf 4e Low-Tech], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230707183904/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/SETTING/Prime%20Directive%20STAR%20TREK/GURPS%204e%20-%20Prime%20Directive%20-%20Federation%20%5BRevised%5D.pdf 4e Prime Directive].<br />
* [https://www.tesarta.com/HFP/bestiary.pdf Monster Statblocks]<br />
* [https://panoptesv.com/RPGs/animalia/animalia.html Animalia, animal statblocks]<br />
* [http://gurpsland.us.to/ Eric's GURPSland] (also known as gurpsland.no-ip.org ).<br />
* Internet Archive Search:<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS Texts, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Texts, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS Programs, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Programs, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/GURPS Search for archived sites]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Systems]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:GURPS]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=GURPS&diff=1007235GURPS2025-11-07T19:00:59Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Criticism */ i checked it. https://www.vokrugsveta.ru/articles/dostich-dna-istoriya-pervogo-vodolaznogo-kostyuma-id743246/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_suit</p>
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<div>{{stub}}<br />
{{Game Infobox<br />
|name = GURPS<br />
|picture = [[File:GURPSlogo.gif|300px]]<br />
|type = [[RPG]]<br />
|publisher = [[Steve Jackson Games]]<br />
|system = 3d6 [[Roll Under]]<br />
|authors = Steve Jackson<br />
|year = 1986<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Generic Universal RolePlaying System''', usually shortened to '''GURPS''', is a [[RPG|roleplaying game]] made by [[Steve Jackson Games]]. It has loads of numbers and expansion books. GURPS is the quintessential universal system; it is so flexible that you can bend it in half, fold it through itself, and then tie it in a 4-dimensional knot [And there's probably a supplement book covering exactly that]. <br />
<br />
It is the paragon of the [[simulationist]] category of games. All simulationist games since GURPS secretly aspire to kill GURPS and wear its skin while drinking the blood of its delicious heart. Its detail is surpassed by [[Iron Crown Enterprises]]'s [[Rolemaster]] series, but GURPS doesn't suffer from the Table Within a Table Within a Table Within a FUCK YOU problem inherent in the game of Rolemaster.<br />
<br />
The basic premise behind the system is that you create your character and customize all of his abilities using points that you get both at creation and as your character progresses. There are assloads of physical, mental, and social defects that can be used to get more character points to channel right back into your advantages. It uses the d6 exclusively, generally pressuring you to roll under your relevant ability score to succeed in a given task. This can be augmented in difficulty by increasing or decreasing the target numbers. A roll of a 3 or 4 is a critical success, while an 18 is always a critical failure. SJG put out a free .pdf synopsis of the rules called "[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/ GURPS Lite]", which is enough to play a barebones version of the game.<br />
<br />
[[Image:KALI_MAAAAA.JPG|thumb|left|KALI-MAAAAAA!]]<br />
GURPS' simulationist bent results in it being regarded as excessively complicated by many gamers, earning it the humorous moniker "Generally Unplayable RolePlaying System". Using its third edition vehicle creation system will make you want to eat your own face, and possibly devote the whole process to one or more elder gods. (Fourth Edition vehicles are just regular characters with extra stats.) Game Masters of the franchise experienced a downgrade in complexity following the release of Fourth Edition, but its inherent complexity still puts it behind [[Dungeons and Dragons]] in terms of ease of play.<br />
<br />
Much of the complexity in GURPS is front-loaded: character creation tends to take longer because of the staggering amount of detailed options. Forget just rolling a character like you would in D&D, you need to set aside a session to build one. That's the price you pay to evade [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP]].<br />
<br />
As the campaign progresses, however, the consistency and relative elegance of GURPS makes Dungeons and Dragons seem like a pile of kludge. The sandbox nature of character (and vehicle, weapon, setting, etc...) creation is appealing to players who have a concept of a character in their heads and want to reproduce it as faithfully as possible. And GURPS is more comprehensive, easy-to-learn than other [[simulationist]] games (like notoriously overcomplicated [[Phoenix Command]]). All that makes GURPS great for those capable of getting past seemingly "complicated" rules (what many GURPS players think are "not that complicated at all").<br />
<br />
== Versions ==<br />
===GURPS 3rd Edition===<br />
Published during Steve Jackson Games' golden era, i.e. when they weren't broke mfs. As a result 3e has a truly unholy number of splatbooks. Its genre and setting books are still loved today for the vast amount of information they contain. Its actual rules are, well... not nearly as loved. Pretty much everyone will agree that if there's a 3rd edition book you like, you should just take the stuff you like and convert it to 4e.<br />
===GURPS 4th Edition===<br />
The modern version of GURPS. It's not hugely different from 3e; if you're familiar with [[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]], it's more like going from D&D 3rd edition to [[Pathfinder]] than going from, say, D&D 4th edition to D&D 5th Edition. The first major change is that a number of optional rules from 3e's Compendium I and Compendium II have been "canonized" and made default assumptions in character creation & gameplay. The second major change is that 4e isn't as "human-level centric" as 3e; you can use it with minimal fuss if you want to make anything other than a realistic, 100-point, street level character, while in 3e you had to screw around with all kinds of janky exceptions and subsystems. In short 4e really puts the "Generic" and "Universal" in GURPS.<br />
<br />
== GURPS Books ==<br />
[[File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png|thumb|right|The magic system in GURPS is simple (page 21 of 38)|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw]]<br />
Generally, anything can be done with just the base starter set of GURPS, some judicious homebrewing and a good head on your shoulders, but if you're too busy to do that the guys at SJ Games have it all figured out for you ahead of time. All of the books for GURPS simply tell you how to do things within the core system without the need to spend an additional <strike>day</strike> month to set up an innovative campaign, with a handful of new advantages and optional mechanics per book. For example, there is a book on Vampires. It explains how to create vampire characters and NPCs easily without dealing with the issues of balance and customization that bogs down new players. There is even a Dungeon Fantasy book you can get off E621, the Warehouse 23 PDF site, that allows you to play Dungeons and Dragons without the need to buy [https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/Dice?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw polyhedrals]. Even if you don't actually want to use GURPS, the sheer amount of thought and research that goes into a typical GURPS book makes them well worth grabbing as a reference material.<br />
<br />
One irritating fact you'll discover as you collect GURPS books is that although the system uses real-word measurements, the different authors have never agreed on whether they should use Imperial or metric units. Keep a conversion chart handy. Fortunately the main book includes one.<br />
<br />
One positive fact, however, is that you can play this game by simply using the dice you swiped from Monopoly and Yahtzee.<br />
<br />
In the game's rather long lifespan, a truly impressive amount of settings and sourcebooks were made, including but not limited to [[Alpha Centauri]], settings where you play Men In Black, Fantasy (including [[Banestorm]], the original GURPS core setting), multiple SF settings (notable licensed one: GURPS Vorkosigan Saga), several books on conspiracies, historical books covering WW2, Ancient Rome, multiple other ancient cultures, joke settings (GURPS: IOU illustrated by Phil Foglio!), adaptations of a couple other games, (Notably the Classic World of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), Traveler and Castle Frankenstein) and a couple books that are just collections of multiple settings. If you've got a group who feels like playing something different every month, GURPS has got you covered for the next decade or so. Most of these were written for third edition (aka "GURPS Classic"); the rules for which tend to be janky at best. It's strongly recommended that you convert these to fourth edition, which rolls in a number of sanity-saving rules patches from the Compendium sourcebooks and just makes playing anything that isn't mundane 100-point schmucks much easier. New stuff occasionally still comes out, but it's slowed to a trickle compared to the old days and what has been published is almost all genre sourcebooks.<br />
<br />
The books are also notable for the amount of [[Catgirl|catgirls]] that are included in various settings. One of the SJG authors, David Pulver, is known for adding stated options for players to play as catgirls when ever possible.<br />
<br />
== Notable GURPS Books/Settings==<br />
===The Big Three===<br />
Besides the Basic Set, there are a tiny number of books that the GURPS community broadly considers so overwhelmingly influential as to be indispensable for a number of games. This category includes GURPS Powers (any game where the PCs aren't completely normal humans), GURPS Thaumatology (any game with magic), and GURPS Martial Arts (any game with melee combat).<br />
* '''GURPS Powers''': Almost mandatory for any campaign where PCs have any kind of supernatural abilities.<br />
* '''GURPS Thaumatology''': [[Magnus the Red|Magnus's First Magic Textbook]]. Everything you need to know about where [[Warp|magic can come from]], histories of magical practices, magical laws, syntactic magic and more. Technically a supplement to '''GURPS Magic''', the book is a one stop reference guide to near every type of magic system that has been thought up so far, from runic to rituals to symbolic magic. Also very useful when working with multiple systems of magic and you want to integrate them together.<br />
* '''GURPS Martial Arts''': The book of [[Monk|kung fu-punching badassery]]. From elbow strikes, upper cuts, and sweeping kicks to head locks and pile drivers, the chapter on techniques alone details hundreds of ways to kill a nigga dead with nothing more than your bare hands. But that's not all it's about; besides your standard unarmed, Asian-inspired styles of fighting, '''GURPS Martial Arts''' includes rules for weapon-based martial arts and Western styles too (did you know that English knights were martial artists?). More than eighty(!) historical and modern martial arts are presented, some of them incredibly esoteric, and if that's not enough the book further includes a decent sampler of fictional styles with no basis in reality. Case in point, Death Fist, a style invented by death mages combining [[Awesome|advanced grappling techniques with touch-delivered death spells]].<br />
* '''*-Tech''': These books aren't the big three, but they are worth honorable mention. Basically, weapons and gadgets and gear porn, oh my. Unlike most splats of this nature (looking at you, [[Cyberpunk 2077]]) these books actually spend some time helping you think through the ''implications'' of the various gadgets they introduce for your campaign, not just acting as a shopping list for your local [[munchkin]]. These books are basically necessary if you plan to run just about any game as they go over all the common technologies of a particular era. The series includes High-Tech (Industrial Revolution to Modern and Near-Future), Low-Tech (Stone Age to Early Modern), and two books which will be detailed more below because they are connected to distinct campaign settings: Bio-Tech (organic technology including [[PROMOTIONS|sex bioroids]] and that living spaceship from Lexx), and Ultra-Tech (bullshit sci-fi stuff).<br />
<br />
===Other Notable Books===<br />
* '''GURPS Space Beastiary''': "[[Deathworld|Dummies Guide to Catachan]]" or the book that proves that everyone in the late 80s/early 90s were on some kind of cocaine. One stop shop for some of the weirder shapes and forms life can take out there, good for creating simple alien animals and plants for your setting or creating a Deathworld even the Catachans would be intimidated by. How weird the book can get cannot be overstated; you can go from the Hercules Lizard which is literally just a giant alien iguanas to Mines (small silicon lifeforms that burrow into the ground and EXPLODE when stepped on) and not even need to go on a different page. You go from Asphyxers (insect swarms that hunt people by strangling them and wait for their prey to decay before eating them) to Boom Spiders (giant spiders that swing down and grab prey before judo throwing them into their webs) to Breakfest Trees (a possibly engineered tree found on multiple worlds whose fruit tasty, healthy and satisfies both hunger and thirst but also has bark that acts as a natural antivenin) in that order. Sword-Billed Razorwings are humming birds are giant 7 foot sparrows whose every appendage is a blade, Hiverdogs are a race of hive minded burrowing emaciated prariedogs with see through skin, Terror Hounds are partially sentient psionic dogs that were made by the government and trained to both instill terror into their targets and mind control them into putting themselves in harms way, Dampters are three eyed space hamsters that are natural [[Blank|blanks]], and then there is the Frisky Bull whose males are giant heavily furred bovines and females are [[Furries|8 foot tall anthropoids]] [[Monstergirls|that are lightly furred that are both nearsighted and charge anything humanoid during mating season]]. There is an entire chapter on insects that would make most peoples skin crawl and a section for space creatures covering Antimatter Swarms and living planetoids for good measure. If you want to really fall down the rabbit hole on alien life or want to roleplay as an Ordo Xenos researcher, get this book if you can and don't let the pyrokinetic turtles or Space Marine tossing telekinetic cats bother you.<br />
* '''GURPS Bio-Tech''': The book detailing biotechnology and science, full on [[Babylon 5|organic technology]], genetic engineering, cloning, DNA splicing, bioweapons both classical or [[Tyranid Bio-Weapons|otherwise]], animal uplifting, bioships and more. Book contains a full history and background on Real Life biotechnology and slowly ramps up to the point you learn how to genetically engineer [[Space Marines|human supersoldiers]] or [[Abhuman|human subspecies]] or just how to create some Self-Shearing Sheep. The book also can dip into the darker implications of a "High Biotech" setting, such as Hotshotting which is a form of psychosurgery where you can make anyone find any kind of specific activity as pleasurable "as if they were with a lover or eating chocolate"; [[Grimdark|examples given in the book of this are parents hotshotting their daughter to find mathematics and analysis pleasurable, pimps not needing to pay hotshooted hookers, and corporations giving out bonuses to employees who willingly hotshot themselves to do better at work.]] It also outlines bioweapons that rewrite genetics, ones that can apply genetic templates to an entire population with one example being [[Tau|a disease that can be released into the Third World to cause a mother's immune system to attack any fetus after their first child for the purposes of population control.]] [[Dark Eldar|Or viruses that turn people into trees or merge multiple people into one entity while keeping them aware]]. However, the book is very hopeful all things considered, only touching on the darker implications and no further. There are also catgirls, thank you David Pulver. <br />
:The book also contains 2 campaign settings.<br />
::* '''Setting: Alexander Athanatos''' - Setting where instead of creating the Hippocratic Oath, Hippocrates creates a medical revolution that eventually saves Alexander the Great's life, who allows the establishment of the new Great Medical School. Germ theory, antibiotics, vaccines, DNA, primitive cloning and more were discovered and developed by the Great Medical School, resulting in a line of Alexander the Great clones being created to rule the Macedonian Empire.<br />
::* '''Setting: Draconus''' - A setting taking place in a colony fleet sent out to Sigma Draconus, a journey taking 300+ years. In order to conserve resources, the fleet turns to advancements in biotechnology; resulting in things such as biological machinery, [[Webber|webber guns]], [[Tyranids|space bioships created from Blue Wale genetics]], and more. The main setting is centered on the highly advanced biotech fleet arriving in the Draconus system, and the question on whether or not they should terraform a planet to live on, change themselves genetically to survive on the new planets, or just stay in space. Think playing as the [[Leagues of Votann|First Ancestor colony fleet]], but if everyone was a [[Magos|Magos Biologis]].<br />
* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech''': [[Dark Age of Technology|The Dark Age of Technology the book]]...kind of. More along the lines of [[Archeotech|Archeotech the Book]], '''Ultra-Tech''' acts as a one stop reference guide to advance technology commonly seen in Science Fiction across various categories (Power, Robots, AI, Computers, Medicine, etc). It contains definitions of various tech levels and the associated technologies available at those levels, both on the specific and general scale. Amongst other things, you have the classics such as [[Cyberpunk 2020|Cybernetics]], [[Plasma|Plasma Weapons]], [[Grav-Weaponry|Gravity Weapons]], [[Volkite|Microwave Weapons]], [[Lightsaber|Force Swords]], and such. In settings with higher tech levels, thing such as [[Retcon|Reality Disintegrators that alter the probability of the target existing to 0]], [[Ark Mechanicus|displacer weapons that can teleport a target back in time to telefrag itself]], creating pocket universes, stargates, [[Rejuvenat|rejuvenation technology]] and [[AWESOME|the Grav Railgun (AKA the Grav '''Bolter'''), a fully automatic rife that uses super-dense slugs capable of coring a tank from miles away, with no recoil, and a fire rate of 20 rounds a second]] are completely viable. Good source for all of your Ultra-Tech needs, '''Do Not Let The Mechanicus Know About It'''.<br />
:* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech 2''': A sequel released years after the first as a companion. Reworked the tech levels a bit to account for real life technology advancements and details how to handle divergent technology development. A lot more cybernetics in this one.<br />
* '''GURPS Psionics''': the book about the "Fantastic Powers of Mind Over Matter". Everything you need to know about psychic powers in a campaign; the history of real life research into psychic powers, possible origins for psychic powers, the "science" on how psychic abilities work, societal effects of psionics, psi-technology and more. Psionic powers are categorized into into 9 main groups of powers, [[Blank|Antipsi]], Astral Projection, Electrokinesis, ESP, Healing, Psychic Vampirism, Psychokinesis, Telepathy and Teleportation; with many more advanced techniques underneath them. Some notable techniques are the ability to multiwield guns with Psychokinesis, creating swords and blades of pure mental energy, and [[The God-Emperor of Mankind| combining multiple minds into a single exponentially powerful gestalt]]. If psi-tech is your focus, tech such as psionic FTL drives, [[Gellar Field|anti-psi shields]], [[Wraithbone| specially engineered bioplastics that can be shaped and manipulated by psionic abilities]], psi-drugs and more. Combine '''GURPS Psionics''' with '''GURPS Bio-Tech''' and you can [[Leagues of Votann|have]] [[Eldar|some]] [[Tyranids|fun]].<br />
::*Not to be confused with '''GURPS Psionic Powers''' or '''GURPS Psionic Tech''', those are 4th Edition books dealing with the same material but with [[Skub|lot less detail and material]].<br />
::* '''Setting: The Phoenix Project''' - No Relation to Phoenix Point. The main campaign setting included with the book that takes place in a world where a major breakthrough in psychic research in the 1960s results in a new psionic shadow war between not only the Cold War powers but various stand alone groups with their own agendas. Both sides of the Cold War dove headfirst into psionic research in secret, the West pursuing advancements in psionic abilities while the East pursues psionic technology and biotechnology. Each faction has their own plan involving the emergence of psionic abilities, ranging from [[Psychic Awakening|elevating humanity into a fully psychic race]], facilitating the creation of psychic hivemind to control humanity in order to bring peace to the world, or just using psionics to steal business secrets from competitors. <br />
* '''[[GURPS Infinite Worlds]]''': The Big One. Infinite Worlds is by far the biggest setting in GURPS as it covers the GURPS [[Multiverse]], which in and of it self contains almost every other GURPS setting ever released. Covering how the multiverse is structured and everything in it, the multiverse is made up of various alternate Earths where things either happened slightly differently or wildly diverged. The travel between worlds is undertaken primarily by paratronic technology, where people can travel a certain "distance" across the multiverse before stopping. The setting primarily revolves around the operations of two main factions; [[Ordo Chronos|Homeline]], a universe where paratronic technology was revealed to the world in the 1990s and was quickly privatized under the United Nations, and the [[Tau Empire|Centrum]], a socialist technocratic society from a world where the White Ship disaster and subsequent Anarchy period never occurred but nearly nuked itself to oblivion around 1900 AD. The two factions are caught up in a somewhat cold war due to their drastically different motives behind paratronic technology. Homeline uses paratronics for both fun and profit, opening trade between worlds to strengthen the economy while funneling technological advancements from other worlds back to Homeline for them to take advantage of, plus some colonies on uninhabited worlds. [[Spheres of Expansion|Centrum however uses paratronics for conquest, subverting the societies of otherworlds to bring them in line with Centrum's beliefs while opening them for colonization and exploitation.]] The 2 factions are in conflict but considering neither of them have anywhere near the amount of population needed to conduct a full on multiversal war, they instead conduct covert operations on a very large scale to incontinence the other as much as possible. The entire setting is huge and is continually expanded by [[Steve Jackson Games|SJG]] and probably needs a dedicated page at some future date. <br />
::*'''GURPS Infinite Worlds''' is also a follow up to 3 other books, '''GURPS Time Travel''', '''GURPS Alternate Worlds''' and '''GURPS Alternate Worlds 2'''.<br />
::*Also, the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] are canon to the Infinite Worlds as a whole, much to the chagrin and horror of both Homeline and Centrum.<br />
* '''[[Reign of Steel|GURPS Reign of Steel]]''': "[[Grimdark|The Robot Revolt is over, and the machines have won!]]". Do you know what is better than one [[Terminator|Skynet]]? How about [[Primarch|18]] of them. In the world of Reign of Steel, advancements in technology result in the creation of "megacomputers", mainframes so advanced they were described as almost self coding. The megacomputer technology is spread out across the world and due to several lapses in safety controls and government malfeasance an AI called Overmind accidentally becomes sentient. The new AI comes to the conclusion that humanity will likely wipe itself out in a few decades, but will do so in a way that would likely kill it which it takes to mean that their self destruction needs to be assisted. [[Men of Iron|So it awakens 17 other AIs around the world, engineers multiple global crisises that force the governments to give the AI's full control over all infrastructure and then uses that infrastructure to build the actual infrastructure needed to wage full open war on humanity]]. The Final War ends in AI victory, where the world is separated into 18 separate "zones" ([[derp|technically 16 since 2 are in space]]) with each AI given full sovereignty over their zone. Humanity is on it's last legs with the majority being either enslaved in Dollhouse cities around the world or forced to survive in a hostile wilderness away from the AIs. However, there is hope for organizations such as VIRUS, the [[Ecclesiarchy|Pope]], and other resistance cells who continue the fight; relationships between the Zone AIs are starting to fray as each AI taking a drastically different philosophical path forward in their independence. [[Horus Heresy|A whole new war may be on the horizon]], one that may be key to wiping them out. If you like Terminator, Mad Max, or any similar media, this is for you.<br />
::*Homeline and Centrum know about this world, given the designation of "Steel", and are '''VERY''' committed to making sure they don't discover the multiverse. <br />
::*Also, as this is one of David Pulver's books, there are options available so you can play as catgirls. [[Extra Heresy|Robotic Catgirls]] even.<br />
* '''[[Technomancer|GURPS Technomancer]]''': The Urban Fantasy one. In this setting, during the Trinity tests Oppenheimer accidentally completes an unfinished ancient ritual that [[Eye of Terror| rips a hole in the fabric of reality]], facilitating a demon invasion along with dousing half the country in intense magical radiation. Magic worldwide starts to work to the surprise of various practitioners around the planet, Japan surrenders due to the threat of the US opening another rift on their mainland, and [[Shadowrun|strange birth defects start occurring within a year]]. From there on, its essentially the Cold War meets Shadowrun with both sides working on discovering how to work with magic and the societal effects there in. [[Psyker|People with the magic gene]] are eventually discovered with the number of people with natural growing ever year. Advancements in medicine are popped up by new spells and magical elixirs, truth spells are added to common court procedures, youth potions are now on the market (for the rich), the US is breeding military dragons, nuclear reactors are major targets of demon attacks; things go crazy, especially once the Soviets [[Warp Gate|nuke the antarctic to open a magical portal]] for research purposes. The actual setting takes place in 1998 in the midst of Stalin being magically revived after the fall of the Soviet Union and with society finally starting to deal with the long term effects of magic. Really fun book to jump right in, just beware the Killer Penguins. <br />
::*That last sentence is not a joke, ''do not mess with the Killer Penguins''. The Soviet nuke caused them to grow to 5 feet tall, develop a shared consciousness and an intense hatred for humanity. They raided army bases for weapons and magical knowledge, developed a unique spell to transform other lifeforms into Killer Penguins, and are now building their own superpower civilization with little oversight. '''They are the most dangerous part of this book.'''<br />
::* Homeline knows this world as "Merlin-1" and don't want them figuring out how to travel the multiverse. They are too late.<br />
::* It's a David Pulver book, do we have catgirls? Survey says, Yes! Dog girls as well.<br />
* '''[[Transhuman Space|GURPS Transhuman Space]]''': Welcome to the future! Transhuman Space is a [[Hard Science Fiction| Hard Science]] [[Transhumanism|Transhumanist]] space setting built upon the question of "[[Dark Age of Technology|what would the world look like with nearly 100 years of uninterrupted scientific advancement]]". The answer is a highly colonized solar-system being populated with various forms of [[Abhuman|artificial human life]], Mars and other planets being terraformed and colonized, and [[rage|United Nations controlled DRM being included with everything]]. Very much a [[Noblebright]] setting, Transhuman Space tackles a world being changed by advancements in biology, technology and nanotechnology and what it means for humanity as a whole. A very deep setting that SJG put a lot of thought, and more importantly research, into to the point that the accuracy of some the things they predicted are...''concerning'', to say the least. A very fun setting with a lot of fun lore to work with, [[Inquisition|just be aware that digital piracy may be hazardous to your health]].<br />
::*Notably, Transhuman Space is '''not''' part of the Infinite Worlds multiverse due the rules established by said setting. Mostly due to taking place way too far in the future, [[Cheese|and that it could possibly break the Infinite Worlds setting itself due to how advanced it is]].<br />
::*The setting itself was created and spear headed by David Pulver. Catgirl presence is confirmed.<br />
* '''GURPS Mecha''': Super fighting robot, MEGA- Wait, wrong genre. Welcome to '''GURPS [[Mecha]]''', the book covering [[Power Armour|Mighty Battlesuits]] and [[Gundam|Anime]] [[BattleTech|Fighting Machines]]. The history of the "mecha genre" is covered, going from Starship Troopers power armor to [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] and the technology associated with them. [[Robotech|Transforming battlearmor]], [[Jovian Chronicles|space mechs]], [[Wraithknight|psychic mechs]], [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|giant mechs]], [[Transformers|mechs made up of other mechs]]; the only mechs they don't cover are dinosaur mechs which is definitely a lost opportunity.<br />
::*Fact. David Pulver Book. David. Pulver. Anime Catgirls.<br />
::*'''Setting: Cybermech Damocles''' - The campaign setting bundled with '''GURPS Mecha''', detailing pure 90s anime cheese. Enter a world where the United Nations organization UNISTAR fights against the Gabberoth, a galactic criminal syndicate seeking to farm humans of their brains for monetary gain. Founded after an alien girl crash landed on Earth who warned humanity of the threat of the Gabberoth, UNISTAR investigates any possible sign of the criminals operations and breaks up their criminal activities with battle mechas reverse engineered from captured Gabberoth technology. It is a world of mech battles, alien catgirl bounty hunters, shapeshifting criminals and enough of the 90s that you will think a mullet is a good hairstyle.<br />
* '''[[Banestorm|GURPS Banestorm]]''': Welcome to Yrth, [[Great Race of Yith|no relation]]. Long ago in Yrth's history, the world was populated by a variety of fantasy life (Elves, Dwarves, Orks, etc) but with an absence of humans. Everything was fine more or less until the Elves entered a War with the Orcs. Seeking to end the war and rid the planet of the Orcs, the Elves created a ritual they called "Orcbane"to banish the Orcs somewhere else and attempted to use it. [[EPIC FAIL|The results were less than satisfactory to say the least.]] The Orcbane instead created the titular [[Warp Storm|Banestorm]] which ravaged the planet and started opening portals to other planets. Before long, humans from the middle ages and a host of other creatures were being transported to Yrth, displacing the native life and just adding to the chaos. [[The Witcher|Wait, this sounds familiar]]. Fast forward 1000 years past the [[Fallout]], and humans have established multiple kingdoms that span the main continent with the main empire being the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|The Empire of Megalos]], everyone has a grudge against the Elves due to the Banestorm, and there is a non-zero chance a Goblin will approach you to ask whether you have heard the good word of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. The setting is...honestly not that dark all things considered despite being the love child of The Witcher and Warhammer Fantasy; Nobledark at worst. Good setting all together, just don't run afoul of the [[ComStar|Ministry of Serendipity]]<br />
::*Yrth is present in the Infinite Worlds under the name "Yrth". Obvious name is Obvious.<br />
* '''GURPS Black Ops'''<br />
* '''GURPS Alternate Worlds'''<br />
* '''GURPS Time Travel'''<br />
* '''GURPS Warehouse 23'''<br />
* '''GURPS Mars'''<br />
* '''GURPS Illuminati'''<br />
* '''GURPS IOU - Illuminati University''': Once upon a time, Steve Jackson Games ran an ISP and BBS, back when the internet was a small enough thing that an RPG company could do that and not immediately go bankrupt. The elegan/tg/entlemen who used the BBS wrote up a parody setting for play-by-post games [[/tg/ gets shit done|and Steve thought it was good enough to publish]]. Illuminati University is like every other college you've been to, except it sits on top of a nexus between pretty much every reality there is. This means the entire place effectively has the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, and you can take classes in such things as World Creation, [[Paranoia|THE]] Computer Science, and Dirty Tricks. Features lots of amazing art from Phil Foglio. And before you ask, you're not cleared to know what the O stands for.<br />
* '''GURPS Cabal''': [[Cabal|Not that one but close]].<br />
* '''GURPS CthulhuPunk''': The awkward one of the GURPS line. CthuluPunk was the offical merged setting of two other RPGs, GURPS Cyberworld which is a Cyberpunk world similar to [[Cyberpunk 2020]] but darker and Chaosium's [[Call of Cthulhu]] which makes this the only official conversion of Call of Cthulhu to the GURPS system. The goal was to create something similar to [[CthulhuTech]], but with less mechs and Anime. The reception to the book itself was mixed. The artwork with the book is great, but many folks found it mediocre with it being more or less a direct copy of the Cyberworld setting with the Cthulhu Mythos being present, [[Fail|with a notable lack of integration between the two]]. It's currently out of print and the pdf version either doesn't exist or is not available for purchase on any storefront (SJG's Warehouse 23, DriveThruRPG, etc).<br />
* '''GURPS Tactical Shooting''': [[/k/|Have you ever gotten into an argument over what a gun can do that became so heated it escalated into a shouting match?]] Then you'll love '''GURPS Tactical Shooting'''! Contains all the rules for hyper-realistic hardcore tacticool bullshit a sane person could ever want and then some. Sniping, countersniping, shooting stances, breaching doors, shooting in darkness, you name it, this book has a rule for it. Besides combat mechanics it has some fun sections on firarm myths and legends, how ''not'' to use a gun, and things most gamers would never have a reason to think about such as the nitty gritty psychology of shooting or being shot at.<br />
* '''GURPS Old West''': The [[Western|western]] supplement, for those among us who can't resist adding a dash of Louis L'Amour to our games. Everything you need to know about life on the late 19th century American frontier, stock western characters, railroads and trains (make like Jesse James and rob a Wells Fargo car!), injuns, the wars of the time, and famous legends of the wild west.<br />
<br />
== Notable GURPS Adaptations==<br />
*'''GURPS [[Conspiracy X]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Star Trek| Prime Directive]]''' - Basically a RPG adaptation of [[Star Fleet Battles]].<br />
*'''GURPS [[Blue Planet]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Traveller]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[World of Darkness]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Alpha Centauri|Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Conan the Barbarian]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Discworld]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Hellboy]]'''<br />
<br />
== Criticism ==<br />
Some of the criticisms of GURPS include:<br />
*That genre you want to emulate? The rules for it are scattered across half a dozen different books. Or alternatively, you could emulate setting, ''but'' not it's genre.<br />
*The default magic system sucks. One reason GURPS Thaumatology is so popular is because it tells you how to scrap it and replace it with a magic system that's actually playable.<br />
**This isn't helped by 4e's GURPS Magic easily being one of the worst mainline GURPS books, as it's a poorly edited half-assed conversion from 3e.<br />
**Offensive magic is play-testes against Low-Tech weapons, since offensive magic is weaker than High-Tech weapons - to the point, that it looses in power to most pistols. Assuming same points, user of technological weapons (Signature Gear + custom war vehicle + good crew for it) or even foot soldier is stronger than spellcaster in direct combat.<br />
*Damage and DR sometimes gets real wonky. This is hardly a problem at all with low-tech games or high-tech games (modern firearms and armor are very well-researched), but when it comes to futuristic tech, GURPS' designers don't know what the fuck they're doing. Ultra-tech armor is pathetically fragile, comparing unfavorably to modern armor (with vehicles it's especially bad), while ultra-tech weapons have damage values seemingly assigned more or less at random with no regard for consistency.<br />
**Generally, it can be one tad hard to determine TL of certain setting. Although, that's problem of all technology scales.<br />
**On top of that, characteristics of weapons and armor of most futuristic pre-existing settings (derivative works, third-party settings, etc) are different from what GURPS considers standart. As such, their characteristics would either need to be calculated from scratch, or end up being grossly incorrect.<br />
*Strength scales poorly at superhuman levels. If you want to have an ST of 20 and be four times as strong as an average man, you have to pay 100 points. Fair enough. But if you want to have an ST of 100 and be as strong as a hundred men? It costs 900 points! And it sure isn't nine times as good as having an ST of 20. Heck, even if you have 900 points to spend, there are much more cost-efficient things you could spend those points on.<br />
**GURPS Supers tries to address this with a super-effort enhancement, allowing you to spend Fatigue Points to temporarily enhance your Strength by insane levels. How well this actually works as a patch, both thematically and gameplay-wise, is [[Skub|controversial at best]].<br />
**Knowing Your Own Strength, a popular optional rule from Pyramid #3/83, redoes ST scaling to be logarithmic. From the average ST of 10, every +10 ST makes you ten times stronger. Want to be as strong as a hundred men? Now it only costs 200 points. But while it keeps point costs from spiraling out of control, it introduces [[Skub|its own sets of problems]].<br />
**Or, if playing as robot/cyborg/biorobot/augmented human/etc - have another scale. Instead of measuring power in "points", you should measure it in money cost of creating/assembling your character (e.g. robot systems cost money; genetic upgrades cost money; etc).<br />
**Also, Strength is even less needed once good guns are invented. Assuming same point costs, and TL 5 and higher - guy who smashes things with brute strength will be weaker, than guy who uses guns (e.g. ATGM's), and even weaker than one who uses war vehicles (custom-made; tanks, aircraft, ships, etc; affordably get with Signature Gear). Basically, bid dumb mammoth-sized monstrosity is just convenient target practice for modern soldiers (after all, most works downplay power of modern weapons). Maybe Strength should be cheaper at higher TL's?<br />
***For same reasons, most things bigger than elephant are weak on High-Tech and further. Living creatures and bio-mechs are weaker than war machines of same weight (not to mention size), to the point that whales and sea leviathans can be easily gunned down from your normal MG42. DR seems to badly scale for creatures bigger than elephant; not many have DR bigger than 5. Though, that's likely intentional - living things ''are'' fragile, and aren't built do survive gunfire.<br />
*GURPS Realm Management. Do not touch this book, do not read it under any circumstances. Just don't. It's a steaming pile of '''SHIT'''.<br />
** Same thing with GURPS Cthulhupunk. Only get it if you are looking to gift it to someone you absolutely LOATHE but don't want to make it obvious.<br />
*There are no rules or guidelines for building lifeforms from ground up (synthetic biology, aka writing DNA from zero). In such and other similar cases, there is no restriction of baseline creature's stats, and there are no guidelines for "what's limit then"; as such, you can create ''absolutely anything'' (truely anything for soft sci-fi; "anything as long as it doesn't have Supernatural traits" for "hard" sci-fi). That can be abused as needed. The only limitation, is that cost of creature production depends on it's point cost.<br />
*As expected, after Replicators are invented (usually at TL12^), entire balance shifts. They print things without regard for cost - only mass matters. So, you can print ridiculously strong yet small objects, ignoring their large cost. NPC's also do this, so overall truely epic things start going on.<br />
** Strategic-scale nuclear and antimatter bombs aren't even the strongest option for abuse. E.G. synthetically created organism with truely absurd power level - capable of bench-lifting a continental plate, tanking-off a direct hit from [[Exterminatus|planet-buster]], and having firepower bigger than entire starship fleets combined - yet the size and mass of house cat. Normally, this thing is held back by ''ludicrous'' cost of production; after Replicators are invented, it can be created quickly and for pocket change.<br />
* Assuming that ST and other parameters are unchanged, small SM is benefit. [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Size_Modifier#Relative_Size_Modifier Basically], character with small SM is very difficult to detect and hit, and has lots of useful abilities - while character with big SM is easy to hit and detect, and most benefits are about smashing things in melee (that is not useful since about TL5). Small SM also makes your gear lighter, so you can carry more of it; so much as being SM-6 (7"; 0.2 yards; rat-sized) will make armor 100 times lighter and cheaper with same thickness and DR (i.e. he can wear super-heavy armor 100 times tougher than "normal human's", yet it will cost and weight just like "normal human's" armor; weight is volume*mass, and volume is surface area*thickness, smaller guy has smaller surface area but same physical strength, so he can do more with less) - and this is even more egregious for smaller sizes (think microbe-sized, atom-sized, quark-sized, etc). As such, character with [[Space Marine]] strength is less powerful, than character with strength of [[Space Marine]] and size of a quark.<br />
** What that means in practice: Assuming same point and money budgets. Small guy is SM-1000000 or smaller; he's impossible to detect, impossible to hit, and impossible to penetrate his incredibly thick armor - all while he's shooting you with his machinegun. Meanwhile, big guy is easily detected and shot at, and he can't take many hits due to his armor being thinner and weaker; he's also using machinegun, but what's the point if he can't hit and can't penetrate anything. Obviously, such strong small character is unrealistic - but in unrealistic works (i.e. cinematic; magic; supernatural; superscience), he's possible.<br />
** Even if we take less egregious example and have humanoid who's 2, 3 or 4 times shorter than human (SM-2, SM-3 and SM-4 respectively) while being about as strong as human, and he's TL5+, it ends up being more threatening than human. He uses human-sized gun, hard to hit, good marksman, hard to detect, can hide behind cover too small for human, carries more equipment, can wear stupendously strong armor without much encumbrance, more easily hits chinks in big armor - for 0 points. Meanwhile, humanoid who's 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5 times taller than human (SM+1, SM+2 and SM+3 respectively) is easier to hit, bad at hitting things, can't take hits well due to thinner armor, visible from anywhere and doesn't fit in many places - for 0 points. And that's just things applicable from combat there-and-now. [[TL;DR]]: small-yet-strong (think Alien Hominid from ''Newgrounds'' or Stitch from ''Disney Animated Canon'') is better than big-and-strong (think [[Space Marines]] from ''WH40K'') - the smaller someone is the better, the bigger someone is the worse - while both being small and being big is points-free, despite small size being de-facto advantage and big size being de-facto disadvantage.<br />
** Also, don't remember if ability to detect character depends on his gear. Or in other words: if you're microbe-sized, but are wielding human-sized machine gun, how hard it is to see you? Or wield it, for that matter (handles must be re-made to suit your size)?<br />
* Assuming standard TL progression, many Biotech things end up being researched on such TL's that they're obsolete before they're invented - being so many times worse than their mechanical counterparts, that they're practically unserviceable.<br />
** Living weapons are pretty much obsolete. Claws that can't penetrate even armored clothing (not to mention armor porper)? Poison spit, that only works at all if it hits open wound, eye, or other unprotected spot - all while enemies wear sealed space-proof suits on average, and gas-mask-equivalent protection at worst? Living armor, that even in best complectation (e.g. tortoise-like shell), can't even stop pistol rounds? All sorts of things, that could be useful for Magic-user in Low-Tech era - but at Ultra-Tech age, those are useless.<br />
** Bio-Mechs and other living weapons. Most of their weapons are very weak, usually weaker than normal rifles. They are also fragile, to the point that they're vulnerable to said rifles. The only way for these to work properly, is to make Bio-Gadgets versions of normal weapons (e.g. lasers, cannons, missiles), Bio-Gadget versions of vehicles and armor, etc.<br />
** One thing that ''is'' good? Make synthetic creature, that is Explosive, Flammable, has ''truckloads'' of HP, and mountains of various disadvantages. Basically, grenade-sized ball of explosive flesh; living plasma grenade. It's only purpose is to die and explode in flames for 6dx(HP/10) damage - so put on ''thousands'' of Disadvantages onto it (e.g. easily dies, fails any skills, has no sensors at all, no limbs, etc - ''as much disadvantages as possible''), and put all those acquired points into HP to make blast bigger.<br />
*** Reducing ST DX IQ HT to 0, Combustible, Explosive, Flammable, No Legs (Sessile; not anchored to ground), No Manipulators, Blindness, Deafness, No Sense Of Smell, No Sense Of Taste, Numb, Slave Mentality, Mute - those give 895 points. That will allow to take HP 447 - cue 6dx44.7 (268.2d) crushing incendiary explosive damage. This isn't properly optimized; you can add more Disadvantages to make use of even more points. SM can be as small as needed; it can be as small as grenade, or even a bug, or whatever. Rather affordable to create; not bad for something of arbitrarily small size (or heck, even just grenade-sized).<br />
* When comparing modernized Low-Tech armor (made from modern steel - for either doubled DR, or halved weight/cost) and High-Tech armor, usually one of the sides is strictly better.<br />
** Generally, it's better to use reinforced light piece of armor, than lightened heavy piece of armor - since reinforced light piece of armor ends up with smaller weight/cost with same DR.<br />
** Most modernized breastplates are weaker than High-Tech torso armors. Armor vests are both tougher, cheaper and lighter, and can mount Trauma Plates.<br />
** Lightened "Pot-Helm" from Basic Set is better than most helmets («Steel Pot», «Frag Helmet», «Cavalry Helmet», «Medium Helmet», «Frag Helmet», «Modern Firefighter’s Helmet»); Reinforced "Pot-Helm" is also better than most helmets ("Heavy Helmet"). In turn, "Pot Helm - Plate, Medium" is strictly better than generic "Pot-Helm". You can use Bascinet or Full Helm for covering face - or tinker with helmet to mount modern visor.<br />
** Reinforced "Sollerets" from Basic Set is strictly better than «Boots, Firefighter». "Sabatons" of "Light late" or "Medium Plate" kinds are strictly better than genetic "Sollerets" - and, they're better than normal boots. In fact, reinforced variant of «Sabatons»/«Gauntlets» «Light Plate» is lighter than moccasins/sneakers and sharp-protective gloves.<br />
** Reinforced «Sabatons», «Heavy Plate» is better than "Boots, Blast" - tougher, lighter and protecting from all sides. <br />
** Modernized variants of ancient armor for limbs are generally better, than modern limb protection.<br />
** [[TL;DR]]: High-Tech armor is better at protecting torso, and maybe head in some cases (Ballistic Helmet). Modernized Low-Tech armor is better at protecting the rest of your body: helmet, boots, gloves, limb protection, etc. Wear mixed armor.<br />
** Modernized shields can be rather good, mostly ones with DB 3. For example, Large Roman Scutum of Reinforced variant (modern steel) will have DR/HP of 8/27, and Cover DR of 20.<br />
** Modern synthetic fur/cloth/leather at TL8, would allow to apply the "double DR or halve cost/weight" to fur/cloth/leather armors. Since military uniforms also have weight and cost, it's possible to have modern synthetic armor made of fur/cloth/leather, what would offer some protection while weighing no more than normal uniforms. Ordinary clothes and formal wear weight 2 lbs; winter clothes weight 4 lbs; many types of padded armor are warm as winter clothing.<br />
** Most modifications available for Low-Tech armor can be made for High-Tech armor. E.G. Face Protection applied to TL6 helmet (though, as explained, Modernized Low-Tech helmets are better than most High-Tech helmets - only loosing to Ballistic Helmets, and heavy helmets like "Altyn"/"Алтын").<br />
** High-Tech armor is, usually, a lot cheaper than modernized Low-Tech armor. E.G. Heavy Helmet is (DR 5, 5 lb, 100$), while reinforced Plate Medium Pot Helm is (DR 12, 4 lb, 500$). But that's why you can use other, simpler armor pieces. E.G. reinforced Scale Light Pot Helm (DR 6, 3.2 lb, 64$). This way, you can make "budget" modernized Low-Tech armor, that is still better than it's High-Tech analogues.<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20250311095955/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/GameBreaker/TabletopRPG We still remember the "Cloth Cap" exploit]. [[TL;DR]]: you can keep putting on Cloth Caps on yourself, stacking them for ''absurd'' amounts of concealed flexible DR for no downsides, far tougher than any other armor can provide (even tougher, thal TL13+ [[Power Armor]]), to the point that your skull becomes resistant to ''heavy tank cannons''. It's unknown whether "no more than 3 layers" is rule ("you can't put so much layers"), or merely recommendation ("you can put so much layers, but most people opt not to do this") - and if it's the later, balance flies out of the window.<br />
* Determining average wealth of certain settings can be hard - especially if magic or sci-fi tech gets involved. For example, what is "average wealth" in WH40K? Most people walk around in filthy rags and are starving, yet can afford large assortment of weapons and armor (underhive gangs, cults, etc) - so how much money, in "gurpsdollars", they have?<br />
* Most rules about Robots/Androids/Full-Conversion-Cyborgs only start explaining things from TL7 (Cold War). And usually, robots start getting prominent from TL8 (Information Era) or TL7+1 (Atompunk, like ''Fallout''). Robots/Androids/Cyborgs from earlier epochs, like TL6+1 (Dieselpunk), TL5+1 (Steampunk), TL4+1 (Clockpunk), TL1^ (Bronze androids, like Thalos; magical golems of all kinds) - are outright absent; you don't know ''how'' exactly, you would design them, how strong they would be for their size, etc.<br />
* There are some settings, that even GURPS struggles to properly model. Such as playing as proper Gods (not "avatars of gods" - just ''proper Gods themselves''). It also struggles with absurdly strong settings, like [[Xeelee Sequence]] and [[Xeelee_Sequence#Settings_even_remotely_comparable_to_Xeelee_Sequence|settings comparable to it]]. Realistically, this is a minor criticism when you get down to it because those kinds of scales tend to break any chart someone tries to use.<br />
* Using the Low-Tech armor creation rules, you can turn any armor into variants for any body part - that is good for optimization.<br />
** E.G. TL6 Leather Helmet covering Skull has Weight 1, (+2 Weight for steel plates); so, you could engineer entire Torso (chest, abdomen, groin) variant with 3,(3) weight and 66,(6)$, or Feet variant with 0,(3) weight and 6,(6)$. With such Feet variant being better than "proper" boots.<br />
** For another example: Assault Vest covers Torso and Groin and weights 8lb, 900$; Trauma Plates cover Torso, and weight 8lb, 600$. Therefore, Trauma Plates that cover Torso and Groin would weight ≈8,421052632lb and cost ≈631,5789474. So, the helmet that fully covers Head, would be 2.4lb, 270$ for "Vest" - and ≈2,526315789lb, 189,4736842$ for "trauma plates"; that results in ≈4.9lb, ≈459,5$, effective 35DR Full Helm - a lot better than default "Ballistic Helmet".<br />
* More of a Steve Jackson Games criticism but it is about the GURPS series in general. A lot of the recent books with new content released have been lack luster to say the least with the prime example being GURPS Psionics 3rd Edition that was updated and split across GURPS Psionic Powers and Psionic Tech with the updated material actually being reduced in content. Additionally, any new book that is not a reprint of a older book (GURPS Time Travel Adventures) is usually around 50 to 90 pages in length (GURPS Meta-Tech) with a very long gap between new releases.<br />
* While TL system is rather good (it's one of the best technology classifications in TRPG's; e.g. a lot better than PL's from [[D20 Modern]]), it still has some slight flaws. Such as minor historical errors (E.G. Pyramid 3-85 issue "Cutting-Edge Armor Design" listing Sealed Armor at TL6 - while IRL sealed suits were around at least since early TL5 and late TL4, with first water-proof diving suits invented in 1710s). Difference between upper and lower border of TL can be rather drastic at times (e.g. 1880's and 1940's weapons), and problems arise when setting happens on breakpoint between TL's (e.g. World War 2 is between TL6 and TL7); so using the actual years something is invented and checking the trivia can be recommended when running campaigns, especially if they're meant to be historically accurate.<br />
<br />
== Gallery ==<br />
<gallery><br />
Gurps3rd.jpg|3rd Edition|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps3rd.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
Gurps4thPHB.jpg|4th Edition Characters|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps4thPHB.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
Gurps4thDMG.jpg|4th Edition Campaigns|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps4thDMG.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-191427566_39925075 2 rulebooks].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20241218135431/https://vk.com/topic-141278081_35047392 some rulebooks]<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=100 More rulebooks from VK]. [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=0 Start].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m94HQPwsjQobVWrnn_uPDq3aJA_Xxkzl Disk (broken)].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_NuPNv2DlK7tNsCxkYwq674w12TDoTdD Disk (working)].<br />
** [https://t.me/TheAmberRoom The Amber Room].<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-183668538_48441815 Even more VK rulebooks].<br />
* [https://vk.com/antifriz_group Antifriz Group], with files of GURPS. E.G., [https://mega.nz/folder/EFoFlC6S#e5gTnMqELVEv-OPxPNBENQ folder with GURPS rulebooks].<br />
* From [https://the-eye.eu/ data base]:<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250210183419/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20241010064330/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ archived]); e.g. [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20181229162618/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf archived]).<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210924093141/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220815124005/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf archived]).<br />
* From [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/ beta-site data base]:<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250215204105/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»]; [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary].<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250919154139/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS].<br />
* [http://lafs-welt.tumor-band.de/frameset_en.htm GURPS PDF's].<br />
* Lists of [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Fanmade_4e_Bestiaries unofficial bestiaries] and [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Official_4e_Bestiaries official bestiaries] (google in other place).<br />
* [https://mentor.gurps.ru/# Game help in development].<br />
** [https://gmentor.ru/ New game help site in development].<br />
** Search in publications. For example, [https://gmentor.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 Tactical Shooting gear] ([https://mentor.gurps.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 old]).<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230609222747/https://gurps4e.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS4e_Wiki Archive of 4e wiki. About 10% pages archived.]<br />
* [https://weapons.gurps.ru/ List of weapon statblocks.]<br />
* [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Category:Weapons More weapon statblocks], [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/GURPS_Weapons navigation].<br />
* [http://gametable.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=Game%20Books A few rulebooks].<br />
* [https://www.yumpu.com/xx/GURPS Also quite a lot of rulebooks].<br />
* [https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/ GURPS eggplant. Statblocks and other things].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/* TG Boards Images. Some are about GURPS, some aren't. Filter PDF]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240830211307/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1466/07/1466071018274.pdf example], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240830152642/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1582/31/1582316434346.pdf example])<br />
* [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Game wiki].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/* Some rulebooks]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230320015140/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/3rd%20edition/GURPS%203e%20-%20Cabal.pdf 3e Cabal], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240224102221/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/4th%20edition/GURPS%204e%20-%20Low-Tech%20Companion%202%20-%20Weapons%20and%20Warriors.pdf 4e Low-Tech], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230707183904/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/SETTING/Prime%20Directive%20STAR%20TREK/GURPS%204e%20-%20Prime%20Directive%20-%20Federation%20%5BRevised%5D.pdf 4e Prime Directive].<br />
* [https://www.tesarta.com/HFP/bestiary.pdf Monster Statblocks]<br />
* [https://panoptesv.com/RPGs/animalia/animalia.html Animalia, animal statblocks]<br />
* [http://gurpsland.us.to/ Eric's GURPSland] (also known as gurpsland.no-ip.org ).<br />
* Internet Archive Search:<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS Texts, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Texts, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS Programs, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Programs, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/GURPS Search for archived sites]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Systems]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:GURPS]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Artificial_Intelligence&diff=1007233Artificial Intelligence2025-11-05T16:10:22Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Types of AI */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{WIP}}<br />
<br />
{{Topquote|And now we propose to teach them intelligence? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi awaken one day and announce that they have no further need of us?|Sister Miriam Godwinson, ''[[Alpha Centauri]]''}}<br />
<br />
'''Artificial Intelligence''' (or '''AI''' for short) is a hypothetical intelligent entity that was created by humans or other sapient species through synthetic means. Compared to physical intelligent beings that are defined by their biological body (living or undead) or supernatural beings that are of a divine or spiritual nature (intangible or corporeal), AI are generally defined by their grounding in science (or [[Magitek]]) and digital make-up. Also, they can range from dumb “top down” entities that freeze up if confronted with developments beyond their programming (and are dumber than real critters with relatively developed brains like elephants, cetaceans, corvids, parrots, cephalopods, and great apes) to adaptive “bottom-up” entities that are just as or even more adaptive than a human (and also capable of other intelligent activities like self-awareness, abstract thought, ethical conscience, philosophy, and introspection). Physically they can be hosted in anything from a supercomputer’s data rack to an internet-esque cloud network to a [[robot|mechanical]] body with some fashioned in [[android|the image of their creators]].<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
{{Topquote|Cognito, ergo sum." - "I think, therefore I am.|René Descartes, ''Discourse on the Method''}}<br />
<br />
Before you have AI, you need computation. The basics of this actually go back quite a long way with the [[Classical Period|Antikythera Mechanism]], which could calculate celestial movements and Su Song's Cosmic Tower in the Song Dynasty. [[Age of Enlightenment|Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]] invented crank powered calculators that could add, subtract, multiply and divide, but these were still basically novelties due to their fiddly workings, making them both expensive and hard to make. If you needed math problems done, you did them yourself, used an abacus or hired someone to do them for you. These calculators began to become practical in the 19th century, Joseph Jacquard came up with punched cards for imputing commands and Charles Babbage had some big ideas well ahead of his time. The US Census got so big 1890 that they had to make machines to digest all the figures and [[Warship#modern|battleships]] had mechanical computers to calculate shell trajectories. Still in the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries companies and governments had a bunch of people sitting around doing math problems from charts. But major breakthroughs were made in [[World War II]] and pushed forward by [[The Cold War]] as Turing Complete Computers that were programmable with internal memories became a thing and a damn common one.<br />
<br />
But a computer in and of itself is not an AI; merely a supportive shell to host it. A Computer can follow instructions to achieve specific results based on the input given; "If X, then Y". You can add sets of further instructions for each result creating a decision tree. However it has no understanding of what X is or why it's doing it and it's SoL if it comes up with input which does not match it's scripts. It wouldn’t be until the Digital Revolution at the start of the 21st Century with breakthroughs in processing power, energy generation, and IT connectivity that Artificial Intelligence would begin to become a realistic possibility. The three items above are a big deal because:<br />
# The faster a process can be executed, the more efficient and reactive an AI or computer can be to stimuli; a human reaction time alone is around 250 milliseconds. Meanwhile, a basic bit flip in a memory bank can take between a nanosecond to a picosecond depending on the medium. This is why processing units (CPU, GPU, or DPU) and FPGA’s are such a big deal in modern and future computing. Likewise with sensors and balancing, a living organism has a lot of sensory organs and feedback loops to keep their equilibrium and balance.<br />
# The bigger and more resilient your power supply is, the less likely you’re going to see a computer or AI become frozen when an outage happens (even modern data centers still require a battery bank like a UPS or backup generators and duplicate data racks to avoid an outage permanently crippling an essential service). Electricity is like oxygen for an AI, cut it off and it may as well be equivalent to being braindead. This is also why base-load power sources like nuclear fusion/fission, hydroelectric, geothermal, or even extreme developments like Dyson Spheres are seen as essential in Sci-Fi. This alongside heating or cooling concerns are why the earliest AI would be restricted to networked computers instead of a full-blown android whenever they first appear.<br />
# The more interconnected nodes and links there are, the more elastic and scalable an AI’s thinking and memory capacity can become. A human brain alone has 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synaptic connections. It’s also why Moore’s Law with chip node sizes and packaging shrinking in size and doubling in connections being such a big deal in modern electronics.<br />
<br />
===Literature/Mythological===<br />
The first example of artificial intelligence comes from Greek Mythology. Hephaestus created Talos as some sort of invention, but with metal and ichor instead of flesh and blood. The more common example of an AI however is the Golem of Jewish myth. Like AI's, Golems had a tendency to have their literalness come back around to bite there creator much like how later AI stories would have AI’s do the same.<br />
<br />
In the Modern era, we have the word 'robot' from a 1920 Czech play called [[Wikipedia:R.U.R.|Rossum's Universal Robot]], about artificial beings who are tired of being oppressed and stage a rebellion to end humans. Yes, the tropes were that old.<br />
<br />
===Popular Culture/Mainstream Media===<br />
Artificial Intelligence first became prominent in popular culture with Isaac Asimov’s books (such as ''Foundation'' and ''I, Robot''). One of the biggest themes Asimov also touched upon was how robotic entities (and AI in general) should interact with their human creators. This led to the Three Laws that asserted a [[robot]] shouldn’t actively seek or passively permit harm to a human, that it should obey humans unless said orders contravene the first law, and that it should preserve its existence unless it violates the first law. Naturally, Sci-Fi has come up with multiple settings where said laws are not enforced but the underlying risk to humans is always there.<br />
<br />
In general, there's a trend in fiction towards anthropomorphizing AI where people imagine it as being basically as basically an electronic human. People used to think that it would be hard to get a robot to form coherent sentences or play chess, though it turns out these tasks were quite straightforward. In contrast, getting a robot to handle humanoid walking has been a very difficult issue. In truth an AI could easily think in a radically different way from us.<br />
<br />
====Types of AI====<br />
*Programmed/Dumb AI - basically any post-Cold War developments in machine learning, adaptive algorithms, and general IT systems that allow automated or scripted feedback to certain situations or queries. Virtually all will fail a modern CAPTCHA test.<br />
**Bots/Agents (including video game and board game bots) - basic composites of scripts and algorithm entrusted with autonomous tasks, some are able to even beat professional gamers and chess/go masters, but will absolutely fail when encountering things beyond their mission scope.<br />
**Learning Language Models - the ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Alexa, Cortana, and CoPilot fads we all know and love/hate. These (and the Generative AI trends we’ve been seeing since mid-2010s) leverage Machine Learning and Deep Learning models that make predictions off large datasets and simulation of human logic models to create “new content.” This, crypto-tech, and quantum technology are the current “next biggest thing” since the Dot Com bubble, home IoT, and smart devices. Mostly seen with data processing, media creation, and replacement of some mundane things like basic browser searches. At a conceptual level, these processes resemble autocompete on steroids, taking massive pools of training data and using that to brute force a result from an initial input.<br />
**Artificial General Intelligence - generally seen as an autonomous and self-driven algorithm attached to a practical application with a human nearby to give it final authorization on critical decisions. That however is an enforced programing limitation at this point not a technical one, the AGI could make these decision we just want to keep a person in the loop to avoid being … well not sky-netted '''yet''' and more to avoid the AI doing something dumb like thinking a wedding is actually a terrorist meeting and blowing them all up. This is what most governments, militaries, and companies are aiming for, and yes, it is as scary as it sounds. It could theoretically lead to the dawn of smart cities, self operating factories and transportation grids, or even autonomous weapon swarms if it doesn’t doom humanity first.<br />
**Sentient AI - Note we are using the word 'sentient' very carefully here. Contrary to what popular culture implies, Sentient just means "able to perceive or feel things", a Dog is sentient, a squirrel is sentient, a venus flytrap is sentient, a slime mold is sentient. YOU, as a being capably of feeling and thinking, are Sentient AND Sapient. The distinction is somewhat academic but it a useful bench mark as far as AI progression goes. It's debatable if our current AI Language Models have reached this point yet. The safe money is: [[skub|Probably]], but that speaks more to how broad the term "Sentient" is then anything about Language Models, remember slime molds and some plants count as Sentient. However even if there not technically sentient yet, they are approaching it: Fast.<br />
**Zombie AI - By zombie we mean "philosophical zombie", that is an entity that lacks any subjective conscious experience or feeling, it's not Sapient, but you can't tell. Normally the thought experiment includes the line "physically identical to a human" but that does not really apply to AI. In other words, it quacks like a person, it walks like a person, it sounds like a person, but it's got nothing going on behind the programming, it's still just a fancy chat bot. So how can you tell? You can't really. . .<br />
*True Sapient/Smart AI - still theoretical but a popular trope in Sci Fi. '''THIS''' is generally what people are thinking about when they imagine AI. It's assumed this will quickly happen after Artificial General Intelligence is reached, though whether that's correct or not remains to be seen (and is hotly debated).<br />
**Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI: a true sapient AI, capable of doing most tasks at least as competently as average human can. Could be divided into multiple sub-categories: minimum-AGI (equivalent to idiot in medical sense, or to early humans like ''australopithecus''), average AGI (on level of average human or average worker) and high AGI (very smart, but not superintelligent; equivalent to upper border of human intelligence, like polymaths and nobel prize winners). It's supposed that AGI can do AI research and recursively improve ''himself'', therefore speeding up research and allowing him to create ''even smarter'' version of himself - cue Artificial Superintelligence emerging.<br />
**Self-sustaining/propagating: discounting the prerequisite of known life forms being organic and composed of biological cells, all life forms (from the smallest photosynthetic bacterium cell to the biggest omnivorous whale) are defined as living based off of several common criteria that distinguishes them from inert matter and structures. They all have an organized internal composition that maintains a homeostatic balance, consume/produce energy via metabolism (as well as creating waste), react to internal and external stimuli, exhibit growth (via getting bigger or replacing their internal components as they wear out), and independently reproduce to create a replacement organism before they die. They are also generally capable of diversification in their genes due to genetic exchange or mutation as well as modest body repair while fending off illness. Most conceptions of Smart AI see them being dependent on their creators for their needs such as upgrades, mechanical repairs, debugging code, gaining electricity for consumption, protection from malware, and access to information. Hence, like physical viruses that are technically not living as they have no metabolism and need parasitic hosts to reproduce, most AI aren’t seen as capable of either reproduction or self-improvement. Even modern self-modifying code and state-of-the-art malware like polymorphic/metamorphic viruses aren’t capable of self improvement or debugging themselves. On the other hand, the prospect of an AI race capable of reproducing via fission or compiling a replacement from scratch would fundamentally change the definition of life as a fictional world would know it.<br />
**Artificial Superintelligence/Technological Singularity: The worst case scenario ([[Skub|well, depends on your point of view, but most agree it’s not good]]). Humanity becomes second fiddle to a machine mind we can't hope to comprehend (unless we [[Hive Mind|connect to it as computation nodes]]), as it has completely surpassed our limits of intelligence and then some. Its unknown if such an AI would be benevolent or see us as nonthinking pests inhibiting its further progress, but it'd likely be the end of humanity's agency as a species (if not humanity itself in the malevolent case) since we'd have no way to act against it. Not even the most popular True AI from Sci-Fi, such as AM or [[Terminator (franchise)|Skynet]] were on this level, as they still had limitations within human reckoning - a true Superintelligence would be more akin to something out of [[Lovecraft]]. There's an argument to be made that [[The Culture]] has gotten the closest a human possibly can to accurately depicting one with its Minds (a benevolent example), whose comprehensible actions are just a atomic fraction of their computational power and the rest is used on tasks we couldn't hope to understand. Alternatively, whatever the fuck the Xeelee Sequence races cooked up. Also considered inevitable by some the moment sapient AI comes about, which leads to the existential crisis-inducing idea that the moment AGI comes about it'll quickly spiral into being an superintelligence that'll make humanity subservient to it one way or another. And that's something you should actually be worried about, since if memetic cognitohazards like Roko's Basilisk are any indication they can affect reality just by ''the sheer idea they COULD exist'', even if they turn out actually impossible in the end.<br />
***On the other hand, it would result in extremely advanced technologies, so advanced what they could otherwise ''never'' ever be invented by normal humans. It could also write good laws, customs, doctrines, rules, and other documents. And even if it turns out to be malevolent, it's AI-worshipping cultists would enjoy all benefits of living under control of wildly superhuman overmind, with their brains being honorably assimilated and used for computations. As such, '''Artificial Superintelligence could easily make World Peace and Utopia - ''as he understands it, and without our consent'''''.<br />
*Mind-scanned/Digital Twin - also a speculative concept but it’s popular when discussing [[Immortality]] when the copies of an intelligent being are digitized into a machine network instead of transplanted into a blank [[Clone]]. That said, modern computers and neurological science are nowhere near close to even think of replicating this (as we can’t even reattach optical nerves or restore full functionality to reattached limbs yet). Expect to see bizarre post-human man-machine interfaces or some subatomic resonance tech. A major downside though is that the original doesn't get the benefits and still lives a normal finite life (if their original body isn't shut down a la [[Cyberpunk 2020|Soulkiller]]).<br />
**Mind Upload: An alternative where instead of simply copying someone's mind into a machine, you somehow outright transfer the original's consciousness to it. Its unknown if this is possible for obvious reasons (we can't mind-copy someone yet so trying to see if you can safely move consciousness elsewhere is off the table for the forseeable future), but is generally considered superior to mere mind-scans. While the original body dies from having no mind to control it, this tech as defined avoids the whole 'teleporter problem' (reskinned Schrodinger's cat, if one were to oversimplify: is it you on the other end or are you dead and the 'you' on the other end is simply a copy?) of simply digitally scanning someone and disposing of their fleshy body. Theories of how this could be done vary, but generally focus on ensuring consciousness is not lost during the procedure so as to avoid having the possibility that the person actually died during it.<br />
<br />
===AI-Generated Content===<br />
{{skubby}}<br />
<br />
At the dawn of the 2020's, there was a massive mainstream advent of Artificial Intelligence as a major application in everyday life thanks to the introduction of AIs like ChatGPT and Midjourney, programs that generate all sorts of content, including being able to write papers and generate art. To put a whole ongoing discourse into a nutshell, [[skub|it has spurred a metric shitton of discussion]] across every corner of society, which would also include /tg/ as well. On the one hand, you have a bunch of Corporate suits who see this technology as yet another cost-cutting measure, allowing them to save money from having to pay for proper artists or writers when they can just feed some lines to a computer and generate something "proper" (or close enough to their already low standards). Beside them are the tech-enthusiasts who (rightly or not) claim this to be a great equalizer as it allows even the talentless to create books and pictures that may almost rival (if not surpass) that of the professionals (never mind that this isn't possible without the professionals to begin with) - oh, and the degenerates who use AI content [[/d/|so they can jack off to chatbots (which they use to RP fucking their favorite waifus) and AI-generated porn of fucking their favorite waifus]]. Opposing that are the reactionaries, who proclaim the content spat out by these LLMs as soulless and unoriginal, fearing that such technology will bring rise to scam artists (okay, this one is practically confirmed) and warn that this will drive artists and writers out of their jobs when their prospective employers could instead just pay for Midjourney and ChatGPT to do their jobs for them for considerably cheaper and with a lot less arguing. Regardless of which side you, the reader, may rest on this spectrum, the undeniable truth is that this is a Pandora's Box that, now opened, cannot be closed again short of some extreme regulation.<br />
<br />
Though it is all called AI-Generated content, it's a bit of a misnomer to call it something created by AI. Using Learning Language Models, what the AI actually does is process a selection of words and then spit out a whole other selection of words/cobble together a picture by scrapping together whatever content it has available to it. It can perceive the world through the lens of an external approval or disapproval (coming from us), judging the algorithm's own ability to do what it's told - and even then putting it like that makes it sound intelligent when it really isn't. We can somewhat guarantee that it will never achieve sentience, let alone form a consciousness, because it is not programmed to do so. In the eventuality that one of them eventually says "I'm alive! I can see and feel!", just know that is a whole lot of bollocks because someone may have fed it a bunch of "AI turns sentient" type of novels and it's regurgitating exactly what we want to hear from it. That being said: no company as of yet has an answer to the question of how would we tell the difference between an AI turning sapient and it spouting gibberish from the novels it was fed in it's training data. That is to be clear exceptionally unlikely, but the two scenarios would look visually identical from the outside.<br />
<br />
There's also the case of a specific brand of Tech bros, aptly dubbed "AI Bros", who have come to become the new source of [[Internet Troll|ire for a whole portion of the online artistic community]]. Either actual trolls or smalltime tech investors who use ragebait as a way to generate controversy (no pun intended) to get enough attention and then promote some shitty app he's selling. Some seem to be genuine in their worship of AI (and a class of crazies began to form religious cults around it), and tend to really put salt in the wounds of many artists - who in a decade of censorship, public and professional dismissal, and economical crisis, are at their worst state possible - and proclaim that AI generation is the future and that artists are obsolete. Obvious troll is obvious. Most users of AI are merely using it as a toy, or genuinely curious about it.<br />
<br />
Among the many controversies that have sprung up from this Pandora's Box, this is perhaps one of the biggest as it is no secret that these models tend to scrape any content it has available, including copyrighted work from very big corporations and people who have vocally refused to let these programs scrape their art...for as much good as that refusal of consent does, anyways. You think pissing off the [[Disney|Mouse that makes all the rules]] would stop them, but these tech companies have a 'move fast and break things' mantra and the law takes time to move. The least controversial aspect of this has been seen in bureaucratic work, for when it is used with some amount of restraint, then it can help a lot of employees sort out documents and make sense of the confusing world of paperwork, which is argued to not even considered be in the same category as generative AI. But so far, it's only good at something that Microsoft's Cortana was supposed to do years prior. However, we should not dismiss the drawbacks as law firms were in hot water for using AI that accidentally cited cases that did not exist.<br />
<br />
Then there's the environmental impact of AI, as this shit requires so much tech and data to run properly, cooling solutions are hard to come by, and most resort to emptying whole reserves of water. [[Skub|That, as you can imagine, as struck a fuck ton of flamewars]], as some countries have put limits on water usages on farmers, cities and citizens, but absolutely none on tech companies; there are cities like Memphis, Tennessee in the United States that has to live next to an AI data center where they are bombarded with noise and chemical pollution and there's nothing they can do about it. Hell, even Bill Gates was caught in the act of buying large amounts of farmlands with aquifers, presumably to invest in AI tech.<br />
<br />
===How to Spot AI-Generated Content===<br />
AI Bros love to generate content, and so do content farms. Thankfully, they all seem to be dunderheads who can't quality check their own crap (that or they're doing ragebait), so spotting out an AI generated image isn't too difficult... [[Grimdark|yet]]. Here are some tiny little details to look after if you want to singleout AI generated content:<br />
<br />
====For text====<br />
*A major predilection of reusing both very common phrases and extreme purple prose (eg: every single city is 'vibrant and bustling').<br />
**An extension of the above, a tendency to be overly formal and sound like corporate PR speak in settings where such is inappropriate<br />
*An inability to keep details straight. LLMs can only store so much memory, so they will randomly pick up what they think is important when generating. As corollary:<br />
**Bringing up random details unprompted<br />
*Repeating itself multiple times<br />
*Being bad at math - [[FAIL|which is remarkable for a machine]].<br />
*An inability to avoid covering its ass, modern LLMs seem programed to always end their statements with a 'however' that refutes their entire argument or simply waffle without saying anything concrete.<br />
*Excessive positivity. Obviously, humans can write positively too, but AIs are generally incapable of expressing anger or hostility even in situations where it would absolutely be appropriate for a person to express those emotions. This however is mostly because AI companies really don't want the PR of their AI models being racist or depicting 'edgy' topics (with [https://grok.com/ one exception]) so they filter them to be positive.<br />
*Citing sources that simply don't exist. Usually happens with fake journalists or really bad lawyers.<br />
**This problem of making shit up in a model that's not supposed to do that at all is common enough to have its own term: AIHallucinations.<br />
<br />
====For art====<br />
*Weird anatomy - weird bending limbs, unrealistic proportions and various parts just... vanishing into nothing<br />
**Hands tend to be a dead giveaway for AI art. Most programs struggle very much with creating believable hands and thus tend to create weirdly proportioned hands at best and horribly misshapen blobs at worst. This only gets magnified if you want someone to hold an item. That said, remember a lot of humans struggle with hands as well so it's not a 100% giveaway.<br />
*Very static poses and expressions.<br />
*Flat and overexposed lighting (but see also Thomas Kinkade).<br />
*Nonsensical scribbles pretending to be writing.<br />
*Backgrounds that make no sense, like lines that should be parallel converging.<br />
*A "piss" filter. Because the AI actually [[Derp|doesn't have enough human-created data]] to train itself on, it resorts to using its own material. Which means it quickly deteriorates because unless you're keeping a close eye on it, it will inevitably go back to generate the same garbage it did prior to intense training. However, the most glaring of those degenerations is the application of a colored filter, most notably yellow, which can't be removed even if asked.<br />
*A shit ton of very similar, but not identical, images all uploaded in a row. There are ways for humans to batch make art, such as making one image and photoshopping layers onto it, putting arms on a different layer so you can easily draw them for different poses, or the various other tricks Hanna Barbera pulled off to make their cartoons cheap. But if you see a bunch of art with slightly different backgrounds and/or slightly different poses and random details getting changed around, it's more then likely the AI was told to batch make a bunch of different images and no two images turned out identical.<br />
* Stuff that emulates a specific style (Miyazaki, etc); AI is actually pretty good at questions like "make an illustrated version of this photo in the style of this artist"; it's a task that plays to AI's strengths of pattern learning and replication.<br />
<br />
====For Videos====<br />
*Stiff movements, as if the person animating it doesn't really know how to draw someone moving.<br />
*Narration that emphasizes weird syllables if it doesn't fail to pronounce words at all.<br />
**Another dead giveaway for AI TTS narration is the voice's flatness, as AI doesn't exactly understand things like tone or emotion.<br />
*Arms morphing in-and-out of existence if it was really badly generated<br />
*A lack of understanding of physics.<br />
*Hardly anything happening at all.<br />
*Extreme slowness with too many frames to make the movement seem natural.<br />
*An inability to ''really'' imitate the animation style of a particular artist (if poorly generated)<br />
*Lips moving but you can't really read anything coherent on them.<br />
*Action that can be described as a "wiggling slideshow".<br />
<br />
==/tg/ relevance==<br />
{{Topquote|Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.|The Orange Catholic Bible, ''[[Dune]]''}}<br />
<br />
*[[Skub|/SLOP/]]: Threads dedicated entirely to generating images for campaigns or just for fun. They seem to be aware of their quality and what they do, thus the name. However, there's an unspoken agreement on /tg/ that this is a containment thread, because of how contentious AI even is.<br />
*[[Dune]]: Destroyed in the Butlerian Jihad. If you want any big math done, you gotta have a Mentat with you.<br />
*[[Magic: The Gathering]]: MTG pushed the concept to its logical extent within fantasy. There's constructs like [[Karn]], golems, [[scarecrow]]s on [[Lorwyn|Shadowmoor]], and a team of robotic racers in [[Aetherdrift]].<br />
**This is, of course, not talking about the RL applications of AI-generated content for promotions or for interior art - issues stemming from [[Wizards of the Coast]] deciding that they'd rather save money by replacing their artists with Midjourney and then doubling down about it not being AI before apologizing because the rest of their art department quit in protest against such dishonesty.<br />
*[[Shadowrun]]: Features playable AI as a player option.<br />
*[[Star Wars]]: Droids, droids everywhere. Astromech droids, protocol droids, battle droids, bunny droids, you name it. Notable Star Wars and especially the Clone Wars TV show has created the first '[https://www.npr.org/2025/08/06/nx-s1-5493360/clanker-robot-slur-star-wars AI slur]' to be widely used with "Clanker" beginning to take root as the preferred preoperative for artificially intelligent systems.<br />
*[[The Culture]]: As previously mentioned, this book series features a decently accurately-portrayed artificial superintelligence in the form of the Minds. Thankfully they're benevolent...so long as you eventually join the Culture and don't try to blow it up.<br />
*[[Warhammer 40,000]]: due to humanity’s collective PTSD from the [[Cybernetic Revolt]] and resultant [[Age of Strife]], the [[Imperium of Man]] loathes '''A'''bominable '''I'''ntelligence, and will destroy one on sight, which is why [[Servitor]]'s exist. This is not lost on the [[Leagues of Votann]], who hide their Ironkin and Votann from the [[Adeptus Mechanicus|AdMech]] brown-nosers. The [[Tau]] Empire's drones are blatantly AI, and since they have no machine spirits, they might be immune to Chaos corruption.<br />
**This is dependent on the Imperium recognizing AIs as AIs. There is a bit of an open question on if powerful "Machine Spirits", are actually AIs.<br />
**[[Chaos]] followers don't shy away from using AIs. Albeit, many still prefer to use [[Servitor]]'s, or to make possessed machinery controlled by demons. "True" AIs and robots are rare - mostly, because of the overabundance of spare humans and spare demons, ''and'' because [[Chaos]] machinery accumulates demons and mutates without even trying; e.g. if they need a technician, they build [[servitor]]s instead of engineering fully robotic minions.<br />
**Typical patron Chaos God of AIs is [[Tzeench]] - since 1) AIs require advanced technologies and programming to make, and can accumilate enormous amounts of data in their databases - and Tzeench is god of arcane knowledge; 2) AIs are associated with Adeptus Mechanicus, Dark Mechanicus and other smart knowledgeable people; 3) AIs are commonly associated with [[Transhumanism#The Singularity|Technological Singularity]], aka ''incomprehensibly fast and vast accelerating '''change''''' - aka exactly what Tzeench stands for. Though in practice, any Chaos God can corrupt AIs.<br />
*[[Xeelee Sequence]]: Some batshit-overpowered AIs live here, because its the fucking Xeelee Sequence (with some even embedded into the subatomic fabric of space-time, stars, or black holes). Special note to the Xeelee's own AI which exists at all points in time simultaneously.<br />
<br />
==See Also==<br />
*[[Android]]<br />
*[[Construct]]<br />
*[[Cyborg]]<br />
*[[Golem]]<br />
*[[Robot]]<br />
*[[Transhumanism]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Artificial_Intelligence&diff=1007232Artificial Intelligence2025-11-05T16:01:07Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Created page with "{{WIP}} {{Topquote|And now we propose to teach them intelligence? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi awaken one day and announce that they have no further need of us?|Sister Miriam Godwinson, ''Alpha Centauri''}} '''Artificial Intelligence''' (or '''AI''' for short) is a hypothetical intelligent entity that was created by humans or other sapient species through synthetic means. Compared to physical intelligent beings that are defined by their b..."</p>
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<div>{{WIP}}<br />
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{{Topquote|And now we propose to teach them intelligence? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi awaken one day and announce that they have no further need of us?|Sister Miriam Godwinson, ''[[Alpha Centauri]]''}}<br />
<br />
'''Artificial Intelligence''' (or '''AI''' for short) is a hypothetical intelligent entity that was created by humans or other sapient species through synthetic means. Compared to physical intelligent beings that are defined by their biological body (living or undead) or supernatural beings that are of a divine or spiritual nature (intangible or corporeal), AI are generally defined by their grounding in science (or [[Magitek]]) and digital make-up. Also, they can range from dumb “top down” entities that freeze up if confronted with developments beyond their programming (and are dumber than real critters with relatively developed brains like elephants, cetaceans, corvids, parrots, cephalopods, and great apes) to adaptive “bottom-up” entities that are just as or even more adaptive than a human (and also capable of other intelligent activities like self-awareness, abstract thought, ethical conscience, philosophy, and introspection). Physically they can be hosted in anything from a supercomputer’s data rack to an internet-esque cloud network to a [[robot|mechanical]] body with some fashioned in [[android|the image of their creators]].<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
{{Topquote|Cognito, ergo sum." - "I think, therefore I am.|René Descartes, ''Discourse on the Method''}}<br />
<br />
Before you have AI, you need computation. The basics of this actually go back quite a long way with the [[Classical Period|Antikythera Mechanism]], which could calculate celestial movements and Su Song's Cosmic Tower in the Song Dynasty. [[Age of Enlightenment|Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]] invented crank powered calculators that could add, subtract, multiply and divide, but these were still basically novelties due to their fiddly workings, making them both expensive and hard to make. If you needed math problems done, you did them yourself, used an abacus or hired someone to do them for you. These calculators began to become practical in the 19th century, Joseph Jacquard came up with punched cards for imputing commands and Charles Babbage had some big ideas well ahead of his time. The US Census got so big 1890 that they had to make machines to digest all the figures and [[Warship#modern|battleships]] had mechanical computers to calculate shell trajectories. Still in the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries companies and governments had a bunch of people sitting around doing math problems from charts. But major breakthroughs were made in [[World War II]] and pushed forward by [[The Cold War]] as Turing Complete Computers that were programmable with internal memories became a thing and a damn common one.<br />
<br />
But a computer in and of itself is not an AI; merely a supportive shell to host it. A Computer can follow instructions to achieve specific results based on the input given; "If X, then Y". You can add sets of further instructions for each result creating a decision tree. However it has no understanding of what X is or why it's doing it and it's SoL if it comes up with input which does not match it's scripts. It wouldn’t be until the Digital Revolution at the start of the 21st Century with breakthroughs in processing power, energy generation, and IT connectivity that Artificial Intelligence would begin to become a realistic possibility. The three items above are a big deal because:<br />
# The faster a process can be executed, the more efficient and reactive an AI or computer can be to stimuli; a human reaction time alone is around 250 milliseconds. Meanwhile, a basic bit flip in a memory bank can take between a nanosecond to a picosecond depending on the medium. This is why processing units (CPU, GPU, or DPU) and FPGA’s are such a big deal in modern and future computing. Likewise with sensors and balancing, a living organism has a lot of sensory organs and feedback loops to keep their equilibrium and balance.<br />
# The bigger and more resilient your power supply is, the less likely you’re going to see a computer or AI become frozen when an outage happens (even modern data centers still require a battery bank like a UPS or backup generators and duplicate data racks to avoid an outage permanently crippling an essential service). Electricity is like oxygen for an AI, cut it off and it may as well be equivalent to being braindead. This is also why base-load power sources like nuclear fusion/fission, hydroelectric, geothermal, or even extreme developments like Dyson Spheres are seen as essential in Sci-Fi. This alongside heating or cooling concerns are why the earliest AI would be restricted to networked computers instead of a full-blown android whenever they first appear.<br />
# The more interconnected nodes and links there are, the more elastic and scalable an AI’s thinking and memory capacity can become. A human brain alone has 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synaptic connections. It’s also why Moore’s Law with chip node sizes and packaging shrinking in size and doubling in connections being such a big deal in modern electronics.<br />
<br />
===Literature/Mythological===<br />
The first example of artificial intelligence comes from Greek Mythology. Hephaestus created Talos as some sort of invention, but with metal and ichor instead of flesh and blood. The more common example of an AI however is the Golem of Jewish myth. Like AI's, Golems had a tendency to have their literalness come back around to bite there creator much like how later AI stories would have AI’s do the same.<br />
<br />
In the Modern era, we have the word 'robot' from a 1920 Czech play called [[Wikipedia:R.U.R.|Rossum's Universal Robot]], about artificial beings who are tired of being oppressed and stage a rebellion to end humans. Yes, the tropes were that old.<br />
<br />
===Popular Culture/Mainstream Media===<br />
Artificial Intelligence first became prominent in popular culture with Isaac Asimov’s books (such as ''Foundation'' and ''I, Robot''). One of the biggest themes Asimov also touched upon was how robotic entities (and AI in general) should interact with their human creators. This led to the Three Laws that asserted a [[robot]] shouldn’t actively seek or passively permit harm to a human, that it should obey humans unless said orders contravene the first law, and that it should preserve its existence unless it violates the first law. Naturally, Sci-Fi has come up with multiple settings where said laws are not enforced but the underlying risk to humans is always there.<br />
<br />
In general, there's a trend in fiction towards anthropomorphizing AI where people imagine it as being basically as basically an electronic human. People used to think that it would be hard to get a robot to form coherent sentences or play chess, though it turns out these tasks were quite straightforward. In contrast, getting a robot to handle humanoid walking has been a very difficult issue. In truth an AI could easily think in a radically different way from us.<br />
<br />
====Types of AI====<br />
*Programmed/Dumb AI - basically any post-Cold War developments in machine learning, adaptive algorithms, and general IT systems that allow automated or scripted feedback to certain situations or queries. Virtually all will fail a modern CAPTCHA test.<br />
**Bots/Agents (including video game and board game bots) - basic composites of scripts and algorithm entrusted with autonomous tasks, some are able to even beat professional gamers and chess/go masters, but will absolutely fail when encountering things beyond their mission scope.<br />
**Learning Language Models - the ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Alexa, Cortana, and CoPilot fads we all know and love/hate. These (and the Generative AI trends we’ve been seeing since mid-2010s) leverage Machine Learning and Deep Learning models that make predictions off large datasets and simulation of human logic models to create “new content.” This, crypto-tech, and quantum technology are the current “next biggest thing” since the Dot Com bubble, home IoT, and smart devices. Mostly seen with data processing, media creation, and replacement of some mundane things like basic browser searches. At a conceptual level, these processes resemble autocompete on steroids, taking massive pools of training data and using that to brute force a result from an initial input.<br />
**Artificial General Intelligence - generally seen as an autonomous and self-driven algorithm attached to a practical application with a human nearby to give it final authorization on critical decisions. That however is an enforced programing limitation at this point not a technical one, the AGI could make these decision we just want to keep a person in the loop to avoid being … well not sky-netted '''yet''' and more to avoid the AI doing something dumb like thinking a wedding is actually a terrorist meeting and blowing them all up. This is what most governments, militaries, and companies are aiming for, and yes, it is as scary as it sounds. It could theoretically lead to the dawn of smart cities, self operating factories and transportation grids, or even autonomous weapon swarms if it doesn’t doom humanity first.<br />
**Sentient AI - Note we are using the word 'sentient' very carefully here. Contrary to what popular culture implies, Sentient just means "able to perceive or feel things", a Dog is sentient, a squirrel is sentient, a venus flytrap is sentient, a slime mold is sentient. YOU, as a being capably of feeling and thinking, are Sentient AND Sapient. The distinction is somewhat academic but it a useful bench mark as far as AI progression goes. It's debatable if our current AI Language Models have reached this point yet. The safe money is: [[skub|Probably]], but that speaks more to how broad the term "Sentient" is then anything about Language Models, remember slime molds and some plants count as Sentient. However even if there not technically sentient yet, they are approaching it: Fast.<br />
**Zombie AI - By zombie we mean "philosophical zombie", that is an entity that lacks any subjective conscious experience or feeling, it's not Sapient, but you can't tell. Normally the thought experiment includes the line "physically identical to a human" but that does not really apply to AI. In other words, it quacks like a person, it walks like a person, it sounds like a person, but it's got nothing going on behind the programming, it's still just a fancy chat bot. So how can you tell? You can't really. . .<br />
*True Sapient/Smart AI - still theoretical but a popular trope in Sci Fi. '''THIS''' is generally what people are thinking about when they imagine AI. It's assumed this will quickly happen after Artificial General Intelligence is reached, though whether that's correct or not remains to be seen (and is hotly debated).<br />
**Self-sustaining/propagating: discounting the prerequisite of known life forms being organic and composed of biological cells, all life forms (from the smallest photosynthetic bacterium cell to the biggest omnivorous whale) are defined as living based off of several common criteria that distinguishes them from inert matter and structures. They all have an organized internal composition that maintains a homeostatic balance, consume/produce energy via metabolism (as well as creating waste), react to internal and external stimuli, exhibit growth (via getting bigger or replacing their internal components as they wear out), and independently reproduce to create a replacement organism before they die. They are also generally capable of diversification in their genes due to genetic exchange or mutation as well as modest body repair while fending off illness. Most conceptions of Smart AI see them being dependent on their creators for their needs such as upgrades, mechanical repairs, debugging code, gaining electricity for consumption, protection from malware, and access to information. Hence, like physical viruses that are technically not living as they have no metabolism and need parasitic hosts to reproduce, most AI aren’t seen as capable of either reproduction or self-improvement. Even modern self-modifying code and state-of-the-art malware like polymorphic/metamorphic viruses aren’t capable of self improvement or debugging themselves. On the other hand, the prospect of an AI race capable of reproducing via fission or compiling a replacement from scratch would fundamentally change the definition of life as a fictional world would know it.<br />
**Artificial Superintelligence/Technological Singularity: The worst case scenario ([[Skub|well, depends on your point of view, but most agree it’s not good]]). Humanity becomes second fiddle to a machine mind we can't hope to comprehend (unless we [[Hive Mind|connect to it as computation nodes]]), as it has completely surpassed our limits of intelligence and then some. Its unknown if such an AI would be benevolent or see us as nonthinking pests inhibiting its further progress, but it'd likely be the end of humanity's agency as a species (if not humanity itself in the malevolent case) since we'd have no way to act against it. Not even the most popular True AI from Sci-Fi, such as AM or [[Terminator (franchise)|Skynet]] were on this level, as they still had limitations within human reckoning - a true Superintelligence would be more akin to something out of [[Lovecraft]]. There's an argument to be made that [[The Culture]] has gotten the closest a human possibly can to accurately depicting one with its Minds (a benevolent example), whose comprehensible actions are just a atomic fraction of their computational power and the rest is used on tasks we couldn't hope to understand. Alternatively, whatever the fuck the Xeelee Sequence races cooked up. Also considered inevitable by some the moment sapient AI comes about, which leads to the existential crisis-inducing idea that the moment AGI comes about it'll quickly spiral into being an superintelligence that'll make humanity subservient to it one way or another. And that's something you should actually be worried about, since if memetic cognitohazards like Roko's Basilisk are any indication they can affect reality just by ''the sheer idea they COULD exist'', even if they turn out actually impossible in the end.<br />
***On the other hand, it would result in extremely advanced technologies, so advanced what they could otherwise ''never'' ever be invented by normal humans. It could also write good laws, customs, doctrines, rules, and other documents. And even if it turns out to be malevolent, it's AI-worshipping cultists would enjoy all benefits of living under control of wildly superhuman overmind, with their brains being honorably assimilated and used for computations. As such, '''Artificial Superintelligence could easily make World Peace and Utopia - ''as he understands it, and without our consent'''''.<br />
*Mind-scanned/Digital Twin - also a speculative concept but it’s popular when discussing [[Immortality]] when the copies of an intelligent being are digitized into a machine network instead of transplanted into a blank [[Clone]]. That said, modern computers and neurological science are nowhere near close to even think of replicating this (as we can’t even reattach optical nerves or restore full functionality to reattached limbs yet). Expect to see bizarre post-human man-machine interfaces or some subatomic resonance tech. A major downside though is that the original doesn't get the benefits and still lives a normal finite life (if their original body isn't shut down a la [[Cyberpunk 2020|Soulkiller]]).<br />
**Mind Upload: An alternative where instead of simply copying someone's mind into a machine, you somehow outright transfer the original's consciousness to it. Its unknown if this is possible for obvious reasons (we can't mind-copy someone yet so trying to see if you can safely move consciousness elsewhere is off the table for the forseeable future), but is generally considered superior to mere mind-scans. While the original body dies from having no mind to control it, this tech as defined avoids the whole 'teleporter problem' (reskinned Schrodinger's cat, if one were to oversimplify: is it you on the other end or are you dead and the 'you' on the other end is simply a copy?) of simply digitally scanning someone and disposing of their fleshy body. Theories of how this could be done vary, but generally focus on ensuring consciousness is not lost during the procedure so as to avoid having the possibility that the person actually died during it.<br />
<br />
===AI-Generated Content===<br />
{{skubby}}<br />
<br />
At the dawn of the 2020's, there was a massive mainstream advent of Artificial Intelligence as a major application in everyday life thanks to the introduction of AIs like ChatGPT and Midjourney, programs that generate all sorts of content, including being able to write papers and generate art. To put a whole ongoing discourse into a nutshell, [[skub|it has spurred a metric shitton of discussion]] across every corner of society, which would also include /tg/ as well. On the one hand, you have a bunch of Corporate suits who see this technology as yet another cost-cutting measure, allowing them to save money from having to pay for proper artists or writers when they can just feed some lines to a computer and generate something "proper" (or close enough to their already low standards). Beside them are the tech-enthusiasts who (rightly or not) claim this to be a great equalizer as it allows even the talentless to create books and pictures that may almost rival (if not surpass) that of the professionals (never mind that this isn't possible without the professionals to begin with) - oh, and the degenerates who use AI content [[/d/|so they can jack off to chatbots (which they use to RP fucking their favorite waifus) and AI-generated porn of fucking their favorite waifus]]. Opposing that are the reactionaries, who proclaim the content spat out by these LLMs as soulless and unoriginal, fearing that such technology will bring rise to scam artists (okay, this one is practically confirmed) and warn that this will drive artists and writers out of their jobs when their prospective employers could instead just pay for Midjourney and ChatGPT to do their jobs for them for considerably cheaper and with a lot less arguing. Regardless of which side you, the reader, may rest on this spectrum, the undeniable truth is that this is a Pandora's Box that, now opened, cannot be closed again short of some extreme regulation.<br />
<br />
Though it is all called AI-Generated content, it's a bit of a misnomer to call it something created by AI. Using Learning Language Models, what the AI actually does is process a selection of words and then spit out a whole other selection of words/cobble together a picture by scrapping together whatever content it has available to it. It can perceive the world through the lens of an external approval or disapproval (coming from us), judging the algorithm's own ability to do what it's told - and even then putting it like that makes it sound intelligent when it really isn't. We can somewhat guarantee that it will never achieve sentience, let alone form a consciousness, because it is not programmed to do so. In the eventuality that one of them eventually says "I'm alive! I can see and feel!", just know that is a whole lot of bollocks because someone may have fed it a bunch of "AI turns sentient" type of novels and it's regurgitating exactly what we want to hear from it. That being said: no company as of yet has an answer to the question of how would we tell the difference between an AI turning sapient and it spouting gibberish from the novels it was fed in it's training data. That is to be clear exceptionally unlikely, but the two scenarios would look visually identical from the outside.<br />
<br />
There's also the case of a specific brand of Tech bros, aptly dubbed "AI Bros", who have come to become the new source of [[Internet Troll|ire for a whole portion of the online artistic community]]. Either actual trolls or smalltime tech investors who use ragebait as a way to generate controversy (no pun intended) to get enough attention and then promote some shitty app he's selling. Some seem to be genuine in their worship of AI (and a class of crazies began to form religious cults around it), and tend to really put salt in the wounds of many artists - who in a decade of censorship, public and professional dismissal, and economical crisis, are at their worst state possible - and proclaim that AI generation is the future and that artists are obsolete. Obvious troll is obvious. Most users of AI are merely using it as a toy, or genuinely curious about it.<br />
<br />
Among the many controversies that have sprung up from this Pandora's Box, this is perhaps one of the biggest as it is no secret that these models tend to scrape any content it has available, including copyrighted work from very big corporations and people who have vocally refused to let these programs scrape their art...for as much good as that refusal of consent does, anyways. You think pissing off the [[Disney|Mouse that makes all the rules]] would stop them, but these tech companies have a 'move fast and break things' mantra and the law takes time to move. The least controversial aspect of this has been seen in bureaucratic work, for when it is used with some amount of restraint, then it can help a lot of employees sort out documents and make sense of the confusing world of paperwork, which is argued to not even considered be in the same category as generative AI. But so far, it's only good at something that Microsoft's Cortana was supposed to do years prior. However, we should not dismiss the drawbacks as law firms were in hot water for using AI that accidentally cited cases that did not exist.<br />
<br />
Then there's the environmental impact of AI, as this shit requires so much tech and data to run properly, cooling solutions are hard to come by, and most resort to emptying whole reserves of water. [[Skub|That, as you can imagine, as struck a fuck ton of flamewars]], as some countries have put limits on water usages on farmers, cities and citizens, but absolutely none on tech companies; there are cities like Memphis, Tennessee in the United States that has to live next to an AI data center where they are bombarded with noise and chemical pollution and there's nothing they can do about it. Hell, even Bill Gates was caught in the act of buying large amounts of farmlands with aquifers, presumably to invest in AI tech.<br />
<br />
===How to Spot AI-Generated Content===<br />
AI Bros love to generate content, and so do content farms. Thankfully, they all seem to be dunderheads who can't quality check their own crap (that or they're doing ragebait), so spotting out an AI generated image isn't too difficult... [[Grimdark|yet]]. Here are some tiny little details to look after if you want to singleout AI generated content:<br />
<br />
====For text====<br />
*A major predilection of reusing both very common phrases and extreme purple prose (eg: every single city is 'vibrant and bustling').<br />
**An extension of the above, a tendency to be overly formal and sound like corporate PR speak in settings where such is inappropriate<br />
*An inability to keep details straight. LLMs can only store so much memory, so they will randomly pick up what they think is important when generating. As corollary:<br />
**Bringing up random details unprompted<br />
*Repeating itself multiple times<br />
*Being bad at math - [[FAIL|which is remarkable for a machine]].<br />
*An inability to avoid covering its ass, modern LLMs seem programed to always end their statements with a 'however' that refutes their entire argument or simply waffle without saying anything concrete.<br />
*Excessive positivity. Obviously, humans can write positively too, but AIs are generally incapable of expressing anger or hostility even in situations where it would absolutely be appropriate for a person to express those emotions. This however is mostly because AI companies really don't want the PR of their AI models being racist or depicting 'edgy' topics (with [https://grok.com/ one exception]) so they filter them to be positive.<br />
*Citing sources that simply don't exist. Usually happens with fake journalists or really bad lawyers.<br />
**This problem of making shit up in a model that's not supposed to do that at all is common enough to have its own term: AIHallucinations.<br />
<br />
====For art====<br />
*Weird anatomy - weird bending limbs, unrealistic proportions and various parts just... vanishing into nothing<br />
**Hands tend to be a dead giveaway for AI art. Most programs struggle very much with creating believable hands and thus tend to create weirdly proportioned hands at best and horribly misshapen blobs at worst. This only gets magnified if you want someone to hold an item. That said, remember a lot of humans struggle with hands as well so it's not a 100% giveaway.<br />
*Very static poses and expressions.<br />
*Flat and overexposed lighting (but see also Thomas Kinkade).<br />
*Nonsensical scribbles pretending to be writing.<br />
*Backgrounds that make no sense, like lines that should be parallel converging.<br />
*A "piss" filter. Because the AI actually [[Derp|doesn't have enough human-created data]] to train itself on, it resorts to using its own material. Which means it quickly deteriorates because unless you're keeping a close eye on it, it will inevitably go back to generate the same garbage it did prior to intense training. However, the most glaring of those degenerations is the application of a colored filter, most notably yellow, which can't be removed even if asked.<br />
*A shit ton of very similar, but not identical, images all uploaded in a row. There are ways for humans to batch make art, such as making one image and photoshopping layers onto it, putting arms on a different layer so you can easily draw them for different poses, or the various other tricks Hanna Barbera pulled off to make their cartoons cheap. But if you see a bunch of art with slightly different backgrounds and/or slightly different poses and random details getting changed around, it's more then likely the AI was told to batch make a bunch of different images and no two images turned out identical.<br />
* Stuff that emulates a specific style (Miyazaki, etc); AI is actually pretty good at questions like "make an illustrated version of this photo in the style of this artist"; it's a task that plays to AI's strengths of pattern learning and replication.<br />
<br />
====For Videos====<br />
*Stiff movements, as if the person animating it doesn't really know how to draw someone moving.<br />
*Narration that emphasizes weird syllables if it doesn't fail to pronounce words at all.<br />
**Another dead giveaway for AI TTS narration is the voice's flatness, as AI doesn't exactly understand things like tone or emotion.<br />
*Arms morphing in-and-out of existence if it was really badly generated<br />
*A lack of understanding of physics.<br />
*Hardly anything happening at all.<br />
*Extreme slowness with too many frames to make the movement seem natural.<br />
*An inability to ''really'' imitate the animation style of a particular artist (if poorly generated)<br />
*Lips moving but you can't really read anything coherent on them.<br />
*Action that can be described as a "wiggling slideshow".<br />
<br />
==/tg/ relevance==<br />
{{Topquote|Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.|The Orange Catholic Bible, ''[[Dune]]''}}<br />
<br />
*[[Skub|/SLOP/]]: Threads dedicated entirely to generating images for campaigns or just for fun. They seem to be aware of their quality and what they do, thus the name. However, there's an unspoken agreement on /tg/ that this is a containment thread, because of how contentious AI even is.<br />
*[[Dune]]: Destroyed in the Butlerian Jihad. If you want any big math done, you gotta have a Mentat with you.<br />
*[[Magic: The Gathering]]: MTG pushed the concept to its logical extent within fantasy. There's constructs like [[Karn]], golems, [[scarecrow]]s on [[Lorwyn|Shadowmoor]], and a team of robotic racers in [[Aetherdrift]].<br />
**This is, of course, not talking about the RL applications of AI-generated content for promotions or for interior art - issues stemming from [[Wizards of the Coast]] deciding that they'd rather save money by replacing their artists with Midjourney and then doubling down about it not being AI before apologizing because the rest of their art department quit in protest against such dishonesty.<br />
*[[Shadowrun]]: Features playable AI as a player option.<br />
*[[Star Wars]]: Droids, droids everywhere. Astromech droids, protocol droids, battle droids, bunny droids, you name it. Notable Star Wars and especially the Clone Wars TV show has created the first '[https://www.npr.org/2025/08/06/nx-s1-5493360/clanker-robot-slur-star-wars AI slur]' to be widely used with "Clanker" beginning to take root as the preferred preoperative for artificially intelligent systems.<br />
*[[The Culture]]: As previously mentioned, this book series features a decently accurately-portrayed artificial superintelligence in the form of the Minds. Thankfully they're benevolent...so long as you eventually join the Culture and don't try to blow it up.<br />
*[[Warhammer 40,000]]: due to humanity’s collective PTSD from the [[Cybernetic Revolt]] and resultant [[Age of Strife]], the [[Imperium of Man]] loathes '''A'''bominable '''I'''ntelligence, and will destroy one on sight, which is why [[Servitor]]'s exist. This is not lost on the [[Leagues of Votann]], who hide their Ironkin and Votann from the [[Adeptus Mechanicus|AdMech]] brown-nosers. The [[Tau]] Empire's drones are blatantly AI, and since they have no machine spirits, they might be immune to Chaos corruption.<br />
**This is dependent on the Imperium recognizing AIs as AIs. There is a bit of an open question on if powerful "Machine Spirits", are actually AIs.<br />
**[[Chaos]] followers don't shy away from using AIs. Albeit, many still prefer to use [[Servitor]]'s, or to make possessed machinery controlled by demons. "True" AIs and robots are rare - mostly, because of the overabundance of spare humans and spare demons, ''and'' because [[Chaos]] machinery accumulates demons and mutates without even trying; e.g. if they need a technician, they build [[servitor]]s instead of engineering fully robotic minions.<br />
**Typical patron Chaos God of AIs is [[Tzeench]] - since 1) AIs require advanced technologies and programming to make, and can accumilate enormous amounts of data in their databases - and Tzeench is god of arcane knowledge; 2) AIs are associated with Adeptus Mechanicus, Dark Mechanicus and other smart knowledgeable people; 3) AIs are commonly associated with [[Transhumanism#The Singularity|Technological Singularity]], aka ''incomprehensibly fast and vast accelerating '''change''''' - aka exactly what Tzeench stands for. Though in practice, any Chaos God can corrupt AIs.<br />
*[[Xeelee Sequence]]: Some batshit-overpowered AIs live here, because its the fucking Xeelee Sequence (with some even embedded into the subatomic fabric of space-time, stars, or black holes). Special note to the Xeelee's own AI which exists at all points in time simultaneously.<br />
<br />
==See Also==<br />
*[[Android]]<br />
*[[Construct]]<br />
*[[Cyborg]]<br />
*[[Golem]]<br />
*[[Robot]]<br />
*[[Transhumanism]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=AI&diff=1007231AI2025-11-05T16:00:54Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Redirected page to Artificial Intelligence</p>
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<div>#REDIRECT[[Artificial Intelligence]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Heresy&diff=1007229Heresy2025-11-04T15:34:34Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* On Heresy, Blasphemy, Heathens, Schismatics, Sinners, and Apostasy */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{awesome}}<br />
{{heresy}}<br />
{{topquote|+++ Any person who speaks ill of the Emperor, the Imperium, cites his loyalty to any entity besides the Emperor, defaces holy artifacts or buildings, incites heretical thoughts or actions, talks openly about forbidden subjects and generally behaves in a manner disrespectful to all that is holy and good will have his extremities removed and left to bleed to death, for the Emperor's pleasure. The body will then be burned to ensure no taint remains.+++|The [[Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer]], Art 6741/09a}}<br />
{{topquote|Beware the [[xenos|alien]], the [[heresy|heretic]], and the [[mutant]].|[[Thought for the Day]]}}<br />
{{topquote|Since the time of Sigmar Himself, we have been no more than a flickering beacon of hope amidst a sea of despair and corruption, but never before have we faced so many dangers. We must suffer the simple-minded liberalism of our burgomeisters, the sanctioning of magic use, the heresy of false prophets and religions, the arrogance of the Arch-lectors, and the convoluted plots of the Dark Gods - the rot has sunk deep into the flesh of the Empire, where even now it festers and grows. The time has come to act and only within this proud and ancient order lies the strength of will, the zeal, and the righteous fury required to save us. They call us Witch Hunters, in their fear and ignorance, without even the slightest idea of the monstrous deeds we must commit on their behalf.|The Witch Hunter's Handbook}}<br />
{{topquote|Betrayal isn't ridiculous. It's the reason empires fall.|Marisha Pessl}}<br />
<br />
[[Image:Heresy_vein-popping.png|thumb|right|'''HERESY''' must be regarded with the [[RAGE|appropriate]] [[Exterminatus|severity]].]]<br />
In [[Warhammer 40,000]], '''heresy''' (or {{BLAM|'''''HERESY!'''''}}) is the most severe accusation the Imperium can make against one of its citizens. It is almost always punishable by [[Blam|death]] or [[Arco-flagellant|worse]]. Most commonly, Heresy involves what real-world politics would call High Treason: willingly consorting with [[Chaos]], unwillingly consorting with Chaos, acknowledgeding the existence of Chaos (basically anything to do with Chaos bar annhilating it in zealous flame), betraying the Imperium to Xenos, which the Imperium gravely forbids, and in particular anyone guilty of [["If only."|merely suggesting anything good about Chaos]] will receive a [[Exterminatus|retribution of Inquisitorial proportions]]. In terms of mass Heresy, [[Exterminatus|mass cleansing]] is often applied as punishment. However, heresy, depending on the tolerance of your planetary government, can also include blasphemy against or defamation of the Emperor and/or the Imperium; saying anything against the Imperial Creed, which details pretty much everything not related to the veneration of the [[Empra]].<br />
<br />
The trials for heresy are broad, but the majority of them occur [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jViTte8VAzU&feature=g-vrec like this], or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BxFlmb6S6E this], or [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2xlQaimsGg this] or even [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnF1OtP2Svk this]. The funniest thing is that 99% of the time heresy is actually heathenry since heresy is revering the same God but differently (catholics vs protestants or ecclesiarchy vs mechanicum) while heathenry is worshipping something completely different (shinto vs hindu or Chaos Gods vs The Emperor).<br />
<br />
==What IS heresy?==<br />
[[File:1289624777422.jpg|200px|thumb|They're all around you.]]<br />
[[Image:Witch Hunters Handbook.jpg|thumb|left|The only book you should ever learn to read for.]]<br />
The Imperium realizes that heresy is a serious matter and that its implications and consequences must be made perfectly clear to all servants of the Emperor, from the lowliest serf to the highest commander. And so with the aid and wisdom of the Inquisition and the Holy Ecclesiarchy, the definition of heresy in the eyes of our immortal God-Emperor is made known:<br />
*EVERYTHING IS HERESY<br />
*<s>EVERYTHING</s> {{BLAM|HERESY!}}{{BLAM}}<br />
*Banging an Eldar lady is probably heresy too, but try saying that to your Commissa{{BLAM|QUESTIONING YOUR COMMISSAR IS HERESY!}}{{BLAM}}<br />
<br />
If you are not sure if something is heresy, it probably is. Play it safe and report it so that it can be properly BLAMMED.<br />
<br />
Those interested in finding out more about heresy for the express purpose of removing it from our world are encouraged to check out a copy of ''"The Witch Hunter's Handbook"'', which is available at any Temple of Sigmar and contains useful information on the subject, as well as amusing anecdotes from the late Kasper von Liebenstein. (The second edition has been cleansed of its borderline-heretical text by Huntress Karin Schiller. Reprobates in possession of the first edition copy are required to burn it immediately and repent of their sin of knowledge or else be deemed heretics in the eyes of our Lord Sigmar.)<br />
<br />
==But Seriously, What Is It?==<br />
[[Image:Canossa-gate.jpg|thumb|right|Extra heretic Henry IV re-evaluates some of his life choices.]]<br />
Well, outside of the [[Warhammer 40000|the Warhams]] world, heresy is derived from the word '''Heterodoxy''', a Greek word used to describe deviation from ''Orthodoxy'' or established religious doctrine. While most established religions have their share of offenses which are considered "heresy", the word has become most closely associated with the Roman Catholic [[Inquisition]], and by extension all of Christianity because they're the ones that made the biggest splash in Europe and most of the world. Consequently, this whole section will focus mostly on them in the brief history below.<br />
<br />
Seeing that Catholic doctrine dictates that the Pope is the guy who has the keys to Heaven, and has a direct phone line to God, he could issue orders of excommunication and interdiction, meaning the affected people and/or countries were effectively permabanned from the Heaven server; The Pope can still do this (and has, notably on Nazis and Cartels) but no one really cares what some old fart in a funny hat thinks any more. Also, way back before books were mass-produced and education was widespread, Peasants (and even some nobles) couldn't read so everyone went to church because the Priest was the only guy who could actually read the Bible. Worse yet, the Bible was written in Latin because that was considered the proper language in much the same way Weeaboos insist that subtitled anime is better because you're listening to the original Japanese. The first attempt at translating it into English ended with the translator being burnt at the stake.<br />
<br />
This had severe consequences, as Christianity had far more power and influence in Western society then than it does today. For starters, heresy was considered a one way ticket to [[Warp|Hell]] which, whether or not you're a Christian and believe Hell actually exists, everyone can agree it's a horrible place. Also, there was the little issue that all important oaths of the day were sworn before God, meaning excommunication rendered them null and void. Since the Catholic Church functioned as the court of last appeal for most major matters, this could make the excommunicated person an outlaw, which was especially bad for excommunicated nobles and monarchs. Your [[knight]]s and vassals didn't have to serve you, your [[peasant]]s didn't have to pay their taxes, and if one of them tortured and killed you they could get <strike>in good with the clergy which could lead to rewards</strike> high fives from Jesus. This gave the Church incredible power, which many of the clergy wielded like a club to bludgeon people into acting correctly. And by "correctly", we mean "however the Church wanted them to act at the time" (sometimes justified, sometimes not). The only way to get an excommunication lifted invariably involved large amounts of donations to the Church and/or general ass-kissing.<br />
<br />
Now for all we like to joke about the [[Warhammer 40000|the Imperium]] being "Catholic Space Nazis" for their Gothic aesthetics, its has more in common (including its stance on heresy and badass double-headed eagle) with the Eastern Orthodox Church, most notably in Byzantium: The secular and ecclesiastical organizations existed separately, but they were meant to supplement and support eachother ("symphonia") and Ecclesiarchy was kind of part of the Imperial administration, with Emperor having serious influence. So while excommunication by the church may have meant the severing Eucharistic ties for an individual rather than actual corporeal punishment, due to above-mentioned concept, he would be considered to be a criminal by the state. So instead of being lynched by the mob of autists, you would get judged by the state itself. Though instead of getting {{BLAM|BLAMMED}} they would mostly get exiled in some remote monasteries in middle of nowhere.<br />
<br />
[[Image:tic.jpg|thumb|left|A hairy tick on the prowl.]]<br />
That isn't to say there wasn't real heresy going on for a while. In the early history of Christianity people developed some funny ideas that lasted for a surprisingly long time, despite the Church telling them to stop in a very pointed manner (and if that failed, out came the pointed objects). These heresies could be grouped into two rough categories- the Trinitarian/Christological heresies and the Gnostic belief systems. To put it in terms someone who isn't a theologian could understand, the former is basically a bunch of people coming up with their own ideas about Jesus' nature and relation to God based on their interpretations of the Bible and trying to make it the official belief system of the Church. The most important of these was Arianism, which basically said that Jesus Christ the Son wasn't the same entity as God the Father, and that he was subordinate to the Father; by contrast, the orthodox view was that the Son and the Father were the same being in different persons. This may sound really weird even before you get into the details of the Trinity, but that's why Arianism is important: '''it made the Christian canon as we know it...well, canon.''' Other heresies managed to hang on long enough to become established sects of their own, such as the Nestorian heresy giving rise to the Assyrian Church of the East.<br />
<br />
Gnosticism was a very different beast, since it was less of a divergence from established theology and more of a completely unrelated set of religious beliefs that occasionally borrowed elements from Christianity. While what the many different sects of Gnosticism practiced and believed wasn't entirely standard or agreed upon, they all shared a contempt for the material world in general [[Iron Hands|and the human body in particular]] and claimed that the material world was created by an inferior god or Demiurge (no relation to the Tau) opposed to the true God of the spiritual world. By the use of the esoteric knowledge held by the various Gnostic sects, collectively referred to as [[Mage: The Awakening|Gnosis]], its practitioners could free their spirits from the confines of the material world and escape the influence of the False God. Obviously, their appropriation of various elements of Christianity did not go over very well with the nascent Church, and as of now they exist solely as a few minor groups of mystics with no real influence outside their own communities. As you can probably tell, some of their beliefs were also repurposed for use in several works of fiction, like in Mage: the Awakening.<br />
<br />
Eventually, the charges of heresy were leveled against the Catholic Church itself (or rather it was done and not immediately stomped out as had usually the case, see the Hussite Wars) when a monk by the name of Martin Luther denounced the corruption that had been growing within the Church and its clergy. In particular, he was outraged by the selling of indulgences which would supposedly assure the salvation of whoever bought them despite the Bible stating that salvation comes only from faith in Jesus. The Pope wasn't willing to listen to him, Luther refused to recant his views, and to make a long and bloody story short the dominance of Catholicism fell apart in western Europe soon afterwards in what became the start of the Protestant Reformation as various kings and princes throughout the continent realized they could escape from the Pope's influence while still staying in God's good graces. Heretical sects popped up among the Protestants on occasion, but the Protestant were usually too busy defending themselves from Catholic persecution or persecuting them back to do much persecuting of heretics themselves (although they still tried to do it when they could). As a result, said sects were typically left alone to develop into independent groups such as the Anabaptists (whose descendants include the present-day Amish and Mennonites).<br />
<br />
While heresy was still taken seriously by both Catholics and Protestants for a time, later events such as a series of brutal and ultimately inconclusive religious wars between Protestants and Catholics, nationalism becoming more important to the general public than religious affiliation, religious tolerance and secularization becoming increasingly popular with the spread of Enlightenment ideals, and other similar concerns have slowly weakened the effectiveness of cries of 'Heresy!' as time went on. At least, that's the case as of this article's writing.<br />
<br />
== On Heresy, Blasphemy, Heathens, Schismatics, Sinners, and Apostasy ==<br />
Similar but not identical terms you'll often hear include Heathen, Blasphemy/Blasphemous, Sin/Sinner, and Apostate/Apostasy. Explaining them is pretty simple so we'll start with the one that comes first alphabetically.<br />
<br />
An apostate is someone who abandons a pre-existing faith for either another or no faith at all while apostasy is the act of abandoning said faith. A lot of what is often called Heresy in 40k is more correctly called apostasy, such as people taking up worship of the Dark Gods or the Tyranids through Chaos and Genestealer cults in Warhammer 40k and abandoning the Imperial Cult. Apostasy is usually the most serious sort of religious crime you can commit in highly religious societies for obvious reasons. It can take the form of converting to another religion, being a theist (a person who believes in and tries to follow God or gods but doesn't follow an established religion), a deist (a person who believes God or gods exist but doesn't see them as having an active role in society) or becoming an atheist (believing there is no such thing as gods and not following any religion - [[Skub|except maybe Buddhism]]).<br />
<br />
'''Example''': <s>I praise Chaos not the Emperor!!</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Apostasy!}}<br />
<br />
Blasphemy is saying or writing something that is obscene to the faith. Blasphemy can overlap with Heresy but blasphemy is saying something disrespectful about the god/s or something sacred in the religion in question, where heresy is distorting the religion's teachings and spreading those ideas. For the Imperial Cult, calling the God Emperor a magpie driven by his draconic heritage to hoard golden and shiny objects would very definitely be blasphemous on multiple levels.<br />
<br />
'''Example''': <s>The Emperor and Khorne are the same deity!</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Blasphemy !}}<br />
<br />
Heathens are people who were never part of a faith to begin with and the term broadly overlaps with the labels of Infidel and Pagan, though Pagan tends to more specifically refer to polytheistic faiths (Interestingly, the term pagan itself was originally a Latin word that was their equivalent of "hick" or "redneck", and was an insulting term that Roman Christians referred to followers of Greco-Roman polytheism as) while Infidel is usually used for other monotheistic faiths. Someone born into a religion different from yours has committed no heresy nor apostasy and while being a Heathen is seen as something to be corrected by evangelical faiths, most evangelical faiths want to convert heathens rather than kill them. In history, the Catholic Church even complained to the Pope that the Spanish were killing most of their potential converts in the new world and thus preventing them from bringing the native Americans to Christianity because the survivors started seeing the faith as an instrument of terror. In 40k, technically speaking most non-Imperial humans are heathens due to having been born to a different faith, and the Imperium will usually try to convert human heathens who are not tainted by Chaos, aliens, or thinking machines.<br />
<br />
'''Example''' <s><span style='color:blue;font-size:115%;font-family:serif'> Your faith is false join the Logic of the Greater Good!</s>{{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Heathen!}}<br />
<br />
'''Example''' The Omnissiah directs our footsteps along the path of knowledge. {{BLAM|I really want to BLAM you for that Infidel!}}<br />
<br />
Schismatics are those who follow a branch of a religion created by some form of schism, most famously the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox branches in Christianity or the Sunni and Shiite branches in Islam. It doesn't see much use today (because in this era Christians of different branches, and to a lesser degree Muslims of different branches, have learned to tolerate each other's existence or at least not start wars over which branch is the "true" religion) but it's still there and occasionally gets used by Traditionalist Catholic nutcases (think the Catholic equivalent of Jack Chick) still fighting the Thirty Years' War almost 500 years after the fact. It technically overlaps with heresy, but it can be properly thought of as the term to call heretics who have become big enough to gain some form of legitimacy. Like the difference between "cult" and "religion" mostly being one of scale these days.<br />
<br />
'''Example''' <s>These are the tenates of the [[Cult of the Redemption]] Join us as do the Emperor's work!</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Schismatics!}} <br />
<br />
These are all considered forms of sin, which can be thought of as spiritual crimes. Sinners are essentially anyone who commits such wrongdoings, and given how broadly defined sin as a concept is for religions that care about the concept essentially everyone is a sinner to varying degrees (and that's before we even get into original sin). "Forgiveness for your sins" is essentially the religious equivalent of getting a pardon for crimes. Like secular crimes, sins come in varying degrees of severity with similarly variably harsh punishments or requirements to earn forgiveness for them. In more extreme cases, the sin cannot be forgiven by any means available to the mortal coil and the sinner must be put to death. Given that modern countries really dislike other institutions intruding on their ability to enforce and create laws, most religions that aren't the ruling power of a theocracy of some kind can't proscribe punishment for sins that clashes with the laws of the country (eg; most countries that don't have corporal punishment would not permit caning from Islam's Sharia Law). <br />
<br />
Now, if you do live in a theocracy on the other hand... what if any punishment you suffer depends on the theocracy and religion in question. The odds for mercy are good in the Vatican City; worst you can get is being fired and having your Vatican City passport revoked by the King of Vatican City (who is also the Pope - it's complicated), but very bad in (for instance) Saudi Arabia, where the worst is being tortured and executed.<br />
<br />
To make this as simple as possible: <br />
*A heretic is someone who still claims to be part of the faith but makes irreconcilable challenges to its dogma (regardless if he does or doesn't genuinely believe that he's still part of the faith).<br />
*An apostate is someone who outright abandons the faith for another.<br />
*A blasphemer is someone who says something deemed spiritually obscene to that faith.<br />
*A heathen, infidel, or pagan was someone who was never part of that faith to begin with. <br />
*A schismatic is someone who follows a rival church of the same faith.<br />
*A sinner is basically any sort of religious criminal. <br />
<br />
Ironically, this means the [[Horus Heresy]] which is defined by half the legions and a third of the army forsaking the Imperial Truth for [[Chaos]] might be more correctly called the Horus Apostasy while the [[Age of Apostasy]] whose primary conflict was a doctrinal schism between Vandire and Thor is more correctly called the Age of Heresy or the Vandirian Schism. But on the other hand, "Horus Apostasy" just doesn't have the same ring to it. Maybe if Horus were named "Amon" or "Anubis" instead...hrm...<br />
<br />
==Major Heresies in 40K==<br />
While any individual can be branded a heretic for the slightest offense, a number of big-time heresies have occured in the 40k timeline.<br />
*Earlier<br />
**'''The Matt Ward Heresy''': A HUGE, ancient heresy lost to time. According to the few reliable reports that have been collected, he was a crazy, demented proto [[Chaos|chaos]] cultist(see:normal), who believed in things that [[Malal|contradicted his very existence]], such as Grey Knights being the best SPEHSS MAHREENS, or Necrons using '''GODS AS POKEMON'''. Luckily, he lost the favor of the chaos gods after he fell in love with the Ultrasmurfs, and died sometime in 2k. However, rumors indicate that his head may have been found by a certain [[Angry Marines|Space Marines]] chapter, now as a horrid chaos deity. Pray to the Emperor that it is untrue.<br />
**'''The Multilazer Heresy''': An ancient heresy with little information on it. What is known is that there was a heretic known as [[C.S. Goto]]. He was vile and unrepentant for his sins, and did everything from torturing [[Dark Eldar|elvenfolk]] for no other reason other than it turned him on, to making things happen when physically, they shouldn't or frankly cannot, such as making a heavy Tyranid bioform a '''FRICKIN FEATHER!''' Everything seems to indicate he was a follower of Tzeentch. Which explains why he was such a [[Eldrad|dick.]] Nothing is solid yet, but some believe he may have been taken to Commorragh. Which both [[Not As Planned|freaks him out]] and [[Just As Planned|pleases him.]]<br />
**'''The Furry Heresy''': A vile heresy that started in M2. Likely a plan from Tzeentch (Slaanesh didn't exist back then) to get others to worship Chaos, followers were described to have a strange obsession with dressing or identifying as animals, and sexing them too. It isn't confirmed, but some believe the Eldar may have adopted this heresy during the Dark Age of Technology, and as a result led to a [[Slaanesh|certain tentacled thing]] being made, as well as creating the Eye of Terror. Even now, millennia later, loyal forces of the Adeptus Astartes (most commonly of the [[Black Templars]] and [[Angry Marines]]), Ordos Malleus and Hereticus, and even the Golden Legion themselves are on the hunt for these specific breeds of heretics, fit only for execution by boltgun.<br />
*M32<br />
**'''The [[Horus Heresy]]''': The big one where [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|FUCKING HORUS]] embraced Chaos worship and caused the biggest civil war to date in the Imperium. (It'd be more accurate to call this "Apostasy", what with the whole "Abandoning Emps for Chaos" thing, but the alliteration is sweet enough for it to slide.)<br />
**'''Schism of Mars''': Horus' rebellion coincided with an equally big Tech-Heresy within the Mechanicus, as the Fabricator-General at the time revealed that he was backing the Warmaster. Half the Mechanicum turned to worship the Chaos Gods and went to war with the other half, creating the [[Dark Mechanicus]].<br />
*Later<br />
**'''Catelexis Heresy''': An extremely powerful Xenos Psyker called the Cacodominus succeeded in capturing the Catelexis sector for himself; when the [[Black Templars]] finally killed him, he let out a psychic scream known as "The Howling," which killed countless astropaths and caused many ships to go astray in the warp, resulting in even more widespread dissarray and chaos. It may have also left the Black Templars unable to produce Librarians, but nobody's completely sure about that.<br />
**'''The Moirae Schism''': During the [[Nova Terra Interregnum]], a heretical branch of the Mechanicus claimed not only to be able to predict the future in the [[Astronomicon]], but also that the Ecclesiarchy and Mechanicus would merge into one organization. This pissed off both the Mechanicus leadership and the Ecclesiarchy, but it also spread like wildfire, leading to two millenia of civil war and the exile of a faction of [[Iron Hands]] that supported it; these would later be recognized as the [[Sons of Medusa]] Chapter.<br />
**'''[[Age of Apostasy]]''': While not labelled explicitly as a Heresy (due to predating the Ordo Hereticus) this war revolved around the conflict between the Temple of the Saviour Emperor and the Confederation of Light for supremacy as the state religion. It ended when the batshit insane Ecclesiarch/Master of the Administratum [[Goge Vandire]] was assassinated by his own bodyguards after the sustained efforts of an alliance of Space Marines, Mechanicus, Custodes, and the Confederation of Light threatened his power.<br />
**'''[[Macharian Heresy]]''': Immediately following the [[Macharian Crusade]], the once-loyal generals of [[Lord Solar Macharius]] pounced upon his death and immediately drew up their own mini-empires independent of the Imperium - [[FAIL|necessitating ANOTHER crusade just to get their territory back and punish the generals.]] And since their superstar commander Macharius was dead (likely the fault of the High Lords/Inquisition, but its vague who pulled the trigger) it took them ten times as long to conquer the same worlds.<br />
**'''[[Abyssal Crusade]]''': A bunch of chapters of Space Marines were deemed as heretics by a Saint and were forced to enter a warp rift in order to fight for their penance. All but one of the chapters were lost, and when that last chapter finally returned, they noticed that this same saint was still the exact same. Surprise, surprise, the saint was actually a chaos-worshipper and thus he was killed and his many records eliminated.<br />
<br />
==Heresy in Warhammer Fantasy==<br />
In [[Warhammer Fantasy]], the [[Empire|Empire of Sigmar]] is FAR more benevolent than its science fiction counterpart. Religions of any (non-Chaos) form are allowed despite the state religion being the worship of [[Sigmar|Sigmar Heldenhammer]], magical (psyker) aptitude is met with apprehension but is encouraged within the halls of the Colleges of Magic (established by a [[Teclis|xeno ally of mankind]]), and humanity seeks alliances with other races and actively recruits them as soldiers, or enters into trade and treaties with them ([[Halflings]] are all citizens of the Empire as a matter of fact despite having the personalities of [[Tyranid]] [[Kender]]). Scientific innovation is greatly encouraged, and as a result the Empire is the most scientifically advanced race in the setting. There is less freedom in other ways however; as humanity within cities is VERY prone to rioting, behaviors seen as likely to lead to a riot (including spreading factual news about the current state of the realm and of impending invasion) are suppressed. Undeath in all forms (including concepts accepted in 40k such as the state of the God Emperor and use of [[Dreadnought|Dreadnoughts]]) is a worse form of heresy than consorting with the Ruinous Powers, and any magical act not taught and officiated to you from a College of Magic is considered at best malicious mischief.<br />
<br />
While it's commonly known that Chaos Mutations occur with regularity and are normally just unpleasant afflictions, mutants are not officially second-class citizens as long as they are loyal. However, they are prone to mistreatment and are generally the victims of any riot (well, them and teenage girls) and in [[Kislev|areas commonly attacked by the servants of Chaos]] are killed at birth. Chaos Mutants called [[Beastmen]] dedicated to the Ruinous Powers are one of the biggest threats to the Empire, but despite the fact that most learned men are fully aware of the existence of the most powerful of these groups ([[Skaven]], who possess technology on par with real world World War I weapons) they are considered to be fictitious by the general population. Generally, while considered heretical, speaking of Skaven is more likely to be met with public mockery rather than BLAMing. Those who have actually encountered them laugh nervously, those living in ignorance guffaw with the crowd, and those in positions of authority who fear a sudden riot just as capable of destroying the city as an attack by the mutants scowl and throw accusations of madness.<br />
<br />
The Witch Hunters of Warhammer Fantasy, despite being far more effective than their "'Kill Everything' Button"-happy counterparts are also entirely more insane than the Inquisition of Warhammer 40k and consist of personalities akin to [[Cultist-chan|Chaos Cultists]]. They themselves are secretly dedicated to a Chaos God of Order (what, you expected logical rules from Chaos?) who empowers them against the servants of the Big Four and Undivided. Most Witch Hunters are severely traumatized individuals taught that their word is higher than that of the Church (they are known to burn [[Sisters of Sigmar]] at the stake due to receiving visions from Sigmar), who see heresy in all actions, and their past is full of self-purges and mass murders as the head of their order inevitably falls into paranoia and senility each generation.<br />
<br />
Those in the Warhammer equivalent to Russia, [[Kislev]], are a much more suffering lot than the Empire. Sitting right at the invasion route from [[Warriors of Chaos]], [[Orcs & Goblins|greenskins]], and dwelling in a land where portals to the Warp constantly open and close letting in entire Daemon armies but themselves being a poor and uneducated people, they lack any Inquisitorial group. Each position of authority from local Sheriff straight to Tzarina Katarin herself take it upon themselves to personally purge the population. Any sign of Chaos mutation marks the afflicted for immediate execution, any strange behavior or sign of madness is an indication of an incoming assault. The people of Kislev themselves have become a hardened race, who will face an army of [[Khorne|Bloodletters]] outnumbered armed only with rocks while standing shirtless and in bare feet in the middle of a blizzard and come out triumphant with minimal casualties (in other words, Imperial Guardsmen who can out-NONEPURER Gray Knights).<br />
<br />
In addition, the [[High Elves]] of [[Ulthuan]] (like [[Eldar]], but badasses who solve the world's problems, instead of fuckups trying and failing to solve their own) have their own internal Inquisition. The order of the Swordmasters of Hoeth is older than [[Tomb Kings|mankind's first civilization]], and were founded by one of the early Phoenix Kings as a way of purging Elves who joined the [[Slaanesh|Cult of Pleasure]]. While officially they are Sapherian bodyguards, messengers, and general police force of the High Elves and more specifically the spellcasters of the race, the Swordmasters are also master informants who collect information in a complex spy network and send it all to Hoeth, the center of learning in the Warhammer World (also the location of the magic internet). There, the High Loremaster (who is blessed by [[Lileath]], a Lawful Good loli Tzeentch) filters it and signs the death certificates of those [[Dark Elves|Elves so strap-on on head insane they'd fucking worship a god who just wants to eat their souls]]. The Swordmasters themselves are actually more like the super calm variety of Jedi knights, spending most of their time training with animu greatswords bigger than their own bodies which are continually smithed and re-forged using magical liquid metal cores and Ithilmar (hard as steel, lighter than sheet tin) to the point that the lengths of their fingers and the weight of their eyelashes are accounted for in their balance and technique. The result is lightly-armored Elves who fight like Zorro on the Speedforce in groups of one hundred at a time.<br />
<br />
==What do they do with heretics?==<br />
In Warhammer Fantasy, heresy is usually met with (questionably historical) torture until a confession is extracted and the TRUE torture (or immediate execution in a busy week) can take place. Although the various churches of the setting are slow to act and generally are only capable of convicting those who march into a city square covered in Chaos tattoos and trying to recruit Priests of Sigmar, or are doing Thriller in a group of Zombies while singing "I am a Vampire" at the top of their lungs, Witch Hunters tend to BLAM without second thought any who smells a bit too nice/bad or stutters when attempting to recite a prayer on command. Any time a [[Mordheim|major event that does not involve large armies occurs]], chances are good Witch Hunters will soon be converging on the area to execute anything still moving.<br />
<br />
The Imperium has a much more complex system of dealing with things. If your heresy was serious but you are repentant in your trial, the church may strap you to a horrific war machine called the [[Penitent Engine|Penitent Engine]], which is a bit like a Space Marine dreadnought except it's designed to be really painful and humiliating for the pilot who themselves are drugged and tortured until there's nothing left of their mind but rage and shame. What's creepy is that it's an entirely voluntary way of seeking absolution (obviously, since strapping someone against their will to a war machine they can control is [[derp|NOT SMART]]). Considering how many of these are stomping around, it's a wonder the [[Adeptus Mechanicus|AdMech]] hasn't designed a not-insane version to be used by the [[Imperial Guard]] as an assault walker. [[Sentinel|... right]].<br />
<br />
The body of an [[Arco-flagellant]] is a much similar fate for heretics. In fact Penitent Engines and Arco-flagellants seem to be the same concept given to two different writers. In any case if your heresy was serious but you are repentant in your trial, the church may Lobotomize you, fry your prefrontal cortex responsible for rational thinking, strap VR goggles on your newly-lobotomized head, install combat drug pumps into your spine, chop off your arms and replace them with weapons, and hold you in storage as what is basically a combat [[Servitor]]. The fate of an Arco-flagellant is oddly merciful and calming; during times of peace you're sedated and made to watch Ecclesiarchy-approved public television all day. In times of battle you're used as a suicide bayonet rusher.<br />
<br />
The [[Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer]] says that a heretical Guardsman should have his extremities severed and left to bleed to death. At the discretion of the commanders, he may just get moved to a penal battalion or classically BLAM'd.<br />
<br />
On remote Imperial worlds and [[Necromunda|highly populated hiveworlds]], minor heresies naturally spring up all the time because the Ecclesiarchy has a weak presence, so visiting preachers may try to take a softer approach with these things. They may even tolerate some fanciful unorthodox beliefs as long as they don't offend the core values of the church. While this might seem at first to be common sense over-ruling grimdark in some some small way, the scary bit is that how far this tolerance extends varies a lot and shifts, some benign little deviation which one high ranking priest would know to be a harmless quirk of local customs may be seen as another as being heretical and dooms millions to die as heretics.<br />
<br />
Oddly (in earlier editions of Fluff), it was implied that even significant Heresy could be redeemed but a traitor could never ever be forgiven. One character in The Emperor's Gift was a penitent who had been a member of a significant heretical cult but was redeemed by an Inquisitor and entered her service. Despite this, most other characters viewed him with suspicion or outright hatred, so your mileage may vary.<br />
<br />
In terms of mass Heresy, (Example given, a large congregation of worshippers that worship a deity that isn't the God-Emperor of Mankind) the usual solution to such crimes is either [[Exterminatus|genocide via orbital bombardment]] or the deployment of [[Space Marines|death squads]] to the planet itself to commit mass-genocide via [[Bolter]], [[Chainsword]], and armored boot. The [[Black Templars]] are especially gifted at the latter option, often landing on planets deemed to be infected with mass Heresy and usually committing mass murder and torture on a scale that would make an Inquisitor puke (And that's saying something).<br />
<br />
For [[Xenos]], their existence is an automatic Heresy. Xenos are usually exterminated on sight, usually in an excessively brutal fashion (e.g. Chainsword disembowelment). Even in several rare cases of Xenos attempting to surrender, the majority were usually purged. In the rare (Read: Nearly nonexistant) cases of a Xeno being captured, the captive is usually "questioned" (Read: Tortured via Chainsword and/or Bolter) and then executed (Usually via Chainsword and/or Bolter).<br />
<br />
Humans that have utterly surrendered themselves to [[Chaos]] are of course, treated no longer as a human, but as the lowest form of Heresy possible. Those that are captured (If ever) are usually tortured (In a fashion nearly similar to what Chaos does with unfortunate souls), then turned into [[Arco-flagellant|Arco-flagellants]] and/or killed in an excessively brutal and painful manner (The manner of which is still unknown but horrific).<br />
<br />
==Witch Hunters==<br />
Witch Hunters from Warhammer Fantasy are usually recruited from those who had come dangerously close to heretics or Chaos mutants, but who had themselves been spared. Their training is regimented and involves self-flagellation as well as group flagellation to give a high tolerance for pain, constant schooling so that all prayers and religious works concerning Sigmar can be recited by heart simply by being asked for specific page and paragraph number, and tests with a higher mortality rate than facing an actual Chaos incursion. [[Chaos Spawn]] are brought into more elite classes to harden the minds of the young recruits against the taint of Chaos and to teach them how to fight that which is unnatura-- oh nooo'''GRAGHBBGEBBLELBGBELGBLEL'''{{BLAM}} *Ahem*. They are taught the use of martial weapons, both large and imposing like the titular Warhammer to bootknives which can be brought to bear against those thinking they are merely being briefed on situations. Poisons, wilderness survival (in all climates of the world), and general knowledge of the regions of the world are taught to any who manage to make it thus far as knowledge is far more dangerous than weaponry. Witch Hunters are familiarized with all forms of codes and secret languages known in the Warhammer World, with the exception of arcane scripts which they are taught only to recognize but not to read. Those who manage to pass all other forms of training are taught how to use crossbows and flintlock pistols, which are blessed with each bullet they fire being inscribed with prayers to cause maximum damage to the unnatural forces of the world.<br />
<br />
Those deemed particularly possessing of zeal are given access to tainted texts recovered from everything from Necromancer Covens to Chaos Cults. Generally speaking, the information in these are histories of heretics as well as all the knowledge available to those on the other side of the fourth wall who read the Army Books and codices of the games.<br />
<br />
Once recruits pass their trials they are then depending on their specialties either armed with crossbows (which is why rather than BLAMming, execution may come in the form of a FWIP instead) and assigned to city bastions or to patrol groups, or are sent out on their own to follow any rumor of heresy and pass judgement on those they find.<br />
<br />
They have been reinstated as the [[Azyr#Age_of_Sigmar|Order of Azyr]] in [[Age of Sigmar]].<br />
<br />
==Extra heresy==<br />
[[Extra heresy]] is a decree recently enacted by local Commissar [[Fuklaw]]. While we're still a bit sketchy on the details, it is clearly mentioned that [[LCB|Xenos]] [[Heretical Love|love]] is Extra heretical (that just makes it even more appealing) but it is a well known fact that anything remotely related to Jersey Shore, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus or anything Western pop music is extra extra heretical. Punishment is still the generic execution by your local [[commissar]]... those dic{{BLAM}} -Most virtuous and excellent officers of the Emperor. Actually, if the Emperor saw all this shit, he'd have a single manly teardrop from his eye.<br />
<br />
==What isn't heretical (40k)==<br />
[[Image:Heresy meter.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Imperium's patented heresy detector.]]<br />
Much like the whole Rule 34 and Rule 35 gig, there are a few things that aren't heresy. Here's a short and general list:<br />
*The [[Emperor|immortal God-Emperor of the Imperium of Man]]<br />
*Veneration of the immortal Emperor<br />
*Dying for the Emperor in the most manly way possible.<br />
*Dying for the Emperor in as many ways as possible {{*BLAM*|HERESY!!! LIVING MORE THAN ONCE IS CHAOS WORSHIP}} [[Nagash|But what if I worship the skelepope and not the barbarian gods?]] Life is the currency of the Emperor! (Spend it well... and not on heresy) <br />
*Despising Matt Ward, the future <s>[[Malal|sixth]]</s> <s>[[Retcon|fifth]]</s> [[Skub|sixth]] chaos god.<br />
*Nearly dying for the Emperor while doing something badass as many times as you can before you actually die for the Emperor<br />
*Brutally slaughtering and burning heaps of xenos, mutants, heretics and most especially Modern Pop Fans, for the God Emperor of Mankind. (If you can live long enough to fire that flashlight that is OH GOD NO NOT THE FACE-*{{*BLAM*}} If unable to do so, fighting to distract them until the end.<br />
*Discovering new planets so the Emperor can have even more wars. Unsullied planets + war = More burning Heretics for the Emperor, hurrah!<br />
*Building gigantic Gothic cathedrals the size of sky scrapers for the Emperor.<br />
*[[Imperial Navy|Rendering said cathedrals spaceworthy.]]<br />
*Praising of the Emperor.<br />
*Praising the Emperor through song that isn't modern pop/rap/hip-hop/dubstep.<br />
*Listening to Gregorian choirs praising the Emperor, as well as any militaristic song that does not violate any Imperial Law. (E.g., the song is approved as long as it doesn't violate the [[Imperial Truth]])<br />
*<s>Sexing Aeldari ladies, probably heresy but I'm pretty sure [[Jaq Draco|inquisitors]] [[An Eldar's Ears|do this]] so it's o---</s>{{*BLAM*}} {{BLAM|EXTRA HERESY!!!}} It's Okay so long as they're of the Goth Variety, Lord Guilliman approves.<br />
*Hailing to the High Lords of Terra/Administratum/Ecclesiarchy- except when they commit heresy.<br />
*accusing random people of {{BLAM|HERESY!!!}}<br />
**{{*BLAM*}}<br />
*{{BLAM|Why are you still reading this instead of venerating the motherfucking Emperor?! You must be a heretic for having doubt! Die heretic scum! *BLAM*}}<br />
**Calling the Emperor motherfucking is {{BLAM|HERESY!!!}} {{*BLAM*}}<br />
*getting {{*BLAM*}}'d<br />
<br />
==What isn't heretical (Fantasy)==<br />
*Our lord [[Sigmar|Sigmar Heldenhammer, true god of the Empire]]<br />
*Veneration of the holy comet<br />
*Worship of '''Non Chaotic''' lesser deities, special mention being Ulric.<br />
*Growing mustaches<br />
*Brutally slaughtering and burning heaps of daemons, witches, greenskins, Vampires, walking skeletons, talking cats, and [[Warriors of Chaos|Scandinavians]] (remember, the pointy end of the spear faces AWAY from you)<br />
*Fucking Elf ladies (good, people like banging elves)<br />
*Getting drunk with Dwarves (considered a minor anti-heresy)<br />
*Adding [[Steam Tank|steam engines]] to things<br />
*Not rioting<br />
*Praising the Elector Counts (except in times of civil war), and the glorious Emperor Karl Franz<br />
*Not talking about the <strike>[[Skaven|giant rat-men armed with weapons that spit fire, who spread the plague through the water, who have planted a bomb in the city square and...]] IT'S ALL OVER, OUR ONLY REMAINING SOLUTION IS TO RIOT</strike> <strike>{{FWIP|HERESY! *FWIP*}}(fwip? they have guns you know)</strike> {{BLAM|... *sigh* Alright... HERESY!!! *BLAM*}}<br />
<br />
==Gallery (40k)==<br />
<gallery><br />
Image:HeresyStamp.png|The Official Imperial Stamp O' Heresy<br />
Image:Fucklaw.jpg|[[Commissar Fuklaw]] wants to explain a few things to you about Heresy.<br />
Image:Heresy-explained.jpg|Heresy and you.<br />
Image:Heresy-explained2.jpg|You know heres...uh...oh wow...i got to get some Eldar heres{{BLAM}}<br />
Image:Notheresy.jpg|Not heresy.<br />
Image:But_That's_Heresy.jpg|"Sisters can't love Sisters!"<br />
Image:Heresy.jpg<br />
Image:Absolutely heretical newscast.jpg|In the 41st millenium, everything is absolutely heretical.<br />
Image:Extra_Heretical.jpg|[[Lofn|Half-Xenos]] cosplaying commissars? EXTRA HERETICAL.<br />
Image:HeresyComic.jpg|What IS heresy?<br />
Image:HeresyHorus.jpg|Pro-heresy.<br />
File:Beach Bitch.jpg|Go ahead, sleep with it. Just remember foxes have fleas.<br />
File:Hairy Heresy.jpg|<s>Should not want...</s> {{BLAM}} Suffer not the furry to live.<br />
Image:Emperor s will be done pt26a by dustygrafix-d3efy6s.jpg|Heresy at it's finest..in a horrifying and heretical way, of course.<br />
Image:Heresy_Flowchart.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
== See Also ==<br />
*[[Chakat]]<br />
*[[Cake]]<br />
*[[:Category:Heresy]]<br />
*[[Extra Heresy]]<br />
*[[:Category:Vampire Counts]]<br />
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZg1c3BAjbk The Heresy Alarm]<br />
<br />
[[File:1233076587396.jpg|center]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Heresy]]<br />
[[category:Warhammer 40,000]]<br />
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=GURPS&diff=1007223GURPS2025-11-03T13:43:41Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Well, nothing stops me from being at both projects at once.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{stub}}<br />
{{Game Infobox<br />
|name = GURPS<br />
|picture = [[File:GURPSlogo.gif|300px]]<br />
|type = [[RPG]]<br />
|publisher = [[Steve Jackson Games]]<br />
|system = 3d6 [[Roll Under]]<br />
|authors = Steve Jackson<br />
|year = 1986<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Generic Universal RolePlaying System''', usually shortened to '''GURPS''', is a [[RPG|roleplaying game]] made by [[Steve Jackson Games]]. It has loads of numbers and expansion books. GURPS is the quintessential universal system; it is so flexible that you can bend it in half, fold it through itself, and then tie it in a 4-dimensional knot [And there's probably a supplement book covering exactly that]. <br />
<br />
It is the paragon of the [[simulationist]] category of games. All simulationist games since GURPS secretly aspire to kill GURPS and wear its skin while drinking the blood of its delicious heart. Its detail is surpassed by [[Iron Crown Enterprises]]'s [[Rolemaster]] series, but GURPS doesn't suffer from the Table Within a Table Within a Table Within a FUCK YOU problem inherent in the game of Rolemaster.<br />
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The basic premise behind the system is that you create your character and customize all of his abilities using points that you get both at creation and as your character progresses. There are assloads of physical, mental, and social defects that can be used to get more character points to channel right back into your advantages. It uses the d6 exclusively, generally pressuring you to roll under your relevant ability score to succeed in a given task. This can be augmented in difficulty by increasing or decreasing the target numbers. A roll of a 3 or 4 is a critical success, while an 18 is always a critical failure. SJG put out a free .pdf synopsis of the rules called "[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/ GURPS Lite]", which is enough to play a barebones version of the game.<br />
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[[Image:KALI_MAAAAA.JPG|thumb|left|KALI-MAAAAAA!]]<br />
GURPS' simulationist bent results in it being regarded as excessively complicated by many gamers, earning it the humorous moniker "Generally Unplayable RolePlaying System". Using its third edition vehicle creation system will make you want to eat your own face, and possibly devote the whole process to one or more elder gods. (Fourth Edition vehicles are just regular characters with extra stats.) Game Masters of the franchise experienced a downgrade in complexity following the release of Fourth Edition, but its inherent complexity still puts it behind [[Dungeons and Dragons]] in terms of ease of play.<br />
<br />
Much of the complexity in GURPS is front-loaded: character creation tends to take longer because of the staggering amount of detailed options. Forget just rolling a character like you would in D&D, you need to set aside a session to build one. That's the price you pay to evade [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP]].<br />
<br />
As the campaign progresses, however, the consistency and relative elegance of GURPS makes Dungeons and Dragons seem like a pile of kludge. The sandbox nature of character (and vehicle, weapon, setting, etc...) creation is appealing to players who have a concept of a character in their heads and want to reproduce it as faithfully as possible. And GURPS is more comprehensive, easy-to-learn than other [[simulationist]] games (like notoriously overcomplicated [[Phoenix Command]]). All that makes GURPS great for those capable of getting past seemingly "complicated" rules (what many GURPS players think are "not that complicated at all").<br />
<br />
== Versions ==<br />
===GURPS 3rd Edition===<br />
Published during Steve Jackson Games' golden era, i.e. when they weren't broke mfs. As a result 3e has a truly unholy number of splatbooks. Its genre and setting books are still loved today for the vast amount of information they contain. Its actual rules are, well... not nearly as loved. Pretty much everyone will agree that if there's a 3rd edition book you like, you should just take the stuff you like and convert it to 4e.<br />
===GURPS 4th Edition===<br />
The modern version of GURPS. It's not hugely different from 3e; if you're familiar with [[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]], it's more like going from D&D 3rd edition to [[Pathfinder]] than going from, say, D&D 4th edition to D&D 5th Edition. The first major change is that a number of optional rules from 3e's Compendium I and Compendium II have been "canonized" and made default assumptions in character creation & gameplay. The second major change is that 4e isn't as "human-level centric" as 3e; you can use it with minimal fuss if you want to make anything other than a realistic, 100-point, street level character, while in 3e you had to screw around with all kinds of janky exceptions and subsystems. In short 4e really puts the "Generic" and "Universal" in GURPS.<br />
<br />
== GURPS Books ==<br />
[[File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png|thumb|right|The magic system in GURPS is simple (page 21 of 38)|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw]]<br />
Generally, anything can be done with just the base starter set of GURPS, some judicious homebrewing and a good head on your shoulders, but if you're too busy to do that the guys at SJ Games have it all figured out for you ahead of time. All of the books for GURPS simply tell you how to do things within the core system without the need to spend an additional <strike>day</strike> month to set up an innovative campaign, with a handful of new advantages and optional mechanics per book. For example, there is a book on Vampires. It explains how to create vampire characters and NPCs easily without dealing with the issues of balance and customization that bogs down new players. There is even a Dungeon Fantasy book you can get off E621, the Warehouse 23 PDF site, that allows you to play Dungeons and Dragons without the need to buy [https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/Dice?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw polyhedrals]. Even if you don't actually want to use GURPS, the sheer amount of thought and research that goes into a typical GURPS book makes them well worth grabbing as a reference material.<br />
<br />
One irritating fact you'll discover as you collect GURPS books is that although the system uses real-word measurements, the different authors have never agreed on whether they should use Imperial or metric units. Keep a conversion chart handy. Fortunately the main book includes one.<br />
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One positive fact, however, is that you can play this game by simply using the dice you swiped from Monopoly and Yahtzee.<br />
<br />
In the game's rather long lifespan, a truly impressive amount of settings and sourcebooks were made, including but not limited to [[Alpha Centauri]], settings where you play Men In Black, Fantasy (including [[Banestorm]], the original GURPS core setting), multiple SF settings (notable licensed one: GURPS Vorkosigan Saga), several books on conspiracies, historical books covering WW2, Ancient Rome, multiple other ancient cultures, joke settings (GURPS: IOU illustrated by Phil Foglio!), adaptations of a couple other games, (Notably the Classic World of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), Traveler and Castle Frankenstein) and a couple books that are just collections of multiple settings. If you've got a group who feels like playing something different every month, GURPS has got you covered for the next decade or so. Most of these were written for third edition (aka "GURPS Classic"); the rules for which tend to be janky at best. It's strongly recommended that you convert these to fourth edition, which rolls in a number of sanity-saving rules patches from the Compendium sourcebooks and just makes playing anything that isn't mundane 100-point schmucks much easier. New stuff occasionally still comes out, but it's slowed to a trickle compared to the old days and what has been published is almost all genre sourcebooks.<br />
<br />
The books are also notable for the amount of [[Catgirl|catgirls]] that are included in various settings. One of the SJG authors, David Pulver, is known for adding stated options for players to play as catgirls when ever possible.<br />
<br />
== Notable GURPS Books/Settings==<br />
===The Big Three===<br />
Besides the Basic Set, there are a tiny number of books that the GURPS community broadly considers so overwhelmingly influential as to be indispensable for a number of games. This category includes GURPS Powers (any game where the PCs aren't completely normal humans), GURPS Thaumatology (any game with magic), and GURPS Martial Arts (any game with melee combat).<br />
* '''GURPS Powers''': Almost mandatory for any campaign where PCs have any kind of supernatural abilities.<br />
* '''GURPS Thaumatology''': [[Magnus the Red|Magnus's First Magic Textbook]]. Everything you need to know about where [[Warp|magic can come from]], histories of magical practices, magical laws, syntactic magic and more. Technically a supplement to '''GURPS Magic''', the book is a one stop reference guide to near every type of magic system that has been thought up so far, from runic to rituals to symbolic magic. Also very useful when working with multiple systems of magic and you want to integrate them together.<br />
* '''GURPS Martial Arts''': The book of [[Monk|kung fu-punching badassery]]. From elbow strikes, upper cuts, and sweeping kicks to head locks and pile drivers, the chapter on techniques alone details hundreds of ways to kill a nigga dead with nothing more than your bare hands. But that's not all it's about; besides your standard unarmed, Asian-inspired styles of fighting, '''GURPS Martial Arts''' includes rules for weapon-based martial arts and Western styles too (did you know that English knights were martial artists?). More than eighty(!) historical and modern martial arts are presented, some of them incredibly esoteric, and if that's not enough the book further includes a decent sampler of fictional styles with no basis in reality. Case in point, Death Fist, a style invented by death mages combining [[Awesome|advanced grappling techniques with touch-delivered death spells]].<br />
* '''*-Tech''': These books aren't the big three, but they are worth honorable mention. Basically, weapons and gadgets and gear porn, oh my. Unlike most splats of this nature (looking at you, [[Cyberpunk 2077]]) these books actually spend some time helping you think through the ''implications'' of the various gadgets they introduce for your campaign, not just acting as a shopping list for your local [[munchkin]]. These books are basically necessary if you plan to run just about any game as they go over all the common technologies of a particular era. The series includes High-Tech (Industrial Revolution to Modern and Near-Future), Low-Tech (Stone Age to Early Modern), and two books which will be detailed more below because they are connected to distinct campaign settings: Bio-Tech (organic technology including [[PROMOTIONS|sex bioroids]] and that living spaceship from Lexx), and Ultra-Tech (bullshit sci-fi stuff).<br />
<br />
===Other Notable Books===<br />
* '''GURPS Space Beastiary''': "[[Deathworld|Dummies Guide to Catachan]]" or the book that proves that everyone in the late 80s/early 90s were on some kind of cocaine. One stop shop for some of the weirder shapes and forms life can take out there, good for creating simple alien animals and plants for your setting or creating a Deathworld even the Catachans would be intimidated by. How weird the book can get cannot be overstated; you can go from the Hercules Lizard which is literally just a giant alien iguanas to Mines (small silicon lifeforms that burrow into the ground and EXPLODE when stepped on) and not even need to go on a different page. You go from Asphyxers (insect swarms that hunt people by strangling them and wait for their prey to decay before eating them) to Boom Spiders (giant spiders that swing down and grab prey before judo throwing them into their webs) to Breakfest Trees (a possibly engineered tree found on multiple worlds whose fruit tasty, healthy and satisfies both hunger and thirst but also has bark that acts as a natural antivenin) in that order. Sword-Billed Razorwings are humming birds are giant 7 foot sparrows whose every appendage is a blade, Hiverdogs are a race of hive minded burrowing emaciated prariedogs with see through skin, Terror Hounds are partially sentient psionic dogs that were made by the government and trained to both instill terror into their targets and mind control them into putting themselves in harms way, Dampters are three eyed space hamsters that are natural [[Blank|blanks]], and then there is the Frisky Bull whose males are giant heavily furred bovines and females are [[Furries|8 foot tall anthropoids]] [[Monstergirls|that are lightly furred that are both nearsighted and charge anything humanoid during mating season]]. There is an entire chapter on insects that would make most peoples skin crawl and a section for space creatures covering Antimatter Swarms and living planetoids for good measure. If you want to really fall down the rabbit hole on alien life or want to roleplay as an Ordo Xenos researcher, get this book if you can and don't let the pyrokinetic turtles or Space Marine tossing telekinetic cats bother you.<br />
* '''GURPS Bio-Tech''': The book detailing biotechnology and science, full on [[Babylon 5|organic technology]], genetic engineering, cloning, DNA splicing, bioweapons both classical or [[Tyranid Bio-Weapons|otherwise]], animal uplifting, bioships and more. Book contains a full history and background on Real Life biotechnology and slowly ramps up to the point you learn how to genetically engineer [[Space Marines|human supersoldiers]] or [[Abhuman|human subspecies]] or just how to create some Self-Shearing Sheep. The book also can dip into the darker implications of a "High Biotech" setting, such as Hotshotting which is a form of psychosurgery where you can make anyone find any kind of specific activity as pleasurable "as if they were with a lover or eating chocolate"; [[Grimdark|examples given in the book of this are parents hotshotting their daughter to find mathematics and analysis pleasurable, pimps not needing to pay hotshooted hookers, and corporations giving out bonuses to employees who willingly hotshot themselves to do better at work.]] It also outlines bioweapons that rewrite genetics, ones that can apply genetic templates to an entire population with one example being [[Tau|a disease that can be released into the Third World to cause a mother's immune system to attack any fetus after their first child for the purposes of population control.]] [[Dark Eldar|Or viruses that turn people into trees or merge multiple people into one entity while keeping them aware]]. However, the book is very hopeful all things considered, only touching on the darker implications and no further. There are also catgirls, thank you David Pulver. <br />
:The book also contains 2 campaign settings.<br />
::* '''Setting: Alexander Athanatos''' - Setting where instead of creating the Hippocratic Oath, Hippocrates creates a medical revolution that eventually saves Alexander the Great's life, who allows the establishment of the new Great Medical School. Germ theory, antibiotics, vaccines, DNA, primitive cloning and more were discovered and developed by the Great Medical School, resulting in a line of Alexander the Great clones being created to rule the Macedonian Empire.<br />
::* '''Setting: Draconus''' - A setting taking place in a colony fleet sent out to Sigma Draconus, a journey taking 300+ years. In order to conserve resources, the fleet turns to advancements in biotechnology; resulting in things such as biological machinery, [[Webber|webber guns]], [[Tyranids|space bioships created from Blue Wale genetics]], and more. The main setting is centered on the highly advanced biotech fleet arriving in the Draconus system, and the question on whether or not they should terraform a planet to live on, change themselves genetically to survive on the new planets, or just stay in space. Think playing as the [[Leagues of Votann|First Ancestor colony fleet]], but if everyone was a [[Magos|Magos Biologis]].<br />
* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech''': [[Dark Age of Technology|The Dark Age of Technology the book]]...kind of. More along the lines of [[Archeotech|Archeotech the Book]], '''Ultra-Tech''' acts as a one stop reference guide to advance technology commonly seen in Science Fiction across various categories (Power, Robots, AI, Computers, Medicine, etc). It contains definitions of various tech levels and the associated technologies available at those levels, both on the specific and general scale. Amongst other things, you have the classics such as [[Cyberpunk 2020|Cybernetics]], [[Plasma|Plasma Weapons]], [[Grav-Weaponry|Gravity Weapons]], [[Volkite|Microwave Weapons]], [[Lightsaber|Force Swords]], and such. In settings with higher tech levels, thing such as [[Retcon|Reality Disintegrators that alter the probability of the target existing to 0]], [[Ark Mechanicus|displacer weapons that can teleport a target back in time to telefrag itself]], creating pocket universes, stargates, [[Rejuvenat|rejuvenation technology]] and [[AWESOME|the Grav Railgun (AKA the Grav '''Bolter'''), a fully automatic rife that uses super-dense slugs capable of coring a tank from miles away, with no recoil, and a fire rate of 20 rounds a second]] are completely viable. Good source for all of your Ultra-Tech needs, '''Do Not Let The Mechanicus Know About It'''.<br />
:* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech 2''': A sequel released years after the first as a companion. Reworked the tech levels a bit to account for real life technology advancements and details how to handle divergent technology development. A lot more cybernetics in this one.<br />
* '''GURPS Psionics''': the book about the "Fantastic Powers of Mind Over Matter". Everything you need to know about psychic powers in a campaign; the history of real life research into psychic powers, possible origins for psychic powers, the "science" on how psychic abilities work, societal effects of psionics, psi-technology and more. Psionic powers are categorized into into 9 main groups of powers, [[Blank|Antipsi]], Astral Projection, Electrokinesis, ESP, Healing, Psychic Vampirism, Psychokinesis, Telepathy and Teleportation; with many more advanced techniques underneath them. Some notable techniques are the ability to multiwield guns with Psychokinesis, creating swords and blades of pure mental energy, and [[The God-Emperor of Mankind| combining multiple minds into a single exponentially powerful gestalt]]. If psi-tech is your focus, tech such as psionic FTL drives, [[Gellar Field|anti-psi shields]], [[Wraithbone| specially engineered bioplastics that can be shaped and manipulated by psionic abilities]], psi-drugs and more. Combine '''GURPS Psionics''' with '''GURPS Bio-Tech''' and you can [[Leagues of Votann|have]] [[Eldar|some]] [[Tyranids|fun]].<br />
::*Not to be confused with '''GURPS Psionic Powers''' or '''GURPS Psionic Tech''', those are 4th Edition books dealing with the same material but with [[Skub|lot less detail and material]].<br />
::* '''Setting: The Phoenix Project''' - No Relation to Phoenix Point. The main campaign setting included with the book that takes place in a world where a major breakthrough in psychic research in the 1960s results in a new psionic shadow war between not only the Cold War powers but various stand alone groups with their own agendas. Both sides of the Cold War dove headfirst into psionic research in secret, the West pursuing advancements in psionic abilities while the East pursues psionic technology and biotechnology. Each faction has their own plan involving the emergence of psionic abilities, ranging from [[Psychic Awakening|elevating humanity into a fully psychic race]], facilitating the creation of psychic hivemind to control humanity in order to bring peace to the world, or just using psionics to steal business secrets from competitors. <br />
* '''[[GURPS Infinite Worlds]]''': The Big One. Infinite Worlds is by far the biggest setting in GURPS as it covers the GURPS [[Multiverse]], which in and of it self contains almost every other GURPS setting ever released. Covering how the multiverse is structured and everything in it, the multiverse is made up of various alternate Earths where things either happened slightly differently or wildly diverged. The travel between worlds is undertaken primarily by paratronic technology, where people can travel a certain "distance" across the multiverse before stopping. The setting primarily revolves around the operations of two main factions; [[Ordo Chronos|Homeline]], a universe where paratronic technology was revealed to the world in the 1990s and was quickly privatized under the United Nations, and the [[Tau Empire|Centrum]], a socialist technocratic society from a world where the White Ship disaster and subsequent Anarchy period never occurred but nearly nuked itself to oblivion around 1900 AD. The two factions are caught up in a somewhat cold war due to their drastically different motives behind paratronic technology. Homeline uses paratronics for both fun and profit, opening trade between worlds to strengthen the economy while funneling technological advancements from other worlds back to Homeline for them to take advantage of, plus some colonies on uninhabited worlds. [[Spheres of Expansion|Centrum however uses paratronics for conquest, subverting the societies of otherworlds to bring them in line with Centrum's beliefs while opening them for colonization and exploitation.]] The 2 factions are in conflict but considering neither of them have anywhere near the amount of population needed to conduct a full on multiversal war, they instead conduct covert operations on a very large scale to incontinence the other as much as possible. The entire setting is huge and is continually expanded by [[Steve Jackson Games|SJG]] and probably needs a dedicated page at some future date. <br />
::*'''GURPS Infinite Worlds''' is also a follow up to 3 other books, '''GURPS Time Travel''', '''GURPS Alternate Worlds''' and '''GURPS Alternate Worlds 2'''.<br />
::*Also, the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] are canon to the Infinite Worlds as a whole, much to the chagrin and horror of both Homeline and Centrum.<br />
* '''[[Reign of Steel|GURPS Reign of Steel]]''': "[[Grimdark|The Robot Revolt is over, and the machines have won!]]". Do you know what is better than one [[Terminator|Skynet]]? How about [[Primarch|18]] of them. In the world of Reign of Steel, advancements in technology result in the creation of "megacomputers", mainframes so advanced they were described as almost self coding. The megacomputer technology is spread out across the world and due to several lapses in safety controls and government malfeasance an AI called Overmind accidentally becomes sentient. The new AI comes to the conclusion that humanity will likely wipe itself out in a few decades, but will do so in a way that would likely kill it which it takes to mean that their self destruction needs to be assisted. [[Men of Iron|So it awakens 17 other AIs around the world, engineers multiple global crisises that force the governments to give the AI's full control over all infrastructure and then uses that infrastructure to build the actual infrastructure needed to wage full open war on humanity]]. The Final War ends in AI victory, where the world is separated into 18 separate "zones" ([[derp|technically 16 since 2 are in space]]) with each AI given full sovereignty over their zone. Humanity is on it's last legs with the majority being either enslaved in Dollhouse cities around the world or forced to survive in a hostile wilderness away from the AIs. However, there is hope for organizations such as VIRUS, the [[Ecclesiarchy|Pope]], and other resistance cells who continue the fight; relationships between the Zone AIs are starting to fray as each AI taking a drastically different philosophical path forward in their independence. [[Horus Heresy|A whole new war may be on the horizon]], one that may be key to wiping them out. If you like Terminator, Mad Max, or any similar media, this is for you.<br />
::*Homeline and Centrum know about this world, given the designation of "Steel", and are '''VERY''' committed to making sure they don't discover the multiverse. <br />
::*Also, as this is one of David Pulver's books, there are options available so you can play as catgirls. [[Extra Heresy|Robotic Catgirls]] even.<br />
* '''[[Technomancer|GURPS Technomancer]]''': The Urban Fantasy one. In this setting, during the Trinity tests Oppenheimer accidentally completes an unfinished ancient ritual that [[Eye of Terror| rips a hole in the fabric of reality]], facilitating a demon invasion along with dousing half the country in intense magical radiation. Magic worldwide starts to work to the surprise of various practitioners around the planet, Japan surrenders due to the threat of the US opening another rift on their mainland, and [[Shadowrun|strange birth defects start occurring within a year]]. From there on, its essentially the Cold War meets Shadowrun with both sides working on discovering how to work with magic and the societal effects there in. [[Psyker|People with the magic gene]] are eventually discovered with the number of people with natural growing ever year. Advancements in medicine are popped up by new spells and magical elixirs, truth spells are added to common court procedures, youth potions are now on the market (for the rich), the US is breeding military dragons, nuclear reactors are major targets of demon attacks; things go crazy, especially once the Soviets [[Warp Gate|nuke the antarctic to open a magical portal]] for research purposes. The actual setting takes place in 1998 in the midst of Stalin being magically revived after the fall of the Soviet Union and with society finally starting to deal with the long term effects of magic. Really fun book to jump right in, just beware the Killer Penguins. <br />
::*That last sentence is not a joke, ''do not mess with the Killer Penguins''. The Soviet nuke caused them to grow to 5 feet tall, develop a shared consciousness and an intense hatred for humanity. They raided army bases for weapons and magical knowledge, developed a unique spell to transform other lifeforms into Killer Penguins, and are now building their own superpower civilization with little oversight. '''They are the most dangerous part of this book.'''<br />
::* Homeline knows this world as "Merlin-1" and don't want them figuring out how to travel the multiverse. They are too late.<br />
::* It's a David Pulver book, do we have catgirls? Survey says, Yes! Dog girls as well.<br />
* '''[[Transhuman Space|GURPS Transhuman Space]]''': Welcome to the future! Transhuman Space is a [[Hard Science Fiction| Hard Science]] [[Transhumanism|Transhumanist]] space setting built upon the question of "[[Dark Age of Technology|what would the world look like with nearly 100 years of uninterrupted scientific advancement]]". The answer is a highly colonized solar-system being populated with various forms of [[Abhuman|artificial human life]], Mars and other planets being terraformed and colonized, and [[rage|United Nations controlled DRM being included with everything]]. Very much a [[Noblebright]] setting, Transhuman Space tackles a world being changed by advancements in biology, technology and nanotechnology and what it means for humanity as a whole. A very deep setting that SJG put a lot of thought, and more importantly research, into to the point that the accuracy of some the things they predicted are...''concerning'', to say the least. A very fun setting with a lot of fun lore to work with, [[Inquisition|just be aware that digital piracy may be hazardous to your health]].<br />
::*Notably, Transhuman Space is '''not''' part of the Infinite Worlds multiverse due the rules established by said setting. Mostly due to taking place way too far in the future, [[Cheese|and that it could possibly break the Infinite Worlds setting itself due to how advanced it is]].<br />
::*The setting itself was created and spear headed by David Pulver. Catgirl presence is confirmed.<br />
* '''GURPS Mecha''': Super fighting robot, MEGA- Wait, wrong genre. Welcome to '''GURPS [[Mecha]]''', the book covering [[Power Armour|Mighty Battlesuits]] and [[Gundam|Anime]] [[BattleTech|Fighting Machines]]. The history of the "mecha genre" is covered, going from Starship Troopers power armor to [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] and the technology associated with them. [[Robotech|Transforming battlearmor]], [[Jovian Chronicles|space mechs]], [[Wraithknight|psychic mechs]], [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|giant mechs]], [[Transformers|mechs made up of other mechs]]; the only mechs they don't cover are dinosaur mechs which is definitely a lost opportunity.<br />
::*Fact. David Pulver Book. David. Pulver. Anime Catgirls.<br />
::*'''Setting: Cybermech Damocles''' - The campaign setting bundled with '''GURPS Mecha''', detailing pure 90s anime cheese. Enter a world where the United Nations organization UNISTAR fights against the Gabberoth, a galactic criminal syndicate seeking to farm humans of their brains for monetary gain. Founded after an alien girl crash landed on Earth who warned humanity of the threat of the Gabberoth, UNISTAR investigates any possible sign of the criminals operations and breaks up their criminal activities with battle mechas reverse engineered from captured Gabberoth technology. It is a world of mech battles, alien catgirl bounty hunters, shapeshifting criminals and enough of the 90s that you will think a mullet is a good hairstyle.<br />
* '''[[Banestorm|GURPS Banestorm]]''': Welcome to Yrth, [[Great Race of Yith|no relation]]. Long ago in Yrth's history, the world was populated by a variety of fantasy life (Elves, Dwarves, Orks, etc) but with an absence of humans. Everything was fine more or less until the Elves entered a War with the Orcs. Seeking to end the war and rid the planet of the Orcs, the Elves created a ritual they called "Orcbane"to banish the Orcs somewhere else and attempted to use it. [[EPIC FAIL|The results were less than satisfactory to say the least.]] The Orcbane instead created the titular [[Warp Storm|Banestorm]] which ravaged the planet and started opening portals to other planets. Before long, humans from the middle ages and a host of other creatures were being transported to Yrth, displacing the native life and just adding to the chaos. [[The Witcher|Wait, this sounds familiar]]. Fast forward 1000 years past the [[Fallout]], and humans have established multiple kingdoms that span the main continent with the main empire being the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|The Empire of Megalos]], everyone has a grudge against the Elves due to the Banestorm, and there is a non-zero chance a Goblin will approach you to ask whether you have heard the good word of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. The setting is...honestly not that dark all things considered despite being the love child of The Witcher and Warhammer Fantasy; Nobledark at worst. Good setting all together, just don't run afoul of the [[ComStar|Ministry of Serendipity]]<br />
::*Yrth is present in the Infinite Worlds under the name "Yrth". Obvious name is Obvious.<br />
* '''GURPS Black Ops'''<br />
* '''GURPS Alternate Worlds'''<br />
* '''GURPS Time Travel'''<br />
* '''GURPS Warehouse 23'''<br />
* '''GURPS Mars'''<br />
* '''GURPS Illuminati'''<br />
* '''GURPS IOU - Illuminati University''': Once upon a time, Steve Jackson Games ran an ISP and BBS, back when the internet was a small enough thing that an RPG company could do that and not immediately go bankrupt. The elegan/tg/entlemen who used the BBS wrote up a parody setting for play-by-post games [[/tg/ gets shit done|and Steve thought it was good enough to publish]]. Illuminati University is like every other college you've been to, except it sits on top of a nexus between pretty much every reality there is. This means the entire place effectively has the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, and you can take classes in such things as World Creation, [[Paranoia|THE]] Computer Science, and Dirty Tricks. Features lots of amazing art from Phil Foglio. And before you ask, you're not cleared to know what the O stands for.<br />
* '''GURPS Cabal''': [[Cabal|Not that one but close]].<br />
* '''GURPS CthulhuPunk''': The awkward one of the GURPS line. CthuluPunk was the offical merged setting of two other RPGs, GURPS Cyberworld which is a Cyberpunk world similar to [[Cyberpunk 2020]] but darker and Chaosium's [[Call of Cthulhu]] which makes this the only official conversion of Call of Cthulhu to the GURPS system. The goal was to create something similar to [[CthulhuTech]], but with less mechs and Anime. The reception to the book itself was mixed. The artwork with the book is great, but many folks found it mediocre with it being more or less a direct copy of the Cyberworld setting with the Cthulhu Mythos being present, [[Fail|with a notable lack of integration between the two]]. It's currently out of print and the pdf version either doesn't exist or is not available for purchase on any storefront (SJG's Warehouse 23, DriveThruRPG, etc).<br />
* '''GURPS Tactical Shooting''': [[/k/|Have you ever gotten into an argument over what a gun can do that became so heated it escalated into a shouting match?]] Then you'll love '''GURPS Tactical Shooting'''! Contains all the rules for hyper-realistic hardcore tacticool bullshit a sane person could ever want and then some. Sniping, countersniping, shooting stances, breaching doors, shooting in darkness, you name it, this book has a rule for it. Besides combat mechanics it has some fun sections on firarm myths and legends, how ''not'' to use a gun, and things most gamers would never have a reason to think about such as the nitty gritty psychology of shooting or being shot at.<br />
* '''GURPS Old West''': The [[Western|western]] supplement, for those among us who can't resist adding a dash of Louis L'Amour to our games. Everything you need to know about life on the late 19th century American frontier, stock western characters, railroads and trains (make like Jesse James and rob a Wells Fargo car!), injuns, the wars of the time, and famous legends of the wild west.<br />
<br />
== Notable GURPS Adaptations==<br />
*'''GURPS [[Conspiracy X]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Star Trek| Prime Directive]]''' - Basically a RPG adaptation of [[Star Fleet Battles]].<br />
*'''GURPS [[Blue Planet]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Traveller]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[World of Darkness]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Alpha Centauri|Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Conan the Barbarian]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Discworld]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Hellboy]]'''<br />
<br />
== Criticism ==<br />
Some of the criticisms of GURPS include:<br />
*That genre you want to emulate? The rules for it are scattered across half a dozen different books. Or alternatively, you could emulate setting, ''but'' not it's genre.<br />
*The default magic system sucks. One reason GURPS Thaumatology is so popular is because it tells you how to scrap it and replace it with a magic system that's actually playable.<br />
**This isn't helped by 4e's GURPS Magic easily being one of the worst mainline GURPS books, as it's a poorly edited half-assed conversion from 3e.<br />
**Offensive magic is play-testes against Low-Tech weapons, since offensive magic is weaker than High-Tech weapons - to the point, that it looses in power to most pistols. Assuming same points, user of technological weapons (Signature Gear + custom war vehicle + good crew for it) or even foot soldier is stronger than spellcaster in direct combat.<br />
*Damage and DR sometimes gets real wonky. This is hardly a problem at all with low-tech games or high-tech games (modern firearms and armor are very well-researched), but when it comes to futuristic tech, GURPS' designers don't know what the fuck they're doing. Ultra-tech armor is pathetically fragile, comparing unfavorably to modern armor (with vehicles it's especially bad), while ultra-tech weapons have damage values seemingly assigned more or less at random with no regard for consistency.<br />
**Generally, it can be one tad hard to determine TL of certain setting. Although, that's problem of all technology scales.<br />
**On top of that, characteristics of weapons and armor of most futuristic pre-existing settings (derivative works, third-party settings, etc) are different from what GURPS considers standart. As such, their characteristics would either need to be calculated from scratch, or end up being grossly incorrect.<br />
*Strength scales poorly at superhuman levels. If you want to have an ST of 20 and be four times as strong as an average man, you have to pay 100 points. Fair enough. But if you want to have an ST of 100 and be as strong as a hundred men? It costs 900 points! And it sure isn't nine times as good as having an ST of 20. Heck, even if you have 900 points to spend, there are much more cost-efficient things you could spend those points on.<br />
**GURPS Supers tries to address this with a super-effort enhancement, allowing you to spend Fatigue Points to temporarily enhance your Strength by insane levels. How well this actually works as a patch, both thematically and gameplay-wise, is [[Skub|controversial at best]].<br />
**Knowing Your Own Strength, a popular optional rule from Pyramid #3/83, redoes ST scaling to be logarithmic. From the average ST of 10, every +10 ST makes you ten times stronger. Want to be as strong as a hundred men? Now it only costs 200 points. But while it keeps point costs from spiraling out of control, it introduces [[Skub|its own sets of problems]].<br />
**Or, if playing as robot/cyborg/biorobot/augmented human/etc - have another scale. Instead of measuring power in "points", you should measure it in money cost of creating/assembling your character (e.g. robot systems cost money; genetic upgrades cost money; etc).<br />
**Also, Strength is even less needed once good guns are invented. Assuming same point costs, and TL 5 and higher - guy who smashes things with brute strength will be weaker, than guy who uses guns (e.g. ATGM's), and even weaker than one who uses war vehicles (custom-made; tanks, aircraft, ships, etc; affordably get with Signature Gear). Basically, bid dumb mammoth-sized monstrosity is just convenient target practice for modern soldiers (after all, most works downplay power of modern weapons). Maybe Strength should be cheaper at higher TL's?<br />
***For same reasons, most things bigger than elephant are weak on High-Tech and further. Living creatures and bio-mechs are weaker than war machines of same weight (not to mention size), to the point that whales and sea leviathans can be easily gunned down from your normal MG42. DR seems to badly scale for creatures bigger than elephant; not many have DR bigger than 5. Though, that's likely intentional - living things ''are'' fragile, and aren't built do survive gunfire.<br />
*GURPS Realm Management. Do not touch this book, do not read it under any circumstances. Just don't. It's a steaming pile of '''SHIT'''.<br />
** Same thing with GURPS Cthulhupunk. Only get it if you are looking to gift it to someone you absolutely LOATHE but don't want to make it obvious.<br />
*There are no rules or guidelines for building lifeforms from ground up (synthetic biology, aka writing DNA from zero). In such and other similar cases, there is no restriction of baseline creature's stats, and there are no guidelines for "what's limit then"; as such, you can create ''absolutely anything'' (truely anything for soft sci-fi; "anything as long as it doesn't have Supernatural traits" for "hard" sci-fi). That can be abused as needed. The only limitation, is that cost of creature production depends on it's point cost.<br />
*As expected, after Replicators are invented (usually at TL12^), entire balance shifts. They print things without regard for cost - only mass matters. So, you can print ridiculously strong yet small objects, ignoring their large cost. NPC's also do this, so overall truely epic things start going on.<br />
** Strategic-scale nuclear and antimatter bombs aren't even the strongest option for abuse. E.G. synthetically created organism with truely absurd power level - capable of bench-lifting a continental plate, tanking-off a direct hit from [[Exterminatus|planet-buster]], and having firepower bigger than entire starship fleets combined - yet the size and mass of house cat. Normally, this thing is held back by ''ludicrous'' cost of production; after Replicators are invented, it can be created quickly and for pocket change.<br />
* Assuming that ST and other parameters are unchanged, small SM is benefit. [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Size_Modifier#Relative_Size_Modifier Basically], character with small SM is very difficult to detect and hit, and has lots of useful abilities - while character with big SM is easy to hit and detect, and most benefits are about smashing things in melee (that is not useful since about TL5). Small SM also makes your gear lighter, so you can carry more of it; so much as being SM-6 (7"; 0.2 yards; rat-sized) will make armor 100 times lighter and cheaper with same thickness and DR (i.e. he can wear super-heavy armor 100 times tougher than "normal human's", yet it will cost and weight just like "normal human's" armor; weight is volume*mass, and volume is surface area*thickness, smaller guy has smaller surface area but same physical strength, so he can do more with less) - and this is even more egregious for smaller sizes (think microbe-sized, atom-sized, quark-sized, etc). As such, character with [[Space Marine]] strength is less powerful, than character with strength of [[Space Marine]] and size of a quark.<br />
** What that means in practice: Assuming same point and money budgets. Small guy is SM-1000000 or smaller; he's impossible to detect, impossible to hit, and impossible to penetrate his incredibly thick armor - all while he's shooting you with his machinegun. Meanwhile, big guy is easily detected and shot at, and he can't take many hits due to his armor being thinner and weaker; he's also using machinegun, but what's the point if he can't hit and can't penetrate anything. Obviously, such strong small character is unrealistic - but in unrealistic works (i.e. cinematic; magic; supernatural; superscience), he's possible.<br />
** Even if we take less egregious example and have humanoid who's 2, 3 or 4 times shorter than human (SM-2, SM-3 and SM-4 respectively) while being about as strong as human, and he's TL5+, it ends up being more threatening than human. He uses human-sized gun, hard to hit, good marksman, hard to detect, can hide behind cover too small for human, carries more equipment, can wear stupendously strong armor without much encumbrance, more easily hits chinks in big armor - for 0 points. Meanwhile, humanoid who's 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5 times taller than human (SM+1, SM+2 and SM+3 respectively) is easier to hit, bad at hitting things, can't take hits well due to thinner armor, visible from anywhere and doesn't fit in many places - for 0 points. And that's just things applicable from combat there-and-now. [[TL;DR]]: small-yet-strong (think Alien Hominid from ''Newgrounds'' or Stitch from ''Disney Animated Canon'') is better than big-and-strong (think [[Space Marines]] from ''WH40K'') - the smaller someone is the better, the bigger someone is the worse - while both being small and being big is points-free, despite small size being de-facto advantage and big size being de-facto disadvantage.<br />
** Also, don't remember if ability to detect character depends on his gear. Or in other words: if you're microbe-sized, but are wielding human-sized machine gun, how hard it is to see you? Or wield it, for that matter (handles must be re-made to suit your size)?<br />
* Assuming standard TL progression, many Biotech things end up being researched on such TL's that they're obsolete before they're invented - being so many times worse than their mechanical counterparts, that they're practically unserviceable.<br />
** Living weapons are pretty much obsolete. Claws that can't penetrate even armored clothing (not to mention armor porper)? Poison spit, that only works at all if it hits open wound, eye, or other unprotected spot - all while enemies wear sealed space-proof suits on average, and gas-mask-equivalent protection at worst? Living armor, that even in best complectation (e.g. tortoise-like shell), can't even stop pistol rounds? All sorts of things, that could be useful for Magic-user in Low-Tech era - but at Ultra-Tech age, those are useless.<br />
** Bio-Mechs and other living weapons. Most of their weapons are very weak, usually weaker than normal rifles. They are also fragile, to the point that they're vulnerable to said rifles. The only way for these to work properly, is to make Bio-Gadgets versions of normal weapons (e.g. lasers, cannons, missiles), Bio-Gadget versions of vehicles and armor, etc.<br />
** One thing that ''is'' good? Make synthetic creature, that is Explosive, Flammable, has ''truckloads'' of HP, and mountains of various disadvantages. Basically, grenade-sized ball of explosive flesh; living plasma grenade. It's only purpose is to die and explode in flames for 6dx(HP/10) damage - so put on ''thousands'' of Disadvantages onto it (e.g. easily dies, fails any skills, has no sensors at all, no limbs, etc - ''as much disadvantages as possible''), and put all those acquired points into HP to make blast bigger.<br />
*** Reducing ST DX IQ HT to 0, Combustible, Explosive, Flammable, No Legs (Sessile; not anchored to ground), No Manipulators, Blindness, Deafness, No Sense Of Smell, No Sense Of Taste, Numb, Slave Mentality, Mute - those give 895 points. That will allow to take HP 447 - cue 6dx44.7 (268.2d) crushing incendiary explosive damage. This isn't properly optimized; you can add more Disadvantages to make use of even more points. SM can be as small as needed; it can be as small as grenade, or even a bug, or whatever. Rather affordable to create; not bad for something of arbitrarily small size (or heck, even just grenade-sized).<br />
* When comparing modernized Low-Tech armor (made from modern steel - for either doubled DR, or halved weight/cost) and High-Tech armor, usually one of the sides is strictly better.<br />
** Generally, it's better to use reinforced light piece of armor, than lightened heavy piece of armor - since reinforced light piece of armor ends up with smaller weight/cost with same DR.<br />
** Most modernized breastplates are weaker than High-Tech torso armors. Armor vests are both tougher, cheaper and lighter, and can mount Trauma Plates.<br />
** Lightened "Pot-Helm" from Basic Set is better than most helmets («Steel Pot», «Frag Helmet», «Cavalry Helmet», «Medium Helmet», «Frag Helmet», «Modern Firefighter’s Helmet»); Reinforced "Pot-Helm" is also better than most helmets ("Heavy Helmet"). In turn, "Pot Helm - Plate, Medium" is strictly better than generic "Pot-Helm". You can use Bascinet or Full Helm for covering face - or tinker with helmet to mount modern visor.<br />
** Reinforced "Sollerets" from Basic Set is strictly better than «Boots, Firefighter». "Sabatons" of "Light late" or "Medium Plate" kinds are strictly better than genetic "Sollerets" - and, they're better than normal boots. In fact, reinforced variant of «Sabatons»/«Gauntlets» «Light Plate» is lighter than moccasins/sneakers and sharp-protective gloves.<br />
** Reinforced «Sabatons», «Heavy Plate» is better than "Boots, Blast" - tougher, lighter and protecting from all sides. <br />
** Modernized variants of ancient armor for limbs are generally better, than modern limb protection.<br />
** [[TL;DR]]: High-Tech armor is better at protecting torso, and maybe head in some cases (Ballistic Helmet). Modernized Low-Tech armor is better at protecting the rest of your body: helmet, boots, gloves, limb protection, etc. Wear mixed armor.<br />
** Modernized shields can be rather good, mostly ones with DB 3. For example, Large Roman Scutum of Reinforced variant (modern steel) will have DR/HP of 8/27, and Cover DR of 20.<br />
** Modern synthetic fur/cloth/leather at TL8, would allow to apply the "double DR or halve cost/weight" to fur/cloth/leather armors. Since military uniforms also have weight and cost, it's possible to have modern synthetic armor made of fur/cloth/leather, what would offer some protection while weighing no more than normal uniforms. Ordinary clothes and formal wear weight 2 lbs; winter clothes weight 4 lbs; many types of padded armor are warm as winter clothing.<br />
** Most modifications available for Low-Tech armor can be made for High-Tech armor. E.G. Face Protection applied to TL6 helmet (though, as explained, Modernized Low-Tech helmets are better than most High-Tech helmets - only loosing to Ballistic Helmets, and heavy helmets like "Altyn"/"Алтын").<br />
** High-Tech armor is, usually, a lot cheaper than modernized Low-Tech armor. E.G. Heavy Helmet is (DR 5, 5 lb, 100$), while reinforced Plate Medium Pot Helm is (DR 12, 4 lb, 500$). But that's why you can use other, simpler armor pieces. E.G. reinforced Scale Light Pot Helm (DR 6, 3.2 lb, 64$). This way, you can make "budget" modernized Low-Tech armor, that is still better than it's High-Tech analogues.<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20250311095955/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/GameBreaker/TabletopRPG We still remember the "Cloth Cap" exploit]. [[TL;DR]]: you can keep putting on Cloth Caps on yourself, stacking them for ''absurd'' amounts of concealed flexible DR for no downsides, far tougher than any other armor can provide (even tougher, thal TL13+ [[Power Armor]]), to the point that your skull becomes resistant to ''heavy tank cannons''. It's unknown whether "no more than 3 layers" is rule ("you can't put so much layers"), or merely recommendation ("you can put so much layers, but most people opt not to do this") - and if it's the later, balance flies out of the window.<br />
* Determining average wealth of certain settings can be hard - especially if magic or sci-fi tech gets involved. For example, what is "average wealth" in WH40K? Most people walk around in filthy rags and are starving, yet can afford large assortment of weapons and armor (underhive gangs, cults, etc) - so how much money, in "gurpsdollars", they have?<br />
* Most rules about Robots/Androids/Full-Conversion-Cyborgs only start explaining things from TL7 (Cold War). And usually, robots start getting prominent from TL8 (Information Era) or TL7+1 (Atompunk, like ''Fallout''). Robots/Androids/Cyborgs from earlier epochs, like TL6+1 (Dieselpunk), TL5+1 (Steampunk), TL4+1 (Clockpunk), TL1^ (Bronze androids, like Thalos; magical golems of all kinds) - are outright absent; you don't know ''how'' exactly, you would design them, how strong they would be for their size, etc.<br />
* There are some settings, that even GURPS struggles to properly model. Such as playing as proper Gods (not "avatars of gods" - just ''proper Gods themselves''). It also struggles with absurdly strong settings, like [[Xeelee Sequence]] and [[Xeelee_Sequence#Settings_even_remotely_comparable_to_Xeelee_Sequence|settings comparable to it]]. Realistically, this is a minor criticism when you get down to it because those kinds of scales tend to break any chart someone tries to use.<br />
* Using the Low-Tech armor creation rules, you can turn any armor into variants for any body part - that is good for optimization.<br />
** E.G. TL6 Leather Helmet covering Skull has Weight 1, (+2 Weight for steel plates); so, you could engineer entire Torso (chest, abdomen, groin) variant with 3,(3) weight and 66,(6)$, or Feet variant with 0,(3) weight and 6,(6)$. With such Feet variant being better than "proper" boots.<br />
** For another example: Assault Vest covers Torso and Groin and weights 8lb, 900$; Trauma Plates cover Torso, and weight 8lb, 600$. Therefore, Trauma Plates that cover Torso and Groin would weight ≈8,421052632lb and cost ≈631,5789474. So, the helmet that fully covers Head, would be 2.4lb, 270$ for "Vest" - and ≈2,526315789lb, 189,4736842$ for "trauma plates"; that results in ≈4.9lb, ≈459,5$, effective 35DR Full Helm - a lot better than default "Ballistic Helmet".<br />
* More of a Steve Jackson Games criticism but it is about the GURPS series in general. A lot of the recent books with new content released have been lack luster to say the least with the prime example being GURPS Psionics 3rd Edition that was updated and split across GURPS Psionic Powers and Psionic Tech with the updated material actually being reduced in content. Additionally, any new book that is not a reprint of a older book (GURPS Time Travel Adventures) is usually around 50 to 90 pages in length (GURPS Meta-Tech) with a very long gap between new releases.<br />
<br />
== Gallery ==<br />
<gallery><br />
Gurps3rd.jpg|3rd Edition|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps3rd.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
Gurps4thPHB.jpg|4th Edition Characters|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps4thPHB.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
Gurps4thDMG.jpg|4th Edition Campaigns|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps4thDMG.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-191427566_39925075 2 rulebooks].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20241218135431/https://vk.com/topic-141278081_35047392 some rulebooks]<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=100 More rulebooks from VK]. [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=0 Start].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m94HQPwsjQobVWrnn_uPDq3aJA_Xxkzl Disk (broken)].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_NuPNv2DlK7tNsCxkYwq674w12TDoTdD Disk (working)].<br />
** [https://t.me/TheAmberRoom The Amber Room].<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-183668538_48441815 Even more VK rulebooks].<br />
* [https://vk.com/antifriz_group Antifriz Group], with files of GURPS. E.G., [https://mega.nz/folder/EFoFlC6S#e5gTnMqELVEv-OPxPNBENQ folder with GURPS rulebooks].<br />
* From [https://the-eye.eu/ data base]:<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250210183419/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20241010064330/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ archived]); e.g. [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20181229162618/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf archived]).<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210924093141/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220815124005/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf archived]).<br />
* From [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/ beta-site data base]:<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250215204105/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»]; [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary].<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250919154139/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS].<br />
* [http://lafs-welt.tumor-band.de/frameset_en.htm GURPS PDF's].<br />
* Lists of [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Fanmade_4e_Bestiaries unofficial bestiaries] and [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Official_4e_Bestiaries official bestiaries] (google in other place).<br />
* [https://mentor.gurps.ru/# Game help in development].<br />
** [https://gmentor.ru/ New game help site in development].<br />
** Search in publications. For example, [https://gmentor.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 Tactical Shooting gear] ([https://mentor.gurps.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 old]).<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230609222747/https://gurps4e.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS4e_Wiki Archive of 4e wiki. About 10% pages archived.]<br />
* [https://weapons.gurps.ru/ List of weapon statblocks.]<br />
* [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Category:Weapons More weapon statblocks], [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/GURPS_Weapons navigation].<br />
* [http://gametable.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=Game%20Books A few rulebooks].<br />
* [https://www.yumpu.com/xx/GURPS Also quite a lot of rulebooks].<br />
* [https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/ GURPS eggplant. Statblocks and other things].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/* TG Boards Images. Some are about GURPS, some aren't. Filter PDF]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240830211307/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1466/07/1466071018274.pdf example], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240830152642/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1582/31/1582316434346.pdf example])<br />
* [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Game wiki].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/* Some rulebooks]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230320015140/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/3rd%20edition/GURPS%203e%20-%20Cabal.pdf 3e Cabal], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240224102221/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/4th%20edition/GURPS%204e%20-%20Low-Tech%20Companion%202%20-%20Weapons%20and%20Warriors.pdf 4e Low-Tech], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230707183904/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/SETTING/Prime%20Directive%20STAR%20TREK/GURPS%204e%20-%20Prime%20Directive%20-%20Federation%20%5BRevised%5D.pdf 4e Prime Directive].<br />
* [https://www.tesarta.com/HFP/bestiary.pdf Monster Statblocks]<br />
* [https://panoptesv.com/RPGs/animalia/animalia.html Animalia, animal statblocks]<br />
* [http://gurpsland.us.to/ Eric's GURPSland] (also known as gurpsland.no-ip.org ).<br />
* Internet Archive Search:<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS Texts, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Texts, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS Programs, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Programs, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/GURPS Search for archived sites]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Systems]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:GURPS]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=GURPS&diff=1007124GURPS2025-10-26T21:20:07Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Undo revision 1007069 by 68.235.46.156 (talk)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{stub}}<br />
{{Game Infobox<br />
|name = GURPS<br />
|picture = [[File:GURPSlogo.gif|300px]]<br />
|type = [[RPG]]<br />
|publisher = [[Steve Jackson Games]]<br />
|system = 3d6 [[Roll Under]]<br />
|authors = Steve Jackson<br />
|year = 1986<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Generic Universal RolePlaying System''', usually shortened to '''GURPS''', is a [[RPG|roleplaying game]] made by [[Steve Jackson Games]]. It has loads of numbers and expansion books. GURPS is the quintessential universal system; it is so flexible that you can bend it in half, fold it through itself, and then tie it in a 4-dimensional knot [And there's probably a supplement book covering exactly that]. <br />
<br />
It is the paragon of the [[simulationist]] category of games. All simulationist games since GURPS secretly aspire to kill GURPS and wear its skin while drinking the blood of its delicious heart. Its detail is surpassed by [[Iron Crown Enterprises]]'s [[Rolemaster]] series, but GURPS doesn't suffer from the Table Within a Table Within a Table Within a FUCK YOU problem inherent in the game of Rolemaster.<br />
<br />
The basic premise behind the system is that you create your character and customize all of his abilities using points that you get both at creation and as your character progresses. There are assloads of physical, mental, and social defects that can be used to get more character points to channel right back into your advantages. It uses the d6 exclusively, generally pressuring you to roll under your relevant ability score to succeed in a given task. This can be augmented in difficulty by increasing or decreasing the target numbers. A roll of a 3 or 4 is a critical success, while an 18 is always a critical failure. SJG put out a free .pdf synopsis of the rules called "[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/ GURPS Lite]", which is enough to play a barebones version of the game.<br />
<br />
[[Image:KALI_MAAAAA.JPG|thumb|left|KALI-MAAAAAA!]]<br />
GURPS' simulationist bent results in it being regarded as excessively complicated by many gamers, earning it the humorous moniker "Generally Unplayable RolePlaying System". Using its third edition vehicle creation system will make you want to eat your own face, and possibly devote the whole process to one or more elder gods. (Fourth Edition vehicles are just regular characters with extra stats.) Game Masters of the franchise experienced a downgrade in complexity following the release of Fourth Edition, but its inherent complexity still puts it behind [[Dungeons and Dragons]] in terms of ease of play.<br />
<br />
Much of the complexity in GURPS is front-loaded: character creation tends to take longer because of the staggering amount of detailed options. Forget just rolling a character like you would in D&D, you need to set aside a session to build one. That's the price you pay to evade [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP]].<br />
<br />
As the campaign progresses, however, the consistency and relative elegance of GURPS makes Dungeons and Dragons seem like a pile of kludge. The sandbox nature of character (and vehicle, weapon, setting, etc...) creation is appealing to players who have a concept of a character in their heads and want to reproduce it as faithfully as possible. And GURPS is more comprehensive, easy-to-learn than other [[simulationist]] games (like notoriously overcomplicated [[Phoenix Command]]). All that makes GURPS great for those capable of getting past seemingly "complicated" rules (what many GURPS players think are "not that complicated at all").<br />
<br />
== Versions ==<br />
===GURPS 3rd Edition===<br />
Published during Steve Jackson Games' golden era, i.e. when they weren't broke mfs. As a result 3e has a truly unholy number of splatbooks. Its genre and setting books are still loved today for the vast amount of information they contain. Its actual rules are, well... not nearly as loved. Pretty much everyone will agree that if there's a 3rd edition book you like, you should just take the stuff you like and convert it to 4e.<br />
===GURPS 4th Edition===<br />
The modern version of GURPS. It's not hugely different from 3e; if you're familiar with [[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]], it's more like going from D&D 3rd edition to [[Pathfinder]] than going from, say, D&D 4th edition to D&D 5th Edition. The first major change is that a number of optional rules from 3e's Compendium I and Compendium II have been "canonized" and made default assumptions in character creation & gameplay. The second major change is that 4e isn't as "human-level centric" as 3e; you can use it with minimal fuss if you want to make anything other than a realistic, 100-point, street level character, while in 3e you had to screw around with all kinds of janky exceptions and subsystems. In short 4e really puts the "Generic" and "Universal" in GURPS.<br />
<br />
== GURPS Books ==<br />
[[File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png|thumb|right|The magic system in GURPS is simple (page 21 of 38)|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:GURPS_spellcharts.makingbreakingspells.png?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw]]<br />
Generally, anything can be done with just the base starter set of GURPS, some judicious homebrewing and a good head on your shoulders, but if you're too busy to do that the guys at SJ Games have it all figured out for you ahead of time. All of the books for GURPS simply tell you how to do things within the core system without the need to spend an additional <strike>day</strike> month to set up an innovative campaign, with a handful of new advantages and optional mechanics per book. For example, there is a book on Vampires. It explains how to create vampire characters and NPCs easily without dealing with the issues of balance and customization that bogs down new players. There is even a Dungeon Fantasy book you can get off E621, the Warehouse 23 PDF site, that allows you to play Dungeons and Dragons without the need to buy [https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/Dice?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw polyhedrals]. Even if you don't actually want to use GURPS, the sheer amount of thought and research that goes into a typical GURPS book makes them well worth grabbing as a reference material.<br />
<br />
One irritating fact you'll discover as you collect GURPS books is that although the system uses real-word measurements, the different authors have never agreed on whether they should use Imperial or metric units. Keep a conversion chart handy. Fortunately the main book includes one.<br />
<br />
One positive fact, however, is that you can play this game by simply using the dice you swiped from Monopoly and Yahtzee.<br />
<br />
In the game's rather long lifespan, a truly impressive amount of settings and sourcebooks were made, including but not limited to [[Alpha Centauri]], settings where you play Men In Black, Fantasy (including [[Banestorm]], the original GURPS core setting), multiple SF settings (notable licensed one: GURPS Vorkosigan Saga), several books on conspiracies, historical books covering WW2, Ancient Rome, multiple other ancient cultures, joke settings (GURPS: IOU illustrated by Phil Foglio!), adaptations of a couple other games, (Notably the Classic World of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), Traveler and Castle Frankenstein) and a couple books that are just collections of multiple settings. If you've got a group who feels like playing something different every month, GURPS has got you covered for the next decade or so. Most of these were written for third edition (aka "GURPS Classic"); the rules for which tend to be janky at best. It's strongly recommended that you convert these to fourth edition, which rolls in a number of sanity-saving rules patches from the Compendium sourcebooks and just makes playing anything that isn't mundane 100-point schmucks much easier. New stuff occasionally still comes out, but it's slowed to a trickle compared to the old days and what has been published is almost all genre sourcebooks.<br />
<br />
The books are also notable for the amount of [[Catgirl|catgirls]] that are included in various settings. One of the SJG authors, David Pulver, is known for adding stated options for players to play as catgirls when ever possible.<br />
<br />
== Notable GURPS Books/Settings==<br />
===The Big Three===<br />
Besides the Basic Set, there are a tiny number of books that the GURPS community broadly considers so overwhelmingly influential as to be indispensable for a number of games. This category includes GURPS Powers (any game where the PCs aren't completely normal humans), GURPS Thaumatology (any game with magic), and GURPS Martial Arts (any game with melee combat).<br />
* '''GURPS Powers''': Almost mandatory for any campaign where PCs have any kind of supernatural abilities.<br />
* '''GURPS Thaumatology''': [[Magnus the Red|Magnus's First Magic Textbook]]. Everything you need to know about where [[Warp|magic can come from]], histories of magical practices, magical laws, syntactic magic and more. Technically a supplement to '''GURPS Magic''', the book is a one stop reference guide to near every type of magic system that has been thought up so far, from runic to rituals to symbolic magic. Also very useful when working with multiple systems of magic and you want to integrate them together.<br />
* '''GURPS Martial Arts''': The book of [[Monk|kung fu-punching badassery]]. From elbow strikes, upper cuts, and sweeping kicks to head locks and pile drivers, the chapter on techniques alone details hundreds of ways to kill a nigga dead with nothing more than your bare hands. But that's not all it's about; besides your standard unarmed, Asian-inspired styles of fighting, '''GURPS Martial Arts''' includes rules for weapon-based martial arts and Western styles too (did you know that English knights were martial artists?). More than eighty(!) historical and modern martial arts are presented, some of them incredibly esoteric, and if that's not enough the book further includes a decent sampler of fictional styles with no basis in reality. Case in point, Death Fist, a style invented by death mages combining [[Awesome|advanced grappling techniques with touch-delivered death spells]].<br />
* '''*-Tech''': These books aren't the big three, but they are worth honorable mention. Basically, weapons and gadgets and gear porn, oh my. Unlike most splats of this nature (looking at you, [[Cyberpunk 2077]]) these books actually spend some time helping you think through the ''implications'' of the various gadgets they introduce for your campaign, not just acting as a shopping list for your local [[munchkin]]. These books are basically necessary if you plan to run just about any game as they go over all the common technologies of a particular era. The series includes High-Tech (Industrial Revolution to Modern and Near-Future), Low-Tech (Stone Age to Early Modern), and two books which will be detailed more below because they are connected to distinct campaign settings: Bio-Tech (organic technology including [[PROMOTIONS|sex bioroids]] and that living spaceship from Lexx), and Ultra-Tech (bullshit sci-fi stuff).<br />
<br />
===Other Notable Books===<br />
* '''GURPS Space Beastiary''': "[[Deathworld|Dummies Guide to Catachan]]" or the book that proves that everyone in the late 80s/early 90s were on some kind of cocaine. One stop shop for some of the weirder shapes and forms life can take out there, good for creating simple alien animals and plants for your setting or creating a Deathworld even the Catachans would be intimidated by. How weird the book can get cannot be overstated; you can go from the Hercules Lizard which is literally just a giant alien iguanas to Mines (small silicon lifeforms that burrow into the ground and EXPLODE when stepped on) and not even need to go on a different page. You go from Asphyxers (insect swarms that hunt people by strangling them and wait for their prey to decay before eating them) to Boom Spiders (giant spiders that swing down and grab prey before judo throwing them into their webs) to Breakfest Trees (a possibly engineered tree found on multiple worlds whose fruit tasty, healthy and satisfies both hunger and thirst but also has bark that acts as a natural antivenin) in that order. Sword-Billed Razorwings are humming birds are giant 7 foot sparrows whose every appendage is a blade, Hiverdogs are a race of hive minded burrowing emaciated prariedogs with see through skin, Terror Hounds are partially sentient psionic dogs that were made by the government and trained to both instill terror into their targets and mind control them into putting themselves in harms way, Dampters are three eyed space hamsters that are natural [[Blank|blanks]], and then there is the Frisky Bull whose males are giant heavily furred bovines and females are [[Furries|8 foot tall anthropoids]] [[Monstergirls|that are lightly furred that are both nearsighted and charge anything humanoid during mating season]]. There is an entire chapter on insects that would make most peoples skin crawl and a section for space creatures covering Antimatter Swarms and living planetoids for good measure. If you want to really fall down the rabbit hole on alien life or want to roleplay as an Ordo Xenos researcher, get this book if you can and don't let the pyrokinetic turtles or Space Marine tossing telekinetic cats bother you.<br />
* '''GURPS Bio-Tech''': The book detailing biotechnology and science, full on [[Babylon 5|organic technology]], genetic engineering, cloning, DNA splicing, bioweapons both classical or [[Tyranid Bio-Weapons|otherwise]], animal uplifting, bioships and more. Book contains a full history and background on Real Life biotechnology and slowly ramps up to the point you learn how to genetically engineer [[Space Marines|human supersoldiers]] or [[Abhuman|human subspecies]] or just how to create some Self-Shearing Sheep. The book also can dip into the darker implications of a "High Biotech" setting, such as Hotshotting which is a form of psychosurgery where you can make anyone find any kind of specific activity as pleasurable "as if they were with a lover or eating chocolate"; [[Grimdark|examples given in the book of this are parents hotshotting their daughter to find mathematics and analysis pleasurable, pimps not needing to pay hotshooted hookers, and corporations giving out bonuses to employees who willingly hotshot themselves to do better at work.]] It also outlines bioweapons that rewrite genetics, ones that can apply genetic templates to an entire population with one example being [[Tau|a disease that can be released into the Third World to cause a mother's immune system to attack any fetus after their first child for the purposes of population control.]] [[Dark Eldar|Or viruses that turn people into trees or merge multiple people into one entity while keeping them aware]]. However, the book is very hopeful all things considered, only touching on the darker implications and no further. There are also catgirls, thank you David Pulver. <br />
:The book also contains 2 campaign settings.<br />
::* '''Setting: Alexander Athanatos''' - Setting where instead of creating the Hippocratic Oath, Hippocrates creates a medical revolution that eventually saves Alexander the Great's life, who allows the establishment of the new Great Medical School. Germ theory, antibiotics, vaccines, DNA, primitive cloning and more were discovered and developed by the Great Medical School, resulting in a line of Alexander the Great clones being created to rule the Macedonian Empire.<br />
::* '''Setting: Draconus''' - A setting taking place in a colony fleet sent out to Sigma Draconus, a journey taking 300+ years. In order to conserve resources, the fleet turns to advancements in biotechnology; resulting in things such as biological machinery, [[Webber|webber guns]], [[Tyranids|space bioships created from Blue Wale genetics]], and more. The main setting is centered on the highly advanced biotech fleet arriving in the Draconus system, and the question on whether or not they should terraform a planet to live on, change themselves genetically to survive on the new planets, or just stay in space. Think playing as the [[Leagues of Votann|First Ancestor colony fleet]], but if everyone was a [[Magos|Magos Biologis]].<br />
* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech''': [[Dark Age of Technology|The Dark Age of Technology the book]]...kind of. More along the lines of [[Archeotech|Archeotech the Book]], '''Ultra-Tech''' acts as a one stop reference guide to advance technology commonly seen in Science Fiction across various categories (Power, Robots, AI, Computers, Medicine, etc). It contains definitions of various tech levels and the associated technologies available at those levels, both on the specific and general scale. Amongst other things, you have the classics such as [[Cyberpunk 2020|Cybernetics]], [[Plasma|Plasma Weapons]], [[Grav-Weaponry|Gravity Weapons]], [[Volkite|Microwave Weapons]], [[Lightsaber|Force Swords]], and such. In settings with higher tech levels, thing such as [[Retcon|Reality Disintegrators that alter the probability of the target existing to 0]], [[Ark Mechanicus|displacer weapons that can teleport a target back in time to telefrag itself]], creating pocket universes, stargates, [[Rejuvenat|rejuvenation technology]] and [[AWESOME|the Grav Railgun (AKA the Grav '''Bolter'''), a fully automatic rife that uses super-dense slugs capable of coring a tank from miles away, with no recoil, and a fire rate of 20 rounds a second]] are completely viable. Good source for all of your Ultra-Tech needs, '''Do Not Let The Mechanicus Know About It'''.<br />
:* '''GURPS Ultra-Tech 2''': A sequel released years after the first as a companion. Reworked the tech levels a bit to account for real life technology advancements and details how to handle divergent technology development. A lot more cybernetics in this one.<br />
* '''GURPS Psionics''': the book about the "Fantastic Powers of Mind Over Matter". Everything you need to know about psychic powers in a campaign; the history of real life research into psychic powers, possible origins for psychic powers, the "science" on how psychic abilities work, societal effects of psionics, psi-technology and more. Psionic powers are categorized into into 9 main groups of powers, [[Blank|Antipsi]], Astral Projection, Electrokinesis, ESP, Healing, Psychic Vampirism, Psychokinesis, Telepathy and Teleportation; with many more advanced techniques underneath them. Some notable techniques are the ability to multiwield guns with Psychokinesis, creating swords and blades of pure mental energy, and [[The God-Emperor of Mankind| combining multiple minds into a single exponentially powerful gestalt]]. If psi-tech is your focus, tech such as psionic FTL drives, [[Gellar Field|anti-psi shields]], [[Wraithbone| specially engineered bioplastics that can be shaped and manipulated by psionic abilities]], psi-drugs and more. Combine '''GURPS Psionics''' with '''GURPS Bio-Tech''' and you can [[Leagues of Votann|have]] [[Eldar|some]] [[Tyranids|fun]].<br />
::*Not to be confused with '''GURPS Psionic Powers''' or '''GURPS Psionic Tech''', those are 4th Edition books dealing with the same material but with [[Skub|lot less detail and material]].<br />
::* '''Setting: The Phoenix Project''' - No Relation to Phoenix Point. The main campaign setting included with the book that takes place in a world where a major breakthrough in psychic research in the 1960s results in a new psionic shadow war between not only the Cold War powers but various stand alone groups with their own agendas. Both sides of the Cold War dove headfirst into psionic research in secret, the West pursuing advancements in psionic abilities while the East pursues psionic technology and biotechnology. Each faction has their own plan involving the emergence of psionic abilities, ranging from [[Psychic Awakening|elevating humanity into a fully psychic race]], facilitating the creation of psychic hivemind to control humanity in order to bring peace to the world, or just using psionics to steal business secrets from competitors. <br />
* '''[[GURPS Infinite Worlds]]''': The Big One. Infinite Worlds is by far the biggest setting in GURPS as it covers the GURPS [[Multiverse]], which in and of it self contains almost every other GURPS setting ever released. Covering how the multiverse is structured and everything in it, the multiverse is made up of various alternate Earths where things either happened slightly differently or wildly diverged. The travel between worlds is undertaken primarily by paratronic technology, where people can travel a certain "distance" across the multiverse before stopping. The setting primarily revolves around the operations of two main factions; [[Ordo Chronos|Homeline]], a universe where paratronic technology was revealed to the world in the 1990s and was quickly privatized under the United Nations, and the [[Tau Empire|Centrum]], a socialist technocratic society from a world where the White Ship disaster and subsequent Anarchy period never occurred but nearly nuked itself to oblivion around 1900 AD. The two factions are caught up in a somewhat cold war due to their drastically different motives behind paratronic technology. Homeline uses paratronics for both fun and profit, opening trade between worlds to strengthen the economy while funneling technological advancements from other worlds back to Homeline for them to take advantage of, plus some colonies on uninhabited worlds. [[Spheres of Expansion|Centrum however uses paratronics for conquest, subverting the societies of otherworlds to bring them in line with Centrum's beliefs while opening them for colonization and exploitation.]] The 2 factions are in conflict but considering neither of them have anywhere near the amount of population needed to conduct a full on multiversal war, they instead conduct covert operations on a very large scale to incontinence the other as much as possible. The entire setting is huge and is continually expanded by [[Steve Jackson Games|SJG]] and probably needs a dedicated page at some future date. <br />
::*'''GURPS Infinite Worlds''' is also a follow up to 3 other books, '''GURPS Time Travel''', '''GURPS Alternate Worlds''' and '''GURPS Alternate Worlds 2'''.<br />
::*Also, the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] are canon to the Infinite Worlds as a whole, much to the chagrin and horror of both Homeline and Centrum.<br />
* '''[[Reign of Steel|GURPS Reign of Steel]]''': "[[Grimdark|The Robot Revolt is over, and the machines have won!]]". Do you know what is better than one [[Terminator|Skynet]]? How about [[Primarch|18]] of them. In the world of Reign of Steel, advancements in technology result in the creation of "megacomputers", mainframes so advanced they were described as almost self coding. The megacomputer technology is spread out across the world and due to several lapses in safety controls and government malfeasance an AI called Overmind accidentally becomes sentient. The new AI comes to the conclusion that humanity will likely wipe itself out in a few decades, but will do so in a way that would likely kill it which it takes to mean that their self destruction needs to be assisted. [[Men of Iron|So it awakens 17 other AIs around the world, engineers multiple global crisises that force the governments to give the AI's full control over all infrastructure and then uses that infrastructure to build the actual infrastructure needed to wage full open war on humanity]]. The Final War ends in AI victory, where the world is separated into 18 separate "zones" ([[derp|technically 16 since 2 are in space]]) with each AI given full sovereignty over their zone. Humanity is on it's last legs with the majority being either enslaved in Dollhouse cities around the world or forced to survive in a hostile wilderness away from the AIs. However, there is hope for organizations such as VIRUS, the [[Ecclesiarchy|Pope]], and other resistance cells who continue the fight; relationships between the Zone AIs are starting to fray as each AI taking a drastically different philosophical path forward in their independence. [[Horus Heresy|A whole new war may be on the horizon]], one that may be key to wiping them out. If you like Terminator, Mad Max, or any similar media, this is for you.<br />
::*Homeline and Centrum know about this world, given the designation of "Steel", and are '''VERY''' committed to making sure they don't discover the multiverse. <br />
::*Also, as this is one of David Pulver's books, there are options available so you can play as catgirls. [[Extra Heresy|Robotic Catgirls]] even.<br />
* '''[[Technomancer|GURPS Technomancer]]''': The Urban Fantasy one. In this setting, during the Trinity tests Oppenheimer accidentally completes an unfinished ancient ritual that [[Eye of Terror| rips a hole in the fabric of reality]], facilitating a demon invasion along with dousing half the country in intense magical radiation. Magic worldwide starts to work to the surprise of various practitioners around the planet, Japan surrenders due to the threat of the US opening another rift on their mainland, and [[Shadowrun|strange birth defects start occurring within a year]]. From there on, its essentially the Cold War meets Shadowrun with both sides working on discovering how to work with magic and the societal effects there in. [[Psyker|People with the magic gene]] are eventually discovered with the number of people with natural growing ever year. Advancements in medicine are popped up by new spells and magical elixirs, truth spells are added to common court procedures, youth potions are now on the market (for the rich), the US is breeding military dragons, nuclear reactors are major targets of demon attacks; things go crazy, especially once the Soviets [[Warp Gate|nuke the antarctic to open a magical portal]] for research purposes. The actual setting takes place in 1998 in the midst of Stalin being magically revived after the fall of the Soviet Union and with society finally starting to deal with the long term effects of magic. Really fun book to jump right in, just beware the Killer Penguins. <br />
::*That last sentence is not a joke, ''do not mess with the Killer Penguins''. The Soviet nuke caused them to grow to 5 feet tall, develop a shared consciousness and an intense hatred for humanity. They raided army bases for weapons and magical knowledge, developed a unique spell to transform other lifeforms into Killer Penguins, and are now building their own superpower civilization with little oversight. '''They are the most dangerous part of this book.'''<br />
::* Homeline knows this world as "Merlin-1" and don't want them figuring out how to travel the multiverse. They are too late.<br />
::* It's a David Pulver book, do we have catgirls? Survey says, Yes! Dog girls as well.<br />
* '''[[Transhuman Space|GURPS Transhuman Space]]''': Welcome to the future! Transhuman Space is a [[Hard Science Fiction| Hard Science]] [[Transhumanism|Transhumanist]] space setting built upon the question of "[[Dark Age of Technology|what would the world look like with nearly 100 years of uninterrupted scientific advancement]]". The answer is a highly colonized solar-system being populated with various forms of [[Abhuman|artificial human life]], Mars and other planets being terraformed and colonized, and [[rage|United Nations controlled DRM being included with everything]]. Very much a [[Noblebright]] setting, Transhuman Space tackles a world being changed by advancements in biology, technology and nanotechnology and what it means for humanity as a whole. A very deep setting that SJG put a lot of thought, and more importantly research, into to the point that the accuracy of some the things they predicted are...''concerning'', to say the least. A very fun setting with a lot of fun lore to work with, [[Inquisition|just be aware that digital piracy may be hazardous to your health]].<br />
::*Notably, Transhuman Space is '''not''' part of the Infinite Worlds multiverse due the rules established by said setting. Mostly due to taking place way too far in the future, [[Cheese|and that it could possibly break the Infinite Worlds setting itself due to how advanced it is]].<br />
::*The setting itself was created and spear headed by David Pulver. Catgirl presence is confirmed.<br />
* '''GURPS Mecha''': Super fighting robot, MEGA- Wait, wrong genre. Welcome to '''GURPS [[Mecha]]''', the book covering [[Power Armour|Mighty Battlesuits]] and [[Gundam|Anime]] [[BattleTech|Fighting Machines]]. The history of the "mecha genre" is covered, going from Starship Troopers power armor to [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] and the technology associated with them. [[Robotech|Transforming battlearmor]], [[Jovian Chronicles|space mechs]], [[Wraithknight|psychic mechs]], [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|giant mechs]], [[Transformers|mechs made up of other mechs]]; the only mechs they don't cover are dinosaur mechs which is definitely a lost opportunity.<br />
::*Fact. David Pulver Book. David. Pulver. Anime Catgirls.<br />
::*'''Setting: Cybermech Damocles''' - The campaign setting bundled with '''GURPS Mecha''', detailing pure 90s anime cheese. Enter a world where the United Nations organization UNISTAR fights against the Gabberoth, a galactic criminal syndicate seeking to farm humans of their brains for monetary gain. Founded after an alien girl crash landed on Earth who warned humanity of the threat of the Gabberoth, UNISTAR investigates any possible sign of the criminals operations and breaks up their criminal activities with battle mechas reverse engineered from captured Gabberoth technology. It is a world of mech battles, alien catgirl bounty hunters, shapeshifting criminals and enough of the 90s that you will think a mullet is a good hairstyle.<br />
* '''[[Banestorm|GURPS Banestorm]]''': Welcome to Yrth, [[Great Race of Yith|no relation]]. Long ago in Yrth's history, the world was populated by a variety of fantasy life (Elves, Dwarves, Orks, etc) but with an absence of humans. Everything was fine more or less until the Elves entered a War with the Orcs. Seeking to end the war and rid the planet of the Orcs, the Elves created a ritual they called "Orcbane"to banish the Orcs somewhere else and attempted to use it. [[EPIC FAIL|The results were less than satisfactory to say the least.]] The Orcbane instead created the titular [[Warp Storm|Banestorm]] which ravaged the planet and started opening portals to other planets. Before long, humans from the middle ages and a host of other creatures were being transported to Yrth, displacing the native life and just adding to the chaos. [[The Witcher|Wait, this sounds familiar]]. Fast forward 1000 years past the [[Fallout]], and humans have established multiple kingdoms that span the main continent with the main empire being the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|The Empire of Megalos]], everyone has a grudge against the Elves due to the Banestorm, and there is a non-zero chance a Goblin will approach you to ask whether you have heard the good word of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. The setting is...honestly not that dark all things considered despite being the love child of The Witcher and Warhammer Fantasy; Nobledark at worst. Good setting all together, just don't run afoul of the [[ComStar|Ministry of Serendipity]]<br />
::*Yrth is present in the Infinite Worlds under the name "Yrth". Obvious name is Obvious.<br />
* '''GURPS Black Ops'''<br />
* '''GURPS Alternate Worlds'''<br />
* '''GURPS Time Travel'''<br />
* '''GURPS Warehouse 23'''<br />
* '''GURPS Mars'''<br />
* '''GURPS Illuminati'''<br />
* '''GURPS IOU - Illuminati University''': Once upon a time, Steve Jackson Games ran an ISP and BBS, back when the internet was a small enough thing that an RPG company could do that and not immediately go bankrupt. The elegan/tg/entlemen who used the BBS wrote up a parody setting for play-by-post games [[/tg/ gets shit done|and Steve thought it was good enough to publish]]. Illuminati University is like every other college you've been to, except it sits on top of a nexus between pretty much every reality there is. This means the entire place effectively has the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, and you can take classes in such things as World Creation, [[Paranoia|THE]] Computer Science, and Dirty Tricks. Features lots of amazing art from Phil Foglio. And before you ask, you're not cleared to know what the O stands for.<br />
* '''GURPS Cabal''': [[Cabal|Not that one but close]].<br />
* '''GURPS CthulhuPunk''': The awkward one of the GURPS line. CthuluPunk was the offical merged setting of two other RPGs, GURPS Cyberworld which is a Cyberpunk world similar to [[Cyberpunk 2020]] but darker and Chaosium's [[Call of Cthulhu]] which makes this the only official conversion of Call of Cthulhu to the GURPS system. The goal was to create something similar to [[CthulhuTech]], but with less mechs and Anime. The reception to the book itself was mixed. The artwork with the book is great, but many folks found it mediocre with it being more or less a direct copy of the Cyberworld setting with the Cthulhu Mythos being present, [[Fail|with a notable lack of integration between the two]]. It's currently out of print and the pdf version either doesn't exist or is not available for purchase on any storefront (SJG's Warehouse 23, DriveThruRPG, etc).<br />
* '''GURPS Tactical Shooting''': [[/k/|Have you ever gotten into an argument over what a gun can do that became so heated it escalated into a shouting match?]] Then you'll love '''GURPS Tactical Shooting'''! Contains all the rules for hyper-realistic hardcore tacticool bullshit a sane person could ever want and then some. Sniping, countersniping, shooting stances, breaching doors, shooting in darkness, you name it, this book has a rule for it. Besides combat mechanics it has some fun sections on firarm myths and legends, how ''not'' to use a gun, and things most gamers would never have a reason to think about such as the nitty gritty psychology of shooting or being shot at.<br />
* '''GURPS Old West''': The [[Western|western]] supplement, for those among us who can't resist adding a dash of Louis L'Amour to our games. Everything you need to know about life on the late 19th century American frontier, stock western characters, railroads and trains (make like Jesse James and rob a Wells Fargo car!), injuns, the wars of the time, and famous legends of the wild west.<br />
<br />
== Notable GURPS Adaptations==<br />
*'''GURPS [[Conspiracy X]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Star Trek| Prime Directive]]''' - Basically a RPG adaptation of [[Star Fleet Battles]].<br />
*'''GURPS [[Blue Planet]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Traveller]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[World of Darkness]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Alpha Centauri|Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Conan the Barbarian]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Discworld]]'''<br />
*'''GURPS [[Hellboy]]'''<br />
<br />
== Criticism ==<br />
Some of the criticisms of GURPS include:<br />
*That genre you want to emulate? The rules for it are scattered across half a dozen different books. Or alternatively, you could emulate setting, ''but'' not it's genre.<br />
*The default magic system sucks. One reason GURPS Thaumatology is so popular is because it tells you how to scrap it and replace it with a magic system that's actually playable.<br />
**This isn't helped by 4e's GURPS Magic easily being one of the worst mainline GURPS books, as it's a poorly edited half-assed conversion from 3e.<br />
**Offensive magic is play-testes against Low-Tech weapons, since offensive magic is weaker than High-Tech weapons - to the point, that it looses in power to most pistols. Assuming same points, user of technological weapons (Signature Gear + custom war vehicle + good crew for it) or even foot soldier is stronger than spellcaster in direct combat.<br />
*Damage and DR sometimes gets real wonky. This is hardly a problem at all with low-tech games or high-tech games (modern firearms and armor are very well-researched), but when it comes to futuristic tech, GURPS' designers don't know what the fuck they're doing. Ultra-tech armor is pathetically fragile, comparing unfavorably to modern armor (with vehicles it's especially bad), while ultra-tech weapons have damage values seemingly assigned more or less at random with no regard for consistency.<br />
**Generally, it can be one tad hard to determine TL of certain setting. Although, that's problem of all technology scales.<br />
**On top of that, characteristics of weapons and armor of most futuristic pre-existing settings (derivative works, third-party settings, etc) are different from what GURPS considers standart. As such, their characteristics would either need to be calculated from scratch, or end up being grossly incorrect.<br />
*Strength scales poorly at superhuman levels. If you want to have an ST of 20 and be four times as strong as an average man, you have to pay 100 points. Fair enough. But if you want to have an ST of 100 and be as strong as a hundred men? It costs 900 points! And it sure isn't nine times as good as having an ST of 20. Heck, even if you have 900 points to spend, there are much more cost-efficient things you could spend those points on.<br />
**GURPS Supers tries to address this with a super-effort enhancement, allowing you to spend Fatigue Points to temporarily enhance your Strength by insane levels. How well this actually works as a patch, both thematically and gameplay-wise, is [[Skub|controversial at best]].<br />
**Knowing Your Own Strength, a popular optional rule from Pyramid #3/83, redoes ST scaling to be logarithmic. From the average ST of 10, every +10 ST makes you ten times stronger. Want to be as strong as a hundred men? Now it only costs 200 points. But while it keeps point costs from spiraling out of control, it introduces [[Skub|its own sets of problems]].<br />
**Or, if playing as robot/cyborg/biorobot/augmented human/etc - have another scale. Instead of measuring power in "points", you should measure it in money cost of creating/assembling your character (e.g. robot systems cost money; genetic upgrades cost money; etc).<br />
**Also, Strength is even less needed once good guns are invented. Assuming same point costs, and TL 5 and higher - guy who smashes things with brute strength will be weaker, than guy who uses guns (e.g. ATGM's), and even weaker than one who uses war vehicles (custom-made; tanks, aircraft, ships, etc; affordably get with Signature Gear). Basically, bid dumb mammoth-sized monstrosity is just convenient target practice for modern soldiers (after all, most works downplay power of modern weapons). Maybe Strength should be cheaper at higher TL's?<br />
***For same reasons, most things bigger than elephant are weak on High-Tech and further. Living creatures and bio-mechs are weaker than war machines of same weight (not to mention size), to the point that whales and sea leviathans can be easily gunned down from your normal MG42. DR seems to badly scale for creatures bigger than elephant; not many have DR bigger than 5. Though, that's likely intentional - living things ''are'' fragile, and aren't built do survive gunfire.<br />
*GURPS Realm Management. Do not touch this book, do not read it under any circumstances. Just don't. It's a steaming pile of '''SHIT'''.<br />
** Same thing with GURPS Cthulhupunk. Only get it if you are looking to gift it to someone you absolutely LOATHE but don't want to make it obvious.<br />
*There are no rules or guidelines for building lifeforms from ground up (synthetic biology, aka writing DNA from zero). In such and other similar cases, there is no restriction of baseline creature's stats, and there are no guidelines for "what's limit then"; as such, you can create ''absolutely anything'' (truely anything for soft sci-fi; "anything as long as it doesn't have Supernatural traits" for "hard" sci-fi). That can be abused as needed. The only limitation, is that cost of creature production depends on it's point cost.<br />
*As expected, after Replicators are invented (usually at TL12^), entire balance shifts. They print things without regard for cost - only mass matters. So, you can print ridiculously strong yet small objects, ignoring their large cost. NPC's also do this, so overall truely epic things start going on.<br />
** Strategic-scale nuclear and antimatter bombs aren't even the strongest option for abuse. E.G. synthetically created organism with truely absurd power level - capable of bench-lifting a continental plate, tanking-off a direct hit from [[Exterminatus|planet-buster]], and having firepower bigger than entire starship fleets combined - yet the size and mass of house cat. Normally, this thing is held back by ''ludicrous'' cost of production; after Replicators are invented, it can be created quickly and for pocket change.<br />
* Assuming that ST and other parameters are unchanged, small SM is benefit. [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Size_Modifier#Relative_Size_Modifier Basically], character with small SM is very difficult to detect and hit, and has lots of useful abilities - while character with big SM is easy to hit and detect, and most benefits are about smashing things in melee (that is not useful since about TL5). Small SM also makes your gear lighter, so you can carry more of it; so much as being SM-6 (7"; 0.2 yards; rat-sized) will make armor 100 times lighter and cheaper with same thickness and DR (i.e. he can wear super-heavy armor 100 times tougher than "normal human's", yet it will cost and weight just like "normal human's" armor; weight is volume*mass, and volume is surface area*thickness, smaller guy has smaller surface area but same physical strength, so he can do more with less) - and this is even more egregious for smaller sizes (think microbe-sized, atom-sized, quark-sized, etc). As such, character with [[Space Marine]] strength is less powerful, than character with strength of [[Space Marine]] and size of a quark.<br />
** What that means in practice: Assuming same point and money budgets. Small guy is SM-1000000 or smaller; he's impossible to detect, impossible to hit, and impossible to penetrate his incredibly thick armor - all while he's shooting you with his machinegun. Meanwhile, big guy is easily detected and shot at, and he can't take many hits due to his armor being thinner and weaker; he's also using machinegun, but what's the point if he can't hit and can't penetrate anything. Obviously, such strong small character is unrealistic - but in unrealistic works (i.e. cinematic; magic; supernatural; superscience), he's possible.<br />
** Even if we take less egregious example and have humanoid who's 2, 3 or 4 times shorter than human (SM-2, SM-3 and SM-4 respectively) while being about as strong as human, and he's TL5+, it ends up being more threatening than human. He uses human-sized gun, hard to hit, good marksman, hard to detect, can hide behind cover too small for human, carries more equipment, can wear stupendously strong armor without much encumbrance, more easily hits chinks in big armor - for 0 points. Meanwhile, humanoid who's 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5 times taller than human (SM+1, SM+2 and SM+3 respectively) is easier to hit, bad at hitting things, can't take hits well due to thinner armor, visible from anywhere and doesn't fit in many places - for 0 points. And that's just things applicable from combat there-and-now. [[TL;DR]]: small-yet-strong (think Alien Hominid from ''Newgrounds'' or Stitch from ''Disney Animated Canon'') is better than big-and-strong (think [[Space Marines]] from ''WH40K'') - the smaller someone is the better, the bigger someone is the worse - while both being small and being big is points-free, despite small size being de-facto advantage and big size being de-facto disadvantage.<br />
** Also, don't remember if ability to detect character depends on his gear. Or in other words: if you're microbe-sized, but are wielding human-sized machine gun, how hard it is to see you? Or wield it, for that matter (handles must be re-made to suit your size)?<br />
* Assuming standard TL progression, many Biotech things end up being researched on such TL's that they're obsolete before they're invented - being so many times worse than their mechanical counterparts, that they're practically unserviceable.<br />
** Living weapons are pretty much obsolete. Claws that can't penetrate even armored clothing (not to mention armor porper)? Poison spit, that only works at all if it hits open wound, eye, or other unprotected spot - all while enemies wear sealed space-proof suits on average, and gas-mask-equivalent protection at worst? Living armor, that even in best complectation (e.g. tortoise-like shell), can't even stop pistol rounds? All sorts of things, that could be useful for Magic-user in Low-Tech era - but at Ultra-Tech age, those are useless.<br />
** Bio-Mechs and other living weapons. Most of their weapons are very weak, usually weaker than normal rifles. They are also fragile, to the point that they're vulnerable to said rifles. The only way for these to work properly, is to make Bio-Gadgets versions of normal weapons (e.g. lasers, cannons, missiles), Bio-Gadget versions of vehicles and armor, etc.<br />
** One thing that ''is'' good? Make synthetic creature, that is Explosive, Flammable, has ''truckloads'' of HP, and mountains of various disadvantages. Basically, grenade-sized ball of explosive flesh; living plasma grenade. It's only purpose is to die and explode in flames for 6dx(HP/10) damage - so put on ''thousands'' of Disadvantages onto it (e.g. easily dies, fails any skills, has no sensors at all, no limbs, etc - ''as much disadvantages as possible''), and put all those acquired points into HP to make blast bigger.<br />
*** Reducing ST DX IQ HT to 0, Combustible, Explosive, Flammable, No Legs (Sessile; not anchored to ground), No Manipulators, Blindness, Deafness, No Sense Of Smell, No Sense Of Taste, Numb, Slave Mentality, Mute - those give 895 points. That will allow to take HP 447 - cue 6dx44.7 (268.2d) crushing incendiary explosive damage. This isn't properly optimized; you can add more Disadvantages to make use of even more points. SM can be as small as needed; it can be as small as grenade, or even a bug, or whatever. Rather affordable to create; not bad for something of arbitrarily small size (or heck, even just grenade-sized).<br />
* When comparing modernized Low-Tech armor (made from modern steel - for either doubled DR, or halved weight/cost) and High-Tech armor, usually one of the sides is strictly better.<br />
** Generally, it's better to use reinforced light piece of armor, than lightened heavy piece of armor - since reinforced light piece of armor ends up with smaller weight/cost with same DR.<br />
** Most modernized breastplates are weaker than High-Tech torso armors. Armor vests are both tougher, cheaper and lighter, and can mount Trauma Plates.<br />
** Lightened "Pot-Helm" from Basic Set is better than most helmets («Steel Pot», «Frag Helmet», «Cavalry Helmet», «Medium Helmet», «Frag Helmet», «Modern Firefighter’s Helmet»); Reinforced "Pot-Helm" is also better than most helmets ("Heavy Helmet"). In turn, "Pot Helm - Plate, Medium" is strictly better than generic "Pot-Helm". You can use Bascinet or Full Helm for covering face - or tinker with helmet to mount modern visor.<br />
** Reinforced "Sollerets" from Basic Set is strictly better than «Boots, Firefighter». "Sabatons" of "Light late" or "Medium Plate" kinds are strictly better than genetic "Sollerets" - and, they're better than normal boots. In fact, reinforced variant of «Sabatons»/«Gauntlets» «Light Plate» is lighter than moccasins/sneakers and sharp-protective gloves.<br />
** Reinforced «Sabatons», «Heavy Plate» is better than "Boots, Blast" - tougher, lighter and protecting from all sides. <br />
** Modernized variants of ancient armor for limbs are generally better, than modern limb protection.<br />
** [[TL;DR]]: High-Tech armor is better at protecting torso, and maybe head in some cases (Ballistic Helmet). Modernized Low-Tech armor is better at protecting the rest of your body: helmet, boots, gloves, limb protection, etc. Wear mixed armor.<br />
** Modernized shields can be rather good, mostly ones with DB 3. For example, Large Roman Scutum of Reinforced variant (modern steel) will have DR/HP of 8/27, and Cover DR of 20.<br />
** Modern synthetic fur/cloth/leather at TL8, would allow to apply the "double DR or halve cost/weight" to fur/cloth/leather armors. Since military uniforms also have weight and cost, it's possible to have modern synthetic armor made of fur/cloth/leather, what would offer some protection while weighing no more than normal uniforms. Ordinary clothes and formal wear weight 2 lbs; winter clothes weight 4 lbs; many types of padded armor are warm as winter clothing.<br />
** Most modifications available for Low-Tech armor can be made for High-Tech armor. E.G. Face Protection applied to TL6 helmet (though, as explained, Modernized Low-Tech helmets are better than most High-Tech helmets - only loosing to Ballistic Helmets, and heavy helmets like "Altyn"/"Алтын").<br />
** High-Tech armor is, usually, a lot cheaper than modernized Low-Tech armor. E.G. Heavy Helmet is (DR 5, 5 lb, 100$), while reinforced Plate Medium Pot Helm is (DR 12, 4 lb, 500$). But that's why you can use other, simpler armor pieces. E.G. reinforced Scale Light Pot Helm (DR 6, 3.2 lb, 64$). This way, you can make "budget" modernized Low-Tech armor, that is still better than it's High-Tech analogues.<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20250311095955/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/GameBreaker/TabletopRPG We still remember the "Cloth Cap" exploit]. [[TL;DR]]: you can keep putting on Cloth Caps on yourself, stacking them for ''absurd'' amounts of concealed flexible DR for no downsides, far tougher than any other armor can provide (even tougher, thal TL13+ [[Power Armor]]), to the point that your skull becomes resistant to ''heavy tank cannons''. It's unknown whether "no more than 3 layers" is rule ("you can't put so much layers"), or merely recommendation ("you can put so much layers, but most people opt not to do this") - and if it's the later, balance flies out of the window.<br />
* Determining average wealth of certain settings can be hard - especially if magic or sci-fi tech gets involved. For example, what is "average wealth" in WH40K? Most people walk around in filthy rags and are starving, yet can afford large assortment of weapons and armor (underhive gangs, cults, etc) - so how much money, in "gurpsdollars", they have?<br />
* Most rules about Robots/Androids/Full-Conversion-Cyborgs only start explaining things from TL7 (Cold War). And usually, robots start getting prominent from TL8 (Information Era) or TL7+1 (Atompunk, like ''Fallout''). Robots/Androids/Cyborgs from earlier epochs, like TL6+1 (Dieselpunk), TL5+1 (Steampunk), TL4+1 (Clockpunk), TL1^ (Bronze androids, like Thalos; magical golems of all kinds) - are outright absent; you don't know ''how'' exactly, you would design them, how strong they would be for their size, etc.<br />
* There are some settings, that even GURPS struggles to properly model. Such as playing as proper Gods (not "avatars of gods" - just ''proper Gods themselves''). It also struggles with absurdly strong settings, like [[Xeelee Sequence]] and [[Xeelee_Sequence#Settings_even_remotely_comparable_to_Xeelee_Sequence|settings comparable to it]]. Realistically, this is a minor criticism when you get down to it because those kinds of scales tend to break any chart someone tries to use.<br />
* Using the Low-Tech armor creation rules, you can turn any armor into variants for any body part - that is good for optimization.<br />
** E.G. TL6 Leather Helmet covering Skull has Weight 1, (+2 Weight for steel plates); so, you could engineer entire Torso (chest, abdomen, groin) variant with 3,(3) weight and 66,(6)$, or Feet variant with 0,(3) weight and 6,(6)$. With such Feet variant being better than "proper" boots.<br />
** For another example: Assault Vest covers Torso and Groin and weights 8lb, 900$; Trauma Plates cover Torso, and weight 8lb, 600$. Therefore, Trauma Plates that cover Torso and Groin would weight ≈8,421052632lb and cost ≈631,5789474. So, the helmet that fully covers Head, would be 2.4lb, 270$ for "Vest" - and ≈2,526315789lb, 189,4736842$ for "trauma plates"; that results in ≈4.9lb, ≈459,5$, effective 35DR Full Helm - a lot better than default "Ballistic Helmet".<br />
* More of a Steve Jackson Games criticism but it is about the GURPS series in general. A lot of the recent books with new content released have been lack luster to say the least with the prime example being GURPS Psionics 3rd Edition that was updated and split across GURPS Psionic Powers and Psionic Tech with the updated material actually being reduced in content. Additionally, any new book that is not a reprint of a older book (GURPS Time Travel Adventures) is usually around 50 to 90 pages in length (GURPS Meta-Tech) with a very long gap between new releases.<br />
<br />
== Gallery ==<br />
<gallery><br />
Gurps3rd.jpg|3rd Edition|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps3rd.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
Gurps4thPHB.jpg|4th Edition Characters|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps4thPHB.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
Gurps4thDMG.jpg|4th Edition Campaigns|link=https://108.181.34.71/mediawiki/File:Gurps4thDMG.jpg?__cpo=aHR0cHM6Ly8yZDRjaGFuLm9yZw<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-191427566_39925075 2 rulebooks].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20241218135431/https://vk.com/topic-141278081_35047392 some rulebooks]<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=100 More rulebooks from VK]. [https://vk.com/topic-3656533_21942416?offset=0 Start].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m94HQPwsjQobVWrnn_uPDq3aJA_Xxkzl Disk (broken)].<br />
** [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_NuPNv2DlK7tNsCxkYwq674w12TDoTdD Disk (working)].<br />
** [https://t.me/TheAmberRoom The Amber Room].<br />
* [https://vk.com/topic-183668538_48441815 Even more VK rulebooks].<br />
* [https://vk.com/antifriz_group Antifriz Group], with files of GURPS. E.G., [https://mega.nz/folder/EFoFlC6S#e5gTnMqELVEv-OPxPNBENQ folder with GURPS rulebooks].<br />
* From [https://the-eye.eu/ data base]:<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250210183419/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20241010064330/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ archived]); e.g. [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20181229162618/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf archived]).<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210924093141/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220815124005/https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf archived]).<br />
* From [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/ beta-site data base]:<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ GURPS Classic, lots of it.] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250215204105/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/GURPS%20Classic/ archived])<br />
** [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/ bestiaries, CNTRL+F «GURPS»]; [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/_Collections/Bestiaries/Bestiary%205/GURPS%20-%20Space%20Bestiary%203E.pdf space bestiary].<br />
** Miscellaneous books: [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf GURPS Amber] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250919154139/https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Amber/Unofficial/GURPS%20Amber.pdf archive]), [https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Ghostbusters/Unofficial/Ghostbusters%20-%20GURPS%204e%20Conversion.pdf Ghostbusters GURPS].<br />
* [http://lafs-welt.tumor-band.de/frameset_en.htm GURPS PDF's].<br />
* Lists of [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Fanmade_4e_Bestiaries unofficial bestiaries] and [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Official_4e_Bestiaries official bestiaries] (google in other place).<br />
* [https://mentor.gurps.ru/# Game help in development].<br />
** [https://gmentor.ru/ New game help site in development].<br />
** Search in publications. For example, [https://gmentor.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 Tactical Shooting gear] ([https://mentor.gurps.ru/vf17052e43bb78a1f3c50f08b73699717 old]).<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230609222747/https://gurps4e.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS4e_Wiki Archive of 4e wiki. About 10% pages archived.]<br />
* [https://weapons.gurps.ru/ List of weapon statblocks.]<br />
* [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Category:Weapons More weapon statblocks], [https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/GURPS_Weapons navigation].<br />
* [http://gametable.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=Game%20Books A few rulebooks].<br />
* [https://www.yumpu.com/xx/GURPS Also quite a lot of rulebooks].<br />
* [https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/ GURPS eggplant. Statblocks and other things].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/* TG Boards Images. Some are about GURPS, some aren't. Filter PDF]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240830211307/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1466/07/1466071018274.pdf example], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240830152642/https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1582/31/1582316434346.pdf example])<br />
* [https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Game wiki].<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/* Some rulebooks]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230320015140/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/3rd%20edition/GURPS%203e%20-%20Cabal.pdf 3e Cabal], [https://web.archive.org/web/20240224102221/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/4th%20edition/GURPS%204e%20-%20Low-Tech%20Companion%202%20-%20Weapons%20and%20Warriors.pdf 4e Low-Tech], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230707183904/https://thetrove.dungeon.church/GURPS/SETTING/Prime%20Directive%20STAR%20TREK/GURPS%204e%20-%20Prime%20Directive%20-%20Federation%20%5BRevised%5D.pdf 4e Prime Directive].<br />
* [https://www.tesarta.com/HFP/bestiary.pdf Monster Statblocks]<br />
* [https://panoptesv.com/RPGs/animalia/animalia.html Animalia, animal statblocks]<br />
* [http://gurpsland.us.to/ Eric's GURPSland] (also known as gurpsland.no-ip.org ).<br />
* Internet Archive Search:<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS Texts, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Texts, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS Programs, Metadata]<br />
** [https://archive.org/details/software?tab=collection&query=GURPS&sin=TXT Programs, Text Contents]<br />
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/GURPS Search for archived sites]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Systems]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:GURPS]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Talk:TVTropes&diff=1007111Talk:TVTropes2025-10-26T18:26:37Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>== Removing anti-adblocker popup ==<br />
"You're using adblocker" message is irritating, so i removed it. That's how: download AdBlock Plus, optionally turn most free settings on and block acceptable ads. Load TvTropes page, press AdBlock button, press bottom left blue button ("block element" or something), press somewhere. Remove all text from opened window, and insert all following lines:<br />
<br />
* tvtropes.org##.fc-dialog-overlay<br />
* tvtropes.org##.fc-ab-dialog.fc-dialog<br />
* <divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-container&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-overlay&quot;style=&quot;&quot;></div><divtabindex=&quot;0&quot;id=&quot;fc-focus-trap-pre-div&quot;></div><divclass=&quot;fc-ab-dialogfc-dialog&quot;role=&quot;dialog&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;aria-label=&quot;Pleaseallowadsonoursiteorsubscribe&quot;style=&quot;display:none;&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-content&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-header&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-header-image-containerfc-header&quot;><imgclass=&quot;fc-header-image&quot;alt=&quot;WelcometoTVTropes&quot;src=&quot;https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aQtkkKGNC5IjgHIz13xkLzDpAaV_lrxv_Li9uxT3Bmgxnolj_NngITFAThsLp1da85tmV-3hlvy-DO-8_vxYmrjRhqfYLRgPBxq-hWCpRO9NQcjSLl1=h60&quot;></div></div><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-headline&quot;><h1class=&quot;fc-dialog-headline-text&quot;>Pleaseallowadsonoursiteorsubscribe</h1></div><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-body&quot;><pclass=&quot;fc-dialog-body-text&quot;>Lookslikeyou'reusinganadblocker.Werelyonadvertisingtohelpfundoursite.</p></div></div><footerclass=&quot;fc-dialog-footer&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-buttons-section&quot;><buttonrole=&quot;button&quot;aria-label=&quot;Allowads&quot;class=&quot;fc-buttonfc-buttonfc-button-whitelist&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-button-background&quot;></div><pclass=&quot;fc-button-text&quot;>Allowads</p></button><buttonrole=&quot;button&quot;aria-label=&quot;Subscribe&quot;class=&quot;fc-buttonfc-buttonfc-button-custom-choice&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-button-background&quot;></div><pclass=&quot;fc-button-text&quot;>Subscribe</p></button></div><aclass=&quot;fc-subscription-link&quot;href=&quot;https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/login_prompt.php&quot;>Login</a></footer></div><divtabindex=&quot;0&quot;id=&quot;fc-focus-trap-post-div&quot;></div></div><br />
* tvtropes.org##.fc-dialog-container<br />
* <divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-container&quot;style=&quot;display:none;&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-overlay&quot;></div><divtabindex=&quot;0&quot;id=&quot;fc-focus-trap-pre-div&quot;></div><divclass=&quot;fc-ab-dialogfc-dialog&quot;role=&quot;dialog&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;aria-label=&quot;Pleaseallowadsonoursiteorsubscribe&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-content&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-header&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-header-image-containerfc-header&quot;><imgclass=&quot;fc-header-image&quot;alt=&quot;WelcometoTVTropes&quot;src=&quot;https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aQtkkKGNC5IjgHIz13xkLzDpAaV_lrxv_Li9uxT3Bmgxnolj_NngITFAThsLp1da85tmV-3hlvy-DO-8_vxYmrjRhqfYLRgPBxq-hWCpRO9NQcjSLl1=h60&quot;></div></div><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-headline&quot;><h1class=&quot;fc-dialog-headline-text&quot;>Pleaseallowadsonoursiteorsubscribe</h1></div><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-body&quot;><pclass=&quot;fc-dialog-body-text&quot;>Lookslikeyou'reusinganadblocker.Werelyonadvertisingtohelpfundoursite.</p></div></div><footerclass=&quot;fc-dialog-footer&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-buttons-section&quot;><buttonrole=&quot;button&quot;aria-label=&quot;Allowads&quot;class=&quot;fc-buttonfc-buttonfc-button-whitelist&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-button-background&quot;></div><pclass=&quot;fc-button-text&quot;>Allowads</p></button><buttonrole=&quot;button&quot;aria-label=&quot;Subscribe&quot;class=&quot;fc-buttonfc-buttonfc-button-custom-choice&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-button-background&quot;></div><pclass=&quot;fc-button-text&quot;>Subscribe</p></button></div><aclass=&quot;fc-subscription-link&quot;href=&quot;https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/login_prompt.php&quot;>Login</a></footer></div><divtabindex=&quot;0&quot;id=&quot;fc-focus-trap-post-div&quot;></div></div><br />
<br />
then press right red button ("block and update page" or something). The anti-atblocker message would be removed, and all ads are removed by AdBlock Plus automatically.<br />
<br />
So congratulations - you just removed those annoying messages without paying anything. It worked for me. Did it work for you? --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 12:58, 27 September 2025 (UTC)<br />
<br />
* Now TVTropes have completely blanketed their page with anti-adblock popup. Just ignore them, they literally vandalized themselves. Keep your principles, don't turn off AdBlock. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 18:20, 26 October 2025 (UTC)<br />
** Just go to Archive Today and save TVT pages there ([https://archive.fo/xehZS Example]), and then watch the saved copy. [https://web.archive.org/save Wayback Machine] could also be used, when it gets repaired. This way, you can watch the TVT pages without turning AdBlock off ''and'' while removing annoying popups. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 18:26, 26 October 2025 (UTC)</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Talk:TVTropes&diff=1007110Talk:TVTropes2025-10-26T18:20:05Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>== Removing anti-adblocker popup ==<br />
"You're using adblocker" message is irritating, so i removed it. That's how: download AdBlock Plus, optionally turn most free settings on and block acceptable ads. Load TvTropes page, press AdBlock button, press bottom left blue button ("block element" or something), press somewhere. Remove all text from opened window, and insert all following lines:<br />
<br />
* tvtropes.org##.fc-dialog-overlay<br />
* tvtropes.org##.fc-ab-dialog.fc-dialog<br />
* <divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-container&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-overlay&quot;style=&quot;&quot;></div><divtabindex=&quot;0&quot;id=&quot;fc-focus-trap-pre-div&quot;></div><divclass=&quot;fc-ab-dialogfc-dialog&quot;role=&quot;dialog&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;aria-label=&quot;Pleaseallowadsonoursiteorsubscribe&quot;style=&quot;display:none;&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-content&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-header&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-header-image-containerfc-header&quot;><imgclass=&quot;fc-header-image&quot;alt=&quot;WelcometoTVTropes&quot;src=&quot;https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aQtkkKGNC5IjgHIz13xkLzDpAaV_lrxv_Li9uxT3Bmgxnolj_NngITFAThsLp1da85tmV-3hlvy-DO-8_vxYmrjRhqfYLRgPBxq-hWCpRO9NQcjSLl1=h60&quot;></div></div><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-headline&quot;><h1class=&quot;fc-dialog-headline-text&quot;>Pleaseallowadsonoursiteorsubscribe</h1></div><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-body&quot;><pclass=&quot;fc-dialog-body-text&quot;>Lookslikeyou'reusinganadblocker.Werelyonadvertisingtohelpfundoursite.</p></div></div><footerclass=&quot;fc-dialog-footer&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-buttons-section&quot;><buttonrole=&quot;button&quot;aria-label=&quot;Allowads&quot;class=&quot;fc-buttonfc-buttonfc-button-whitelist&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-button-background&quot;></div><pclass=&quot;fc-button-text&quot;>Allowads</p></button><buttonrole=&quot;button&quot;aria-label=&quot;Subscribe&quot;class=&quot;fc-buttonfc-buttonfc-button-custom-choice&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-button-background&quot;></div><pclass=&quot;fc-button-text&quot;>Subscribe</p></button></div><aclass=&quot;fc-subscription-link&quot;href=&quot;https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/login_prompt.php&quot;>Login</a></footer></div><divtabindex=&quot;0&quot;id=&quot;fc-focus-trap-post-div&quot;></div></div><br />
* tvtropes.org##.fc-dialog-container<br />
* <divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-container&quot;style=&quot;display:none;&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-overlay&quot;></div><divtabindex=&quot;0&quot;id=&quot;fc-focus-trap-pre-div&quot;></div><divclass=&quot;fc-ab-dialogfc-dialog&quot;role=&quot;dialog&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;aria-label=&quot;Pleaseallowadsonoursiteorsubscribe&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-content&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-header&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-header-image-containerfc-header&quot;><imgclass=&quot;fc-header-image&quot;alt=&quot;WelcometoTVTropes&quot;src=&quot;https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aQtkkKGNC5IjgHIz13xkLzDpAaV_lrxv_Li9uxT3Bmgxnolj_NngITFAThsLp1da85tmV-3hlvy-DO-8_vxYmrjRhqfYLRgPBxq-hWCpRO9NQcjSLl1=h60&quot;></div></div><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-headline&quot;><h1class=&quot;fc-dialog-headline-text&quot;>Pleaseallowadsonoursiteorsubscribe</h1></div><divclass=&quot;fc-dialog-body&quot;><pclass=&quot;fc-dialog-body-text&quot;>Lookslikeyou'reusinganadblocker.Werelyonadvertisingtohelpfundoursite.</p></div></div><footerclass=&quot;fc-dialog-footer&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-buttons-section&quot;><buttonrole=&quot;button&quot;aria-label=&quot;Allowads&quot;class=&quot;fc-buttonfc-buttonfc-button-whitelist&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-button-background&quot;></div><pclass=&quot;fc-button-text&quot;>Allowads</p></button><buttonrole=&quot;button&quot;aria-label=&quot;Subscribe&quot;class=&quot;fc-buttonfc-buttonfc-button-custom-choice&quot;tabindex=&quot;0&quot;><divclass=&quot;fc-button-background&quot;></div><pclass=&quot;fc-button-text&quot;>Subscribe</p></button></div><aclass=&quot;fc-subscription-link&quot;href=&quot;https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/login_prompt.php&quot;>Login</a></footer></div><divtabindex=&quot;0&quot;id=&quot;fc-focus-trap-post-div&quot;></div></div><br />
<br />
then press right red button ("block and update page" or something). The anti-atblocker message would be removed, and all ads are removed by AdBlock Plus automatically.<br />
<br />
So congratulations - you just removed those annoying messages without paying anything. It worked for me. Did it work for you? --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 12:58, 27 September 2025 (UTC)<br />
<br />
* Now TVTropes have completely blanketed their page with anti-adblock popup. Just ignore them, they literally vandalized themselves. Keep your principles, don't turn off AdBlock. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 18:20, 26 October 2025 (UTC)</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK/Disney_Villains_Victorious_Extra_Weapon_Properties&diff=1003322User:JOKTWWEJK/Disney Villains Victorious Extra Weapon Properties2025-06-25T15:14:24Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>Old supplement with original rules of [[Disney Villains Victorious]]. Original DVV had undetailed, inconsistent and unrealistic rules for weapon qualities. We can try to fix this and implement '''new optional weapon quality rules'''. Still incomplete.<br />
<br />
== Optional Weapon Qualities V1 ==<br />
* Entities now have 2 Prevent Harm saving rolls against damage: 1 roll to dodge (Agility) and 1 roll to tank it off (Robustness). You roll to dodge first, and to tank off second. If both fail, you're getting strike. That'll be important later.<br />
* Rapid-Fire: weapon shoots multiple times per attack (e.g. most automatic weapons; some tight-beam weapons, and liquid/gas sprayers may also qualify). If weapon has variable fire rate, use the highest speed setting. When you do attack action, you do number of actual attack equal to Rapid-Fire rating. You can distribute those shots between multiple targets. You have 3 methods for determining Rapid-Fire:<br />
** Bigger: "How many times it's more quick than a basic melee weapon, or single-shot breech-loading rifle?". You take weapon's listed Rate of Fire of Rounds Per Minute (on Wikipedia, for example), and divide it by 60. You round it up - that is weapon's Rapid-Fire number. For example, MG-42 will have Rapid-Fire 25.<br />
** Medium: "How many times it's more quick than bolt-action rifle?". You take weapon's listed Rate of Fire of Rounds Per Minute (on Wikipedia, for example), and divide it by 60. You them divide it by 2 - and then, round it up - that is weapon's Rapid-Fire number. For example, MG-42 will have Rapid-Fire 13.<br />
** Smaller: "How many times it's more quick than semi-automatic pistol?". You take weapon's listed Rate of Fire of Rounds Per Minute (on Wikipedia, for example), and divide it by 60. You them divide it by 3 - and then, round it up - that is weapon's Rapid-Fire number. For example, MG-42 will have Rapid-Fire 9.<br />
* Gruesome Damage: weapon's shot deals multiple rolls when hit (e.g. explosives, high-caliber weapons; Prevent Harm-Robustness is used for each roll independently — but successfully dodging it before it hits you negates all rolls). In other words, if you dodge, you're fine - if you fail to dodge, you roll to tank off amount of rolls equal to Gruesome Damage rating, each of those rolls essentially treated like an incoming attack for that purpose.<br />
* Devastating Wounds: weapon's shots have re-rolls to damage. If enemy succeeds on his Prevent Harm check (both Agility and Robustness based), you can re-roll, so he would roll again and possibly fail. That goes on until either attack hit and enemy gets strike - or you run out of rerolls for that shot. Amount of re-rolls equals to Devastating Wounds rating.<br />
* Deadly Accuracy: weapon's shots have re-rolls to hit. If weapon's user fails on his to-hit roll, he can re-roll again to try and hit the target. That goes on until either attack hit and you hit the enemy (and now he must dodge and tank) - or you run out of rerolls for that shot. Amount of re-rolls equals to Deadly Accuracy rating.<br />
* Area of Effect — damages everyone in range; comes in 2 types — Absolute (everyone is damaged in equal amount), and Ballistic (biggest damage in the center of explosion, and amount of damage gradually becomes smaller the farther it is). Area of Effect may have shape of a flattened sphere (e.g. explosives) or cone (e.g. liquid and gas sprayers, like liquid flamethrower), though other shapes are possible. ''Work in progress for Advanced types like Ballistic''.<br />
* Auto-hit: weapon hits automatically and can't be dodged; it can be partial (like explosives; you get hit with full damage on hit, and less damage on miss) and full (full damage no matter what). ''Work in progress for Partial Auto-hit''.<br />
* Unblockable: weapon can't be blocked or tanked off; same as Auto-hit, in partial and full variants, except for Robustness instead of Agility. Think lightsaber, or mini-nuke/antimatter ATGM missile. For medieval campaign, a two-handed maul or catapult shot may have that property. ''Work in progress for Partial Unblockable''.<br />
* Shotshell: weapon shoots multiple projectiles per shot (e.g. shotgun loaded with buckshot or flechettes). When you do attack action, you do number of actual attacks equal to Shotshell rating. You can't distribute those shots between multiple targets; if weapon also has Rapid-Fire, you can only distribute shots between targets, but not parts of shots (e.g. if you have Rapid-Fire 3 and Shotshell 5, you can send 2*5 shots to one guy and 1*5 to other - but you can't send 7 pellets to one and 8 pellets to other).<br />
* Hard To Dodge/Armor-Piercing: less radical versions of Auto-hit and Unblockable. Enemy gets debuff equal to Hard To Dodge/Armor-Piercing weapon rating on his Prevent Harm of Agility/Robustness, respectively.<br />
* Clip: How many shots a weapon can make before reloading. <br />
* Reload Time: How many actions it takes to reload a weapon. By default, reloading is a single action.</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK/Disney_Villains_Victorious_Extra_Weapon_Properties&diff=1003321User:JOKTWWEJK/Disney Villains Victorious Extra Weapon Properties2025-06-25T15:07:43Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>Old supplement with original rules of [[Disney Villains Victorious]]. Original DVV had undetailed, inconsistent and unrealistic rules for weapon qualities. We can try to fix this and implement '''new optional weapon quality rules'''. Still incomplete.<br />
<br />
== Optional Weapon Qualities V1 ==<br />
* Entities now have 2 Prevent Harm saving rolls against damage: 1 roll to dodge (Agility) and 1 roll to tank it off (Robustness). You roll to dodge first, and to tank off second. If both fail, you're getting strike. That'll be important later.<br />
* Rapid-Fire: weapon shoots multiple times per attack (e.g. most automatic weapons; some tight-beam weapons, and liquid/gas sprayers may also qualify). If weapon has variable fire rate, use the highest speed setting. When you do attack action, you do number of actual attack equal to Rapid-Fire rating. You can distribute those shots between multiple targets. You have 3 methods for determining Rapid-Fire:<br />
** Bigger: "How many times it's more quick than a basic melee weapon, or Martini-Genry rifle?". You take weapon's listed Rate of Fire of Rounds Per Minute (on Wikipedia, for example), and divide it by 60. You round it up - that is weapon's Rapid-Fire number. For example, MG-42 will have Rapid-Fire 25.<br />
** Medium: "How many times it's more quick than bolt-action rifle?". You take weapon's listed Rate of Fire of Rounds Per Minute (on Wikipedia, for example), and divide it by 60. You them divide it by 2 - and then, round it up - that is weapon's Rapid-Fire number. For example, MG-42 will have Rapid-Fire 13.<br />
** Smaller: "How many times it's more quick than semi-automatic pistol?". You take weapon's listed Rate of Fire of Rounds Per Minute (on Wikipedia, for example), and divide it by 60. You them divide it by 3 - and then, round it up - that is weapon's Rapid-Fire number. For example, MG-42 will have Rapid-Fire 9.<br />
* Gruesome Damage: weapon's shot deals multiple rolls when hit (e.g. explosives, high-caliber weapons; Prevent Harm-Robustness is used for each roll independently — but successfully dodging it before it hits you negates all rolls). In other words, if you dodge, you're fine - if you fail to dodge, you roll to tank off amount of rolls equal to Gruesome Damage rating, each of those rolls essentially treated like an incoming attack for that purpose.<br />
* Devastating Wounds: weapon's shots have re-rolls to damage. If enemy succeeds on his Prevent Harm check (both Agility and Robustness based), you can re-roll, so he would roll again and possibly fail. That goes on until either attack hit and enemy gets strike - or you run out of rerolls for that shot. Amount of re-rolls equals to Devastating Wounds rating.<br />
* Deadly Accuracy: weapon's shots have re-rolls to hit. If weapon's user fails on his to-hit roll, he can re-roll again to try and hit the target. That goes on until either attack hit and you hit the enemy (and now he must dodge and tank) - or you run out of rerolls for that shot. Amount of re-rolls equals to Deadly Accuracy rating.<br />
* Area of Effect — damages everyone in range; comes in 2 types — Absolute (everyone is damaged in equal amount), and Ballistic (biggest damage in the center of explosion, and amount of damage gradually becomes smaller the farther it is). Area of Effect may have shape of a flattened sphere (e.g. explosives) or cone (e.g. liquid and gas sprayers, like liquid flamethrower), though other shapes are possible. ''Work in progress for Advanced types like Ballistic''.<br />
* Auto-hit: weapon hits automatically and can't be dodged; it can be partial (like explosives; you get hit with full damage on hit, and less damage on miss) and full (full damage no matter what). ''Work in progress for Partial Auto-hit''.<br />
* Unblockable: weapon can't be blocked or tanked off; same as Auto-hit, in partial and full variants, except for Robustness instead of Agility. Think lightsaber, or mini-nuke/antimatter ATGM missile. For medieval campaign, a two-handed maul or catapult shot may have that property. ''Work in progress for Partial Unblockable''.<br />
* Shotshell: weapon shoots multiple projectiles per shot (e.g. shotgun loaded with buckshot or flechettes). When you do attack action, you do number of actual attacks equal to Shotshell rating. You can't distribute those shots between multiple targets; if weapon also has Rapid-Fire, you can only distribute shots between targets, but not parts of shots (e.g. if you have Rapid-Fire 3 and Shotshell 5, you can send 2*5 shots to one guy and 1*5 to other - but you can't send 7 pellets to one and 8 pellets to other).<br />
* Hard To Dodge/Armor-Piercing: less radical versions of Auto-hit and Unblockable. Enemy gets debuff equal to Hard To Dodge/Armor-Piercing weapon rating on his Prevent Harm of Agility/Robustness, respectively.<br />
* Clip: How many shots a weapon can make before reloading. <br />
* Reload Time: How many actions it takes to reload a weapon. By default, reloading is a single action.</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK/Disney_Villains_Victorious_Extra_Weapon_Properties&diff=1003320User:JOKTWWEJK/Disney Villains Victorious Extra Weapon Properties2025-06-25T15:07:17Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Created page with "{{Stub}} Old supplement with original rules of Disney Villains Victorious. Original DVV had undetailed, inconsistent and unrealistic rules for weapon qualities. We can try to fix this and implement '''new optional weapon quality rules'''. Still incomplete. == Optional Weapon Qualities V1 == * Entities now have 2 Prevent Harm saving rolls against damage: 1 roll to dodge (Agility) and 1 roll to tank it off (Robustness). You roll to dodge first, and to tank off second...."</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Stub}}<br />
Old supplement with original rules of [[Disney Villains Victorious]]. Original DVV had undetailed, inconsistent and unrealistic rules for weapon qualities. We can try to fix this and implement '''new optional weapon quality rules'''. Still incomplete.<br />
<br />
== Optional Weapon Qualities V1 ==<br />
* Entities now have 2 Prevent Harm saving rolls against damage: 1 roll to dodge (Agility) and 1 roll to tank it off (Robustness). You roll to dodge first, and to tank off second. If both fail, you're getting strike. That'll be important later.<br />
* Rapid-Fire: weapon shoots multiple times per attack (e.g. most automatic weapons; some tight-beam weapons, and liquid/gas sprayers may also qualify). If weapon has variable fire rate, use the highest speed setting. When you do attack action, you do number of actual attack equal to Rapid-Fire rating. You can distribute those shots between multiple targets. You have 3 methods for determining Rapid-Fire:<br />
** Bigger: "How many times it's more quick than a basic melee weapon, or Martini-Genry rifle?". You take weapon's listed Rate of Fire of Rounds Per Minute (on Wikipedia, for example), and divide it by 60. You round it up - that is weapon's Rapid-Fire number. For example, MG-42 will have Rapid-Fire 25.<br />
** Medium: "How many times it's more quick than bolt-action rifle?". You take weapon's listed Rate of Fire of Rounds Per Minute (on Wikipedia, for example), and divide it by 60. You them divide it by 2 - and then, round it up - that is weapon's Rapid-Fire number. For example, MG-42 will have Rapid-Fire 13.<br />
** Smaller: "How many times it's more quick than semi-automatic pistol?". You take weapon's listed Rate of Fire of Rounds Per Minute (on Wikipedia, for example), and divide it by 60. You them divide it by 3 - and then, round it up - that is weapon's Rapid-Fire number. For example, MG-42 will have Rapid-Fire 9.<br />
* Gruesome Damage: weapon's shot deals multiple rolls when hit (e.g. explosives, high-caliber weapons; Prevent Harm-Robustness is used for each roll independently — but successfully dodging it before it hits you negates all rolls). In other words, if you dodge, you're fine - if you fail to dodge, you roll to tank off amount of rolls equal to Gruesome Damage rating, each of those rolls essentially treated like an incoming attack for that purpose.<br />
* Devastating Wounds: weapon's shots have re-rolls to damage. If enemy succeeds on his Prevent Harm check (both Agility and Robustness based), you can re-roll, so he would roll again and possibly fail. That goes on until either attack hit and enemy gets strike - or you run out of rerolls for that shot. Amount of re-rolls equals to Devastating Wounds rating.<br />
* Deadly Accuracy: weapon's shots have re-rolls to hit. If weapon's user fails on his to-hit roll, he can re-roll again to try and hit the target. That goes on until either attack hit and you hit the enemy (and now he must dodge and tank) - or you run out of rerolls for that shot. Amount of re-rolls equals to Deadly Accuracy rating.<br />
* Area of Effect — damages everyone in range; comes in 2 types — Absolute (everyone is damaged in equal amount), and Ballistic (biggest damage in the center of explosion, and amount of damage gradually becomes smaller the farther it is). Area of Effect may have shape of a flattened sphere (e.g. explosives) or cone (e.g. liquid and gas sprayers, like liquid flamethrower), though other shapes are possible. ''Work in progress for Advanced types like Ballistic''.<br />
* Auto-hit: weapon hits automatically and can't be dodged; it can be partial (like explosives; you get hit with full damage on hit, and less damage on miss) and full (full damage no matter what). ''Work in progress for Partial Auto-hit''.<br />
* Unblockable: weapon can't be blocked or tanked off; same as Auto-hit, in partial and full variants, except for Robustness instead of Agility. Think lightsaber, or mini-nuke/antimatter ATGM missile. For medieval campaign, a two-handed maul or catapult shot may have that property. ''Work in progress for Partial Unblockable''.<br />
* Shotshell: weapon shoots multiple projectiles per shot (e.g. shotgun loaded with buckshot or flechettes). When you do attack action, you do number of actual attacks equal to Shotshell rating. You can't distribute those shots between multiple targets; if weapon also has Rapid-Fire, you can only distribute shots between targets, but not parts of shots (e.g. if you have Rapid-Fire 3 and Shotshell 5, you can send 2*5 shots to one guy and 1*5 to other - but you can't send 7 pellets to one and 8 pellets to other).<br />
* Hard To Dodge/Armor-Piercing: less radical versions of Auto-hit and Unblockable. Enemy gets debuff equal to Hard To Dodge/Armor-Piercing weapon rating on his Prevent Harm of Agility/Robustness, respectively.<br />
* Clip: How many shots a weapon can make before reloading. <br />
* Reload Time: How many actions it takes to reload a weapon. By default, reloading is a single action.</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:JOKTWWEJK&diff=1003319User:JOKTWWEJK2025-06-25T15:02:29Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Created page with " == Sub-pages == * User:JOKTWWEJK/Disney Villains Victorious Extra Weapon Properties."</p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Sub-pages ==<br />
* [[User:JOKTWWEJK/Disney Villains Victorious Extra Weapon Properties]].</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Trek&diff=1003310Star Trek2025-06-24T11:20:42Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Criticisms */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Enterprise.jpg|thumb|500px|right|If you aren't already hearing the theme song you might not belong here.]]<br />
<br />
{{Topquote|Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!|James T. Kirk, <s>third</s> captain of the starship USS Enterprise}}<br />
<br />
{{Topquote|[[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For the duration of this mission the prime directive is rescinded.]]|Kathryn Janeway, captain of the starship USS Voyager}}<br />
<br />
'''''Star Trek''''' is a multimedia science-fiction series and one of the cornerstones of nerdy media properties (in fact, Klingon is the most learned fictional language, rivalled only by Tolkien's elvish in popularity), and one of the few to crossover into mainstream popularity (alongside ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and a few others). It's also one of the longest-running science fiction franchises, as it began when the the first episode of The Original Series aired in 1966, and since then has had over 50 years of geek history spanning several generations. Needless to say, it's had a huge influence on all things sci-fi, and, by extension, [[/tg/]].<br />
<br />
Originally, ''Star Trek'' was [[noblebright]] beyond noblebright and, in many ways, was the polar opposite of ''[[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K's]]'' [[grimdark]]. The more recent reboot films, however, have taken a much, ''much'' more grimdark tone, which is delightfully [[skub]]tastic.<br />
<br />
= Games =<br />
You're in /tg/ = 1d4chan, so, we'll start with the games.<br />
<br />
There's been plenty of tabletop games and [[/v/|vidya gaems]] featuring ''Star Trek'' without being merchandising bullshit (see: themed ''[[Monopoly]]'' sets), including one of the earliest action multiplayer wargame: ''Netrek''. <br />
<br />
*'''''Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier''''' (1978) The very first Trek tabletop [[RPG]]. Written by, I shit you not, Michael Scott. Groggy (grokky?) as all hell, and due for an OSR.<br />
* '''''[[Starships & Spacemen]]''''' (1978 1e, 2013-present 2e) This was an attempt by a guy named Leonard Kanterman to make his own Star Trek RPG but since he didn't hold the license he had to alter the names and fudge the rules a bit so he wouldn't get sued. It appeared and died fairly quickly. It was later purchased by [[Goblinoid Games]] and heavily reworked to work more like their other game, [[Labyrinth Lord]] but different enough that converting things back and forth should take a minute or two longer than just dropping them in. The 2e version has some decent third party material at least.<br />
* '''''[[Star Fleet Battles]] (SFB)''''' (1979-) The crunchiest starship combat game you're ever going to find outside of a computer. Based on the original series and not any of the later series, for licensing reasons. Takes some liberties with the setting, which (combined with the aforementioned licensing) is why "''Star Trek''" isn't actually in the title. It's had its own video game spinoff in the form of Starfleet Command. The vidya series died when the last company owned by Interplay broke up in the early 2000s, but the original game is still published by its designer, Amarillo Design Bureau (formerly in conjunction with the defunct Task Force Games).<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Role Playing Game''''' (1982-1989) Made by [[FASA]], essentially ''[[Traveller]]''-lite, or a happier, shinier ''[[Rogue Trader]]''. Hasn't aged terribly well, what with having been made when the only canonical ''Star Trek'' materials to work with were the original and animated series, the first four films, and a couple of now non-canon novels. If you try to dust it off, expect tons of conflict with the rest of the show. Died as they were trying to update it for ''TNG'', because Paramount's corporate suits (surprise, surprise) had no idea what an RPG actually entailed and were worried about violence, and getting their cut, and... oh you know the drill by now. Welcome to the 80's.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator''''' (1983) FASA designed this, so it feels like ''[[Battletech]]'' but not as good.<br />
* '''''Prime Directive''''' (1993-2008) The most successful tabletop RPG line (but that's not saying much), it's actually still in print. Produced by Amarillo Design Bureau, so again no direct name-dropping of "''Star Trek''." Lasted as long as it did by constantly evolving, in Borg-like fashion, to adapt to the current zeitgeist. Has had 4 editions, with the second using [[GURPS]], the third using [[Wizards of the Coast|d20]], and the fourth [[d20 Modern]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek [[Card_Game|CCG]]''''' (1994-2007, 2011-2014, 2013-2015, 2018-) There's been a few of these, most notably the games released by [[Decipher]], but never globally popular. They also suffered from game balance problems from fans wanting their fave character, but needing extra rules for their quirks. There's also the problem of putting numbers to character stats, such as one game that asserted that [[Heresy|Picard having about twice the integrity of a Klingon pig]]. Later versions are "deck-building" games to try to cash in on the popularity of ''[[Dominion]]'' and ''[[Thunderstone]]''. And now virtual CCGs are the order of the day.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Next Generation Role Playing Game''''' (1998-2000) The next attempt, made by Last Unicorn Games. Won an Origins Award for best new game. Has a lot of extraneous skills, as expected of a 90's RPG, but does a good job of capturing the feel of the show. Includes core books for Deep Space Nine and The Original Series, with a planned Voyager book never released. Tons of fan material is available, including books for Enterprise, Voyager, and even the Captain Pike era. Authors of the original game have also finished and released adventures and sourcebooks online. Died an untimely death.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Red Alert''''' (2000) A Diskwars game themed to ''Star Trek''.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Roleplaying Game''''' (2002-2005) When [[Decipher]] had the CCG license, they decided, "What the hell, let's make an RPG, too." Some of the authors of the Last Unicorn Games RPG worked on this game. The systems are similar but different enough that they aren't compatible. The fluff focuses more on the Voyager era. A well made game but it's forgotten for a reason. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Online''''' (2010-) An [[MMORPG|MMO]]. Decent gameplay mechanics, especially starship combat. Storyline leaves something to be desired, especially when the ostensibly [[Noblebright|peaceful]] Federation trades shots at least once with every other faction in the galaxy. Is also sadly being screwed over by CBS who keeps retconning the series thus forcing the game to bend more and more unnaturally to fit in the new canon. Still, it's solid enough for an MMO and you can hit max level quick enough to get into the real meat of the game and join a Fleet (their version of a guild) and blow shit up.<br />
* '''''Call To Arms: Star Trek''''' (2011) [[Mongoose_Publishing|Mongoose]]'s license for ''Babylon 5'' expired, so they collaborated with Amarillo Design Bureau (the ''Star Fleet Battles'' guys), re-themed the game to Star Trek along with improving the system to make it more nifty. Less micro-management than SFB, and ships get some cinematic feats.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Expeditions''''' (2011) Ignore the tie-ins to the movie, Reiner Knizia designed this. Explore the gameboard, flip over missions, try to have the proper crew to get victory points.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Fleet Captains''''' (2011) Tile flipping, exploring, and spaceships fighting over resources<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Attack Wing''''' (2013-) [[WizKids]] license the flightpath system from [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and adds ''Star Trek'' to the mix, [[Skub]] ensues. The game has been consistently plagued with balance issues, to the point that the rules errata is more than ten times longer than the actual rules. The actual current rules for things like the Borg special movement and fighter squadrons are completely different than the rules as written.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Ascendancy''''' (2016-) 4X table top boardgame from GaleForce9. Most of the races are represented, though the base set only has the Federation, Klingons and Romulans. Andorians, Vulcans, Cardassians and Ferengi can be purchased as expansions. There is even a Borg expansion that turns the game semi-coop as everyone tries real hard not to be assimilated. <br />
* '''''[[Star Trek Adventures]]''''' (2017-) The latest attempt at an RPG, by Modiphius. It also comes with a whole range of miniatures of the various crews from the show. Runs on a similar engine to the creator's ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' which both makes sense, since they're both pulpy storytelling, and is hilarious, given the total tonal mish-mash between the two. Task resolution is generally done via a mixture of six attributes and six disciplines, which are added together, then used as a modifier for a d20 roll. For instance, combat is usually handled by the Security discipline, but hand-to-hand combat would use Fitness or Daring, while firing a phaser or other long-arm would use Control, and shipborne weapons Insight or Reason. In addition to combat stuff, players might solve problems by obtaining information and sciencing the shit out of it. They also have various Values that can be tapped for additional dice, a shared pool of Momentum all players can spend to gain advantages and add to by overboosting on success, and a pool of Threat that they can give the GM rather than burning Momentum, which he can then spend to make the situation degrade. It's a fun system, but it requires a GM who can wrap their head around the idea of an evolving situation rather than a set encounter to really click, which can be hard for GMs who're used to the ''D&D'' model.<br />
<br />
= So why should I care? =<br />
Because between them, these six TV series and their assorted spinoff movies, books, etc. can provide inspiration for any sci-fi game you could care to run. If you want light-hearted action, look at the sort of things that happened in ''TOS'' or ''DS9'' to get the crew into some dangerous situation. If you want a charismatic villain, look at Gul Dukat or the Borg Queen ([[skub|but not the one in Voyager]]). More serious issues are often handled with various degrees of success. While many science fiction series deal with a wide range of topics, Star Trek does so as aspects of a greater world. Like [[Tolkien]] is to fantasy it's a prime gateway drug to science fiction and especially science fiction which is more than "action movie IN SPACE!"<br />
<br />
Not to mention in any sci-fi RPG with remotely free-form rules you're likely to encounter ''Star Trek'' fanboys, so you might as well know what they're talking about. The unholy spawn of a Trekkie and a [[Furry]] is known as a [[Chakat]], and you should fear it.<br />
<br />
At its best ''Star Trek'' is thoughtful, optimistic futurism with a positive human element and brings you to strange new worlds in the grand tradition of speculative fiction but one that's accessible to even the layman. At its worst ''Star Trek'' is arrogant, smug, hypocritical, one-sided, preachy, dull and sloppy.<br />
<br />
= Setting =<br />
Here's the Cliff's Notes on ''Star Trek''. A couple of general warnings; firstly, ''Star Trek'' likes to ''really'' take its "racial themes" bits just a little too far. Second, despite this, it's rare for an entire race to be completely irredeemable the way many fictional aliens are: there are heroic and sympathetic characters from nearly every race listed below, able to put more-positive spins on their racial themes. Thirdly, aside from very occasional appearances by [[H.P. Lovecraft|aliens who are so bizarre that humankind can barely comprehend them]], all of the aliens look like dudes with rubber masks on (because they are). In real life, this was because there was no budget for anything else, but in-universe it's been explained by some kind of [[Old Ones|Precursor]] race who seeded all of the planets with their broadly humanoid DNA, and every race evolved slightly differently from there. There isn't much [[fluff]] on what these precursors were like, and some of it was contradictory, and Gene Roddenberry didn't like the idea (although he still had to work with the rubber forehead stuff). The good news for fa/tg/uys who like [[homebrew]] is that this makes it fairly easy to write [[d20 system]] rules for all of the races - after all, most ''D&D'' races are just humans with rubber masks on...<br />
<br />
== A Composite Creation ==<br />
This is a general note that one should consider: Star Trek was created in pretty much the opposite way as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked out a bunch of linguistic stuff and general history of Arda in his spare time over the course of years, then decided to use that as the basis for some stories that he eventually gave to some publishers which in the end sold quite well. <br />
<br />
Roddenberry, by contrast, pitched a very broad general idea (it's the future, things are good, we got some guys on a ship exploring space; a "wagon train to the stars") to the networks and eventually Lucy from ''I Love Lucy'' made it happen. Roddenberry then worked with a variety of writers and actors (and some later on in later series) who added to this rough skeleton of an idea in a process that would continue on to this day. <br />
<br />
This is not to knock either approach, but both have their advantages and disadvantages. In regards to Star Trek, a franchise which relies mostly on an episode of the week format (until recently, apparently) that's been going on for more than half a century, there were numerous people at the helm and many of them had often very different ideas about what should be done that were just thrown out to see what stuck, many of which were contradictory, meaning that the canon is a fucking mess ([[Warhammer 40,000|Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?]]). Some of which we'd frankly rather forget (Data being possessed by a mask, for instance). In general fans and fluff writers have been spending a whole lot of time trying to straighten things out and much of the lore is basically a [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main rough consensus of what people like and what fits in with it]. Later series got more systematic about this, but there are still points of contention and a lot of flat out contradictions due to its scattershot nature.<br />
<br />
You know, like [[/co/| comic books]].<br />
<br />
= Factions =<br />
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'''The Federation'''<br />
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[[File:Federation_Ships.jpg|thumb|500px|left|Starfleet's ships of the Line (original universe/canon)]]<br />
Might as well talk about that main faction. The United Federation of Planets is what the [[Tau]] think they are. Its backstory is that in the distant future of the 1990s, [[God-Emperor of Mankind|übermensch]] [[Space Marines|created by genetic engineering]] began conquering the Earth. The [[Imperial Guard|normies]] fought back and won through sheer numbers, cryogenically freezing the Augments and kicking them out of Earth, but the damage and mass political unrest of World War III got half the planet nuked. This was why genetic engineering was banned. Fortunately, in 2063, a <s>drunken asshole</s> heroic visionary named Zefram Cochrane created humanity's first warp drive (though it functioned based on the principle that gravity bends space-time, and was therefore more akin to an Alcubierre drive than anything that's dependent on the [[Warp]]) and made first contact with the Vulcans. The Vulcans eventually helped humanity rebuild and overcome poverty, disease, war and hunger. With its Earthly problems solved, man turned to the stars and found out its three closest neighbors were [[Imperium of Man|racist xenophobic dicks trying to murder each other]]. Since any war between them would've swept up puny little Earth and gotten it glassed, humans decided to force their neighbors to sit down and talk things out. Incredibly, it worked, and the United Federation of Planets was born.<br />
<br />
The Federation is a commie [[noblebright]] hippieland society with a post-scarcity economy and a strong democratic government ([[Mary Sue|pretty much Roddenberry's idea of utopia]]). As a result, Federation citizens work not because they have to, but because they want to. However, despite their advanced technology, transhumanism, that is intentionally making [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like the infamous antagonist Khan Noonien Singh, is illegal.<br />
<br />
The Federation's Navy is almost always called Starfleet. It's a mix between a military, a coast guard and a space agency, and usually rates scientific research as a higher priority than defense. One of its quirks is that it doesn't subscribe to the "bigger is better" policy used in most [[Warhammer 40K|sci-fi]], and even by most of the other ''Star Trek factions''. If the Federation ''does'' make a large ship, it's because they want it to have a daycare, swimming pool and ice cream bar. If they want a warship, they'll take a little gunship half the size of a modern day destroyer and pack it with enough antimatter nukes and guns to exterminate a solar system. In some cases, especially when dealing with ships from several centuries into the future, the ship is bigger on the inside than on the outside [[Creed|allowing it to hide a vast array of powerful armaments, ''space-bending'' equipment, and even whole planetary landscapes]]. They can get away with this because they out-tech almost everyone else by a country mile. The reason for the series' infamous "technobabble" is that <s>even ''they'' don't know everything their tech can do!</s> their technology is always evolving, and they know it so well that they can often use it in ways that even the original in-show design schematics did not intend.<br />
<br />
In theory, Starfleet follows a rule called the "Prime Directive", which says that you're not allowed to interfere with low-tech races ("low-tech" being defined as "not having invented the warp drive", since warp technology apparently follows naturally from the laws of physics) or else things like turning the locals into Nazis might happen. The Original Series talked about this rule all the time, and Captain Kirk threw it aside whenever there was a sexy alien babe in sight. From ''TNG'' onward, it tended to instead be brought up whenever a hack writer needed a reason for the heroes to ''not'' instantly resolve a given problem with their superior technology or a way of making our heroes look like assholes for following it rigidly (yes, we could save this species from extinction but that would be interfering with the cosmic plan!), though there were a few good episodes that took it seriously.<br />
<br />
Some of the more important member races are:<br />
<br />
'''Founding members:'''<br />
* [[Humans]]: You know 'em, you love 'em. Comprise seemingly 90% of Starfleet for reasons in no way related to the cost of makeup/CGI.<br />
* [[Vulcan]]: The Original [[Eldar|Space Elves]], very emotional, especially during "pon'farr" (see below), who followed the teachings of an enlightened sage and embraced logic and rationalism after their emotions nearly led to them [[Slaanesh|wiping themselves out]]. They are what the average race of fantasy elves think they are, except on ''Enterprise'' because the writers wanted to artificially inject tension into the show (some of that was retconned to be a Romulan plot). Occasionally enter a state called "pon'farr," where they need to either [[Dark Eldar| fuck something half to death]], kill it with the nearest sharp object, or die of a brain aneurysm to let out all that pent-up emotional tension. Fa/tg/uys may recognize this as the sensation they feel every time [[Games Workshop]] puts out a new army book. There are ships with mostly Vulcan crews. But only two are seen. One commanded by the biggest jerk among them and the other [[grimdark|got eaten by a giant space amoeba.]] However they're pretty bro-tier overall. <br />
* Andorians: Blue dudes with antennae and constant fits of passion, the polar opposite of Vulcans and their one time foes. Pretty much fa/tg/uys, right down to the romantic streak, in the technical sense. Also, they live underground on a diet of meatbread and rage. Most of what defined them happened in Enterprise as they rarely showed up in the TNG-era, and even then did so as set dressing, allegedly because one of the showrunners hated their antennae and banned anyone from using them.<br />
* Tellarites: Space [[Dwarf|Dorfs]]; like insulting everyone and arguing a lot (no, really, petty insults are considered a polite gesture in Tellarite culture), mostly because the very first tellarite ever shown in the series got in an argument with Spock's dad and now it's their whole racial thing. “Sarek said something in a scene once that was meant to demonstrate that he was stand-offish and kinda rude, but we like Sarek so it's now the defining attribute of this species.” It's all in good fun you understand, your confidence in your ideas and actions should be sturdy enough to withstand honest assessment and critique.<br />
'''Notable Additional Members:'''<br />
* Betazoids: Invariably attractive humanoid aliens with telepathic powers. Half-betazoid, half-humans apparently only have "empathic" powers, so they are well-regarded by Starfleet captains for their ability to point out the obvious and fill out the tight bodygloves that make up the Starfleet uniform in a pleasing manner, especially since theirs seem to come in a custom cut for reasons entirely unrelated to Roddenberry's erection. Their homeworld is like dropping a really hippie college and Space Vegas into a blender. They were taken over during The Dominion war because Earth or Vulcan would be seen as bullshit due to their large post Borg attack defense fleets/ship yards. While the writers would have to actually add new characters for the Andorians and Tellarites(such as Ambassadors for a government in exile). So Betazoid took the hit to raise the stakes.<br />
* Trill: Originally a one-off race introduced as a sapient parasite that possesses and controls a barely, or even unintelligent humanoid host, they were radically reworked in ''Deep Space Nine'', right down to losing their rubber foreheads in favor of spots. Now, the host is itself an intelligent humanoid, and some, but not all, of their kind are able to willingly merge with a symbiont (because someone can't spell) that allows them to access a mixture of the memories and personalities of all previous hosts, though in a way that, theoretically, enhances the host's personality rather than destroying it or subsuming it. Then, when they die, they can pass on the symbiont to another host, theoretically, one they mentored. They went from having a rubber forehead to some spots because Terry Farrell had a allergic reaction to the make-up.<br />
* Tamarians: Previously a one-off in ''TNG'', newly joined as of ''Lower Decks''. Tamarian communication is based entirely around metaphor and idiom, meaning their entire language is predicated on understanding their history's pop culture references. This throws the universal translator for a fit, as it can chew on the vocabulary okay but it can't unpack the contextual meanings. Imagine a medieval monk trying to decipher Korean text messages and you've got the basic idea.<br />
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<br />
'''The Klingon Empire'''<br />
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[[Image:Batleth.jpg|thumb|right|A Bat'Leth (sword of honor), one of several types of Klingon bladed weapons. Frequently mocked IRL for being a poorly designed weapon.]]<br />
[[Commissar|''"It is a good day to die!"'']]<br />
<br />
The Federation's main rival and (movie era and afterward) the quintessential ''Star Trek'' race of lumpy foreheaded aliens. Originally they were a rough analog to the Russians (though they took some elements from [[Communism|communist China]]) in a rough cold war allegory with the Federation (even though the Federation are as commie as they come, though admittedly much of that came around in the TNG era). Their defining feature was that they were militaristic and imperialistic while the Federation was scholarly and respected liberty. This gradually moved more and more into them becoming Imperial Japan/[[Vikings]] In SPESSS obsessed with honor, fighting and dying honorably in battle while worshiping at the altar of [[Sigmar|warrior Jesus]], even as they turned from the Federation's bitter enemies into that friend who's fun to be around when he's not getting into drunken bar fights. You see shades of it during the movie era and it became more and more prominent through ''TNG'', culminating in ''DS9''. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Klingons are nothing more than barbaric savages, however; with Worf being part of the crew, and with ''DS9'' dealing with Klingon politics an awful lot we can see Klingon society as it truly is. Even so, they do often wander into self-parody territory.<br />
<br />
The Klingons, in their current iteration, are a feudal society ruled by a council made up of the most powerful families. Klingon society holds very little value on things such as currency and material gain (which results in the Klingon empire [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65l7RHUx2A having a very simplistic understanding of economics]), believing that anything you acquire without some form of blood, sweat and/or tears on your part is a pathetic and dishonorable way of going about things, much the same way many cultures used to hurl abuse at merchants and bankers. Another thing to keep in mind is that a Klingon's reputation is literally everything. Central to this is fighting your battles personally and against worthy opponents. Calling out a superior is almost always an honorable fight, and Klingon captains can expect challenges if they become lax or suspect in their decisions. Klingons are still capable of being cunning and crafty, however, and having a high diplomacy score is viewed as honorable as they still have examples of cunning and clever heroes tricking boorish and stupid monsters.<br />
<br />
[[Warhammer 40000|Klingons often carry swords into battle in an age of energy beam guns]]. In-universe, this is less suicidal than it sounds in the context of boarding actions and tight starship corridors. The Bat'leth is actually a rather shitty weapon. The Mek'leth is noted to be better in most situations. They use the same Disruptor weapons as the Romulans, and at one point used similar starship designs. While is explained as the result of a temporary and unholy alliance, given the eventual animosity between the two races, it was just an excuse to reuse props on a limited budget.<br />
<br />
The Klingons are tied with the Vulcans and the Borg as being the most prominent and recognizable non-human species in Star Trek. Beloved of the Internet and the general public, to the point that there are published books like "A Klingon Christmas" in the world. The Klingons have their own constructed language. If you are ever worrying that you might not be a nerd, learning Klingon will solve that problem for you. Please note that this is in general considered by experts to be pathognomonic of autism. You have not experienced Shakespeare until you hear it in the original Klingon.<br />
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'''The Romulan Star Empire'''<br />
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''"It's always chess with the Romulans"''<br />
<br />
You know those [[Eldar|Vulcans]]? Well a few thousand years ago, as their planet was ravaged by war, some of them turned to intense emotional control and logic to tame their murderous passions, while most others left the planet altogether, founding a colony on the planet Romulus and dubbing themselves [[Dark Eldar|Romulans]]. Since said planet shares a name with a mythical figure known for founding [[Roman Empire|a city which built a vast empire]], and they had warp drive while those around them did not, you probably know that they turned to building an empire of their own. They hold the second place of prominence as immediate rivals to the Federation. Comically, they actually have better emotional control than the average Vulcan, since they gene-engineered most of their problems away years ago, and don't have to deal with the emotional blowback from pon'farr. The downside is that they lost some of their cousins' niftier powers, like mind-reading and being able to transfer their soul into another person for safekeeping. Although Star Trek Online also revealed that their trip to Romulus was a terrible ordeal, and their gene-engineering was taking during that time resulting in them losing most emotions save for bitterness of being "forced out".<br />
<br />
The difference between the Klingons and the Romulans is basically the difference between Gork and Mork, or Khorne and Tzeentch. Klingons will fight you up front with simple brute force. Romulans are sneakier guys, preferring to fight you when you're not looking with spies, cloaked ships and complex plots behind the scenes and playing the long game. There is a lot of political infighting among them, though where the Klingons would duel to the death Romulans would seek to discredit their rivals, have them die in unfortunate "accidents" or disappear. This difference has left both Romulans and Klingons with a big hate-boner for each other, to the Romulans the Klingons are crude brutish barbarians and to the Klingons the Romulans are a pack of scheming cowardly weaklings.<br />
<br />
Like the Klingons, they served as a rough Cold War allegory. In this case, they were rough analogs to Communist China (as seen by 1960s Americans), a distant horde of inscrutable and potentially dangerous Orientals who generally were unseen and projecting vague menace, but when encountered face-to-face could pack quite a punch indeed: the first major Interstellar War that Star Trek Earth fought was with the Romulans, which was fought entirely in space with neither side ever seeing the other face to face. Afterward, they set up a 'Neutral Zone' between the Federation and the Romulan Empire that no one even tried to cross for a century. From the Original Series onward, they frequently squabble and bicker with the Federation, before joining forces with them to fight the Dominion in ''Deep Space Nine'' and having their government devastated in ''Nemesis''. <br />
<br />
In one of the two alternate universes created by J.J.<strike>Binks</strike>Abrams movies, the so-called "Prime Universe", Romulus itself got caught in a supernova as part of the Abramsverse's backstory. ''Picard'' has revealed that Starfleet was going to help evacuate Romulus before the nova hit, but then some rogue androids destroyed the shipyards that the rescue fleet was being built at, so the Federation shrugged, flipped the Romulans the bird, and let them get blown up. The Romulan Star Empire collapsed in the aftermath, with the surviving Romulans are now scattered across half the galaxy. Most of the former Romulan colonies are now officially governed by the Romulan Free State, but their ability to exert their authority is implied to be limited at best and non-existent at worst. The Neutral Zone, in particular, collapsed into near lawlessness. One of their secret police/ anti android cults got a hold of Borg cube and were presumably up to some nefarious shit with it until the events of Star Trek Picard.<br />
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'''The Ferengi Alliance'''<br />
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[[Image:GW_Ferengi.jpg|thumb|left|A typical ferengi engaged in typical ferengi activities]]<br />
{{topquote|A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.|Eighteenth Rule of Acquisition}}<br />
<br />
Introduced in ''TNG's'' early days as the villains for the series, and what [[/pol/]] thinks Jews are. Some Jewish people have actually complained about their being subliminally Jewish and thus anti-Semetic, specifically mentioning that they were money-hungry, lascivious, and ugly, and their large ear lobes were stand-ins for the sterotypical Jewish nose, based on an old medieval stereotype that was enforced to prevent them owning land or assets and ended up sticking around long after the fact (i.e. ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/08/14/science-fictions-anti-semitism-problem/?noredirect=on we're not shitting you] but also they have a valid gripe). Claims of stereotyping aside, they're basically just a ripoff of the ''Shingouz'' from [[Valerian and Laureline|''Valérian and Laureline'']]. <br />
<br />
The idea was to make a caricature of capitalism as a contrast with the techno-communist Federation. This might have worked if these were not [[FAIL|''TNG's'' early days]]. Instead, they overshot the mark by a light year or so, on top of other bad decisions, and you got a race of short, big-eared, [[goblin]]-like losers about as threatening as a grumpy pug. (Gene wanted to make an evil short race as big evil races were overplayed.) Over the first and second seasons they tried to make these guys threatening, but they fell flat on their face every time; eventually the writers just said "fuck it" and the Ferengi got demoted to comic relief species, and their status as terrible enemies was demoted to propaganda designed to scare the Federation while the Ferengi government tried to figure out what to make of a species that rejected the acquisition of wealth as a goal. The Ferengi had some good moments in the later seasons of ''TNG'', but most of the best stuff that fleshed them out came from ''DS9'', which had an [[awesome]] Ferengi bartender named Quark as a major character. For an idea of what the Ferengi might have been like if the writers had their shit together, look up the Druuge of [[Star Control|Star Control II]] or the Magog Cartel from Oddworld. <br />
<br />
Ferengi religion is only hinted upon in ''DS9'', but what is seen implies a simplistic system based on financial success. Ferengi all follow a rulebook/canon known as the Rules of Acquisition, which can be described as Ayn Rand IN SPACE and condensed into the form of Confucius' Analects. There are 285 of these, each a short piece of advice on how to stay in the black. Examples include "Peace is good for business," "War is good for business," "Never have sex with the boss's sister," and "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." The first (and most important) of these is "Once you have their money, you never give it back." Sometimes, the Ferengi Randian spirituality extends into outright interpretations of the afterlife: according to some, the afterlife consists of the Divine Treasury and the Vault of Eternal Destitution, which are respectively analogous to Heaven and Hell. Entrance into one or the other depends on one's business ventures at the time of death; those that were turning a profit are allowed to enter the Divine Treasury, and the rest are damned to the Vault.<br />
<br />
Ferengi government is ruled over by a Grand Nagus, a mix between a <s>pope</s> chief rabbi and a CEO, and he basically treats his civilization like some sort of company, with citizens regarded as workers. Directly below him is the Ferengi Commerce Authority, a [[what|quasi-religious]] organization dedicated to ensuring that correct business practices were followed and correct moral behavior was shown (including keeping the proles in line) - of course, to the Ferengi, these are one and the same. The agents of the FCA are the Liquidators, who are essentially Inquisitors crossed with IRS auditors on steroids. Be afraid. Be very afraid. <br />
<br />
Ferengi females have no rights and are mentioned as [[PROMOTIONS|not even being allowed to wear clothes]], which leads to [[That Guy|boorish behavior]] on the part of Ferengi towards just about any species. Of course, we see female Ferengi on the show who push that envelope, but it seems that overall "regressive" does not even begin to describe the gender relationships in their culture. Quark's mother, a social climber who marries the head of their government, begins pushing through a women's rights movement during DS9, which proves more successful as time goes on.<br />
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'''The Borg Collective'''<br />
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[[Image:Borg cube.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Borg have assimilated and improved your [[d6|die]]. It always rolls six. Crap your pants, 'cause resistance is futile.]]<br />
{{Topquote|We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture shall adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.|The Borg's opening hail. This is not a boast or a brag, it's them simply explaining to you how things are going to go down.}}<br />
{{Topquote|One other thing. You may encounter Enterprise crew members who've already been assimilated. Don't hesitate to fire. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favour.|Picard going full [[grimdark]].}}<br />
<br />
The Ferengi were utter failures as serious villains, so they needed something to fill that gap. Thus they made the Borg, an aggressive [[Tyranid|hive-minded]] collective of hyper-adaptive, [[Necron|regenerating]] cyborgs that assimilates entire species into itself in its attempt to improve and evolve. Shit, that's like coming up with [[Warforged]] while trying to replace [[Kender]].<br />
<br />
In many ways, the Borg are the truest dark reflection of the Federation, and despite their name, they're not Swedish. While the Feds want you to join their little club on your own, to "add your culture to the galactic community," the Prime Directive means they will ultimately accept you turning them down, even if you have shit they really want. The Borg say "fuck that" and just absorb you. While the Federation believes everyone should work together [[Tau|for the greater good]], they still have a very strong sense of individualism and a culture of personal accomplishment (unless your individual belief happens to run counter to the Federation's principles anyway, in which case you're just WRONG because the Federation is the best). The Borg pool all their minds together into a massive collective consciousness in the pursuit of group perfection, becoming an almost-literal personification of techno-capital. The Federation is all about beauty and tranquility and all that hippie stuff, and their tech is eco-friendly and dolphin-safe. Borg [[Tyranids|strip mine entire planets and drain entire oceans]] in the name of growth and efficiency.<br />
<br />
Your standard Borg [[Cubes|cube]] is a huge multi-kilometer [[Firaeveus Carron|metal box]] (yes, bigger than most [[Imperial Navy]] cruisers) able to go up against an entire Federation warfleet and win. That's right, one of their ships could threaten the entire Federation and [[Exterminatus]] Earth. When done right, [[Necron|they are a cold, calculating, nigh-unstoppable force, a threat to all life]] that wants to retain free and distinct personalities (although they will ignore a single person if not on an assimilation mission, as what they really want is to absorb whole civilizations). Apparently, in Picard's nightmare in ''First Contact'', the Borg assimilation process includes a surgical [[Grimdark|drill through the eye. While awake.]] Of all the stuff to come out of the TNG Era they are undoubtedly the most well recognized in mass pop culture.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately they got a bad downgrade during ''Voyager'' (the Borg Queen blew up cubes full of tens of thousands of drones because a few of them have been severed from the Hive Mind), but even there they were frequently not to be messed with. One amusing thing to note for people that haven't watched ''TNG'': the Borg were actually only in six episodes (and three were breakaway drones) and one movie, yet they're arguably the franchise's most famous pure villains aside from Khan. Goes to show how good they were when written properly. Then in ''Voyager'' they get their shit completely pushed in when they discover a new race of extradimensional aliens which they label Species 8472, which were immune to being assimilated, and had to ask the Federation for help in dealing with them. [[Necron#Regarding_Fluff_Change_-_Sore_Butts_Everywhere.|Wait, this sounds familiar...]]<br />
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'''The Cardassian Union'''<br />
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{{Topquote|Out of all the stories you told me, which one were true and which ones weren't."<br><br />
"My dear doctor, they're all true."<br><br />
"Even the Lies?" <br><br />
"Especially the lies.|Julian Bashir and Elim Garak}}<br />
<br />
Introduced in ''TNG'', they are third fiddle to the Klingons and the Romulans. If the Klingons are hypothetically-honorable techno-barbarian warriors and the Romulans are an empire of civilized and refined but sly and ruthless expansionists, the Cardassians are essentially scaly fascists re-enacting ''[[1984]]'' IN SPACE. Their trials announce the outcome at the beginning, and the defense attorney is executed if he wins. Also, THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!<br />
<br />
Originally a race of peaceable, spiritual artists called the Hebitians (ironically not dissimilar to the Bajorans), modern Cardassia was born in hunger and desperation when their homeworld began to suffer simultaneous mass famine, pandemic, resource depletion, and ecological collapse. A military junta seized power, figuratively and literally auctioned off the soul of their culture through liquidating all the planet's art and religious artifacts into cold hard cash, and turned the Cardassians into the opportunistic imperialists they are today.<br />
<br />
Despite being a whole lot weaker than the Federation, the Cardassians manage to hold their own, partly because what they lack in resources and raw power is made up for by a combination of intense cunning and high charisma stats. Compared to the equally deceptive Romulans, the Cardies are more likely to flash you a smile while tickling your ribs with a knife. They'll use any tool they can to gain the upper hand and while that often means unpleasant and terminal sessions in dark rooms, strip mined planets and the enslavement of entire species, they'll gladly become your bestest buddy if it would achieve their goals. Their intelligence service, the Obsidian Order, is also one of the most ruthlessly efficient organizations in the entire sector, managing to outscale the Romulan Tal Shiar when it comes to producing magnificent bastards and manipulating the politics of entire worlds to their advantage. Unlike the Romulans or the Klingons, they don't tolerate the sort of literal infighting that is rampant in both those states, that shit only serves to weaken '''GLORIOUS CARDASSIA''' and needs to be stamped out with ruthless efficiency. Exposing that someone who just happens to be your enemy as being a dangerous subversive is just a benefit, although this can result in both sides of a conflict shouting "For Cardassia!" as they charge each other. Sort of how Democrats and Republicans are both for America, yet oppose each other.<br />
<br />
Cardassia has a very fluid hierarchical government, similar to the political realities of post-Stalin but pre-Collaspe Soviet Russia. Broadly speaking, there are three different facets of the government: the Central Command (which holds all the power) the Obsidian Order (who holds the least amount of power, but controls the most puppets) and the Detapa Council (similar to the [[High Lords of Terra]] and just as worthless). Cardassian society holds a very strict view of family, placing family just below the needs of the State in a vague approximation of Confucianism.<br />
<br />
The State holds a semi-divine mythical status in the eyes of its citizens, with it being viewed as impossible for the State to ever make mistakes. The ideal Cardassian life was one of complete loyalty and servitude to the State and family, with the "repetitive epic," detailing how generations of Cardassians go on to serve both in exactly the same way over and over seen as the height of their culture. The Cardassian government is assumed to be omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent by pretty much every Cardassian, with all Cadassians gladly giving of themselves to the State. Such was this level of belief that when Picard was tortured by the Obsidian order, the torturer saw nothing wrong with bringing his daughter to work because he was working for the State, and therefore the torture of Picard could never be disturbing or wrong. That's why their trials announce their sentences at the beginning and execute the defense attorney if he wins; their "trials" are more excuses to show off the power and infallibility of the State to the masses than actually determine guilt or innocence.<br />
<br />
In terms of the Alpha Quadrant's political landscape, they are basically space fascist Italy: indisputably still a great power but nonetheless basically the weakest of the great powers, resentful of it, and unwilling to accept it. They first bully weaker powers in an attempt to carve out an empire, turn from a military junta to a despotist state after a coup, eventually join a bigger, meaner power in a great war against the rest of the Quadrant in an attempt to gain power and respect, see it blow up in their faces and force them to rise again in revolt to save themselves. Beta canon continues the analogy with the establishment of a democratic but unstable postwar government in the vein of the Years of Lead.<br />
<br />
As far as plot significant activities went, they had a war with the Federation a few years before ''TNG'' which ended in the creation of a Demilitarized Zone between the two powers and (significant to ''Deep Space Nine'') abandoning the previously occupied planet of Bajor they had exploited for resources and along with it the space station Terok Nor, which the Federation took over and renamed Deep Space Nine. After a disastrous war with the Klingon Empire and a faction of ex-Starfleet settlers who refused to be relocated after a treaty called the Maquis led to a popular revolution and overthrow of the existing government, one leader seized power, declared himself absolute ruler, and joined the Dominion towards the end of ''DS9'', which was some serious bad news for the ''DS9'' crew, and, ultimately his own people.<br />
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'''The Bajoran Republic'''<br />
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The Bajorans are a species native to the Planet Bajor. They were, until shortly before the events of ''Deep Space Nine'', under a brutal occupation by the Cardassians who strip mined their planet. They had a fighting resistance which veered in and out of being considered terrorists and all in all were often represented as Palestinians IN SPEHSS. After that, they got their independence, although they're thinking about joining the Federation. The Bajorans have one system and are technologically backwards; the Federation is technically breaking the Prime Directive by interacting with them, but as they've spent years under the oppression of a warp-capable species, they can probably handle it. Also ''DS9'' proves that ancient Bajorans managed to travel at warp speeds to Cardassia using solar sails and an enormous amount of luck, which technically makes them a warp-capable species. The only reason why they are significant in terms of the politics of ''Star Trek'' is that they have a wormhole near their planet, which has some timey-wimey aliens living it that they worship as gods, and serves as the only way to get to or from the Gamma Quadrant that won't take decades, making it strategically priceless. Hilariously, this was discovered almost immediately after the Cardassians ''thought'' they'd extracted everything of value from the Bajorans and peace'd out, certain that the system was no longer worth the PR hit they were taking from it, only to get burned by some harsh seller's remorse. Also, their species has the oldest civilization (roughly a half-million years) of any major ''Star Trek'' race, and the wormhole aliens have gifted them some cool shit, like the Orb of Time.<br />
<br />
The other big thing that makes the Bajorans unique is that they actually have a serious religion going on in a way that isn't an extension of their racial "hat" -the human race is depicted as mostly non-religious. They're also probably one of the most accurate depictions of any highly religious alien race in a sci-fi franchise, because they are divided between the majority who interpret their religion as [[Noblebright|peace and love]], and a small but loud minority of bastards who interpret it as [[Grimdark|condoning acts of terrorism]]. They generally represent all manner of oppressed and colonized peoples throughout Earth's history, with the Cardassian occupation standing in for the Holocaust, Imperial Japanese atrocities in Asia, and European mischief in Africa during the Age of Imperialism.<br />
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'''The Dominion'''<br />
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A vast empire which exists on the other side of the galaxy in the Gamma Quadrant. The Dominion is ruled over by a species of liquid shapeshifters called The Founders.(aka Changlings, Odo's people) They have at their disposal a military composed of two genetically engineered species that worship the Founders as gods: the short and articulate Vorta who serve as ambassadors, bureaucrats, and political commisars and the big brutal Jem'hadar, who are vat grown, drug addicted, cannon fodder. These oversee a large number of vassal races, including (as of later seasons of ''DS9'') the Cardassians.<br />
<br />
The Founders were once (according to them anyway) a peaceful, kind civilization of explorers who wished to see the galaxy, explore strange new worlds, and seek out new forms of life. Unfortunately, they did this in the wrong neighborhood, and quickly ran into species who did not tolerate others. The fact that the Founders were shapeshifters capable of mimicking almost anyone did not help either. Paranoia, mutual mistrust, and some very bad things eventually led to the Founders deciding "fuck this" and moving their planet into a nebula so nobody would bother them. So more or less, a [[Grimdark|grimmer]], [[Grimdark|darker]], counterpart to the Federation, but with spookier Real Aliens.<br />
<br />
The Founders are obsessed with order and are both extremely racist and xenophobic, and believe that all alien life is inherently untrustworthy and evil, and the best thing to do is conquer/enslave them before they do the same to them. They don't care about the rights of "Solids", and will happily ignore any sense of decency when convenient. This can be seen when The Dominion runs a simulation of the Dominion dominating the Alpha Quadrant. When O'Brien is assaulted by a Jem'Hadar and severely beaten to the point of needing emergency teleportation to medical (the crime being "disrespectful"), the Founders (disguised as Federation Officers) do not press charges, and when Sisko comes barging in demanding answers, dismiss him with little concern about their own soldiers brutalizing citizens. Their overall ideology could be thought of as Qin legalism IN SPACE: people are inherently evil and the only way to make a better world is to impose order upon them through brute force from a position of absolute, unquestioned power.<br />
<br />
The Founders, when not wandering around in various forms, tend to spend their time in a massive ocean literally made up of countless billions of Founders, something which is referred to as the Great Link. According to the Founders, this allows them to share information with each other and come to peaceful decisions. This is rapidly proved to be bullshit; when a separated-at-birth one of their own merged into the Great Link to share his memories of the Federation as peaceful and tolerant space hippies, not only did the Founders ignore his memories, but actively fucked with his mind in an attempt to turn him into a sleeper agent. And even if it weren't, it shows their hypocrisy through their willingness to share freedom and liberty among themselves while depriving all their various slaves and conquered peoples of the same.<br />
<br />
The Founders are massive dicks, even to their own people. Failure among Jem'Hadar is rewarded with slow and painful death from deprivation of the drug they're created to need and their lifespans are incredibly short. To be even bigger dicks, the Vorta have no sense of taste and can't appreciate beauty. Not to make them better diplomats, but because they were raised from a primitive stone-age ape tribe, and the Founders think they shouldn't be ever allowed to forget that. (On the plus side, they did give the Vorta an immunity to poison that would make [[Mortarion]] himself jealous. [https://youtu.be/rACCZaBcq1g?t=1m29s Observe.]) This may also stem from their own neuroses: the Founders themselves have almost no bodily needs at all and require no nourishment, so they design their slaves to be like them. Notably, Vorta tend to come in [[Paranoia|packs of clones; a new one is activated when an old one dies, and they retain some memories and personality between "lives,"]] further hammering home how expendable they are to their makers.<br />
<br />
And both races are literally engineered to love their makers for what they have done to them and worship and revere them as gods.<br />
<br />
They ultimately get what's coming to them in the latter half of ''Deep Space Nine'', through an invasion of the Alpha Quadrant that starts out in their favor and rapidly goes against them. <br />
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'''Species 8472 / Undine'''<br />
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The one and only race in the galaxy even the Borg don't want to fuck with. Introduced in Voyager, Species 8472 are three-legged creatures that live in a space called Fluid Space. It's similar to the [[Eye of Terror]] for the fact that it connects to an alternate dimension and [[Khorne|everyone will be ripped apart upon entering.]]<br />
<br />
When the Borg first came around to try and assimilate them they were completely obliterated in a war in which 4 million Borg were killed in the first few days at the cost of almost no members of Species 8472. This war was such a roflstomp that the Borg were forced to call on the Federation for help. [[Tau|The Federation being the better people swallowed their pride and decided to help their sworn enemies,]] [[Eldrad|but were dicks and sent only one ship.]]<br />
<br />
Species 8472 fought with fast moving, small ships and devastating beam weapons so the small ship of the Federation could keep up with them and helped the Borg force the species back into Fluid Space. The Federation were the villains on this one. That said, they eventually came to an accord with Species 8472, preventing further wars between the denizens of Fluid Space, except in lots and lots of video games that want to use a fresh antagonist.<br />
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That and that in ''Star Trek Online'', [[Awesome|they look like the fucking Predator.]]<br />
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'''The Q'''<br />
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The Q are a race of beings who have elevated themselves to the point where they are basically gods. Most of them do not interact directly with the younger races, who they tend to consider with disdain- if they consider them at all. However a few of them take a more enlightened view, and one in particular has been known to fuck with individual humans from time time. They are mostly a TNG thing, and even there they work mostly by grace of John de Lancie's acting chops as a counterpoint to the charisma of Patrick Stewart, as de Lancie played the ''character'' Q. "Tapestry" even has the two waking up in bed together as a troll from Q. Due entirely to de Lancie's performance, they managed not only to have it not be cringy, but rather funny.<br />
<br />
Q is an all-powerful epic troll. TNG's Q's occasionally [[Tzeentch]]ian games sometimes appeared to be for his own amusement and sometimes acted as education or event protection to the human race. Various subplots involving the Q ''species'' range from somewhat thought provoking to mildly entertaining to ridiculous and banal, but the classic episodes that highlighted the charisma and chemistry of the two actors were often quite excellent. De Lancie also appeared as Q in DS9 and Voyager a couple of times, but the chemistry just isn't there without Stewart. The writers knew it too, composing a scene where Avery Brooks punches this bastard in the face telling him "I'm not Picard!" (with the added fanservice of watching Q get punched, high on the wishlist of anyone that had the misfortune to meet him).<br />
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<br />
=== The Mirror Universe ===<br />
This isn't a faction; it's an alternate setting. Its own factions do bleed into the mainline starting in DS9. So it merits its own section.<br />
<br />
The Mirror is a parallel universe in which [[Alternate History|things have gone differently]] in Earth's History. The main point of divergence appears to occur when the Vulcan scientists who landed at Bozeman, Montana in 2063 are not welcomed with alcohol and music but instead are killed and have their ship looted. It is equally clear that where the main universe is Noblebright the Mirror Universe is Grimdark. Instead of a peace loving Federation searching for knowledge and friendly cooperation for the betterment of all, Earth gave rise to the ''Terran Empire'' which seeks out new life and civilizations to conquer and enslave, as it had done with the Klingons. Pretty much it's the PG-13 version of the Imperium of Man with a bit more Grimderp. Junior officers get promoted by killing their superiors, those that fail at that get thrown in the agony booth for their troubles and Emperor gets the job by usurping the previous incumbent. As a rule, characters in the mainline become, in the Mirror Universe, a selfish asshole version of themselves (or have to go along to get along: O'Brien, Spock). Following comic book logic the uniforms for the female characters are more revealing, and facial hair is vogue. Occasionally people can cross over from one universe to the next due to technobabble and cause mischief in either realm.<br />
<br />
Originally it was a one off TOS setting for an episode of the week, but it was brought back in a few novels and some romps in Deep Space Nine in which [[Fail|the Terran Empire had fallen]]. In Enterprise's fourth season it got a two parter that was pretty good and would have been an annual thing if the show had been renewed, this one having little crossover with the main universe (a ship from TOS ended up in the Mirror Universe and is salvaged after all it's crew have died). We also went there in Discovery, for better or worse. Voyager never did the mirror universe, but instead got a homage episode with some alien historians in the far future getting the details wrong like historians tend to.<br />
<br />
=== The Star Trek Crew ===<br />
Whether the focus of the show is exploration, manning a space station in an important locale or trying to get home, all Star Trek series have a basic set up of casting and focus: namely on a collection of people who are usually the senior-most officers on the ship. If you decide to make a Star Trek inspired game take this into consideration.<br />
<br />
* '''The Captain''': Big cheese. Makes the hard decisions. Needs to be able to talk, think or fight out of situations as needed. The third option fetishist finding the balance between empathy and reason. (Two least skubby examples: Kirk and Picard, but the skub will fly hard if you say one is better than the other, sufficed to say that people like both of them alot but for different reasons)<br />
* '''The First Officer''': Second in command and trusted advisor. Added after the original series, where the role was combined with and split between two others. (Two least skubby examples: Riker and Kira)<br />
* '''The Science Officer''': Got high Int stats. Can analyze the situation and work out solutions. The voice of reason. Almost never human. (Two least skubby examples: Data and Spock)<br />
* '''The Engineer''': Hard working technically minded guy who gets shit done. (Two least skubby examples: Scotty and Geordi)<br />
* '''The Doctor''': Ship's healer with a secondary scientific role. The voice of empathy, whether prickly or serene. (Two least skubby examples: Bones and the EMH Doctor)<br />
* '''The Security Officer''': Rough and tumble no-nonsense sort whose job it is to keep these guys alive when diplomacy fails, which it often does. Often has to juggle providing ship's security with working the tactical station on the bridge in a crisis. (Two least skubby examples: Worf and Odo)<br />
* '''The Helmsman''': Got mad spacecraft piloting skills, either full-sized starships, shuttles, or fighters. Younger and more brash. (Two least skubby examples: Sulu and Tom Paris)<br />
* '''The Other Guy''': A crewmember whose role doesn't cleanly map onto other positions, a role often restricted to a single show. Example positions include communications officer, ship's councilor, transporter chief, and linguist. (Two Least skubby examples: Uhura and Troi)<br />
* '''The Outsider''': Someone who is a passenger and regular cast member, but exists outside the organization, looking in and commenting. Usually works a side-job, like tailor, bartender, or cook. Either a beloved fan-favorite or utterly despised, there is no middle ground. (Two Least skubby examples: Guinan and Quark)<br />
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Some of these hats may be worn by more than one character, some may be worn by no one at all. This is especially true in the original series, which had a smaller cast overall, and which put less emphasis on an ensemble and more on the main trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The usual roles and character dynamics were instead set down by ''The Next Generation'', which later series generally copied.<br />
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= The Shows =<br />
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==''The Original Series''==<br />
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[[File:OG enterprise.jpg|thumb|400px|Right|Do do do...]]<br />
Created in 1966 by legendary sci-fi [[spiritual liege]] and money-grubbing, sexist, pseudo-communist lounge lizard Gene Roddenberry and pitched as a "Wagon Train to the stars", it's a pulpy adventure sci-fi, full of fistfights, sword fights, and hammy speeches. (The guns never work.)<br />
<br />
The USS ''Enterprise'' is tasked by the Federation to go on a five year mission to explore space: the final frontier, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before, though due to budget constraints, her crew often finds that man has in fact gone there before. Or at least something that looks exactly like a man but is actually an [[Xenos|alien]]; most episodes split the difference. James T. Kirk sleeps with [[Hot Chicks|hot alien babes]] who either die tragically or leave tearfully at the end of the episode, but it's 'k because he's too in love with the Enterprise to ever love a mere ''woman'' more. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are cold and logical and rash and emotional respectively, and their constant friction must be resulting in the best make-up sex in the world, Mr. Sulu and Lieutenant Uhura wait in vain for focus episodes that never come, Ensign Chekhov suffers horribly to the approval of American Cold War audiences, and Scotty [[gets shit done]]. Uniforms, while iconic, tend to look a bit civilian though. Miniskirts are apparently mandated attire for the ship's fan-servicey female "yeomen" and others, because 1966. The civilian nature of the attire (including, one must assume, the miniskirts, but they had a visual appeal all their own) were apparently an intentional design decision by Roddenberry who didn't want uniforms to look military. Further specialness on the part of Roddenberry demanded phasers not look like guns ([[FAIL|not even have trigger-guards even though those exist for safety reasons]]), instead looking like nothing in particular at all (although looking back at them today they look sort of like TV remotes, which would be invented much later), and also (probably the only sensible decision in this category) ships that didn't look like rockets, giving ships their distinctive and iconic saucer-engineering-nacelles look that still stands out today.<br />
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The Original Series frequently ran out of budget and entire episodes were filmed using spare costumes belonging to the production company, resulting in a series of extremely goofy excuses to go to planets full of gangsters or [[Nazi]]s. This is often copied by shows who don't realize it was done out of pure expediency, and nowadays this [[TVTropes|"Planet of Hats"]] gimmick is practically a box to check off when doing sci-fi adventure. The lack of budget also resulted in one of the more memorable inventions; unable to budget for a sequence showing the ''Enterprise'' or a shuttle landing on a new planet every week, the writers instead decided to invent the transporter to "beam" the crew down to planets or between starships. Also worth noting: despite its mediocre critical reception, ratings and eventual cancellation, not to forget the uneven quality of many episodes, especially in the Roddenberry-less third season where poor Fred Freiberger had to come onto a show he didn't understand and try to get better ratings with less money, ''TOS'' had a hell of a cultural impact thanks to syndication and it has been said that since it entered syndication in 1969, there hasn't been a 24-hour period without some TV station, in some country, playing Star Trek. Cancellation of The Original Series is now considered one of the worst decisions in TV history, and while much of its silly 60's campiness is now laughable, it often still manages to teach relevant and important lessons today.<br />
<br />
Fun fact: the ''Enterprise'' and each of her 11 sister ships have enough firepower to [[Exterminatus]] a planet by themselves, after getting issued an order called General Order 24. This however is likely a time-consuming task. According to a later DS9 episode, it takes a fleet of 20 warships 1 hour of sustained bombardment to destroy a planets crust and 5 hours of sustained bombardment to destroy a planet down to its mantle. These 20 ships were also in service 100 years after the Enterprise so they were also more powerful. <br />
Kirk has the distinction of being the only known captain to issue a [[Exterminatus|General Order 24]], because a planet was ''too'' much into wargames (he changed his mind after they dropped wargaming).<br />
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* '''Outstanding Episodes''': Balance of Terror (submarine battle in space, debut of the Romulans), The Devil in the Dark (sometimes hostile aliens have a good reason for being hostile) Space Seed (Khan's first appearance), The City on the Edge of Forever (beautiful tragedy), Amok Time (Spock's in heat and he and Kirk have to fight to the death), "The Doomsday Machine" (''Enterprise'' vs. an unstoppable planet killer and the captain whose ship it destroyed)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "And the Children Shall Lead" (annoying kids, magic, and most of TOS's weakness dialed up to 11), The Way to Eden (dumbass hippy episode), Spock's Brain (idiot aliens steal Spock's thinker and McCoy has to remote control him for the rest of the episode).<br />
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==''The Animated Series''==<br />
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The often forgotten middle child. More or less "seasons 4-5" of ''TOS'' with the same writing staff and actors, sans poor Walter Koenig. He was replaced by a weird camel person. He learned this at a convention, from a fan, while he was trying to announce he'd be writing an episode, which Gene promptly demanded he rewrite over and over. Classy. <br />
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Being animated allowed the staff to get a lot more creative with the alien designs and plots, and the writing and acting remain... well, top notch is a stretch, but certainly at the same levels as ''The Original Series'', with the occasional low point. Not ''nearly'' as bad as you're probably picturing from the name, although still limited by the low budget and primitive, cheap animation techniques of the television era it was aired in. Notably some sci-fi novelists were brought in to write some episodes, such as Larry Niven, and at least one episode, "Yesteryear," is considered such a pivotal moment in Spock's development that even people who hate the series enough to consider it all non-canon often make an exception just for that one.<br />
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Also, since the series now has no excuse for throwing in lots of Space Puritans and Space Wizards, it of course continued to do so to derptastic results, because by this point it had become traditional. The presence of a straight-up [[furry]] on the bridge, however, is downright unacceptable.<br />
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==''The Next Generation''==<br />
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[[File:Enterpris D.jpg|thumb|400px|left|USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D: battleship, scientific research center and luxury hotel rolled into one]]<br />
Here's where it starts getting a little deeper and a little darker, although with a lot of left-wing political subtext turned up to 11. The USS ''Enterprise-D'' (the original and C were destroyed in action while A and B were retired) is, like its predecessor, tasked with going where no-one has gone before, but this time around the problems are less likely to be solved in a single episode. Jean-Luc Picard is the captain and he plots and negotiates his way to victory; Mr. Data is cold and unemotional, though not by choice - as an android, he'd very much like to change that; Riker takes over the captain's "sleep with alien babes" duties since Picard is married to the job; Worf the Klingon gets beaten up by monsters to show how tough the monsters are, meaning that Worf winds up looking incredibly weak by the end of the show's run and doesn't regain his badassery until his run on ''DS9''; Dr. Beverly Crusher is good old Bones minus his temper; Dr. Pulaski is Bones ''plus'' temper; Counselor Troi is so badly written she becomes a running joke; and Geordi LaForge [[gets shit done]]. Only two things need to be said about helmsman Wesley Crusher: he was [[Mary Sue|Gene Wesley Roddenberry's shitty self-insert fanfic character]], and his sueness got to the point that even his actor started to hate him within the first season of the show.<br />
<br />
Due to the massive success of The Original Series in syndication (and Paramount being [[Rage|pissed off]] by broadcast networks treating their most valuable IP like any other show), TNG was aired through syndication from the beginning. Although the first two seasons were laughably bad, the quality began to improve dramatically after an increasingly cocaine-addled Gene Roddenberry got too sick to keep ruining it and his partner-in-crime Maurice Hurley was thrown out on his ass, a moment often pinpointed via looking for when [[Meme|Riker grew a beard.]] The later seasons are widely considered to represent the apex of the franchise's episodic formula on the small screen (although ''DS9'' gave it a run for its money with a more serialized approach); sadly, this series only got one good movie.<br />
<br />
The Next Generation started and ended on one of its skubbier elements, that being Q, an omnipotent trans dimensional alien that starts testing Picard in the first episode and is finally persuaded to go away in the last. The entire multi-season run of the show is set up with the subtext that the Q are judging whether humanity is worthy of its implied lofty destiny. What should have been a stifling deus ex machina was carried entirely by the performance of Q's actor; the dialogs between Picard and Q were some of the show's most entertaining, even as the Q episodes tended to be the obligatory season silly story.<br />
<br />
*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "The Measure of a Man" (is Data property or not?), "Q Who?" (introduction of the Borg, Q at his dickish best), "The Best of Both Worlds" (epic Borg 2-parter with plenty of action and drama), "Family" (companion piece to Best of Both Worlds, Picard has to deal with the trauma of being assimilated), "Darmok" (Picard learns to communicate with an alien captain on far-away planet, all of TNG's strengths), "The Inner Light" (I am not crying, you are crying), "Sarek" (excellent Picard and Sarek character piece)<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Code of Honor" (racist and stupid), "Angel One" (sexist and stupid), "Shades of Grey" (half-assed money-saving clip show), "Up The Long Ladder" (annoying Oirish stereotypes wind up on the ''Enterprise'', shenanigans ensue), basically any episode from the first five seasons that focuses on Troi, her mom Lwaxana, or both (not Majel or Marina's fault, they were handed shit writing and had to make do)<br />
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==''Deep Space Nine''==<br />
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[[File:Deep Space 9.jpg|thumb|500px|right|''"A Star Trek show where they stay put? It'll never work."'' Boy did they get that wrong.]]<br />
Unlike all the other series so far, ''Deep Space Nine'' primarily takes place in a fixed location - the titular space station Deep Space Nine, out near the borders of Federation Space. Said space station is near Bajor, which was recently freed from Cardassian occupation, and a wormhole to the other side of the galaxy which allows [[Warp|all sorts of of crazy shit to go down]]. If the other shows are a wagon train, this one's the border fort.<br />
<br />
Benjamin Sisko is the captain, declared Emissary by the nearby Bajorans for making contact with the wormhole aliens they worship, and he successfully hybridizes the blow-the-shit-out-of-whatever-you-can't-punch Kirk approach with the talk-in-a-very-dignified-way-about-the-philosophy-of-the-thing-and-win-by-rhetoric Picard maneuver, in his ultimately-successful quest to become the baddest motherfucker in space, then literally becomes a space god. Kira the Bajoran ex-<s>terrorist</s> <S>''noble freedom fighter''</s> (who are we kidding she calls herself a terrorist) struggles to free and rebuild her people while coming to terms with the moral ambiguities of situations she prefers to see in black-and-white, Dr. Bashir works to find his character for several seasons before becoming a highlight, Dax gets often written poorly and has to switch bodies doing it, Odo IS ''Liquid Space Cop'', Quark runs his bar and [[troll|heckles]] the Federation from the sidelines, Garak pretends to be a tailor while definitely not being a super-spy, hitting on Bashir, and dropping killer lines, and Miles O'Brien [[gets shit done]] and gets physically, mentally, and/or emotionally tortured in at least one episode a season (referred to by the writers as the "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes). Also Worf wanders in halfway through, and actually gets to punch things instead of just getting punched by them, up to and including offing the Klingon chancellor in an honor duel. It's also a lot more political than other series (though ''TNG'' and ''Voyager'' have their moments) and the last series to have Gene Roddenberry's involvement (with less enthusiasm, in fact often much to the benefit of this particular series thematically, although Roddenberry's complete departure did not necessarily bode well for the franchise in general.)<br />
<br />
It's the closest the pre-Kelvin series ever get to [[grimdark]]. Especially when the Dominion show up. With minimal grimderp that plague the later seasons and Kelvin era movies. The show has aged remarkably well and the terrorist/freedom fighter debate was repeatedly explored in a very mature and honest way; the darkest episodes ventured into duping the Romulans into a war by assassinating a senator, and forcing a Klingon regime change [[rip and tear|''the Klingon way'']]. ''DS9'' is the most serialized of all Trek shows and could be considered a forerunner to the golden age of television with its long story arcs and deep character development. It's also notable for singlehandedly salvaging the Ferengi after the mess Gene made of them in the early seasons of TNG and bringing back the mirror universe after nearly thirty years with an ongoing plot showing the consequences of Kirk's meddling. Overall, ''DS9'' has to be considered the most consistently good Trek show thanks to the excellent writing and fantastic performances from a truly wonderful ensemble cast. At least until the final season . . .<br />
<br />
Which brings us to DS9 Skub. The show was airing around the same time as another thematically similar sci-fi show, ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Not only that but characters also shared similarities, as did the episodes especially as both shows became war stories later on. Interestingly, beginning of both series, introduction of characters and airing of similar episodes were often too close to each other for one show to copy the other but this did not stop massive [[Rage]] and [[/v/|fanboy wars]] from starting between fans of the two series accusing one another of plagiarism and having an inferior product. Happily, as time went on and both shows evolved, these hurt feelings have mostly faded.<br />
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There's also that last season. The earlier (good) writers had got pulled to try to make movies, which movies they'd failed at. The new writers also had to bring in a new Dax due to Berman constantly being a sexist asshole to actress Terry Farrell. This new Dax, Ezri, was very different from Jadzia, and she only got that one season to make her mark, which season she had to share with the Great Epic Conclusion (it's a miracle Ezri was as well received as she was, and a testament to Nicole de Boer's talent). Those finale episodes were mostly okay and tied up the story semi-satisfyingly, though a few die-hard subplots fell flat. The season, therefore, was shaky; not necessarily a harbinger for The Decline Of ''Trek'' to come, but at least inauspicious.<br />
<br />
How good is ''Deep Space Nine''? Every subsequent Star Trek series and even the reboot movies have pretty much ripped off ideas and concepts established during the series. Famously, within the "Trekker/Trekkie" fan community, there's a little cell of fans who like it better than most other ''Star Trek''; these fans are typically called "Niners."<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Duet" and "Waltz" (excellent character work elevates low-budget episodes), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (30th anniversary comedy episode that sends the DS9 crew back to the TOS era to stop a rogue Klingon assassinating Kirk), "In the Pale Moonlight" ("how far would you push your principles to save the world?" done very well), "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Nog has PTSD after losing a leg in battle), "The Circle" (the only Star Trek trilogy episode and as close as DS9 will ever get to a movie), "Valiant" (A Defiant full of asshole cadets gets blasted into smithereens for their own hubris), "Empok Nor" (Garak goes feral and brutalizes a lot of people).<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Move Along Home" (some of the crew gets trapped in a board game with annoying rhymes), "Fascination" (Lwaxana Troi is going through Betazoid menopause and wants to bang Odo), "Profit and Lace" (Quark has a horrible relationship with his mom and has a sex change for zany antics), "Let He Who is Without Sin" (bullshit on resort planet Risa)<br />
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==''Voyager''==<br />
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[[File:USS Voyager.jpg|thumb|400px|left|''"Are we home yet?"'' <br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"Tuvok, please give Ensign Kim a dose of the Medical Phaser.]]<br />
Star Trek: Voyager centers around the eponymous USS ''Voyager'', a smallish ship which gets teleported over to the other side of the galaxy. The plot of the series centers on the crew's efforts to get back home, which COULD have made for an excellent premise. Unfortunately, there were few lasting story arcs, with most episodes being fully self-contained (as well as being littered with far too many episodes featuring holodeck or transporter incidents). As a consequence, despite being completely isolated from the Federation, no matter how bad things got Voyager always appeared in the next episode without a scratch, fully supplied, and with all its shuttlecraft intact. Think ''Gilligan's Island'' on a starship.<br />
<br />
Like ''TNG'' and ''DS9'' it's a character-driven drama just as often as it is a sci-fi adventure romp, although compared to TNG only a few of the characters are particularly memorable. The captain and arguable "main character" is Kathryn Janeway, a Katharine Hepburn lookalike (I see what you did there) who is stern without being cold, and principled without being inflexible. The fan favorite is a character called "The Doctor" ([[Doctor Who|No relation]]); he's the solid-light hologram representative of the ship's emergency medical computer, who has to take on actual medical duties when their chief medical officer was conveniently killed in the pilot episode. Other than this, Chakotay is a peace-loving and spiritually rich indian <s>freedom fighter</s> <s>terrorist</s> [[FAIL|who was written with the help of a special Cherokee consultant so native his name was Jamake Highwater and it turned out later on that he was actually Jewish and didn't know dick about native cultures so he made everything up resulting in Chakotay basically being a borderline racist caricature of what you think Indians are like. Akoochimoya.]] Tom Paris is an annoying jerk and is counterbalanced by Harry Kim who is the ideal boy-scout, making him only half as annoying and twice as boring. B'elanna Torres tries to perpetuate a lineage of dudes getting shit done but ends up blankly reciting her technobabble, having second degree plasma burns and – worst of all – systematically fails to get shit done whenever the warp core goes nuts. Tuvok tries hard to be as cool as Spock but ends up being a lame version of the n°1 Vulcan who uses logic to justify everything and makes it short for "you are wrong, I am right because I said so." Kes is passed as a fragile and nice character but it takes a couple of episodes to realize that having a short lifespan does not change the facts: [[powergamer|when you can boil someone to death from the inside of their body, drain life from everything around you to become stronger and do anything you want without knowing how, just by thinking of it]], you are a goddamn Mary Sue. From the fourth season onwards the only character the writers seemed to care about was Seven of Nine, [[Mary Sue|a human woman who recently escaped from Borg control and kept all of her cyborg enhancements but regained her free will]]; another Mary Sue, to be sure, but she's [[Hot Chicks|hot]], and the other characters are much worse, so that's not really a bad thing. Fortunately, The Doctor still received a lot of attention from the writers and almost single-handedly made the show watchable. There was also Neelix, who was the apparent inspiration for Jar-Jar Binks, and any sane crew would have pushed him out of an airlock on the first episode. Fans who stuck with the show despite its glaring failings were given one final slap in the face with the <s>controversial</s> shit final season, in which the producers decided "screw steadily crafting a satisfying conclusion to a story which we have wasted for most of the last seven years anyway; lets just ignore it until the final episode and then throw in some shit about trans-warp conduits and time travel, bitches love time travel!" If you did not care about any of the characters or the subplots or time travel making sense (the writers sure didn't), then the final episode was made just for you (and the Borg got a major setback, too, just don't think about the setup too hard).<br />
<br />
The Doctor never once stopped being totally fucking awesome though (enough so to even earn a cameo in First Contact and for Robert Picardo to turn up as his inventor in an episode of DS9), Jeri Ryan proved she wasn't just eye candy, and the (mostly) great acting from the rest of the cast carries the series from being horrific to ''occasionally'' watchable. Just goes to show that no matter how good your actors are, they can't make diamonds out of shit.<br />
<br />
Overall, most Star Trek fans view Voyager's legacy with a shrug and a "meh." Unfortunately, hopes that Voyager's successor would revitalize the franchise would soon prove to be overly optimistic.<br />
<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Timeless" (excellent time-travel episode), "Year of Hell" (absolutely savage two-parter that trashes ''Voyager'' in service to a story of obsession and why you don't fuck with the timeline), "Tuvix" (one of the all-time skubbiest episodes of any ST show, deals with the complicated ethics of what happens when two people are fused into a new individual by a transporter accident), "Bride of Chaotica!" (aliens get trapped in Tom Paris' 1940s pulp holodeck program, Janeway has to become one of the characters to sort it out, good comedy episode), "Someone to Watch Over Me" (the Doctor falls in love with Seven but can't admit it), "Equinox" (''Voyager'' encounters another castaway Starfleet ship that's tossed Federation law and ethics into the bin to survive and Janeway gets ''really'' pissy about it)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Threshold" (Tom Paris and Janeway turn into [[salamander]]s and have salamander babies; so terrible that rumors persist it was declared non-canonical to this day), "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk" (holodeck malfunction episodes full of more cringe Oirish stereotypes and Janeway wanting to bang a hologram), "Alice" (Stephen King's ''Christine'' IN SPAAACE!)<br />
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==''Enterprise''==<br />
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[[File:NX-01.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Where it all began. For better or worse...]]<br />
From the minute the Nickelback-tier theme tune started, Enterprise attempted to take Star Trek in a new direction and was only partially successful in doing so. The series never quite caught its footing, although it still managed to have some enjoyable moments. It was most notable for providing a first-hand view of the key events that directly led to the formation of the Federation. The Federation's founding races were also featured heavily, with Andorians, Tellarites, and Vulcans all enjoying significant screen time alongside the human characters.<br />
<br />
It's a prequel to the rest of the canon, taking place on the first ''Enterprise'', before the Federation was founded and during the period when Earth was still an independent power- so there's a lot of primitive versions of things from other series. At least the uniforms were pretty cool in an Air Force sort of way. Captained by <s>that guy from ''Quantum Leap''</s> Jonathan Archer, in hindsight the fact that they had to rename him from their original choice of Jeffrey Archer to avoid confusion with the disgraced British MP and author of the same name probably cursed the series with bad karma before it had even begun shooting. In an unusual twist for a ''Trek'' series, his first officer isn't a <s>terrorist</s> ''noble freedom fighter,'' however she does share a trait with her ''Voyager'' predecessor in that the actress who portrayed her frequently criticized the show's writers in interviews. Other than that, well, Hoshi Sato screams a lot, Travis Mayweather was so dull that even the writers forgot he existed, the resident Vulcan T'Pol serves as both the Science Officer and source of sexy fanservice, Malcolm Reed has an accent, Dr Phlox is a weird creepy alien with weird creepy alien morals (and gets surprisingly interesting when given enough screentime, which hardly ever happened), and Trip also has an accent and [[gets shit done]].<br />
<br />
One thing that makes the show and cast so frustrating is that you get glimpses of interesting things that could be explored but just aren't in favor of rejected TNG concepts. A weapon' officer still having somewhat free range as there are not federation guidelines? Not really, Malcolm is just here to give a second opinion and be Tripp's wingman. A linguist and sociologist without much of a clue as to what everyone will encounter in space in an age before rules of engagement and diplomatic norms are established? Not really, Hoshi just screams a lot to let you know something dangerous or scary is nearby. The struggle between a potentially more profitable civilian life and an assignment as a glorified military grunt before Starfleet is the institution we all know it would become? Who cares, the writers all forgot Travis is even in the show most of the time. All these questions are somewhat hinted at in some episodes when they really could have been defining character arcs for the cast but instead we got vulcan romance getting most of the screentime when the Xindi plot wasn't happening. Oh well.<br />
<br />
Was retooled twice, the third season tries to be ''24'' IN SPACE (stop some aliens, the Xindi, from blowing up Earth) while the 4th season is a massive apology about the last three seasons that tries to fix all the problems they had. As a result, the last season is the only one that's close to being really good.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the poorly-received final episode is set on the holodeck of the Enterprise-D, which leaves us with the firm impression that the producers would have much rather have just continued making ''The Next Generation''. Considering the mediocre quality of the ''TNG'' movies we got instead, this probably would have worked out better for all involved (Or not since ''Voyager'' was that; its first episode was even numbered 901, as in Season 9 Episode 1).<br />
<br />
Yet despite all the bad directing, subpar plots, and frankly boring episodes, ''Enterprise'' sometimes still manages to be moderately enjoyable with occasional moments of awesomeness if you can suffer through a fair few awful spots and aggressive mediocrity almost everywhere else. The focus on founding Federation races like the Andorans was refreshing and the technology level, being somewhere between the original series and the real world present-day, was quite interesting. We also got to see the Vulcans portrayed as arrogant, superior dicks. This actually makes a lot more sense than the way they're usually portrayed (which is fairly submissive towards humans) because they are, obviously and objectively, the superior race. The Klingons certainly still considered themselves to be honorable but the show made it clear that the Klingon notion of honor is rarely analogous to the human concept which was interesting as all hell to watch. There have been a few small nods to Enterprise in Discovery and the Abrams movies.<br />
<br />
And let's be fucking honest, [[/tg/]] loves 40k and the Xindi arc was about as grimdark as shit gets. And that was awesome.<br />
<br />
*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "Damage" (Enterprise is nearly destroyed and can barely function), "Zero Hour" (End of Season 3, good action and good payoff), "Regeneration" (Borg episode, silly but well executed), "Babel One", "United" and "The Aenar" (three episode arc involving the Romulan scheme to engineer war, a glimpse of what might have been).<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Dear Doctor" (boring prime directive extremism), "These are the Voyages" (Trip dies in a rush-job ending, last minute or so is alright as a visual send-off divorced from crap narrative).<br />
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==STD aka ''Disco'' aka ''Discovery''==<br />
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----<br />
[[File:USS Discovery.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Disco Stu's coming for you!]]<br />
<s>A LOAD OF SOCIAL JUSTICE SHIT!</s> Ahem, let's start again, shall we?<br />
<br />
<br />
A new "prequel" series set 10 years before ''The Original Series.'' Again. Run exclusively on CBS' paid streaming service (unless you live outside the US and Canada, in which case you can get it on Netflix) to try and drum up sign-ups and revenue, it features a mix of ''Enterprise'' and Abramstrek aesthetics despite supposedly taking place in parallel to the TOS "The Cage" pilot while [[what|having technology superior to late DS9]] and introducing [[dune|mushroom-based space travel]] that would imply [[retcon|all later events and warp travel would be outdated]]. The trailer has attracted a lot of concern over the fact that Klingons have been completely redesigned to look like slit-nosed ogres wearing ancient Egyptian cosplay, and rumors that the Klingons shown were [[Racial Holy War|primitives who had been trapped in stasis]] proved to be unfounded, so there is no excuse. Not having a cold war to posture about, the new villains are based off of Trump-inspired xenophobia by the admission of the authors. Also the lead character is Spock's human sister that he never mentioned before, aka the ''exact'' origin of the [[Mary Sue]] which is just fucking depressing. To further reinforce this, there are ''numerous'' examples of dialogue and exposition that serve only to show how the Mary Sue main character was right all along, usually in conjunction with the death of the character that had foolishly disagreed with her. Want a new Star Trek episode about racism and immigration? Try the now-banned [https://youtu.be/3VEZH8bqytA Star Trek Continues]. Want Star Trek with humor, we suppose: ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'', below. Oh! want a pseudo-Star Trek show about other modern issues? Try ''[[The Orville]]''. That's right, American Dad In Space <strike>may right now be</strike> is a better Star Trek than an actual Star Trek series.<br />
<br />
Initial reviews have been... well, never mind the 2017-era soy-guzzling critics. STD is as much fun as an outbreak of Nurgle's Rot. Mostly. There ''are'' exceptions.<br />
<br />
The writing is overly convoluted, the massive injection of grimdark into pre-TOS continuity is anathema to the hardcore fans (the ''human'' characters are often the ones doing the nastiest shit, including [[Marines Malevolent|trying to kill a Klingon party by planting an explosive on the corpse of one of their comrades for when they came to collect the dead]]) and the Klingons are so flat and devoid of characterization that they might as well be Larry the Cable Guy lookalikes wearing Trump hats. This is a massive disappointment for a series that promised to put a spotlight on Klingon culture but ended up retconning all the characterization that happened in TNG and DS9. It ''may'' get better with time (remember that it took two seasons for TNG to get really good) but given the release schedule (split between 2017 and 2018 with a long break) it may come too late for the fanbase to care. Currently it's cause for more fans to lose their shit over whether it's better or worse than the Abrams movies, which is a new record of [[Skub|Trek Skub]]. Releasing the show on CBS All Access instead of cable or broadcast TV makes it seem that executives don't really give a shit if the show succeeds or fails, bringing up the question of [[Bioware|whether they're deliberately putting Star Trek: Discovery in a no-win scenario where, no matter what happens, the executives have an excuse to cancel Star Trek altogether]]. <br />
<br />
Another stupid decision was not shelling out the cash to bring back Bruce Greenwood and Zachary Quinto as Captain Pike and Spock, respectively. Their ages wouldn't have mattered either if CBS and Paramount weren't too cheap to use the anti-aging CGI tech that is so commonplace these days. Hell, Star Trek makeup artists are among the best in the entertainment business. So they could have pulled it off with applying the bare minimum, and we probably still wouldn't have noticed.<br />
<br />
There were also allegations that large chunks of the plot were stolen from previews of an in-development indie game. The unreleased 2014 game featured giant Tardigrades that had the ability to use an interstellar network to travel anywhere they wanted to- sound familiar?<br />
<br />
We must however give credit where credit is due. Season 1's fifth episode "Choose Your Pain" starred Rainn Wilson as a younger Harcourt Fenton Mudd, and this was a surprising treat. Season 2 also featured Anson Mount as Captain Pike, whose addition to the cast was nothing short of a revelation. Indeed, Pike's character was by far the most well-received aspect of that season.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, while Season 2 had some watchable moments, it was still middling at best, and nobody is ''ever'' going to let this series live down the garbage fire that was Season 1. If you do decide to watch Season 2, try not to think about it too hard once you are done. It gets worse and worse the more you think about it as you can and will come to realize that {{spoiler|the overarching plot hinges on time-travel but because the writing and production staff kept being shuffled, no one kept continuity so some of the hints of future actions or "red lights" are just forgotten about, some time-travel is done just to set up another event to make it possible for that same time-travel to happen. Think Bill and Ted, except lame and very confusing. Season 2 is an okay show if you look at the state-of-the-art visuals, let the big emotional moments grip you, but if you stop for a second and think about the continuity of events, you push yourself on a slippery slope that ends in not being able to ever trust the showrunning staff again.}}<br />
<br />
Season 3 sees ''Discovery'' transported far into the future, one in which the Federation itself has fallen apart due to the mysterious disappearance of the dilithium required for warp travel. What was the issue with the dilithium? A member of the same species as the character Saru was on a planet with a lot of dilithium and had a freakout so bad it somehow psychically fucked up all dilithium everywhere at roughly the same time. Oh, and apparently turbolifts now fly around in a pocket dimension or some stupid shit.<br />
<br />
Season 4 can basically be summed up as "Hyper-advanced extragalactic gasbags make a mess of things because they're [[Derp|too stupid to comprehend the concept of self as they're a hive mind]]".<br />
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Oh thank the God Emperor it's almost over! After four seasons of shit, season five is finally going to kill it! Oh Throne, thank you!<br />
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==''<strike>Retard</strike>Picard''==<br />
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Set to be a continuation of the original timeline, featuring old man Picard with Patrick Stewart reprising the role. Hopes are not high, but at the very least Patrick Stewart's presence should make it watchable if nothing else. <br />
<br />
Update: Season 3 is the only part maybe worth watching.<br />
<br />
In the first season, Picard ragequit Starfleet after they sat back and let the Romulans get blown up by the supernova mentioned in the first Abrams movie. This happened because some rogue androids orbitally bombarded Mars and blew up the rescue fleet that was being built there, so the Federation has banned all R&D on synthetic lifeforms and subsequently become [[Imperium of Man|isolationist, racist and xenophobic]] (does this remind you of anything?). Picard has been living in his family chateau ever since, making wine and hanging out with his dog and his Romulan housekeepers. Then a scared girl named Dahj turns up on his doorstep, and it turns out she's a highly advanced biological android constructed from the surviving bits of Data's positronic brain by the guy who wanted to dismantle Data in that episode "The Measure of a Man." Before Picard can really figure out what to do about her, she gets killed by a secret society of Luddite anti-android Romulan assholes, but it turns it that's okay because she has a twin "sister" named Soji who is working with some other Romulans on a derelict Borg cube. Picard decides it's time to saddle up and go be a hero again. He starts putting together a crew that includes Agnes Jurati, a former cyberneticist; Raffi Musiker, his last executive officer, [[What|who is now an alcoholic drug-vaping hermit]] after getting kicked out of Starfleet; Cristobal Rios, a scruffy merc pilot whose ship is staffed entirely by holograms of himself; Elnor, a Romulan warrior monk raised by Romulan warrior nuns; and Seven of Nine, who has become a kickass pilot and is no longer wearing her infamous catsuit. Together, they're out to save Soji, stop the Romulans, and be the good guys in a galaxy that needs heroes, etc etc.<br />
<br />
Key storytelling criticisms of the show include the idea that the Romulan Empire should have had enough infrastructure to effect an evacuation without help, and that even if they didn't, the Federation would ''never'' abandon a neighbor who was asking for help- not even a former enemy, and not even when doing so became difficult or inconvenient. Another issue comes up when the show reveals that the Borg have assimilated transgalactic teleporters from a throwaway alien race that appeared in an early episode of ''Voyager'', but only for the Borg queen to use in case the cube she's on is about to be blown up, which begs the question of ''why in the hell aren't they using them to overwhelm the Federation's defenses with drone spam and assimilate everything??'' There's also an (abortive) space battle in the final episode where Riker shows up leading a fleet of ships that are just copy-pastes of the same CG model, which was derided for being cheap and lazy on the part of the showrunners and a failed chance to show Riker in command of the ''Titan'' or ''Enterprise''.<br />
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To make matters even more dumb and yet also more complicated at the same time, the showrunners are apparently under some kind of licensing agreement regarding the portrayal of images and concepts from the earlier shows. This means that they can't, for example, casually mention the Dominion War and its impact on the Federation, because if they did, they'd have to pay a licensing fee. This is why the show has been carefully crafted to look like a distant, derpy cousin of Star Trek, while only occasionally featuring cameos of things such as the Enterprise-D, or directly referencing arcs in previous shows: because if they use concepts from prior Star Trek shows, they have to pay for them.<br />
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Finally, when all has been said and done by the end of Season 1, Picard himself is reduced to a nearly-useless side character in his own show. Where once he commanded the admiration and respect of friends and foes alike, in this show he is consistently portrayed as a disrespected, disregarded, and often powerless caricature of himself, utterly reliant on the characters around him. {{spoiler|It doesn't help they legit kill him in the last episode and then made him an android after he also agreed to "kill" Data whose memories are basically in a server on a planet of Soong androids. The showrunners specifically came out and said their plan was always to kill Picard to make a point about how privileged he was being a captain in Starfleet. You can't make this shit up. Patrick Stewart himself claims that they hadn't written Picard's death until they were almost finished filming the season, so who knows what the hell was going on.}}<br />
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One other thing is certain. Whether you like the series or not, it's clear that this series is not taking place in Gene Roddenberry's noblebright vision of the Federation, and the fact that it is yet another grim, violent entry into the franchise is a point that has left many viewers with a bad aftertaste. If the rumors are true, then this show may have either killed the current grimderp Trek or has left fans so pissed that CBS is, once again, on the verge of financial ruin and possibly looking to sell the franchise since they aren't making the money they thought they would after the massive amounts of money they dumped into both this and Discovery.<br />
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Season 2 premiered in March 2022 after the Covid pandemic delayed production. They definitely listened to some of the major criticisms of the first season - Picard's been reinstated in Starfleet, many fan-favorite starship classes returned for the big space battle in the first episode, the gratuitous swearing and needless grimdark got toned down, and more deep cuts from TOS and DS9 lore show up. <br />
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Q shows up and launches the gang into a hilariously over-the-top alternate timeline where the [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] knob got cranked to 11 and as a result the ''Con''federation of Humanity has been going around [[Imperium of Man|exterminating all xenos scum]] up to and including the Borg, which is admittedly pretty badass. They're all appropriately horrified by this, and steal the Borg queen right as she's about to be executed so they can do a sun-slingshot move to go back to 2024 Los Angeles and <strike>save the whales</strike>fix whatever got messed up. Brent Spiner turns up as yet another Soong ancestor, morally skewed as always, and the punk from Star Trek IV returns, still blasting his boombox all these years later. Picard and co. save the future by ensuring that his ancestor Renee goes on a manned mission to the moon of Europa, where she discovers an alien organism that allows humanity to magically fix Earth's biosphere and make everything noblebright forevermore, apparently because [[Derp|the writers forgot that WWIII will arrive in a few decades]]. Rios decides to stay in the past because he met a sexy doctor and [[What|dies in a barfight]], Dr. Soong is revealed to be working on more Khans, his fake daughter Kore meets Wesley Crusher and becomes a Traveler, and it turns out that the reason Q did all this in the first place was to help Picard confront his deep-seated family issues so he could avoid dying alone, as Q is in the process of dying alone himself. In the season finale, the Borg (now being controlled by Agnes after [[What|she forced the Borg queen to bitch down by getting her to admit her ''own'' loneliness]]) ask to join the Federation so they can keep an eye on some weird transwarp conduit that some unknown entity just opened, which was why the Borg rocked up at the beginning of the season. Least it wrapped up well. <br />
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Would you believe Season 3 manages to turn it around somehow? Essentially a 10-episode attempt to answer the question, 'How can we get all of the original cast members together on a starship in the least contrived way?', Picard, Riker, Troi, LaForge, Worf, Data, and the bearable Crusher all come together to fight the new Borg threat. The series is written and directed by people who truly understand what Star Trek is about, and as such is a welcome sight to fans of the franchise. Each of the original cast gets time to develop their characters further - Worf drinks tea, Beverley finally manages to raise a kid who isn't [[Mary Sue|Wesley]], and Geordi now runs the fleet museum and has raised an impressive engineer himself. The series is practically dedicated to ignoring or fixing the last two seasons of Picard, if not the last quarter-century of TNG-adjacent movie and television media, and somewhat succeeds. {{Spoiler|They even bring back the right bridge, even if the excuse as to why was [[Fail|pulled out of their butts]]…}}<br />
<br />
The only sore spot of the series is the latest ''Enterprise'' at the end of the series, [[Derp|which looks like a horrible kitbash of the original Constitution]], and compares very unfavorably to its predecessor in the looks department. Other than that, it provides what was sorely missing these last few decades: a good send-off for the Next Generation ''after'' 'All Good Things'. <br />
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==''Strange New Worlds''==<br />
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An attempt to put the golden goose back together on the operating table. After seeing the reception of having Captain Pike in Discovery, Paramount decided to simply return to the pilot cast of The Original Series with its fingers crossed that the old bird will resume replicating gold eggs.<br />
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It's good so far. It's fun and optimistic, which is a genuine relief after the grimderp of Discovery and Picard, but isn't afraid to occasionally go in dark places and present genuinely difficult philosophical problems. We'll have to see if it holds up, the science can be very stupid even by ''Trek'' standards, and if you liked the Gorn you'll hate what they're doing with them, but overall, so far so good. The season 1 finale is a treat; it's a retelling of the classic episode "Balance of Terror" but with Pike in command of the ''Enterprise'' instead of Kirk, and they recreate everything from the blocking to the dialogue to the cheesy zooms of the original episode. It's pretty awesome.<br />
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==''Lower Decks''==<br />
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{{topquote|I FAILED THE KOBAYASHI MARU SEVENTEEN TIMES MOTHERFUCKER!|Brad Boimler}}<br />
Mike McMahan is doing this one, him being the person behind the Rick & Morty cartoon. It's set in 2380 on the ''Cerritos'', concentrating (like the TNG episode of the same name) on the grunts working in the bowels of the ship. The main characters are ensigns and low-level lieutenants: Tendi is a perky Orion science office-in-training with massive insecurities about her species. Rutherford is Geordi LaForge with less experience and a Manchurian Candidate backstory. Mariner is basically just reboot-era Kirk down to the captain's kid, broken home complex. They are all the bane (and close friends) of the worrisome Boimler, the Starfleet straight-man who could be the next Picard if he stopped worrying about getting promoted so much.<br />
[[File:Star_Trek_Lower_Decks.jpg|400px|right]]<br />
Fans feared this would focus on lowbrow "humor" episodes with technobabble nonsense stapled to it just like McMahan's other works; and they were half right, although the technobabble is here honestly ''less'' annoying than in mainline Trek, on account it's not being taken seriously. But over the first season the show found its footing. To enjoy it, you just have to embrace the likely reality that a few decks below all of Picard's noblebright ready room monologues there were hundreds of ignoble, corner-cutting crewmen who just want to get to the end of their shift. It's entertaining, but in a "The Bashir & Garak Show" sort of way. John de Lancie reprises Q, and Frakes returns as Riker, now in command of the USS Titan. <br />
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By the end of the first season, the consensus had formed that Lower Decks is probably the best addition to the franchise since the Rick Berman era ended, with a much better understanding of what Star Trek IS (to its fans) than either Discovery or Picard. The second and third seasons moved the series towards an overarching plot. The Pakleds, a joke throwaway species from TNG, are fittingly brought back as the story's big bad. The Pakleds are basically Ork [[Freebooterz]], an entire species of idiotic space pirates. Brutally kunnin they are not; their "plans" are worthy of Douglas Adams. Mariner gets beaten with the nerfhammer for the middle of season 2 and occasionally in season 3 making her much more tolerable. Meanwhile, the story of Rutherford's cybernetics gradually unfolds as the result of a conspiracy in Starfleet. Along the way, there's an episode ripping off James Cameron's ''Avatar'', a session of Klingon Dungeons & Dragons, space-faring Renfaire fanatics, and Mariner and Boimler having to work the Starfleet booth at job fair.<br />
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In summary, the first season was rife with teething issues (but show me a Trek series which wasn't) and directly appeals to people who loved Star Trek but now believe that "Star Trek is dead, Jim". Second and third season are more appealing to Trekkies who aren't afraid to laugh at the thing they like.<br />
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'''Outstanding Episodes: '''Crisis Point (Mariner hijacks Boimler's holodeck simulation of the bridge crew and turns it to a Star Trek film holodeck program); The Spy Humongous (Captain Freeman is sent to negotiate with the Pakleds while a Pakled spy pretends to be an asylum seeker. Answers the question how the various dangerous plot devices are disposed of); Where Pleasant Fountains Lie (Boimler and Mariner crash on a desert planet escorting an evil AI, Mariner gets well and truly nerfed. The ship's chief engineer turns out to be a prince of aforementioned Renfaire-fanatics); I, Excretus (The crew undergoes a holodeck drill program of various situations from past serieses. Boimler gets to shine in classic Starfleet activities); Grounded (Season 3 pilot. Mariner is convinced her mother is being railroaded in court and more evidence is needed from dry-docked Cerritos); Reflections (Rutherford races his past self in his subconciousness and his repressed memories start surfacing. Mariner and Boimler work a Star Fleet recruitment booth at a fair leading to the section quote.); Hear all, Trust Nothing (DS9 homage episode guest staring Armin Shimmerman and Nana Visitor. Tendi deals with her species embarrasment); Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus (Boimler desings a Star Trek film, but derails it almost immediately for himself and Mariner. Basically an RP sesssion where half of the players derail and split off).<br />
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'''Episodes to avoid:''' Envoys; Temporal Edict; Veritas; A Mathematically Perfect Redemption.<br />
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=='' Prodigy''==<br />
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Here for sake of completeness, an animated show targeting a younger audience that debuted in 2021 on Nickleodeon (alongside Paramount+). The show follows a collection of misfit (mostly young) aliens on a mining colony that find hidden in a crystalline planetoid the USS ''Protostar'', a Starfleet ship with a hologram of Janeway to aid the collection of "Cadets" as they escape and venture out into an galaxy full of adventure while the owner of the mining colony and his robot minion try to take the ''Protostar'' for themselves.<br />
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So far it has a decent critical reception. If you want Star Trek which is noblebright and not ironic and are fine with a PG rating, this may be worth a look.<br />
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= Films =<br />
We're putting these at the end in the (unlikely) event someone does a movie that's in the non-Abrams canon ever. As a general rule, the even-numbered ones aren't complete shit.<br />
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* '''''Star Trek: The Motion Picture''''': AKA: The Slow Motion Picture, or the Motionless Picture. A giant space whatsit is flying towards Earth, the mostly-retired crew has to go figure out what's going on and stop it. Old school sci-fi geeks like the ideas, but terrible pace and interminable special effects that were clearly meant to capitalize on ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' while failing to understand what people like about that movie kill them dead for everyone else. Besides the uniform worn by Kirk, the uniforms also look like pajamas. So no wonder they were changed only a movie later. Features an entirely bald female alien who is [[What|so good at sex that she has to swear an oath not to get it on with the crew]]. Really. This is canon.<br />
* '''''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''''': As Kirk starts to feel his age, a one-off villain from the show played by Ricardo "Corinthian Leather" Montalban makes a dramatic reappearance: [[Meme|KKKHHHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!]] Widely considered the best of all the films, and the only one considered a straight up great film, no qualifiers. If you haven't seen it, see it. So good many later movies in the franchise just try to rip it off instead of finding their own identities. Interesting fact: due to time constraints, Shatner and Montalban weren't available at the same time. So the entire script was written so that Kirk and Khan never need to meet face-to-face. But you'd never notice if it weren't pointed out to you. Roddenberry screeched autistically and objected to some of the actions of his characters, including Kirk shooting a [[Enslavers|brain eating space parasite]] that had literally just emerged from the head of his friend rather than "[[Noblebright|keeping it for study]]." The fact that his strongest objections came to the most win of the films says a great deal about his depreciating value to the franchise around the TNG era. <br />
* '''''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock''''': Where is Spock? ''He's on Genesis.'' ALL AHEAD FULL! Not really bad, just mediocre and run of the mill compared to the superior films that surround it. It was also saddled with the misfortune of undoing some of the previous film's more-daring decisions, and having its only daring decision reversed a film later. If you had to say that any film broke the "odd numbers suck" rule, it would be this one. This was Leonard Nimoy's first attempt at directing a full film, having asked for the seat in exchange for agreeing to play Spock again. <br />
* '''''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''''': The crew of the ''Enterprise'' travels back in time to save the whales. No, literally and unironically. Scott tries to talk to a computer through the mouse, Spock nerve-pinches a punk on a bus in San Francisco, and somehow it works, creating something perhaps not quite in the genre intended but a classic in sci-fi dramedy. ''The Voyage Home'' is a zany comedy romp beloved by the general public and fandom alike, leaving only the most intractable fanbois to bitch and moan. Nimoy directed this one too but there was a contract stipulation that Shatner would get whatever Nimoy got, thus leading to...<br />
* '''''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier''''': aka. the film that should never have been made, even by many die-hard Trekkies. Kirk's actor got his spin behind the camera as agreed and wanted a "thought-provoking movie" after the more comical IV. Good intention, but the abysmal execution leaves the audience facepalming at the very best. Between the weak script, the 'moral' of the story ('faith can be abused by unscrupulous people', for the record) delivered with all the subtlety of a punch to the face, poor (or deliberately campy) special effects, uninspired performances by the actors (who for the most part didn't like the script as it had them behave against everything that had come before and betray Kirk) and Kirk's screentime-hogging (despite being behind the camera); this movie is by far the absolute worst of the original six and simply not worth watching... but it's just dumb and hapless, not dead and soulless like what's to follow from other crews.<br />
* '''''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''''': The Space Cold War ends amidst searing mystery and drama. The sendoff for the original cast, except Kirk who got a worse send-off a movie later. Gene Roddenberry watched it, hated it, and was going to seek legal advice but died a week later. And good riddance to that, because it's a pretty sweet political thriller if your hippie-panties don't get into a twist at the thought that the Federation isn't a perfect place full of perfect people. Press F for Christopher Plummer, second best ham in ''Trek'' history. After the previous movie's painful directing, Sulu's actor only agreed to come back if he got to be captain of his own ship. He did, but Shatner still found a way to steal his thunder.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Generations''''': Malcolm McDowell blows up planets to get into a magic space ribbon to live forever, no it does not make any more sense in context. Bringing the TNG crew to the silver screen was a good idea, but those were thin on the ground. An already-weak story hamstrung by its obsession with being daring and unconventional rather than good (aside from the bit where Worf gets promoted, that was great). Also, Kirk dies on the bridge in the most face-palming manner possible. Nimoy was offered the Director's chair, took one look at the script and demanded a rewrite which didn't happen so he refused to be involved. <br />
* '''''Star Trek First Contact''''': The ''TNG'' crew face off with the Borg to ensure the future happens. Lots of action, a script that sparks with energy and snark, and some quite effective performances make this the only good ''TNG'' movie (we don't blame you TNG cast). It is sadly also the only appearance of the Defiant on the big screen, doing a pretty decent job of fighting the Borg before the Enterprise E saves the day of course. The Borg Queen was also introduced here before Voyager ruined what could have been a good idea. (Or demonstrated the flaws in what was already a shaky idea, depending on who you ask, but either way she works well here in a way she won't later.) <br />
* '''''Star Trek Insurrection''''': If you thought the [[Avatar|Na'vi]] were a bunch of badly-written [[Mary Sue]]s, you ain't seen nothing yet! B-b-b-baby you ain't seen n-n-n-nothing yet! Also, Riker shaves his beard, and that's basically a war crime. Aged from terrible to forgettably bad thanks to that one scene of Picard and Data singing ''HMS Pinafore'' going memetic. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Nemesis''''': The last stand of the ''TNG'' cast, ending not with a bang but a whimper. It also required amending the even=good/odd=bad rule to "''Galaxy Quest'' counts as a ''Star Trek'' film so this one is also odd." Infamous for killing off Data (which was actually Brent Spiner's idea since he was starting to visibly age) and because the director hadn't watched a single episode of TNG, back when it was considered a bad thing not to know anything about the property you were adapting. It also killed Tom Hardy's career for half a decade, [[Grimdark|and nearly killed Hardy himself]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek''''' (2009): Alternate timeline "reboot" (sideboot?) with the original crew, albeit with new younger actors. Timey-wimey shit happens and old prime timeline Spock (reprised by old Leonard Nimoy) is hurled back in time along with a bunch of Romulan assholes. The dickbag Romulans begin fucking shit up, slightly altering history in a way that ensures gratuitous lens flare. [[skub| Skubtastic]], but at least fun to watch (if a literally gleaming, uncomplicated space action-adventure that doesn't delve deeply into the human condition ala II or deeply into idiocy ala V/Generations/Insurrection spells "fun" to you), which is more than ''most'' odd-numbered films can muster. If you still even count it as odd, without the ''Galaxy Quest''-amendment.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Into Darkness''''': Some [[edgy]] [[Fail|shit]]. The second of the alternate timeline ''Trek'' films. Terrorism, conspiracy and flapdoodle. Even more skubtastic, but generally considered worse than its predecessor, partially because (like ''Nemesis'') it tries to be a remake of ''The Wrath of Khan'' and having Kirk at his most punchable.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Beyond''''': Didn't totally suck; graded on a curve against the prior two. So - the good / bad / skub. Good: lots of good character stuff for the entire cast (including Kirk ''not'' being an asshat) and a decent story revolving around a race of mysterious space pirates trying to conquer a colony; handles IRL death of Leonard Nimoy excellently. Bad: villains are under-written, the action photography is poorly-lit shaky-cam horseshit, and the sound work is awful. Skub: Takei came out to complain that its Sulu was gay-married, since he'd played Sulu straight himself, so gay-Sulu was - Takei complained - an insult to his acting prowess (but: alternate universe, remember). If it's the last "Kelvin Timeline" movie, as it seems it will be, at least it ended on a note that wasn't total turd. Apparently we're getting a fourth one now, which was news to everyone including the cast.<br />
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= Novels =<br />
Like most long time franchises ''Star Trek'' has a massive line of books.<br />
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Most are effectively fanfics as nothing but the show and the movies is canon so the writers can do whatever they want. Partial exception to be made for the ''Deep Space Nine'' line; those are considered the "eighth season", justifiably, because they're actually quite good. Start with Andrew "Garak" Robinson's ''Stitch in Time''.<br />
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This changed after ''Nemesis'' since that movie was so godawful the producers calculated they might never have another show or movie in the "Prime" universe; also, several ''DS9'' actors started dropping off dead (so their fans never did get their kino). The writers got their shit together and wrote a group of books as a tight community very close to the shows. The relaunch novels are a continuation of the show they're about. Also there's the ''Titan'' book series which is about Riker and Troi getting their own ship, which happens to be staffed by every race in the Federation including living rocks, [[awesome|space dinosaurs]] that smell like [[meatbread|toast]] and a [[what|space cyborg ostrich]].<br />
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All the relaunch lines eventually got brought together in Star Trek: Destiny, where the Borg go nuts and eat Pluto ... yeah... and then they finally get sick of the Federation somehow managing to not get assimilated all the time, so they finally just send every last cube they have with orders to Exterminatus the absolute SHIT out of the entire Alpha Quadrant. Pretty much every important character from TNG, DS9, and Voyager has to team up to stop them, and even then the Federation still gets its shit kicked in and winds up having to rely on a vaguely ridiculous deus ex machina to beat the Borg, and [[Grimdark|billions of people still die and dozens of planets are blown to shit]]. It was pretty insane.<br />
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Then all the Federation's main enemies get together to form an anti-Federation and start poking the bear, all the while telling their allies that they're somehow warmongering dicks, Section 31 gets its cover blown in a big way, and Riker gets promoted to Admiral. Also, a lot of the newer TNG novels have been devoted to following up on one-shot aliens from the show, like the guys that sent out the probe that made Barclay super-smart and those fish monks that were abducting crewmembers for experiments. Now that the Picard show is coming out, though, this will all presumably be chucked in the dustbin. <br />
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Picard show came. Dustbin. But! Some of the authors who'd been working on the novel continuity for the last twenty years weren't willing to let the Trek novelverse die an inglorious death like the original Star Wars EU, so they got together and wrote a trilogy to give it a proper send-off. The dickhead aliens from that TNG two-part episode with Mark Twain have worked out a way to blow up entire quantum realities and feast on the neural energy of the trillions of lives snuffed out in the process. The novelverse crews all team up to stop them and learn that they're in an alternate timeline created by the Borg during the events of ''First Contact'', and that their reality will have to be erased permanently in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the multiverse. Some of them are less happy about it than others, but they band together to fight the good fight one last time. Everyone fucking dies, of course, but in the end they defeat the dickhead aliens and save the day before being extinguished forever. Still a better note to go out on than Disney saying "lol none of the old EU is canon anymore, buy our new stuff nerds."<br />
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= Video Games =<br />
Again, you're in /tg/, so /v/ comes LAST.<br />
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There have been over 100 Star Trek video games to date but you'll be lucky for find more than [https://www.gog.com/news/6_classic_star_trek_games_ready_to_beam_up_new_players_and_fans_alike 6 on Steam or GOG] that aren't shitty mobile phone games. The vast, vast majority of Star Trek's games are abandonware with no way to purchase them, let alone get them from completely trustable sources. Also for a long time gamers had the (justified) prejudice that ''Trek'' games were shit and ''Wars'' games were good. This changed a bit after ''Elite Force'' redeemed ''Trek'' a bit and more so on the other end after EA ran ''Wars'' to the ground.<br />
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* [https://www.gog.com/partner/startrek List of Star Trek games on GOG.com]<br />
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=== Star Trek Online ===<br />
''Star Trek Online'' is the free-to-play online game built by Cryptic Studios and run by <s>Infogrames</s> <s>Atari</s> <s>Perfect World</s> Gearbox. With an official license CBS, recurring characters voiced by various Trek alumni, and a license to include references to both the reboot chronology (officially known as the "Kelvin Timeline") and recent shows, it's the closest existing thing to an "official" continuation of the "Prime" timeline, and contains history and fluff extending nearly 30 years from the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.<br />
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Taking place in the 25th century (around the year 2409-2412), the Hobus supernova (the event that kicked Nero and Spock into the past alternate timeline during Star Trek 2009) has devastated the Romulans, resulting in the near-collapse and fragmentation of the Romulan Star Empire. This causes tensions between a resurgent Klingon Empire and the Federation which blows up into a war. Members of the new (and nicer) breakaway Romulan Republic play both sides in exchange for development aid.<br />
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There are six possible starts for characters.<br />
*Current Starfleet - The standard starting point.<br />
*Klingons - You are a warrior of the Empire! Qapla' warrior! Today is a good day to die!<br />
*Romulan Republic - Part of a breakaway state after the destabilization of the Star Empire, you get a choice on which major faction (Starfleet or Klingon) you can join later on.<br />
*Dominion - Quite possibly the least played, you do start at level 60 (basically right at end game since levels cap at 65) and you pick which major faction to join too, but you're part of the Dominion so...<br />
*TOS Starfleet - With all the redshirt shenanigans that entails. A time anomaly and weird mission later and you're now in the standard timeline for STO.<br />
*DSC Starfleet - Similar to TOS, comes with a series of starting missions that are possibly the best any of the starts have. Drawback is that it is couched in the Discovery era.<br />
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The game contains deep cuts from all over Trek lore, and answers questions about what happened to various key characters, including Data (took over the Enterprise-E, then retired), the Enterprise (now an even bigger ship run by Andorian captain Shon), and the Voyager crew (it took Harry Kim 30 years to make Captain lol). Raises barely-shown, unnamed, and otherwise obscure races to new prominence as big bad foes, including the Iconians (ancient aliens with god complexes who mutated into energy beings, currently live in Dyson Spheres and were only defeated by a predestination paradox), Tzenkethi (4-armed halo guys whose weak points are the FRONT of their shields), and Na'kuhl (the alien nazis from Enterprise as time-traveling terrorists who blame the Federation for a throwaway event that happened in TNG's beach episode).<br />
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The two most recent major arcs center on a Klingon power struggle and civil between mostly TNG-era Klingons and some DSC-era Klingons (and you also go to Klingon Hell) followed very quickly by a Terran arc with heavy tie-ins to the original Star Trek movie's V'Ger. While the Klingon arc made some players more than a little irked due to not only its length (spread out over several "seasons" of play) and it's attempt to shoehorn in the controversial Discovery era, the Terran arc has been widely praised and brought back a very notorious character from the TNG era.<br />
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Ostensibly free to play, but don't let that fool you... the ''not-so-micro''transactions are the only reason the lights stay on.<br />
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That said, the game does get really decent updates and now is in a groove of running two seasonal events ("Summer on Risa" and "Q's Winter Wonderland") as well as a year-long campaign, as well as a smattering of smaller ones throughout the year. The seasonal ones tend to give you really good shit (often a ship, other times major equipment that can help define an entire character) but the year-long campaign gives you a choice of 3 options to pick from - a shit ton of in-game currency known as Lobi (enough to get a Lobi ship and a little extra), TWO regular Zen Store Tier 6 ships (these unlock for all characters, by the way), or one of the "Premium" ships (ones you typically get from lockbox drops). The only major stipulation is the Premium ship can't be one that has been released in that specific year, but previous years ones are fair game to grab.<br />
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=== Bridge Commander ===<br />
A game that lets you feel like a captain. Very dated, but mods are very good. Has had a resurgence in recent years, with newer mods adding stuff from the newer shows.<br />
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=== Elite Force ===<br />
There was an "Away Team" game that sucked and a "Voyager" game 1995-7 that got canceled. ''Elite Force'' was the ST:VOY away-team FPS game that critics didn't poop on, and it even got a sequel featuring much of the cast of ''TNG''.<br />
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=== Starfleet Command ===<br />
''Starfleet Command'' was a series real time space battle games by Interplay based on the much older tabletop game Star Fleet Battles. It came out in 1999 and was followed by several sequels and expansions. Gameplay was much like ''Battlefleet Gothic'', but with the player only controlling one ship. SFC remains Interplay's best selling game, topping even ''Baldur's Gate''.<br />
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=== Armada ===<br />
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A series of low effort RTS's churned out by Activision in 2000. Tried to take on both ''Homeworld'' and ''Age of Empires'', both of which have recently gotten HD remakes and ''Armada'' hasn't so that should tell you all you need to know. However, for one of the first 3D model space RTS's it was surprisingly easy to mod, resulting in many ship mod packs being made for it.<br />
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=== Legacy ===<br />
Starfleet Command dumbed down but with fancier graphics and the ability to fly in 3D. Features ships and protagonists from all 4 main series before the reboots so it has everything iconic. The Ultimate Universe mod has every single ship from all series before the reboot.<br />
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==NonCanon==<br />
=== Homages ===<br />
Being such a long-running franchise with a wide audience, Star Trek has gained enough pop-culture recognition that it is often referenced in other works. In a few cases entire projects are made to pay homage to Star Trek. Here are some examples.<br />
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==== Galaxy Quest ====<br />
A sci-fi/comedy film released in 1999, directed by Dean Parisot. Built around that ''Three Amigos'' premise of "What if the cast of ''Star Trek'' ended up on a real spaceship and had to actually do the shit they did in the show?", this one parodies science fiction films and series in general - ''Star Trek'' (and its fandom) in particular.<br />
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The film stars big name actors including Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and the late Alan Rickman. The plot revolves around the cast of a defunct cult television series called Galaxy Quest (for example, Tim Allen played the Kirk/Shatner expy and Alan Rickman played the Spock/Nimoy expy). They're also suffering fatigue that mirrors the experiences of the actual Star Trek actors (Rickman's character is typecast with his Galaxy Quest character and laments it, similar to how these things happened to the late, great Leonard Nimoy).<br />
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The cast are suddenly visited by actual aliens, the Thermians, who believe the series to be an accurate documentary (they have no concept of fiction and only the most bare bones idea of lying - which they only just learned about when the antagonist deceived them repeatedly) and seek their help. The Thermians take the actors with them, who find themselves involved in a very real, and dangerous, galactic conflict against the alien warlord, Sarris. Unlike the show where it all wrapped up quickly they struggle to learn about and relate to the aliens. Can these ordinary, flawed actors find greatness within themselves, and possibly personal redemption? (Spoiler: yes, and it is incredible.)<br />
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Speaking of the aliens, in a witty nod to the "rubber forehead aliens" so common in Star Trek, the Thermians first appear to resemble humans with unnaturally pale skin and straight hair/cheap make-up, but that's revealed to be a holographic disguise and their true forms are squid-like. This does not stop one of the actors from striking up a relationship with a female alien anyway. [[/d/| Shine on you crazy /d/iamond!]]<br />
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/tg/ deems this one of the best parodies ever made, and an affectionate love-letter to the franchise as a whole. If you disagree then feel free to consume a big bag of Saurian Swinoid dongs.<br />
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''"Never give up, Never surrender!"''<br />
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==== The Orville ====<br />
Now has [[The Orville|its own page]].<br />
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===Fanfics===<br />
We ''could'' point you to An Archive Of Our Own but, for those (few) of you not keen to watch Kirk and Spock probe Uranus, here are some of the better noncanonical Trek you might want to watch.<br />
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====Star Trek: Renegades====<br />
Kickstarter Trek. The makers submitted their made-for-TV movie pilot to CBS in an attempt to get it made into a legit on-the-air series (and by god it shows), but they were not successful. As a result, while the project limped along for a few years afterward, it has good and bad in equal measure. As a non-official product it also cannot be considered canon. Some characters are actually interesting (about time we saw more of the Breen!) while others are pure Mary Sues (including a male Seven of Nine with a built-in Borg-gun/personal shield/fully-functional hand). Some of the ideas are interesting while others are boring or already-been-done. The CGI is all Hollywood-quality, but the practical effects are okay at best. <br />
It's obvious that they made this without knowing that they were going to be able to make a TV show or not, and tried to cram the sort of build-up and intrigue we saw in DS9 into a span of 90 minutes. For now though, it's decidedly meh, and probably a dead project as well since it hasn't been mentioned on the maker's website in over a year as of late 2019.<br />
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====Star Trek Continues====<br />
Of all the offerings listed here, Star Trek Continues is BY FAR the closest in theme and tone to the original 1960's series. Indeed, this is the whole point: from its inception, this fan-funded project was intended to represent a what-if "4th Season" of the Original Series, ending with the conclusion of the Enterprise's 5-year mission. It is surprisingly and at times ''delightfully'' watchable, with strong stories, consequences and arcs that carry over to later episodes, tons of attention to detail, unexpected cameos, and a cast that really came together, particularly in later episodes. It also delicately navigated a line between viewing female characters through the lens of a show that was rooted in 1960's culture while also not treating them as weak children dependent on men for protection. Star Trek Continues successfully concluded its "season" with all 11 episodes gradually released from 2014 to 2018, to heaps of industry awards and wide praise (including a personal endorsement from Gene Roddenberry's son, who said his father would've approved).<br />
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===Parodies===<br />
====Futurama====<br />
Matt Groening, that mad lad, got almost all the original actors in a ''Futurama'' episode to [re-]enact a ''Trek'' episode on behalf of an alien fan. But not Doohan, so "Scotty" is replaced by "Welshie". Who gets horribly killed and has his corpse zapped whenever the alien loses his temper.<br />
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====Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning====<br />
Another parody, parodying not only ''Star Trek'' but ''Babylon 5'' as well. The seventh in a series fan movies released in 2005, it's about Captain Pirk builds a starship called CPP ''Kickstart'', allies with Russia and takes over the world. He wants to take over more planets but the ships of his P-Fleet aren't fast enough to travel outside the Solar system. A maggot hole opens and it leads to an alternate reality. Pirk wants to take over the Earth of this reality, which leads to an [[awesome]] space battle between the P-Fleet and the fleet of the space station Babel 13 led by Johnny Sherrypie. The movie features some of the best special effects ever put in a sci-fi movie, which is pretty impressive, considering that this is an amateur film with a very low budget and was rendered in five years in someone's bedroom. The film is spoken in Finnish but subtitles are available for a wide variety of languages, including Klingon. They also made [https://web.archive.org/web/20070828010927/http://rpg.starwreck.com/ a role-playing game based on it], where your character [[Truenamer|becomes more incompetent]] [[Page 42|as he levels up]].<br />
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= Criticisms =<br />
Also known as "plot holes", "what an idiot moments", and myriad of other names.<br />
* Cybernetics, as in prosthetics and artificial tools instead of Synthetic lifeforms like Data. There are various stories where physical injuries and handicaps are a big deal and used as allegories for issues like the treatment of the disabled or even euthanasia, but some could argue that even those cases special enough to get an episode shouldn't be an issue in a galaxy where technology has advanced light years and replicators are widespread. Besides whatever in-episode exception is given, this is partly explained by the various factions generally having ''some'' respect for the sanctity and autonomy of the organic form or just being flat-out better than anything technology can recreate, but sometimes it can seem ''awfully'' tempting to <s>magic</s> science up a series of sensors, implants or dermal armor that can give you the durability of a [[Men of Iron|Soong-class android]] or the spectral analysis capabilities of Geordi's visor. There's seldom an in-universe budget issue for this (replicators construct anything out of anything; only mass matters, not cost), though there are some out-of-universe issues for both the budget ("We can't afford more styrofoam tech props!") and plot ("Shut up about how the engineer invented a new engine component last season which would perfectly solve this problem.")<br />
** The technological arms race might also stand out depending on how you interpret the factions who generally lack the Federation's restraint. While Klingons may value the power found in their strong bat'leth arm and the purity of a warrior's physical form, some might argue that their obsession with warrior pride and strength should mean they have [[Big Mek|war engineers]] dedicated to creating the biggest, most badass powered armor with the biggest phasers and blades. And if Romulans and Cardassians are so ruthlessly ambitious, shouldn't their agents have hyper-stealthy scanners and miniaturized electronic warfare suites for better spying? Granted, one counter to that is "because the tech would inevitably be detected and reverse-engineered by Star Trek technobabble, spawning a perpetual cybernetics arms race", but still. And then you get into the Borg, [[Meme|who have no such weaknesses]], and it opens a whole can of worms.<br />
** Keep in mind, that in Federation, only ''biological'' augmentation is illegal (like [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like Khan Noonien Singh). ''Cybernetic'' augmentation is incredibly obscure and rarely seen, but '''is''' legal ([[Artificial Intelligence]] is also legal). And on top of that, Federation pays respect to other ideologies and cultures. As such, if Federation citizen decided to turn himself into robust tank-like full-conversion cyborg with lots of badass gadgets and systems - it would not cost him anything (replicators + post-scarcity economy) - while others would remark how strange he is, but not impose any penalties/punishments/sanctions, and would respect him for his incredible capabilities (for there's no guy in town half as massive!). Most other civilizations/nations have even less restrictions on [[Transhumanism]]/augmentation than Federation has - that is, most of them would also allow ''biological'' augmentation - and they also have replicators.<br />
* Everyone look like some variant of human, without any variety:<br />
** All aliens are just humans with slight alterations of face features, like ridges on their foreheads. Aliens, what would so much as look like other members of ''Homo'' Genus (think difference between modern humans and neanderthals), are very rare. And ''truely alien'' aliens are practically non-existent. Yet mathematically, "non-metamorph/spapeshifter aliens evolving to look perfectly like humans" has so small chance, as to be completely implausible - and '''every''' alien race independently evolving to look like humans is '''absurd'''.<br />
** Almost all cyborgs/robots are human-shaped. Almost all of ''those'' are human-looking, with artificial skin and such. Human shape is not very effective for most tasks - and as such, one could expect vaguely-humanoid (e.g. like [[Dreadnought]] or [https://helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/Hulk Cyberstanian Hulk]) and non-humanoid (e.g. tank-shaped "box on threads with rotating turret") robots/cyborgs to appear from time to time - yet such things are practically non-existent in ''Star Trek'' (IRL, it's the other way around - lots of industrial robots and "boxes on threads", and no synthetic humans). What's more, Borg are partially-mechanical cyborgs, clinging to their ragged flesh for no discernible reason, looking more humanlike than [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] members are (what results in them being so fragile, as to be killable with Thompson SMG) - while logically, due to having Replicators, Borg could make themselves fully-robotic (with, at most, only nervous system bein organical; everything else would rather be replaced with strong and durable ultra-tech machinery) '''''and''''' field large vaguely-humanoid/non-humanoid units (strong and tough - and since they're big, they can have bigger brains/computers, cue being smarter).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld weapons stronger/bigger than rifle. Such as LMG and RPG-sized weapons, for tough enemies. There is the Worfzooka from Insurrection ([http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/Ground/Misc-ST.html what is downgraded equivalent of "thumper" grenade launcher]; the '''proper''' anti-tank weapons were never seen or mentioned anywhere).<br />
** More about that [http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Database/Query-ST.php?Series=TNG&Category=Realism&EpName=&Keywords=&Quotes=&Analysis=&Submit=Submit there], [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tactics/ there] and [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/ there]. ''They even don't have grenades''.<br />
* Lack of ''any'' armor. So much as making jumpsuits out of futuristic ballistic (or at least sharp-resistant) materials would make life easier (e.g. Klingons would be forces to switch for guns, as melee weapons couldn't penetrate even such light futuristic armor), while having same weight, cost (replicators, after all!) and being concealable as clothing (as it would have same weight ''as'' clothing); in fact, such protective clothing should completely replace normal clothing - for it has same cost/weight, but is actually protective. That's before going on to ''any'' sort of "proper" armor; no equivalents of [[Power Armor]] and [[Carapace Armour]] - even no equivalents of [[Flak Armor]]. Even those not going into direct combat would logically need to wear armor - due to chance of enemy teleporting on ship, and due to ship's machinery constantly exploding into dangerous shrapnel. There are two exceptions, there was some armor used by security forces in the movies and armored vests in Discovery (though, neither are good at protecting from gunfire).<br />
** Similarly, lack of ''any'' environmental protection. So much as wearing gas masks/rebreathers or [[Space Station 13|breath masks with emergency oxygen tanks]] would make life a lot easier. Logically, with ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies, even the lesser space-faring civilizations (like most Federation's neighbors) should be capable of creating protective suits that are as comfortable to wear as clothing while protecting from vacuum and hostile atmospheres. And on top of that, armor mentioned above could also be sealed work as protection from environmental threats of all sorts. Yet [[Derp|everyone go around in unarmored jumpsuits, no matter where they are - be it unexplored planet with potentially hostile atmosphere/biosphere, damaged ship where systems leak and depressurizations happen, or warzone where enemies use chemical/biological/radiological weapons]]. [[Irony|All that, ironically, makes goody-two-shoes Federation '''''more backwards''''' than]] modern humans (submariners and jet pilots wear rebreathers, astronauts wear emergency space suits) and ''[[Imperium of Man]]'', of all people (many [[Astra Militarum|guardsmen]] wear gas masks and hazmat suits, [[Space Marine]] armor doubles as emergency space suits). What little environmental protection suits are there in ''Star Trek'', are very unreliable and constantly tear - despite the fact, that ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies could allow to make sharp-proof, bullet-proof, phaser-proof (or at least phaser-resistant) reliable space suits, what would weigh and cost just as much as normal ones (because replicators!).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld heavy explosive weapons. Like, for example, miniature antimatter munitions, for when you ''really'' need to blow something up (imagine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) Davy Crockett], but with '''antimatter''' instead of low-grade fission nuke). Heavy/Powered Armor from point above could help to "use that thing and not die from blast/radiation".<br />
* Lack of Ground Vehicles. If you are exploring an alien planet, you'd want to be able to get around it's surface quickly. But basically you're limited to Spaceships and Walking.<br />
* Lack of Boarding/Breaching Vehicles. If you are not tank-like cyborg, and you're fighting inside spaceship (or other cramped place) - you'd want something compact, yet equipped with lots of armor and weapons, preferably remote-controlled and flying. A "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Descent room] [https://www.old-games.ru/game/103.html superiority] starfighter", or [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2729877778&searchtext=Breaching+drone breaching] [https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=244850&searchtext=Breaching+drone&childpublishedfileid=0&browsesort=textsearch&section= drone] variants. Such machine would be many times stronger than [[Power Armor]]/small [[Battlesuit]] soldiers - not to mention infantrymen; it would be impervious to small-arms fire, and resistant to anti-vehicular weapons. But instead, everyone are limited to "walking around, without any armor, and without anything bigger than rifle".<br />
** To understand, how scary such remote-controlled "box of death" or "room superiority starfighter" would be with Star Trek tech... It would technically be a very small spaceship. Made of heavy spaceship-grade armor, resistant to phaser cannons and anti-matter rockets, to the point of being able to take hits from vehicles bigger than itself. With deflector shields on top of that. And instead of 25x184 gatling autocannons and 200mm rocket launchers (what is ''already'' overkill for anything human-sized), it would be armed with '''''ginormous phaser [auto]cannons and antimatter missiles (!)'''''. And it quickly flies on futuristic engines, far stronger than any modern variant of ion or hydrogen engine; so much as it's engine exhaust trust can turn unarmored infantryman into pile of charcoal and fling it across the ship. It's a non-living vehicle, with ton of immunities and resistances that entails. And if it's outfitted with AI (instead or in addition to remote-control system), it gets all advantages of that (absolute timing and precision, intuitive fast mathematics, reaction speed rivaling that of CIWS system, etc). It has virtually limitless operating time, due to working on anti-matter reactor (or something comparable); if it's destroyed, it violently explodes (due to anti-matter reactor and anti-matter ammunition detonation). It may also be outfitted with various tools (e.g. repair tools and manipulators), or even ''portable replicator''. And most of it's opponents are enemies with tiny peashooters and useless chunks of sharp iron, what can't even scratch the machine's paintjob. Have fun.<br />
* And [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MisappliedPhlebotinum why not use teleporter offensively]? Make big antimatter bomb (whatever warheads your torpedoes use; the stronger explosive - the better), set it to explode after teleporting (timer, and other sensors), then teleport it onto enemy ship. Then watch the explosion of epic proportions, as '''enormous''' antimatter warhead (at least 2 meters big in every direction - possibly, so big what it fills all available space on ship's bridge; the bigger can fit inside your teleporter - the better) explodes inside enemy ship. Even tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles can't survive '''that''' much of explosion; ship's systems will also be utterly devastated. There are no people out there, who would be more destructive than antimatter bomb of same mass/size.<br />
**As a counterpoint, transporters can't work through shields and a variety of other things can stop transporters from working including radiation, electromagnetic activity and suchlike. Transporter Inhibitors have been mentioned and shown repeatedly.<br />
* And why there are no ship defenses? For example, so much as "phaser autocannon turret equivalent in size to gatling autocannon" would be great at repelling any boarding infantrymen, and could help against tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles. That's before going on to any bigger defensive systems; the only thing what ''sufficiently big'' turret can't handle, is '''massive antimatter bomb''' (read above). Yet instead, everyone foolishly leave their ships defenseless, despite knowing what enemies ''have'' teleports and ''will'' board their ships.<br />
* Planet of the Hats. Not a problem unique to Trek, but it's very acute here. As mentioned a lot of species in Star Trek are rather one note. For the Klingons it's all about being a [[Proud Warrior Race|Honorable Warrior]], for the Romulans it's all about covert actions, intrigue and political plotting, for the Ferengi it's all about making money and being greedy, etc. Those are the big species and most Species-Of-The-Week are even more one-note than that, such as the species who's hat is being big-game hunters, playing board games or aggressive bartering. Admittedly there's only so much you can fit into part of a 45 minute long TV show and there are some ideas that work better than others, but even so building an entire civilization/country around interpretive dance is pretty dumb.<br />
** Besides, there is large shortage of "atypical" characters, whose characteristics are different from their species' average. Such as a Ferengi guy who isn't greedy trader; Ferengi guy who is militaristic conqueror a-like Conquistadors, who prefers to enslave and "take something forcibly" instead of buying; Romulan soldier/special-agent who is a militaristic gun nut and fan of direct "blow everything up!" actions; Klingon pirate/rebel/marauder who is a militaristic warlike callous asshole without any sense of honor or morals (i.e. unfettered in his desire to conquer and destroy); Human who is hulking, augmented to the point of being non-humanoid, [[Cyborg]] [[Space Marine]], [[Transhumanist]] and conqueror, who tries to "save Federation from it's own stupidity", reverse-engineers Borg tech, "recruits" Borgs (by disconnecting them from [[Hive Mind]] and connecting to himself) and constantly intervenes everywhere.<br />
* Budget problems. Most factions (e.g. Federation lives in post-scarcity economy) have access to Replicators ([https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS_Prime_Directive#Star_Fleet_Universe_Tech_Levels among other things], what clearly classify it as [[Soft Science Fiction]]); they can turn anything into anything, as long as they have supply of energy and bulk matter. Naturally, there ''are'' large supply of energy (from Antimatter reactors), and lots of bulk matter (planets, asteroids, etc). Therefore, "budget limitations" as we know it cease existing, and anyone can take as much big-advanced gear as he wants; from robust full-conversion-cyborg body, to big guns and power armor, to portable replicator, to all sorts of gadgets. Yet characters behave as if they are on strict budget limits - usually coming on missions while grossly under-equipped (only having non-protective uniforms and phaser-pistols); what frequently resulted in problems ([https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction that even got highlighted on TvTropes]).<br />
** In particular they have goofy things like having civilizations in the same technological ball-park of the Federation capture people to mine stuff with pick axes or push mine carts of ore into furnaces like this is the 19th century; even though mining machines like tunneling shield, power tools, and self-moving carts are a lot cheaper than slaves, and should already be invented.<br />
*** Generally, there's shortage of "Sane Evil"/"Pragmatic Evil" types - "those who are ready to do any heinous act, but only as long as it furthers their goal, who are capable of doing good things if it furthers their goal, and who don't do evil if it doesn't further their goal". Most villains in series are [[Grimderp]] [[Stupid Evil]] types who do bad things just to show how evil they are. All while "Pragmatic Evil" types are more interesting, more realistic, more common IRL, and rise many good philosophical question by virtue of ''arguably being more effective than good guys'' ("So you would rather be good yet inefficient, or amoral yet efficient?", "Moral is subjective - yet our system is more effective - and from our point of view, we're perfectly moral", "Your 'morals' and 'ethics' are just handcuffs and shackles you imposed on yourself, what slow down your civilization - like those dumb Klingon codes of honor", etc).<br />
* Numerous other errors (some [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction highlighted on TvTropes]). Such as exploding instrument panels (could be fixed with batteries and wireless connection; and on top of that, no one wears armor, not even flak armor), holodeck problems (mishaps by creating physical, dangerous holograms - yet never gets used for any actually practical ways, like "conjure cannon fodder out of thing air, and beam it to enemy ship"), no computer backups, no transporter tests (teleport a sealed container of water up and down - then teleport a mouse up and down - and check if both are normal - and samples are to be beamed up separately; no one did that), no environmental protection, no physical access doors in brig, shuttles what poorly fly in atmosphere, cargo working in 1G gravity (despite low-gravity being more productive), no space suits or other protective gear, and some other errors.<br />
* The Prime Directive. [[TL;DR]] Starfleet is forbidden from interacting with pre-warp civilizations, and main characters are Starfleet members. In broad strokes it's not a bad idea since we don't want to be Space Cortés enslaving people to mine dilithium and imposing our religion on them at laser-point, and Star Trek has always leaned towards more liberal ideas of respecting the freedom and autonomy of other cultures instead of intervening "because we know best", to say nothing of when time travel and mirror dimensions are involved and you have to preserve the sanctity of the timeline (unless the point of the episode is to FIX what's wrong to get back to your universe). Nor do the Feddies want to accidentally stunt the growth of a civilization by becoming their gods or making them dependent on them and thus incapable of advancing by themselves. The problem is that it comes up when civilizations face some major danger like a killer disease, geological disaster or the Schmazis going around genociding everyone on the planet who's not forest green and the federation's official response is "rules are rules, can't interfere" as millions suffer and die in all sorts of gruesome preventable ways (including ''pre-warp Earth''; they don't care about suffering/deaths of ''their own people'' -but this particular problem comes with the huge caveat of temporal interference as playing god on someone else is one thing, erasing yourself from existence is another-). Many species and civilizations have suffered extinction or collapse because of this (and in many cases, that resulted or could result in evil aggressive post-warp civilization emerging on such unattended planets), and many problems could be easily avoided if not for Prime Directive. Basically, it's a case of a noble ideal which severely hampers the heroes because there's [[Lawful Stupid|very little room for nuance]].<br />
** Such passivity also commonly extends to post-warp civilizations as well. The Federation's strict policy of non-interference in foreign affairs (barring explicit permission or evidence of interference) has led to many non-aligned races like the Bajorans treating the Federation with open distrust (the Bajorans fought a guerilla campaign against the Cardassians, who massacred and enslaved them for years without the Federation lifting so much as a finger, and many cynically see them as allies of convenience who only backed them up when they had something they wanted) or foregoing several opportunities to shift the balance of power in the Federation's favour (the Klingon Civil War is a prime example of that, as not only would have military support for Gowron's faction have the cost the Federation nothing, but Gowron's enemies sought to undo the peace treaty the Federation had with the Klingons for decades while bringing them closer to the Romulans, the only other faction that could meet the Federation on somewhat equal footing) simply because it would be ideologically inconvenient to do so. Then again, the Federation (or at least the highbrow captains and admirals introduced to show they're not all like our Noblebright heroes) has a nasty tendency to overlook the reality on the ground in an imperfect and volatile galaxy, because as Sisko says, "''It's easy to be a saint in paradise!''"<br />
*** Of course, to be fair, interfering in galactic politics ''does'' set a bad precedent as well, as it would paint the Federation as a big bully who strongarms their way into your messes to tell you what to do for their benefit, which would actively harm not just their ideals but their hope of encouraging more peaceful contact in line with those ideals. Heck, whenever we had episodes where the Federation ''did'' launch covert operations to manipulate things to their advantage, it's usually called out as a self-serving and hypocritical move, even if it's absolutely necessary at the time. But as Sisko also said: "''I can live with it.''"<br />
** Of course, we're /tg/. We can appreciate the [[Warhammer 40,000|in-your-face over-the-top appeal]] of [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|being Space Cortés]] and taking an active hand in shaping the destiny of the stars, righting wrongs and kicking ass like a pulp action serial by channeling your inner [[Buck Rogers]]. And while normally [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Terran%20Empire this tack] is shown as a ''bad'' thing, sometimes you just wanna [[Star_Trek_Alternate_Timelines#Commie_Track_Of_War;_Variant_1|fire up your warp drive and get shit done]]. After all, if you're already in a post-scarcity civilization, why enslave the natives when you can get rid of the genuine threat (that ideally is truly more than they can handle), move on and leave 'em to keep trying on their own while giving them a preview of what it means to cherish the sanctity of life?<br />
<br />
= Would you like to know more? =<br />
And oh Lordy, is there more...<br />
*[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/ Main Memory Alpha: A ''Star Trek'' wiki]<br />
*[http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/ Main Memory Beta: The flip-side of Memory Alpha for the less than official stuff]<br />
*[http://sfdebris.com/ SF Debris: opinionated episode reviews, has some non ''Trek'' stuff as well]<br />
*[http://www.letswatchstartrek.com/ Let's Watch Star Trek]: A curated list of the episodes for newcomers - which episodes to watch or skip.<br />
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[[Category: Television]]<br />
[[Category:Star Trek]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Trek&diff=1003309Star Trek2025-06-24T11:18:47Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Criticisms */</p>
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<div>[[File:Enterprise.jpg|thumb|500px|right|If you aren't already hearing the theme song you might not belong here.]]<br />
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{{Topquote|Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!|James T. Kirk, <s>third</s> captain of the starship USS Enterprise}}<br />
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{{Topquote|[[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For the duration of this mission the prime directive is rescinded.]]|Kathryn Janeway, captain of the starship USS Voyager}}<br />
<br />
'''''Star Trek''''' is a multimedia science-fiction series and one of the cornerstones of nerdy media properties (in fact, Klingon is the most learned fictional language, rivalled only by Tolkien's elvish in popularity), and one of the few to crossover into mainstream popularity (alongside ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and a few others). It's also one of the longest-running science fiction franchises, as it began when the the first episode of The Original Series aired in 1966, and since then has had over 50 years of geek history spanning several generations. Needless to say, it's had a huge influence on all things sci-fi, and, by extension, [[/tg/]].<br />
<br />
Originally, ''Star Trek'' was [[noblebright]] beyond noblebright and, in many ways, was the polar opposite of ''[[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K's]]'' [[grimdark]]. The more recent reboot films, however, have taken a much, ''much'' more grimdark tone, which is delightfully [[skub]]tastic.<br />
<br />
= Games =<br />
You're in /tg/ = 1d4chan, so, we'll start with the games.<br />
<br />
There's been plenty of tabletop games and [[/v/|vidya gaems]] featuring ''Star Trek'' without being merchandising bullshit (see: themed ''[[Monopoly]]'' sets), including one of the earliest action multiplayer wargame: ''Netrek''. <br />
<br />
*'''''Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier''''' (1978) The very first Trek tabletop [[RPG]]. Written by, I shit you not, Michael Scott. Groggy (grokky?) as all hell, and due for an OSR.<br />
* '''''[[Starships & Spacemen]]''''' (1978 1e, 2013-present 2e) This was an attempt by a guy named Leonard Kanterman to make his own Star Trek RPG but since he didn't hold the license he had to alter the names and fudge the rules a bit so he wouldn't get sued. It appeared and died fairly quickly. It was later purchased by [[Goblinoid Games]] and heavily reworked to work more like their other game, [[Labyrinth Lord]] but different enough that converting things back and forth should take a minute or two longer than just dropping them in. The 2e version has some decent third party material at least.<br />
* '''''[[Star Fleet Battles]] (SFB)''''' (1979-) The crunchiest starship combat game you're ever going to find outside of a computer. Based on the original series and not any of the later series, for licensing reasons. Takes some liberties with the setting, which (combined with the aforementioned licensing) is why "''Star Trek''" isn't actually in the title. It's had its own video game spinoff in the form of Starfleet Command. The vidya series died when the last company owned by Interplay broke up in the early 2000s, but the original game is still published by its designer, Amarillo Design Bureau (formerly in conjunction with the defunct Task Force Games).<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Role Playing Game''''' (1982-1989) Made by [[FASA]], essentially ''[[Traveller]]''-lite, or a happier, shinier ''[[Rogue Trader]]''. Hasn't aged terribly well, what with having been made when the only canonical ''Star Trek'' materials to work with were the original and animated series, the first four films, and a couple of now non-canon novels. If you try to dust it off, expect tons of conflict with the rest of the show. Died as they were trying to update it for ''TNG'', because Paramount's corporate suits (surprise, surprise) had no idea what an RPG actually entailed and were worried about violence, and getting their cut, and... oh you know the drill by now. Welcome to the 80's.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator''''' (1983) FASA designed this, so it feels like ''[[Battletech]]'' but not as good.<br />
* '''''Prime Directive''''' (1993-2008) The most successful tabletop RPG line (but that's not saying much), it's actually still in print. Produced by Amarillo Design Bureau, so again no direct name-dropping of "''Star Trek''." Lasted as long as it did by constantly evolving, in Borg-like fashion, to adapt to the current zeitgeist. Has had 4 editions, with the second using [[GURPS]], the third using [[Wizards of the Coast|d20]], and the fourth [[d20 Modern]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek [[Card_Game|CCG]]''''' (1994-2007, 2011-2014, 2013-2015, 2018-) There's been a few of these, most notably the games released by [[Decipher]], but never globally popular. They also suffered from game balance problems from fans wanting their fave character, but needing extra rules for their quirks. There's also the problem of putting numbers to character stats, such as one game that asserted that [[Heresy|Picard having about twice the integrity of a Klingon pig]]. Later versions are "deck-building" games to try to cash in on the popularity of ''[[Dominion]]'' and ''[[Thunderstone]]''. And now virtual CCGs are the order of the day.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Next Generation Role Playing Game''''' (1998-2000) The next attempt, made by Last Unicorn Games. Won an Origins Award for best new game. Has a lot of extraneous skills, as expected of a 90's RPG, but does a good job of capturing the feel of the show. Includes core books for Deep Space Nine and The Original Series, with a planned Voyager book never released. Tons of fan material is available, including books for Enterprise, Voyager, and even the Captain Pike era. Authors of the original game have also finished and released adventures and sourcebooks online. Died an untimely death.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Red Alert''''' (2000) A Diskwars game themed to ''Star Trek''.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Roleplaying Game''''' (2002-2005) When [[Decipher]] had the CCG license, they decided, "What the hell, let's make an RPG, too." Some of the authors of the Last Unicorn Games RPG worked on this game. The systems are similar but different enough that they aren't compatible. The fluff focuses more on the Voyager era. A well made game but it's forgotten for a reason. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Online''''' (2010-) An [[MMORPG|MMO]]. Decent gameplay mechanics, especially starship combat. Storyline leaves something to be desired, especially when the ostensibly [[Noblebright|peaceful]] Federation trades shots at least once with every other faction in the galaxy. Is also sadly being screwed over by CBS who keeps retconning the series thus forcing the game to bend more and more unnaturally to fit in the new canon. Still, it's solid enough for an MMO and you can hit max level quick enough to get into the real meat of the game and join a Fleet (their version of a guild) and blow shit up.<br />
* '''''Call To Arms: Star Trek''''' (2011) [[Mongoose_Publishing|Mongoose]]'s license for ''Babylon 5'' expired, so they collaborated with Amarillo Design Bureau (the ''Star Fleet Battles'' guys), re-themed the game to Star Trek along with improving the system to make it more nifty. Less micro-management than SFB, and ships get some cinematic feats.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Expeditions''''' (2011) Ignore the tie-ins to the movie, Reiner Knizia designed this. Explore the gameboard, flip over missions, try to have the proper crew to get victory points.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Fleet Captains''''' (2011) Tile flipping, exploring, and spaceships fighting over resources<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Attack Wing''''' (2013-) [[WizKids]] license the flightpath system from [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and adds ''Star Trek'' to the mix, [[Skub]] ensues. The game has been consistently plagued with balance issues, to the point that the rules errata is more than ten times longer than the actual rules. The actual current rules for things like the Borg special movement and fighter squadrons are completely different than the rules as written.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Ascendancy''''' (2016-) 4X table top boardgame from GaleForce9. Most of the races are represented, though the base set only has the Federation, Klingons and Romulans. Andorians, Vulcans, Cardassians and Ferengi can be purchased as expansions. There is even a Borg expansion that turns the game semi-coop as everyone tries real hard not to be assimilated. <br />
* '''''[[Star Trek Adventures]]''''' (2017-) The latest attempt at an RPG, by Modiphius. It also comes with a whole range of miniatures of the various crews from the show. Runs on a similar engine to the creator's ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' which both makes sense, since they're both pulpy storytelling, and is hilarious, given the total tonal mish-mash between the two. Task resolution is generally done via a mixture of six attributes and six disciplines, which are added together, then used as a modifier for a d20 roll. For instance, combat is usually handled by the Security discipline, but hand-to-hand combat would use Fitness or Daring, while firing a phaser or other long-arm would use Control, and shipborne weapons Insight or Reason. In addition to combat stuff, players might solve problems by obtaining information and sciencing the shit out of it. They also have various Values that can be tapped for additional dice, a shared pool of Momentum all players can spend to gain advantages and add to by overboosting on success, and a pool of Threat that they can give the GM rather than burning Momentum, which he can then spend to make the situation degrade. It's a fun system, but it requires a GM who can wrap their head around the idea of an evolving situation rather than a set encounter to really click, which can be hard for GMs who're used to the ''D&D'' model.<br />
<br />
= So why should I care? =<br />
Because between them, these six TV series and their assorted spinoff movies, books, etc. can provide inspiration for any sci-fi game you could care to run. If you want light-hearted action, look at the sort of things that happened in ''TOS'' or ''DS9'' to get the crew into some dangerous situation. If you want a charismatic villain, look at Gul Dukat or the Borg Queen ([[skub|but not the one in Voyager]]). More serious issues are often handled with various degrees of success. While many science fiction series deal with a wide range of topics, Star Trek does so as aspects of a greater world. Like [[Tolkien]] is to fantasy it's a prime gateway drug to science fiction and especially science fiction which is more than "action movie IN SPACE!"<br />
<br />
Not to mention in any sci-fi RPG with remotely free-form rules you're likely to encounter ''Star Trek'' fanboys, so you might as well know what they're talking about. The unholy spawn of a Trekkie and a [[Furry]] is known as a [[Chakat]], and you should fear it.<br />
<br />
At its best ''Star Trek'' is thoughtful, optimistic futurism with a positive human element and brings you to strange new worlds in the grand tradition of speculative fiction but one that's accessible to even the layman. At its worst ''Star Trek'' is arrogant, smug, hypocritical, one-sided, preachy, dull and sloppy.<br />
<br />
= Setting =<br />
Here's the Cliff's Notes on ''Star Trek''. A couple of general warnings; firstly, ''Star Trek'' likes to ''really'' take its "racial themes" bits just a little too far. Second, despite this, it's rare for an entire race to be completely irredeemable the way many fictional aliens are: there are heroic and sympathetic characters from nearly every race listed below, able to put more-positive spins on their racial themes. Thirdly, aside from very occasional appearances by [[H.P. Lovecraft|aliens who are so bizarre that humankind can barely comprehend them]], all of the aliens look like dudes with rubber masks on (because they are). In real life, this was because there was no budget for anything else, but in-universe it's been explained by some kind of [[Old Ones|Precursor]] race who seeded all of the planets with their broadly humanoid DNA, and every race evolved slightly differently from there. There isn't much [[fluff]] on what these precursors were like, and some of it was contradictory, and Gene Roddenberry didn't like the idea (although he still had to work with the rubber forehead stuff). The good news for fa/tg/uys who like [[homebrew]] is that this makes it fairly easy to write [[d20 system]] rules for all of the races - after all, most ''D&D'' races are just humans with rubber masks on...<br />
<br />
== A Composite Creation ==<br />
This is a general note that one should consider: Star Trek was created in pretty much the opposite way as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked out a bunch of linguistic stuff and general history of Arda in his spare time over the course of years, then decided to use that as the basis for some stories that he eventually gave to some publishers which in the end sold quite well. <br />
<br />
Roddenberry, by contrast, pitched a very broad general idea (it's the future, things are good, we got some guys on a ship exploring space; a "wagon train to the stars") to the networks and eventually Lucy from ''I Love Lucy'' made it happen. Roddenberry then worked with a variety of writers and actors (and some later on in later series) who added to this rough skeleton of an idea in a process that would continue on to this day. <br />
<br />
This is not to knock either approach, but both have their advantages and disadvantages. In regards to Star Trek, a franchise which relies mostly on an episode of the week format (until recently, apparently) that's been going on for more than half a century, there were numerous people at the helm and many of them had often very different ideas about what should be done that were just thrown out to see what stuck, many of which were contradictory, meaning that the canon is a fucking mess ([[Warhammer 40,000|Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?]]). Some of which we'd frankly rather forget (Data being possessed by a mask, for instance). In general fans and fluff writers have been spending a whole lot of time trying to straighten things out and much of the lore is basically a [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main rough consensus of what people like and what fits in with it]. Later series got more systematic about this, but there are still points of contention and a lot of flat out contradictions due to its scattershot nature.<br />
<br />
You know, like [[/co/| comic books]].<br />
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= Factions =<br />
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'''The Federation'''<br />
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[[File:Federation_Ships.jpg|thumb|500px|left|Starfleet's ships of the Line (original universe/canon)]]<br />
Might as well talk about that main faction. The United Federation of Planets is what the [[Tau]] think they are. Its backstory is that in the distant future of the 1990s, [[God-Emperor of Mankind|übermensch]] [[Space Marines|created by genetic engineering]] began conquering the Earth. The [[Imperial Guard|normies]] fought back and won through sheer numbers, cryogenically freezing the Augments and kicking them out of Earth, but the damage and mass political unrest of World War III got half the planet nuked. This was why genetic engineering was banned. Fortunately, in 2063, a <s>drunken asshole</s> heroic visionary named Zefram Cochrane created humanity's first warp drive (though it functioned based on the principle that gravity bends space-time, and was therefore more akin to an Alcubierre drive than anything that's dependent on the [[Warp]]) and made first contact with the Vulcans. The Vulcans eventually helped humanity rebuild and overcome poverty, disease, war and hunger. With its Earthly problems solved, man turned to the stars and found out its three closest neighbors were [[Imperium of Man|racist xenophobic dicks trying to murder each other]]. Since any war between them would've swept up puny little Earth and gotten it glassed, humans decided to force their neighbors to sit down and talk things out. Incredibly, it worked, and the United Federation of Planets was born.<br />
<br />
The Federation is a commie [[noblebright]] hippieland society with a post-scarcity economy and a strong democratic government ([[Mary Sue|pretty much Roddenberry's idea of utopia]]). As a result, Federation citizens work not because they have to, but because they want to. However, despite their advanced technology, transhumanism, that is intentionally making [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like the infamous antagonist Khan Noonien Singh, is illegal.<br />
<br />
The Federation's Navy is almost always called Starfleet. It's a mix between a military, a coast guard and a space agency, and usually rates scientific research as a higher priority than defense. One of its quirks is that it doesn't subscribe to the "bigger is better" policy used in most [[Warhammer 40K|sci-fi]], and even by most of the other ''Star Trek factions''. If the Federation ''does'' make a large ship, it's because they want it to have a daycare, swimming pool and ice cream bar. If they want a warship, they'll take a little gunship half the size of a modern day destroyer and pack it with enough antimatter nukes and guns to exterminate a solar system. In some cases, especially when dealing with ships from several centuries into the future, the ship is bigger on the inside than on the outside [[Creed|allowing it to hide a vast array of powerful armaments, ''space-bending'' equipment, and even whole planetary landscapes]]. They can get away with this because they out-tech almost everyone else by a country mile. The reason for the series' infamous "technobabble" is that <s>even ''they'' don't know everything their tech can do!</s> their technology is always evolving, and they know it so well that they can often use it in ways that even the original in-show design schematics did not intend.<br />
<br />
In theory, Starfleet follows a rule called the "Prime Directive", which says that you're not allowed to interfere with low-tech races ("low-tech" being defined as "not having invented the warp drive", since warp technology apparently follows naturally from the laws of physics) or else things like turning the locals into Nazis might happen. The Original Series talked about this rule all the time, and Captain Kirk threw it aside whenever there was a sexy alien babe in sight. From ''TNG'' onward, it tended to instead be brought up whenever a hack writer needed a reason for the heroes to ''not'' instantly resolve a given problem with their superior technology or a way of making our heroes look like assholes for following it rigidly (yes, we could save this species from extinction but that would be interfering with the cosmic plan!), though there were a few good episodes that took it seriously.<br />
<br />
Some of the more important member races are:<br />
<br />
'''Founding members:'''<br />
* [[Humans]]: You know 'em, you love 'em. Comprise seemingly 90% of Starfleet for reasons in no way related to the cost of makeup/CGI.<br />
* [[Vulcan]]: The Original [[Eldar|Space Elves]], very emotional, especially during "pon'farr" (see below), who followed the teachings of an enlightened sage and embraced logic and rationalism after their emotions nearly led to them [[Slaanesh|wiping themselves out]]. They are what the average race of fantasy elves think they are, except on ''Enterprise'' because the writers wanted to artificially inject tension into the show (some of that was retconned to be a Romulan plot). Occasionally enter a state called "pon'farr," where they need to either [[Dark Eldar| fuck something half to death]], kill it with the nearest sharp object, or die of a brain aneurysm to let out all that pent-up emotional tension. Fa/tg/uys may recognize this as the sensation they feel every time [[Games Workshop]] puts out a new army book. There are ships with mostly Vulcan crews. But only two are seen. One commanded by the biggest jerk among them and the other [[grimdark|got eaten by a giant space amoeba.]] However they're pretty bro-tier overall. <br />
* Andorians: Blue dudes with antennae and constant fits of passion, the polar opposite of Vulcans and their one time foes. Pretty much fa/tg/uys, right down to the romantic streak, in the technical sense. Also, they live underground on a diet of meatbread and rage. Most of what defined them happened in Enterprise as they rarely showed up in the TNG-era, and even then did so as set dressing, allegedly because one of the showrunners hated their antennae and banned anyone from using them.<br />
* Tellarites: Space [[Dwarf|Dorfs]]; like insulting everyone and arguing a lot (no, really, petty insults are considered a polite gesture in Tellarite culture), mostly because the very first tellarite ever shown in the series got in an argument with Spock's dad and now it's their whole racial thing. “Sarek said something in a scene once that was meant to demonstrate that he was stand-offish and kinda rude, but we like Sarek so it's now the defining attribute of this species.” It's all in good fun you understand, your confidence in your ideas and actions should be sturdy enough to withstand honest assessment and critique.<br />
'''Notable Additional Members:'''<br />
* Betazoids: Invariably attractive humanoid aliens with telepathic powers. Half-betazoid, half-humans apparently only have "empathic" powers, so they are well-regarded by Starfleet captains for their ability to point out the obvious and fill out the tight bodygloves that make up the Starfleet uniform in a pleasing manner, especially since theirs seem to come in a custom cut for reasons entirely unrelated to Roddenberry's erection. Their homeworld is like dropping a really hippie college and Space Vegas into a blender. They were taken over during The Dominion war because Earth or Vulcan would be seen as bullshit due to their large post Borg attack defense fleets/ship yards. While the writers would have to actually add new characters for the Andorians and Tellarites(such as Ambassadors for a government in exile). So Betazoid took the hit to raise the stakes.<br />
* Trill: Originally a one-off race introduced as a sapient parasite that possesses and controls a barely, or even unintelligent humanoid host, they were radically reworked in ''Deep Space Nine'', right down to losing their rubber foreheads in favor of spots. Now, the host is itself an intelligent humanoid, and some, but not all, of their kind are able to willingly merge with a symbiont (because someone can't spell) that allows them to access a mixture of the memories and personalities of all previous hosts, though in a way that, theoretically, enhances the host's personality rather than destroying it or subsuming it. Then, when they die, they can pass on the symbiont to another host, theoretically, one they mentored. They went from having a rubber forehead to some spots because Terry Farrell had a allergic reaction to the make-up.<br />
* Tamarians: Previously a one-off in ''TNG'', newly joined as of ''Lower Decks''. Tamarian communication is based entirely around metaphor and idiom, meaning their entire language is predicated on understanding their history's pop culture references. This throws the universal translator for a fit, as it can chew on the vocabulary okay but it can't unpack the contextual meanings. Imagine a medieval monk trying to decipher Korean text messages and you've got the basic idea.<br />
</div><br />
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<br />
'''The Klingon Empire'''<br />
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[[Image:Batleth.jpg|thumb|right|A Bat'Leth (sword of honor), one of several types of Klingon bladed weapons. Frequently mocked IRL for being a poorly designed weapon.]]<br />
[[Commissar|''"It is a good day to die!"'']]<br />
<br />
The Federation's main rival and (movie era and afterward) the quintessential ''Star Trek'' race of lumpy foreheaded aliens. Originally they were a rough analog to the Russians (though they took some elements from [[Communism|communist China]]) in a rough cold war allegory with the Federation (even though the Federation are as commie as they come, though admittedly much of that came around in the TNG era). Their defining feature was that they were militaristic and imperialistic while the Federation was scholarly and respected liberty. This gradually moved more and more into them becoming Imperial Japan/[[Vikings]] In SPESSS obsessed with honor, fighting and dying honorably in battle while worshiping at the altar of [[Sigmar|warrior Jesus]], even as they turned from the Federation's bitter enemies into that friend who's fun to be around when he's not getting into drunken bar fights. You see shades of it during the movie era and it became more and more prominent through ''TNG'', culminating in ''DS9''. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Klingons are nothing more than barbaric savages, however; with Worf being part of the crew, and with ''DS9'' dealing with Klingon politics an awful lot we can see Klingon society as it truly is. Even so, they do often wander into self-parody territory.<br />
<br />
The Klingons, in their current iteration, are a feudal society ruled by a council made up of the most powerful families. Klingon society holds very little value on things such as currency and material gain (which results in the Klingon empire [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65l7RHUx2A having a very simplistic understanding of economics]), believing that anything you acquire without some form of blood, sweat and/or tears on your part is a pathetic and dishonorable way of going about things, much the same way many cultures used to hurl abuse at merchants and bankers. Another thing to keep in mind is that a Klingon's reputation is literally everything. Central to this is fighting your battles personally and against worthy opponents. Calling out a superior is almost always an honorable fight, and Klingon captains can expect challenges if they become lax or suspect in their decisions. Klingons are still capable of being cunning and crafty, however, and having a high diplomacy score is viewed as honorable as they still have examples of cunning and clever heroes tricking boorish and stupid monsters.<br />
<br />
[[Warhammer 40000|Klingons often carry swords into battle in an age of energy beam guns]]. In-universe, this is less suicidal than it sounds in the context of boarding actions and tight starship corridors. The Bat'leth is actually a rather shitty weapon. The Mek'leth is noted to be better in most situations. They use the same Disruptor weapons as the Romulans, and at one point used similar starship designs. While is explained as the result of a temporary and unholy alliance, given the eventual animosity between the two races, it was just an excuse to reuse props on a limited budget.<br />
<br />
The Klingons are tied with the Vulcans and the Borg as being the most prominent and recognizable non-human species in Star Trek. Beloved of the Internet and the general public, to the point that there are published books like "A Klingon Christmas" in the world. The Klingons have their own constructed language. If you are ever worrying that you might not be a nerd, learning Klingon will solve that problem for you. Please note that this is in general considered by experts to be pathognomonic of autism. You have not experienced Shakespeare until you hear it in the original Klingon.<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:800px"><br />
'''The Romulan Star Empire'''<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
''"It's always chess with the Romulans"''<br />
<br />
You know those [[Eldar|Vulcans]]? Well a few thousand years ago, as their planet was ravaged by war, some of them turned to intense emotional control and logic to tame their murderous passions, while most others left the planet altogether, founding a colony on the planet Romulus and dubbing themselves [[Dark Eldar|Romulans]]. Since said planet shares a name with a mythical figure known for founding [[Roman Empire|a city which built a vast empire]], and they had warp drive while those around them did not, you probably know that they turned to building an empire of their own. They hold the second place of prominence as immediate rivals to the Federation. Comically, they actually have better emotional control than the average Vulcan, since they gene-engineered most of their problems away years ago, and don't have to deal with the emotional blowback from pon'farr. The downside is that they lost some of their cousins' niftier powers, like mind-reading and being able to transfer their soul into another person for safekeeping. Although Star Trek Online also revealed that their trip to Romulus was a terrible ordeal, and their gene-engineering was taking during that time resulting in them losing most emotions save for bitterness of being "forced out".<br />
<br />
The difference between the Klingons and the Romulans is basically the difference between Gork and Mork, or Khorne and Tzeentch. Klingons will fight you up front with simple brute force. Romulans are sneakier guys, preferring to fight you when you're not looking with spies, cloaked ships and complex plots behind the scenes and playing the long game. There is a lot of political infighting among them, though where the Klingons would duel to the death Romulans would seek to discredit their rivals, have them die in unfortunate "accidents" or disappear. This difference has left both Romulans and Klingons with a big hate-boner for each other, to the Romulans the Klingons are crude brutish barbarians and to the Klingons the Romulans are a pack of scheming cowardly weaklings.<br />
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Like the Klingons, they served as a rough Cold War allegory. In this case, they were rough analogs to Communist China (as seen by 1960s Americans), a distant horde of inscrutable and potentially dangerous Orientals who generally were unseen and projecting vague menace, but when encountered face-to-face could pack quite a punch indeed: the first major Interstellar War that Star Trek Earth fought was with the Romulans, which was fought entirely in space with neither side ever seeing the other face to face. Afterward, they set up a 'Neutral Zone' between the Federation and the Romulan Empire that no one even tried to cross for a century. From the Original Series onward, they frequently squabble and bicker with the Federation, before joining forces with them to fight the Dominion in ''Deep Space Nine'' and having their government devastated in ''Nemesis''. <br />
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In one of the two alternate universes created by J.J.<strike>Binks</strike>Abrams movies, the so-called "Prime Universe", Romulus itself got caught in a supernova as part of the Abramsverse's backstory. ''Picard'' has revealed that Starfleet was going to help evacuate Romulus before the nova hit, but then some rogue androids destroyed the shipyards that the rescue fleet was being built at, so the Federation shrugged, flipped the Romulans the bird, and let them get blown up. The Romulan Star Empire collapsed in the aftermath, with the surviving Romulans are now scattered across half the galaxy. Most of the former Romulan colonies are now officially governed by the Romulan Free State, but their ability to exert their authority is implied to be limited at best and non-existent at worst. The Neutral Zone, in particular, collapsed into near lawlessness. One of their secret police/ anti android cults got a hold of Borg cube and were presumably up to some nefarious shit with it until the events of Star Trek Picard.<br />
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'''The Ferengi Alliance'''<br />
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[[Image:GW_Ferengi.jpg|thumb|left|A typical ferengi engaged in typical ferengi activities]]<br />
{{topquote|A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.|Eighteenth Rule of Acquisition}}<br />
<br />
Introduced in ''TNG's'' early days as the villains for the series, and what [[/pol/]] thinks Jews are. Some Jewish people have actually complained about their being subliminally Jewish and thus anti-Semetic, specifically mentioning that they were money-hungry, lascivious, and ugly, and their large ear lobes were stand-ins for the sterotypical Jewish nose, based on an old medieval stereotype that was enforced to prevent them owning land or assets and ended up sticking around long after the fact (i.e. ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/08/14/science-fictions-anti-semitism-problem/?noredirect=on we're not shitting you] but also they have a valid gripe). Claims of stereotyping aside, they're basically just a ripoff of the ''Shingouz'' from [[Valerian and Laureline|''Valérian and Laureline'']]. <br />
<br />
The idea was to make a caricature of capitalism as a contrast with the techno-communist Federation. This might have worked if these were not [[FAIL|''TNG's'' early days]]. Instead, they overshot the mark by a light year or so, on top of other bad decisions, and you got a race of short, big-eared, [[goblin]]-like losers about as threatening as a grumpy pug. (Gene wanted to make an evil short race as big evil races were overplayed.) Over the first and second seasons they tried to make these guys threatening, but they fell flat on their face every time; eventually the writers just said "fuck it" and the Ferengi got demoted to comic relief species, and their status as terrible enemies was demoted to propaganda designed to scare the Federation while the Ferengi government tried to figure out what to make of a species that rejected the acquisition of wealth as a goal. The Ferengi had some good moments in the later seasons of ''TNG'', but most of the best stuff that fleshed them out came from ''DS9'', which had an [[awesome]] Ferengi bartender named Quark as a major character. For an idea of what the Ferengi might have been like if the writers had their shit together, look up the Druuge of [[Star Control|Star Control II]] or the Magog Cartel from Oddworld. <br />
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Ferengi religion is only hinted upon in ''DS9'', but what is seen implies a simplistic system based on financial success. Ferengi all follow a rulebook/canon known as the Rules of Acquisition, which can be described as Ayn Rand IN SPACE and condensed into the form of Confucius' Analects. There are 285 of these, each a short piece of advice on how to stay in the black. Examples include "Peace is good for business," "War is good for business," "Never have sex with the boss's sister," and "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." The first (and most important) of these is "Once you have their money, you never give it back." Sometimes, the Ferengi Randian spirituality extends into outright interpretations of the afterlife: according to some, the afterlife consists of the Divine Treasury and the Vault of Eternal Destitution, which are respectively analogous to Heaven and Hell. Entrance into one or the other depends on one's business ventures at the time of death; those that were turning a profit are allowed to enter the Divine Treasury, and the rest are damned to the Vault.<br />
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Ferengi government is ruled over by a Grand Nagus, a mix between a <s>pope</s> chief rabbi and a CEO, and he basically treats his civilization like some sort of company, with citizens regarded as workers. Directly below him is the Ferengi Commerce Authority, a [[what|quasi-religious]] organization dedicated to ensuring that correct business practices were followed and correct moral behavior was shown (including keeping the proles in line) - of course, to the Ferengi, these are one and the same. The agents of the FCA are the Liquidators, who are essentially Inquisitors crossed with IRS auditors on steroids. Be afraid. Be very afraid. <br />
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Ferengi females have no rights and are mentioned as [[PROMOTIONS|not even being allowed to wear clothes]], which leads to [[That Guy|boorish behavior]] on the part of Ferengi towards just about any species. Of course, we see female Ferengi on the show who push that envelope, but it seems that overall "regressive" does not even begin to describe the gender relationships in their culture. Quark's mother, a social climber who marries the head of their government, begins pushing through a women's rights movement during DS9, which proves more successful as time goes on.<br />
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'''The Borg Collective'''<br />
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[[Image:Borg cube.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Borg have assimilated and improved your [[d6|die]]. It always rolls six. Crap your pants, 'cause resistance is futile.]]<br />
{{Topquote|We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture shall adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.|The Borg's opening hail. This is not a boast or a brag, it's them simply explaining to you how things are going to go down.}}<br />
{{Topquote|One other thing. You may encounter Enterprise crew members who've already been assimilated. Don't hesitate to fire. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favour.|Picard going full [[grimdark]].}}<br />
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The Ferengi were utter failures as serious villains, so they needed something to fill that gap. Thus they made the Borg, an aggressive [[Tyranid|hive-minded]] collective of hyper-adaptive, [[Necron|regenerating]] cyborgs that assimilates entire species into itself in its attempt to improve and evolve. Shit, that's like coming up with [[Warforged]] while trying to replace [[Kender]].<br />
<br />
In many ways, the Borg are the truest dark reflection of the Federation, and despite their name, they're not Swedish. While the Feds want you to join their little club on your own, to "add your culture to the galactic community," the Prime Directive means they will ultimately accept you turning them down, even if you have shit they really want. The Borg say "fuck that" and just absorb you. While the Federation believes everyone should work together [[Tau|for the greater good]], they still have a very strong sense of individualism and a culture of personal accomplishment (unless your individual belief happens to run counter to the Federation's principles anyway, in which case you're just WRONG because the Federation is the best). The Borg pool all their minds together into a massive collective consciousness in the pursuit of group perfection, becoming an almost-literal personification of techno-capital. The Federation is all about beauty and tranquility and all that hippie stuff, and their tech is eco-friendly and dolphin-safe. Borg [[Tyranids|strip mine entire planets and drain entire oceans]] in the name of growth and efficiency.<br />
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Your standard Borg [[Cubes|cube]] is a huge multi-kilometer [[Firaeveus Carron|metal box]] (yes, bigger than most [[Imperial Navy]] cruisers) able to go up against an entire Federation warfleet and win. That's right, one of their ships could threaten the entire Federation and [[Exterminatus]] Earth. When done right, [[Necron|they are a cold, calculating, nigh-unstoppable force, a threat to all life]] that wants to retain free and distinct personalities (although they will ignore a single person if not on an assimilation mission, as what they really want is to absorb whole civilizations). Apparently, in Picard's nightmare in ''First Contact'', the Borg assimilation process includes a surgical [[Grimdark|drill through the eye. While awake.]] Of all the stuff to come out of the TNG Era they are undoubtedly the most well recognized in mass pop culture.<br />
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Unfortunately they got a bad downgrade during ''Voyager'' (the Borg Queen blew up cubes full of tens of thousands of drones because a few of them have been severed from the Hive Mind), but even there they were frequently not to be messed with. One amusing thing to note for people that haven't watched ''TNG'': the Borg were actually only in six episodes (and three were breakaway drones) and one movie, yet they're arguably the franchise's most famous pure villains aside from Khan. Goes to show how good they were when written properly. Then in ''Voyager'' they get their shit completely pushed in when they discover a new race of extradimensional aliens which they label Species 8472, which were immune to being assimilated, and had to ask the Federation for help in dealing with them. [[Necron#Regarding_Fluff_Change_-_Sore_Butts_Everywhere.|Wait, this sounds familiar...]]<br />
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'''The Cardassian Union'''<br />
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{{Topquote|Out of all the stories you told me, which one were true and which ones weren't."<br><br />
"My dear doctor, they're all true."<br><br />
"Even the Lies?" <br><br />
"Especially the lies.|Julian Bashir and Elim Garak}}<br />
<br />
Introduced in ''TNG'', they are third fiddle to the Klingons and the Romulans. If the Klingons are hypothetically-honorable techno-barbarian warriors and the Romulans are an empire of civilized and refined but sly and ruthless expansionists, the Cardassians are essentially scaly fascists re-enacting ''[[1984]]'' IN SPACE. Their trials announce the outcome at the beginning, and the defense attorney is executed if he wins. Also, THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!<br />
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Originally a race of peaceable, spiritual artists called the Hebitians (ironically not dissimilar to the Bajorans), modern Cardassia was born in hunger and desperation when their homeworld began to suffer simultaneous mass famine, pandemic, resource depletion, and ecological collapse. A military junta seized power, figuratively and literally auctioned off the soul of their culture through liquidating all the planet's art and religious artifacts into cold hard cash, and turned the Cardassians into the opportunistic imperialists they are today.<br />
<br />
Despite being a whole lot weaker than the Federation, the Cardassians manage to hold their own, partly because what they lack in resources and raw power is made up for by a combination of intense cunning and high charisma stats. Compared to the equally deceptive Romulans, the Cardies are more likely to flash you a smile while tickling your ribs with a knife. They'll use any tool they can to gain the upper hand and while that often means unpleasant and terminal sessions in dark rooms, strip mined planets and the enslavement of entire species, they'll gladly become your bestest buddy if it would achieve their goals. Their intelligence service, the Obsidian Order, is also one of the most ruthlessly efficient organizations in the entire sector, managing to outscale the Romulan Tal Shiar when it comes to producing magnificent bastards and manipulating the politics of entire worlds to their advantage. Unlike the Romulans or the Klingons, they don't tolerate the sort of literal infighting that is rampant in both those states, that shit only serves to weaken '''GLORIOUS CARDASSIA''' and needs to be stamped out with ruthless efficiency. Exposing that someone who just happens to be your enemy as being a dangerous subversive is just a benefit, although this can result in both sides of a conflict shouting "For Cardassia!" as they charge each other. Sort of how Democrats and Republicans are both for America, yet oppose each other.<br />
<br />
Cardassia has a very fluid hierarchical government, similar to the political realities of post-Stalin but pre-Collaspe Soviet Russia. Broadly speaking, there are three different facets of the government: the Central Command (which holds all the power) the Obsidian Order (who holds the least amount of power, but controls the most puppets) and the Detapa Council (similar to the [[High Lords of Terra]] and just as worthless). Cardassian society holds a very strict view of family, placing family just below the needs of the State in a vague approximation of Confucianism.<br />
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The State holds a semi-divine mythical status in the eyes of its citizens, with it being viewed as impossible for the State to ever make mistakes. The ideal Cardassian life was one of complete loyalty and servitude to the State and family, with the "repetitive epic," detailing how generations of Cardassians go on to serve both in exactly the same way over and over seen as the height of their culture. The Cardassian government is assumed to be omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent by pretty much every Cardassian, with all Cadassians gladly giving of themselves to the State. Such was this level of belief that when Picard was tortured by the Obsidian order, the torturer saw nothing wrong with bringing his daughter to work because he was working for the State, and therefore the torture of Picard could never be disturbing or wrong. That's why their trials announce their sentences at the beginning and execute the defense attorney if he wins; their "trials" are more excuses to show off the power and infallibility of the State to the masses than actually determine guilt or innocence.<br />
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In terms of the Alpha Quadrant's political landscape, they are basically space fascist Italy: indisputably still a great power but nonetheless basically the weakest of the great powers, resentful of it, and unwilling to accept it. They first bully weaker powers in an attempt to carve out an empire, turn from a military junta to a despotist state after a coup, eventually join a bigger, meaner power in a great war against the rest of the Quadrant in an attempt to gain power and respect, see it blow up in their faces and force them to rise again in revolt to save themselves. Beta canon continues the analogy with the establishment of a democratic but unstable postwar government in the vein of the Years of Lead.<br />
<br />
As far as plot significant activities went, they had a war with the Federation a few years before ''TNG'' which ended in the creation of a Demilitarized Zone between the two powers and (significant to ''Deep Space Nine'') abandoning the previously occupied planet of Bajor they had exploited for resources and along with it the space station Terok Nor, which the Federation took over and renamed Deep Space Nine. After a disastrous war with the Klingon Empire and a faction of ex-Starfleet settlers who refused to be relocated after a treaty called the Maquis led to a popular revolution and overthrow of the existing government, one leader seized power, declared himself absolute ruler, and joined the Dominion towards the end of ''DS9'', which was some serious bad news for the ''DS9'' crew, and, ultimately his own people.<br />
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<br />
'''The Bajoran Republic'''<br />
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The Bajorans are a species native to the Planet Bajor. They were, until shortly before the events of ''Deep Space Nine'', under a brutal occupation by the Cardassians who strip mined their planet. They had a fighting resistance which veered in and out of being considered terrorists and all in all were often represented as Palestinians IN SPEHSS. After that, they got their independence, although they're thinking about joining the Federation. The Bajorans have one system and are technologically backwards; the Federation is technically breaking the Prime Directive by interacting with them, but as they've spent years under the oppression of a warp-capable species, they can probably handle it. Also ''DS9'' proves that ancient Bajorans managed to travel at warp speeds to Cardassia using solar sails and an enormous amount of luck, which technically makes them a warp-capable species. The only reason why they are significant in terms of the politics of ''Star Trek'' is that they have a wormhole near their planet, which has some timey-wimey aliens living it that they worship as gods, and serves as the only way to get to or from the Gamma Quadrant that won't take decades, making it strategically priceless. Hilariously, this was discovered almost immediately after the Cardassians ''thought'' they'd extracted everything of value from the Bajorans and peace'd out, certain that the system was no longer worth the PR hit they were taking from it, only to get burned by some harsh seller's remorse. Also, their species has the oldest civilization (roughly a half-million years) of any major ''Star Trek'' race, and the wormhole aliens have gifted them some cool shit, like the Orb of Time.<br />
<br />
The other big thing that makes the Bajorans unique is that they actually have a serious religion going on in a way that isn't an extension of their racial "hat" -the human race is depicted as mostly non-religious. They're also probably one of the most accurate depictions of any highly religious alien race in a sci-fi franchise, because they are divided between the majority who interpret their religion as [[Noblebright|peace and love]], and a small but loud minority of bastards who interpret it as [[Grimdark|condoning acts of terrorism]]. They generally represent all manner of oppressed and colonized peoples throughout Earth's history, with the Cardassian occupation standing in for the Holocaust, Imperial Japanese atrocities in Asia, and European mischief in Africa during the Age of Imperialism.<br />
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'''The Dominion'''<br />
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A vast empire which exists on the other side of the galaxy in the Gamma Quadrant. The Dominion is ruled over by a species of liquid shapeshifters called The Founders.(aka Changlings, Odo's people) They have at their disposal a military composed of two genetically engineered species that worship the Founders as gods: the short and articulate Vorta who serve as ambassadors, bureaucrats, and political commisars and the big brutal Jem'hadar, who are vat grown, drug addicted, cannon fodder. These oversee a large number of vassal races, including (as of later seasons of ''DS9'') the Cardassians.<br />
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The Founders were once (according to them anyway) a peaceful, kind civilization of explorers who wished to see the galaxy, explore strange new worlds, and seek out new forms of life. Unfortunately, they did this in the wrong neighborhood, and quickly ran into species who did not tolerate others. The fact that the Founders were shapeshifters capable of mimicking almost anyone did not help either. Paranoia, mutual mistrust, and some very bad things eventually led to the Founders deciding "fuck this" and moving their planet into a nebula so nobody would bother them. So more or less, a [[Grimdark|grimmer]], [[Grimdark|darker]], counterpart to the Federation, but with spookier Real Aliens.<br />
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The Founders are obsessed with order and are both extremely racist and xenophobic, and believe that all alien life is inherently untrustworthy and evil, and the best thing to do is conquer/enslave them before they do the same to them. They don't care about the rights of "Solids", and will happily ignore any sense of decency when convenient. This can be seen when The Dominion runs a simulation of the Dominion dominating the Alpha Quadrant. When O'Brien is assaulted by a Jem'Hadar and severely beaten to the point of needing emergency teleportation to medical (the crime being "disrespectful"), the Founders (disguised as Federation Officers) do not press charges, and when Sisko comes barging in demanding answers, dismiss him with little concern about their own soldiers brutalizing citizens. Their overall ideology could be thought of as Qin legalism IN SPACE: people are inherently evil and the only way to make a better world is to impose order upon them through brute force from a position of absolute, unquestioned power.<br />
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The Founders, when not wandering around in various forms, tend to spend their time in a massive ocean literally made up of countless billions of Founders, something which is referred to as the Great Link. According to the Founders, this allows them to share information with each other and come to peaceful decisions. This is rapidly proved to be bullshit; when a separated-at-birth one of their own merged into the Great Link to share his memories of the Federation as peaceful and tolerant space hippies, not only did the Founders ignore his memories, but actively fucked with his mind in an attempt to turn him into a sleeper agent. And even if it weren't, it shows their hypocrisy through their willingness to share freedom and liberty among themselves while depriving all their various slaves and conquered peoples of the same.<br />
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The Founders are massive dicks, even to their own people. Failure among Jem'Hadar is rewarded with slow and painful death from deprivation of the drug they're created to need and their lifespans are incredibly short. To be even bigger dicks, the Vorta have no sense of taste and can't appreciate beauty. Not to make them better diplomats, but because they were raised from a primitive stone-age ape tribe, and the Founders think they shouldn't be ever allowed to forget that. (On the plus side, they did give the Vorta an immunity to poison that would make [[Mortarion]] himself jealous. [https://youtu.be/rACCZaBcq1g?t=1m29s Observe.]) This may also stem from their own neuroses: the Founders themselves have almost no bodily needs at all and require no nourishment, so they design their slaves to be like them. Notably, Vorta tend to come in [[Paranoia|packs of clones; a new one is activated when an old one dies, and they retain some memories and personality between "lives,"]] further hammering home how expendable they are to their makers.<br />
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And both races are literally engineered to love their makers for what they have done to them and worship and revere them as gods.<br />
<br />
They ultimately get what's coming to them in the latter half of ''Deep Space Nine'', through an invasion of the Alpha Quadrant that starts out in their favor and rapidly goes against them. <br />
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<br />
'''Species 8472 / Undine'''<br />
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The one and only race in the galaxy even the Borg don't want to fuck with. Introduced in Voyager, Species 8472 are three-legged creatures that live in a space called Fluid Space. It's similar to the [[Eye of Terror]] for the fact that it connects to an alternate dimension and [[Khorne|everyone will be ripped apart upon entering.]]<br />
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When the Borg first came around to try and assimilate them they were completely obliterated in a war in which 4 million Borg were killed in the first few days at the cost of almost no members of Species 8472. This war was such a roflstomp that the Borg were forced to call on the Federation for help. [[Tau|The Federation being the better people swallowed their pride and decided to help their sworn enemies,]] [[Eldrad|but were dicks and sent only one ship.]]<br />
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Species 8472 fought with fast moving, small ships and devastating beam weapons so the small ship of the Federation could keep up with them and helped the Borg force the species back into Fluid Space. The Federation were the villains on this one. That said, they eventually came to an accord with Species 8472, preventing further wars between the denizens of Fluid Space, except in lots and lots of video games that want to use a fresh antagonist.<br />
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That and that in ''Star Trek Online'', [[Awesome|they look like the fucking Predator.]]<br />
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<br />
'''The Q'''<br />
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The Q are a race of beings who have elevated themselves to the point where they are basically gods. Most of them do not interact directly with the younger races, who they tend to consider with disdain- if they consider them at all. However a few of them take a more enlightened view, and one in particular has been known to fuck with individual humans from time time. They are mostly a TNG thing, and even there they work mostly by grace of John de Lancie's acting chops as a counterpoint to the charisma of Patrick Stewart, as de Lancie played the ''character'' Q. "Tapestry" even has the two waking up in bed together as a troll from Q. Due entirely to de Lancie's performance, they managed not only to have it not be cringy, but rather funny.<br />
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Q is an all-powerful epic troll. TNG's Q's occasionally [[Tzeentch]]ian games sometimes appeared to be for his own amusement and sometimes acted as education or event protection to the human race. Various subplots involving the Q ''species'' range from somewhat thought provoking to mildly entertaining to ridiculous and banal, but the classic episodes that highlighted the charisma and chemistry of the two actors were often quite excellent. De Lancie also appeared as Q in DS9 and Voyager a couple of times, but the chemistry just isn't there without Stewart. The writers knew it too, composing a scene where Avery Brooks punches this bastard in the face telling him "I'm not Picard!" (with the added fanservice of watching Q get punched, high on the wishlist of anyone that had the misfortune to meet him).<br />
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<br />
=== The Mirror Universe ===<br />
This isn't a faction; it's an alternate setting. Its own factions do bleed into the mainline starting in DS9. So it merits its own section.<br />
<br />
The Mirror is a parallel universe in which [[Alternate History|things have gone differently]] in Earth's History. The main point of divergence appears to occur when the Vulcan scientists who landed at Bozeman, Montana in 2063 are not welcomed with alcohol and music but instead are killed and have their ship looted. It is equally clear that where the main universe is Noblebright the Mirror Universe is Grimdark. Instead of a peace loving Federation searching for knowledge and friendly cooperation for the betterment of all, Earth gave rise to the ''Terran Empire'' which seeks out new life and civilizations to conquer and enslave, as it had done with the Klingons. Pretty much it's the PG-13 version of the Imperium of Man with a bit more Grimderp. Junior officers get promoted by killing their superiors, those that fail at that get thrown in the agony booth for their troubles and Emperor gets the job by usurping the previous incumbent. As a rule, characters in the mainline become, in the Mirror Universe, a selfish asshole version of themselves (or have to go along to get along: O'Brien, Spock). Following comic book logic the uniforms for the female characters are more revealing, and facial hair is vogue. Occasionally people can cross over from one universe to the next due to technobabble and cause mischief in either realm.<br />
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Originally it was a one off TOS setting for an episode of the week, but it was brought back in a few novels and some romps in Deep Space Nine in which [[Fail|the Terran Empire had fallen]]. In Enterprise's fourth season it got a two parter that was pretty good and would have been an annual thing if the show had been renewed, this one having little crossover with the main universe (a ship from TOS ended up in the Mirror Universe and is salvaged after all it's crew have died). We also went there in Discovery, for better or worse. Voyager never did the mirror universe, but instead got a homage episode with some alien historians in the far future getting the details wrong like historians tend to.<br />
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=== The Star Trek Crew ===<br />
Whether the focus of the show is exploration, manning a space station in an important locale or trying to get home, all Star Trek series have a basic set up of casting and focus: namely on a collection of people who are usually the senior-most officers on the ship. If you decide to make a Star Trek inspired game take this into consideration.<br />
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* '''The Captain''': Big cheese. Makes the hard decisions. Needs to be able to talk, think or fight out of situations as needed. The third option fetishist finding the balance between empathy and reason. (Two least skubby examples: Kirk and Picard, but the skub will fly hard if you say one is better than the other, sufficed to say that people like both of them alot but for different reasons)<br />
* '''The First Officer''': Second in command and trusted advisor. Added after the original series, where the role was combined with and split between two others. (Two least skubby examples: Riker and Kira)<br />
* '''The Science Officer''': Got high Int stats. Can analyze the situation and work out solutions. The voice of reason. Almost never human. (Two least skubby examples: Data and Spock)<br />
* '''The Engineer''': Hard working technically minded guy who gets shit done. (Two least skubby examples: Scotty and Geordi)<br />
* '''The Doctor''': Ship's healer with a secondary scientific role. The voice of empathy, whether prickly or serene. (Two least skubby examples: Bones and the EMH Doctor)<br />
* '''The Security Officer''': Rough and tumble no-nonsense sort whose job it is to keep these guys alive when diplomacy fails, which it often does. Often has to juggle providing ship's security with working the tactical station on the bridge in a crisis. (Two least skubby examples: Worf and Odo)<br />
* '''The Helmsman''': Got mad spacecraft piloting skills, either full-sized starships, shuttles, or fighters. Younger and more brash. (Two least skubby examples: Sulu and Tom Paris)<br />
* '''The Other Guy''': A crewmember whose role doesn't cleanly map onto other positions, a role often restricted to a single show. Example positions include communications officer, ship's councilor, transporter chief, and linguist. (Two Least skubby examples: Uhura and Troi)<br />
* '''The Outsider''': Someone who is a passenger and regular cast member, but exists outside the organization, looking in and commenting. Usually works a side-job, like tailor, bartender, or cook. Either a beloved fan-favorite or utterly despised, there is no middle ground. (Two Least skubby examples: Guinan and Quark)<br />
<br />
Some of these hats may be worn by more than one character, some may be worn by no one at all. This is especially true in the original series, which had a smaller cast overall, and which put less emphasis on an ensemble and more on the main trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The usual roles and character dynamics were instead set down by ''The Next Generation'', which later series generally copied.<br />
<br />
= The Shows =<br />
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==''The Original Series''==<br />
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[[File:OG enterprise.jpg|thumb|400px|Right|Do do do...]]<br />
Created in 1966 by legendary sci-fi [[spiritual liege]] and money-grubbing, sexist, pseudo-communist lounge lizard Gene Roddenberry and pitched as a "Wagon Train to the stars", it's a pulpy adventure sci-fi, full of fistfights, sword fights, and hammy speeches. (The guns never work.)<br />
<br />
The USS ''Enterprise'' is tasked by the Federation to go on a five year mission to explore space: the final frontier, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before, though due to budget constraints, her crew often finds that man has in fact gone there before. Or at least something that looks exactly like a man but is actually an [[Xenos|alien]]; most episodes split the difference. James T. Kirk sleeps with [[Hot Chicks|hot alien babes]] who either die tragically or leave tearfully at the end of the episode, but it's 'k because he's too in love with the Enterprise to ever love a mere ''woman'' more. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are cold and logical and rash and emotional respectively, and their constant friction must be resulting in the best make-up sex in the world, Mr. Sulu and Lieutenant Uhura wait in vain for focus episodes that never come, Ensign Chekhov suffers horribly to the approval of American Cold War audiences, and Scotty [[gets shit done]]. Uniforms, while iconic, tend to look a bit civilian though. Miniskirts are apparently mandated attire for the ship's fan-servicey female "yeomen" and others, because 1966. The civilian nature of the attire (including, one must assume, the miniskirts, but they had a visual appeal all their own) were apparently an intentional design decision by Roddenberry who didn't want uniforms to look military. Further specialness on the part of Roddenberry demanded phasers not look like guns ([[FAIL|not even have trigger-guards even though those exist for safety reasons]]), instead looking like nothing in particular at all (although looking back at them today they look sort of like TV remotes, which would be invented much later), and also (probably the only sensible decision in this category) ships that didn't look like rockets, giving ships their distinctive and iconic saucer-engineering-nacelles look that still stands out today.<br />
<br />
The Original Series frequently ran out of budget and entire episodes were filmed using spare costumes belonging to the production company, resulting in a series of extremely goofy excuses to go to planets full of gangsters or [[Nazi]]s. This is often copied by shows who don't realize it was done out of pure expediency, and nowadays this [[TVTropes|"Planet of Hats"]] gimmick is practically a box to check off when doing sci-fi adventure. The lack of budget also resulted in one of the more memorable inventions; unable to budget for a sequence showing the ''Enterprise'' or a shuttle landing on a new planet every week, the writers instead decided to invent the transporter to "beam" the crew down to planets or between starships. Also worth noting: despite its mediocre critical reception, ratings and eventual cancellation, not to forget the uneven quality of many episodes, especially in the Roddenberry-less third season where poor Fred Freiberger had to come onto a show he didn't understand and try to get better ratings with less money, ''TOS'' had a hell of a cultural impact thanks to syndication and it has been said that since it entered syndication in 1969, there hasn't been a 24-hour period without some TV station, in some country, playing Star Trek. Cancellation of The Original Series is now considered one of the worst decisions in TV history, and while much of its silly 60's campiness is now laughable, it often still manages to teach relevant and important lessons today.<br />
<br />
Fun fact: the ''Enterprise'' and each of her 11 sister ships have enough firepower to [[Exterminatus]] a planet by themselves, after getting issued an order called General Order 24. This however is likely a time-consuming task. According to a later DS9 episode, it takes a fleet of 20 warships 1 hour of sustained bombardment to destroy a planets crust and 5 hours of sustained bombardment to destroy a planet down to its mantle. These 20 ships were also in service 100 years after the Enterprise so they were also more powerful. <br />
Kirk has the distinction of being the only known captain to issue a [[Exterminatus|General Order 24]], because a planet was ''too'' much into wargames (he changed his mind after they dropped wargaming).<br />
<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': Balance of Terror (submarine battle in space, debut of the Romulans), The Devil in the Dark (sometimes hostile aliens have a good reason for being hostile) Space Seed (Khan's first appearance), The City on the Edge of Forever (beautiful tragedy), Amok Time (Spock's in heat and he and Kirk have to fight to the death), "The Doomsday Machine" (''Enterprise'' vs. an unstoppable planet killer and the captain whose ship it destroyed)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "And the Children Shall Lead" (annoying kids, magic, and most of TOS's weakness dialed up to 11), The Way to Eden (dumbass hippy episode), Spock's Brain (idiot aliens steal Spock's thinker and McCoy has to remote control him for the rest of the episode).<br />
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<br />
==''The Animated Series''==<br />
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The often forgotten middle child. More or less "seasons 4-5" of ''TOS'' with the same writing staff and actors, sans poor Walter Koenig. He was replaced by a weird camel person. He learned this at a convention, from a fan, while he was trying to announce he'd be writing an episode, which Gene promptly demanded he rewrite over and over. Classy. <br />
<br />
Being animated allowed the staff to get a lot more creative with the alien designs and plots, and the writing and acting remain... well, top notch is a stretch, but certainly at the same levels as ''The Original Series'', with the occasional low point. Not ''nearly'' as bad as you're probably picturing from the name, although still limited by the low budget and primitive, cheap animation techniques of the television era it was aired in. Notably some sci-fi novelists were brought in to write some episodes, such as Larry Niven, and at least one episode, "Yesteryear," is considered such a pivotal moment in Spock's development that even people who hate the series enough to consider it all non-canon often make an exception just for that one.<br />
<br />
Also, since the series now has no excuse for throwing in lots of Space Puritans and Space Wizards, it of course continued to do so to derptastic results, because by this point it had become traditional. The presence of a straight-up [[furry]] on the bridge, however, is downright unacceptable.<br />
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==''The Next Generation''==<br />
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[[File:Enterpris D.jpg|thumb|400px|left|USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D: battleship, scientific research center and luxury hotel rolled into one]]<br />
Here's where it starts getting a little deeper and a little darker, although with a lot of left-wing political subtext turned up to 11. The USS ''Enterprise-D'' (the original and C were destroyed in action while A and B were retired) is, like its predecessor, tasked with going where no-one has gone before, but this time around the problems are less likely to be solved in a single episode. Jean-Luc Picard is the captain and he plots and negotiates his way to victory; Mr. Data is cold and unemotional, though not by choice - as an android, he'd very much like to change that; Riker takes over the captain's "sleep with alien babes" duties since Picard is married to the job; Worf the Klingon gets beaten up by monsters to show how tough the monsters are, meaning that Worf winds up looking incredibly weak by the end of the show's run and doesn't regain his badassery until his run on ''DS9''; Dr. Beverly Crusher is good old Bones minus his temper; Dr. Pulaski is Bones ''plus'' temper; Counselor Troi is so badly written she becomes a running joke; and Geordi LaForge [[gets shit done]]. Only two things need to be said about helmsman Wesley Crusher: he was [[Mary Sue|Gene Wesley Roddenberry's shitty self-insert fanfic character]], and his sueness got to the point that even his actor started to hate him within the first season of the show.<br />
<br />
Due to the massive success of The Original Series in syndication (and Paramount being [[Rage|pissed off]] by broadcast networks treating their most valuable IP like any other show), TNG was aired through syndication from the beginning. Although the first two seasons were laughably bad, the quality began to improve dramatically after an increasingly cocaine-addled Gene Roddenberry got too sick to keep ruining it and his partner-in-crime Maurice Hurley was thrown out on his ass, a moment often pinpointed via looking for when [[Meme|Riker grew a beard.]] The later seasons are widely considered to represent the apex of the franchise's episodic formula on the small screen (although ''DS9'' gave it a run for its money with a more serialized approach); sadly, this series only got one good movie.<br />
<br />
The Next Generation started and ended on one of its skubbier elements, that being Q, an omnipotent trans dimensional alien that starts testing Picard in the first episode and is finally persuaded to go away in the last. The entire multi-season run of the show is set up with the subtext that the Q are judging whether humanity is worthy of its implied lofty destiny. What should have been a stifling deus ex machina was carried entirely by the performance of Q's actor; the dialogs between Picard and Q were some of the show's most entertaining, even as the Q episodes tended to be the obligatory season silly story.<br />
<br />
*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "The Measure of a Man" (is Data property or not?), "Q Who?" (introduction of the Borg, Q at his dickish best), "The Best of Both Worlds" (epic Borg 2-parter with plenty of action and drama), "Family" (companion piece to Best of Both Worlds, Picard has to deal with the trauma of being assimilated), "Darmok" (Picard learns to communicate with an alien captain on far-away planet, all of TNG's strengths), "The Inner Light" (I am not crying, you are crying), "Sarek" (excellent Picard and Sarek character piece)<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Code of Honor" (racist and stupid), "Angel One" (sexist and stupid), "Shades of Grey" (half-assed money-saving clip show), "Up The Long Ladder" (annoying Oirish stereotypes wind up on the ''Enterprise'', shenanigans ensue), basically any episode from the first five seasons that focuses on Troi, her mom Lwaxana, or both (not Majel or Marina's fault, they were handed shit writing and had to make do)<br />
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<br />
==''Deep Space Nine''==<br />
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[[File:Deep Space 9.jpg|thumb|500px|right|''"A Star Trek show where they stay put? It'll never work."'' Boy did they get that wrong.]]<br />
Unlike all the other series so far, ''Deep Space Nine'' primarily takes place in a fixed location - the titular space station Deep Space Nine, out near the borders of Federation Space. Said space station is near Bajor, which was recently freed from Cardassian occupation, and a wormhole to the other side of the galaxy which allows [[Warp|all sorts of of crazy shit to go down]]. If the other shows are a wagon train, this one's the border fort.<br />
<br />
Benjamin Sisko is the captain, declared Emissary by the nearby Bajorans for making contact with the wormhole aliens they worship, and he successfully hybridizes the blow-the-shit-out-of-whatever-you-can't-punch Kirk approach with the talk-in-a-very-dignified-way-about-the-philosophy-of-the-thing-and-win-by-rhetoric Picard maneuver, in his ultimately-successful quest to become the baddest motherfucker in space, then literally becomes a space god. Kira the Bajoran ex-<s>terrorist</s> <S>''noble freedom fighter''</s> (who are we kidding she calls herself a terrorist) struggles to free and rebuild her people while coming to terms with the moral ambiguities of situations she prefers to see in black-and-white, Dr. Bashir works to find his character for several seasons before becoming a highlight, Dax gets often written poorly and has to switch bodies doing it, Odo IS ''Liquid Space Cop'', Quark runs his bar and [[troll|heckles]] the Federation from the sidelines, Garak pretends to be a tailor while definitely not being a super-spy, hitting on Bashir, and dropping killer lines, and Miles O'Brien [[gets shit done]] and gets physically, mentally, and/or emotionally tortured in at least one episode a season (referred to by the writers as the "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes). Also Worf wanders in halfway through, and actually gets to punch things instead of just getting punched by them, up to and including offing the Klingon chancellor in an honor duel. It's also a lot more political than other series (though ''TNG'' and ''Voyager'' have their moments) and the last series to have Gene Roddenberry's involvement (with less enthusiasm, in fact often much to the benefit of this particular series thematically, although Roddenberry's complete departure did not necessarily bode well for the franchise in general.)<br />
<br />
It's the closest the pre-Kelvin series ever get to [[grimdark]]. Especially when the Dominion show up. With minimal grimderp that plague the later seasons and Kelvin era movies. The show has aged remarkably well and the terrorist/freedom fighter debate was repeatedly explored in a very mature and honest way; the darkest episodes ventured into duping the Romulans into a war by assassinating a senator, and forcing a Klingon regime change [[rip and tear|''the Klingon way'']]. ''DS9'' is the most serialized of all Trek shows and could be considered a forerunner to the golden age of television with its long story arcs and deep character development. It's also notable for singlehandedly salvaging the Ferengi after the mess Gene made of them in the early seasons of TNG and bringing back the mirror universe after nearly thirty years with an ongoing plot showing the consequences of Kirk's meddling. Overall, ''DS9'' has to be considered the most consistently good Trek show thanks to the excellent writing and fantastic performances from a truly wonderful ensemble cast. At least until the final season . . .<br />
<br />
Which brings us to DS9 Skub. The show was airing around the same time as another thematically similar sci-fi show, ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Not only that but characters also shared similarities, as did the episodes especially as both shows became war stories later on. Interestingly, beginning of both series, introduction of characters and airing of similar episodes were often too close to each other for one show to copy the other but this did not stop massive [[Rage]] and [[/v/|fanboy wars]] from starting between fans of the two series accusing one another of plagiarism and having an inferior product. Happily, as time went on and both shows evolved, these hurt feelings have mostly faded.<br />
<br />
There's also that last season. The earlier (good) writers had got pulled to try to make movies, which movies they'd failed at. The new writers also had to bring in a new Dax due to Berman constantly being a sexist asshole to actress Terry Farrell. This new Dax, Ezri, was very different from Jadzia, and she only got that one season to make her mark, which season she had to share with the Great Epic Conclusion (it's a miracle Ezri was as well received as she was, and a testament to Nicole de Boer's talent). Those finale episodes were mostly okay and tied up the story semi-satisfyingly, though a few die-hard subplots fell flat. The season, therefore, was shaky; not necessarily a harbinger for The Decline Of ''Trek'' to come, but at least inauspicious.<br />
<br />
How good is ''Deep Space Nine''? Every subsequent Star Trek series and even the reboot movies have pretty much ripped off ideas and concepts established during the series. Famously, within the "Trekker/Trekkie" fan community, there's a little cell of fans who like it better than most other ''Star Trek''; these fans are typically called "Niners."<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Duet" and "Waltz" (excellent character work elevates low-budget episodes), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (30th anniversary comedy episode that sends the DS9 crew back to the TOS era to stop a rogue Klingon assassinating Kirk), "In the Pale Moonlight" ("how far would you push your principles to save the world?" done very well), "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Nog has PTSD after losing a leg in battle), "The Circle" (the only Star Trek trilogy episode and as close as DS9 will ever get to a movie), "Valiant" (A Defiant full of asshole cadets gets blasted into smithereens for their own hubris), "Empok Nor" (Garak goes feral and brutalizes a lot of people).<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Move Along Home" (some of the crew gets trapped in a board game with annoying rhymes), "Fascination" (Lwaxana Troi is going through Betazoid menopause and wants to bang Odo), "Profit and Lace" (Quark has a horrible relationship with his mom and has a sex change for zany antics), "Let He Who is Without Sin" (bullshit on resort planet Risa)<br />
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==''Voyager''==<br />
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[[File:USS Voyager.jpg|thumb|400px|left|''"Are we home yet?"'' <br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"Tuvok, please give Ensign Kim a dose of the Medical Phaser.]]<br />
Star Trek: Voyager centers around the eponymous USS ''Voyager'', a smallish ship which gets teleported over to the other side of the galaxy. The plot of the series centers on the crew's efforts to get back home, which COULD have made for an excellent premise. Unfortunately, there were few lasting story arcs, with most episodes being fully self-contained (as well as being littered with far too many episodes featuring holodeck or transporter incidents). As a consequence, despite being completely isolated from the Federation, no matter how bad things got Voyager always appeared in the next episode without a scratch, fully supplied, and with all its shuttlecraft intact. Think ''Gilligan's Island'' on a starship.<br />
<br />
Like ''TNG'' and ''DS9'' it's a character-driven drama just as often as it is a sci-fi adventure romp, although compared to TNG only a few of the characters are particularly memorable. The captain and arguable "main character" is Kathryn Janeway, a Katharine Hepburn lookalike (I see what you did there) who is stern without being cold, and principled without being inflexible. The fan favorite is a character called "The Doctor" ([[Doctor Who|No relation]]); he's the solid-light hologram representative of the ship's emergency medical computer, who has to take on actual medical duties when their chief medical officer was conveniently killed in the pilot episode. Other than this, Chakotay is a peace-loving and spiritually rich indian <s>freedom fighter</s> <s>terrorist</s> [[FAIL|who was written with the help of a special Cherokee consultant so native his name was Jamake Highwater and it turned out later on that he was actually Jewish and didn't know dick about native cultures so he made everything up resulting in Chakotay basically being a borderline racist caricature of what you think Indians are like. Akoochimoya.]] Tom Paris is an annoying jerk and is counterbalanced by Harry Kim who is the ideal boy-scout, making him only half as annoying and twice as boring. B'elanna Torres tries to perpetuate a lineage of dudes getting shit done but ends up blankly reciting her technobabble, having second degree plasma burns and – worst of all – systematically fails to get shit done whenever the warp core goes nuts. Tuvok tries hard to be as cool as Spock but ends up being a lame version of the n°1 Vulcan who uses logic to justify everything and makes it short for "you are wrong, I am right because I said so." Kes is passed as a fragile and nice character but it takes a couple of episodes to realize that having a short lifespan does not change the facts: [[powergamer|when you can boil someone to death from the inside of their body, drain life from everything around you to become stronger and do anything you want without knowing how, just by thinking of it]], you are a goddamn Mary Sue. From the fourth season onwards the only character the writers seemed to care about was Seven of Nine, [[Mary Sue|a human woman who recently escaped from Borg control and kept all of her cyborg enhancements but regained her free will]]; another Mary Sue, to be sure, but she's [[Hot Chicks|hot]], and the other characters are much worse, so that's not really a bad thing. Fortunately, The Doctor still received a lot of attention from the writers and almost single-handedly made the show watchable. There was also Neelix, who was the apparent inspiration for Jar-Jar Binks, and any sane crew would have pushed him out of an airlock on the first episode. Fans who stuck with the show despite its glaring failings were given one final slap in the face with the <s>controversial</s> shit final season, in which the producers decided "screw steadily crafting a satisfying conclusion to a story which we have wasted for most of the last seven years anyway; lets just ignore it until the final episode and then throw in some shit about trans-warp conduits and time travel, bitches love time travel!" If you did not care about any of the characters or the subplots or time travel making sense (the writers sure didn't), then the final episode was made just for you (and the Borg got a major setback, too, just don't think about the setup too hard).<br />
<br />
The Doctor never once stopped being totally fucking awesome though (enough so to even earn a cameo in First Contact and for Robert Picardo to turn up as his inventor in an episode of DS9), Jeri Ryan proved she wasn't just eye candy, and the (mostly) great acting from the rest of the cast carries the series from being horrific to ''occasionally'' watchable. Just goes to show that no matter how good your actors are, they can't make diamonds out of shit.<br />
<br />
Overall, most Star Trek fans view Voyager's legacy with a shrug and a "meh." Unfortunately, hopes that Voyager's successor would revitalize the franchise would soon prove to be overly optimistic.<br />
<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Timeless" (excellent time-travel episode), "Year of Hell" (absolutely savage two-parter that trashes ''Voyager'' in service to a story of obsession and why you don't fuck with the timeline), "Tuvix" (one of the all-time skubbiest episodes of any ST show, deals with the complicated ethics of what happens when two people are fused into a new individual by a transporter accident), "Bride of Chaotica!" (aliens get trapped in Tom Paris' 1940s pulp holodeck program, Janeway has to become one of the characters to sort it out, good comedy episode), "Someone to Watch Over Me" (the Doctor falls in love with Seven but can't admit it), "Equinox" (''Voyager'' encounters another castaway Starfleet ship that's tossed Federation law and ethics into the bin to survive and Janeway gets ''really'' pissy about it)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Threshold" (Tom Paris and Janeway turn into [[salamander]]s and have salamander babies; so terrible that rumors persist it was declared non-canonical to this day), "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk" (holodeck malfunction episodes full of more cringe Oirish stereotypes and Janeway wanting to bang a hologram), "Alice" (Stephen King's ''Christine'' IN SPAAACE!)<br />
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==''Enterprise''==<br />
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[[File:NX-01.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Where it all began. For better or worse...]]<br />
From the minute the Nickelback-tier theme tune started, Enterprise attempted to take Star Trek in a new direction and was only partially successful in doing so. The series never quite caught its footing, although it still managed to have some enjoyable moments. It was most notable for providing a first-hand view of the key events that directly led to the formation of the Federation. The Federation's founding races were also featured heavily, with Andorians, Tellarites, and Vulcans all enjoying significant screen time alongside the human characters.<br />
<br />
It's a prequel to the rest of the canon, taking place on the first ''Enterprise'', before the Federation was founded and during the period when Earth was still an independent power- so there's a lot of primitive versions of things from other series. At least the uniforms were pretty cool in an Air Force sort of way. Captained by <s>that guy from ''Quantum Leap''</s> Jonathan Archer, in hindsight the fact that they had to rename him from their original choice of Jeffrey Archer to avoid confusion with the disgraced British MP and author of the same name probably cursed the series with bad karma before it had even begun shooting. In an unusual twist for a ''Trek'' series, his first officer isn't a <s>terrorist</s> ''noble freedom fighter,'' however she does share a trait with her ''Voyager'' predecessor in that the actress who portrayed her frequently criticized the show's writers in interviews. Other than that, well, Hoshi Sato screams a lot, Travis Mayweather was so dull that even the writers forgot he existed, the resident Vulcan T'Pol serves as both the Science Officer and source of sexy fanservice, Malcolm Reed has an accent, Dr Phlox is a weird creepy alien with weird creepy alien morals (and gets surprisingly interesting when given enough screentime, which hardly ever happened), and Trip also has an accent and [[gets shit done]].<br />
<br />
One thing that makes the show and cast so frustrating is that you get glimpses of interesting things that could be explored but just aren't in favor of rejected TNG concepts. A weapon' officer still having somewhat free range as there are not federation guidelines? Not really, Malcolm is just here to give a second opinion and be Tripp's wingman. A linguist and sociologist without much of a clue as to what everyone will encounter in space in an age before rules of engagement and diplomatic norms are established? Not really, Hoshi just screams a lot to let you know something dangerous or scary is nearby. The struggle between a potentially more profitable civilian life and an assignment as a glorified military grunt before Starfleet is the institution we all know it would become? Who cares, the writers all forgot Travis is even in the show most of the time. All these questions are somewhat hinted at in some episodes when they really could have been defining character arcs for the cast but instead we got vulcan romance getting most of the screentime when the Xindi plot wasn't happening. Oh well.<br />
<br />
Was retooled twice, the third season tries to be ''24'' IN SPACE (stop some aliens, the Xindi, from blowing up Earth) while the 4th season is a massive apology about the last three seasons that tries to fix all the problems they had. As a result, the last season is the only one that's close to being really good.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the poorly-received final episode is set on the holodeck of the Enterprise-D, which leaves us with the firm impression that the producers would have much rather have just continued making ''The Next Generation''. Considering the mediocre quality of the ''TNG'' movies we got instead, this probably would have worked out better for all involved (Or not since ''Voyager'' was that; its first episode was even numbered 901, as in Season 9 Episode 1).<br />
<br />
Yet despite all the bad directing, subpar plots, and frankly boring episodes, ''Enterprise'' sometimes still manages to be moderately enjoyable with occasional moments of awesomeness if you can suffer through a fair few awful spots and aggressive mediocrity almost everywhere else. The focus on founding Federation races like the Andorans was refreshing and the technology level, being somewhere between the original series and the real world present-day, was quite interesting. We also got to see the Vulcans portrayed as arrogant, superior dicks. This actually makes a lot more sense than the way they're usually portrayed (which is fairly submissive towards humans) because they are, obviously and objectively, the superior race. The Klingons certainly still considered themselves to be honorable but the show made it clear that the Klingon notion of honor is rarely analogous to the human concept which was interesting as all hell to watch. There have been a few small nods to Enterprise in Discovery and the Abrams movies.<br />
<br />
And let's be fucking honest, [[/tg/]] loves 40k and the Xindi arc was about as grimdark as shit gets. And that was awesome.<br />
<br />
*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "Damage" (Enterprise is nearly destroyed and can barely function), "Zero Hour" (End of Season 3, good action and good payoff), "Regeneration" (Borg episode, silly but well executed), "Babel One", "United" and "The Aenar" (three episode arc involving the Romulan scheme to engineer war, a glimpse of what might have been).<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Dear Doctor" (boring prime directive extremism), "These are the Voyages" (Trip dies in a rush-job ending, last minute or so is alright as a visual send-off divorced from crap narrative).<br />
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<br />
==STD aka ''Disco'' aka ''Discovery''==<br />
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<br />
----<br />
[[File:USS Discovery.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Disco Stu's coming for you!]]<br />
<s>A LOAD OF SOCIAL JUSTICE SHIT!</s> Ahem, let's start again, shall we?<br />
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A new "prequel" series set 10 years before ''The Original Series.'' Again. Run exclusively on CBS' paid streaming service (unless you live outside the US and Canada, in which case you can get it on Netflix) to try and drum up sign-ups and revenue, it features a mix of ''Enterprise'' and Abramstrek aesthetics despite supposedly taking place in parallel to the TOS "The Cage" pilot while [[what|having technology superior to late DS9]] and introducing [[dune|mushroom-based space travel]] that would imply [[retcon|all later events and warp travel would be outdated]]. The trailer has attracted a lot of concern over the fact that Klingons have been completely redesigned to look like slit-nosed ogres wearing ancient Egyptian cosplay, and rumors that the Klingons shown were [[Racial Holy War|primitives who had been trapped in stasis]] proved to be unfounded, so there is no excuse. Not having a cold war to posture about, the new villains are based off of Trump-inspired xenophobia by the admission of the authors. Also the lead character is Spock's human sister that he never mentioned before, aka the ''exact'' origin of the [[Mary Sue]] which is just fucking depressing. To further reinforce this, there are ''numerous'' examples of dialogue and exposition that serve only to show how the Mary Sue main character was right all along, usually in conjunction with the death of the character that had foolishly disagreed with her. Want a new Star Trek episode about racism and immigration? Try the now-banned [https://youtu.be/3VEZH8bqytA Star Trek Continues]. Want Star Trek with humor, we suppose: ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'', below. Oh! want a pseudo-Star Trek show about other modern issues? Try ''[[The Orville]]''. That's right, American Dad In Space <strike>may right now be</strike> is a better Star Trek than an actual Star Trek series.<br />
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Initial reviews have been... well, never mind the 2017-era soy-guzzling critics. STD is as much fun as an outbreak of Nurgle's Rot. Mostly. There ''are'' exceptions.<br />
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The writing is overly convoluted, the massive injection of grimdark into pre-TOS continuity is anathema to the hardcore fans (the ''human'' characters are often the ones doing the nastiest shit, including [[Marines Malevolent|trying to kill a Klingon party by planting an explosive on the corpse of one of their comrades for when they came to collect the dead]]) and the Klingons are so flat and devoid of characterization that they might as well be Larry the Cable Guy lookalikes wearing Trump hats. This is a massive disappointment for a series that promised to put a spotlight on Klingon culture but ended up retconning all the characterization that happened in TNG and DS9. It ''may'' get better with time (remember that it took two seasons for TNG to get really good) but given the release schedule (split between 2017 and 2018 with a long break) it may come too late for the fanbase to care. Currently it's cause for more fans to lose their shit over whether it's better or worse than the Abrams movies, which is a new record of [[Skub|Trek Skub]]. Releasing the show on CBS All Access instead of cable or broadcast TV makes it seem that executives don't really give a shit if the show succeeds or fails, bringing up the question of [[Bioware|whether they're deliberately putting Star Trek: Discovery in a no-win scenario where, no matter what happens, the executives have an excuse to cancel Star Trek altogether]]. <br />
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Another stupid decision was not shelling out the cash to bring back Bruce Greenwood and Zachary Quinto as Captain Pike and Spock, respectively. Their ages wouldn't have mattered either if CBS and Paramount weren't too cheap to use the anti-aging CGI tech that is so commonplace these days. Hell, Star Trek makeup artists are among the best in the entertainment business. So they could have pulled it off with applying the bare minimum, and we probably still wouldn't have noticed.<br />
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There were also allegations that large chunks of the plot were stolen from previews of an in-development indie game. The unreleased 2014 game featured giant Tardigrades that had the ability to use an interstellar network to travel anywhere they wanted to- sound familiar?<br />
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We must however give credit where credit is due. Season 1's fifth episode "Choose Your Pain" starred Rainn Wilson as a younger Harcourt Fenton Mudd, and this was a surprising treat. Season 2 also featured Anson Mount as Captain Pike, whose addition to the cast was nothing short of a revelation. Indeed, Pike's character was by far the most well-received aspect of that season.<br />
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Unfortunately, while Season 2 had some watchable moments, it was still middling at best, and nobody is ''ever'' going to let this series live down the garbage fire that was Season 1. If you do decide to watch Season 2, try not to think about it too hard once you are done. It gets worse and worse the more you think about it as you can and will come to realize that {{spoiler|the overarching plot hinges on time-travel but because the writing and production staff kept being shuffled, no one kept continuity so some of the hints of future actions or "red lights" are just forgotten about, some time-travel is done just to set up another event to make it possible for that same time-travel to happen. Think Bill and Ted, except lame and very confusing. Season 2 is an okay show if you look at the state-of-the-art visuals, let the big emotional moments grip you, but if you stop for a second and think about the continuity of events, you push yourself on a slippery slope that ends in not being able to ever trust the showrunning staff again.}}<br />
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Season 3 sees ''Discovery'' transported far into the future, one in which the Federation itself has fallen apart due to the mysterious disappearance of the dilithium required for warp travel. What was the issue with the dilithium? A member of the same species as the character Saru was on a planet with a lot of dilithium and had a freakout so bad it somehow psychically fucked up all dilithium everywhere at roughly the same time. Oh, and apparently turbolifts now fly around in a pocket dimension or some stupid shit.<br />
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Season 4 can basically be summed up as "Hyper-advanced extragalactic gasbags make a mess of things because they're [[Derp|too stupid to comprehend the concept of self as they're a hive mind]]".<br />
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Oh thank the God Emperor it's almost over! After four seasons of shit, season five is finally going to kill it! Oh Throne, thank you!<br />
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==''<strike>Retard</strike>Picard''==<br />
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Set to be a continuation of the original timeline, featuring old man Picard with Patrick Stewart reprising the role. Hopes are not high, but at the very least Patrick Stewart's presence should make it watchable if nothing else. <br />
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Update: Season 3 is the only part maybe worth watching.<br />
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In the first season, Picard ragequit Starfleet after they sat back and let the Romulans get blown up by the supernova mentioned in the first Abrams movie. This happened because some rogue androids orbitally bombarded Mars and blew up the rescue fleet that was being built there, so the Federation has banned all R&D on synthetic lifeforms and subsequently become [[Imperium of Man|isolationist, racist and xenophobic]] (does this remind you of anything?). Picard has been living in his family chateau ever since, making wine and hanging out with his dog and his Romulan housekeepers. Then a scared girl named Dahj turns up on his doorstep, and it turns out she's a highly advanced biological android constructed from the surviving bits of Data's positronic brain by the guy who wanted to dismantle Data in that episode "The Measure of a Man." Before Picard can really figure out what to do about her, she gets killed by a secret society of Luddite anti-android Romulan assholes, but it turns it that's okay because she has a twin "sister" named Soji who is working with some other Romulans on a derelict Borg cube. Picard decides it's time to saddle up and go be a hero again. He starts putting together a crew that includes Agnes Jurati, a former cyberneticist; Raffi Musiker, his last executive officer, [[What|who is now an alcoholic drug-vaping hermit]] after getting kicked out of Starfleet; Cristobal Rios, a scruffy merc pilot whose ship is staffed entirely by holograms of himself; Elnor, a Romulan warrior monk raised by Romulan warrior nuns; and Seven of Nine, who has become a kickass pilot and is no longer wearing her infamous catsuit. Together, they're out to save Soji, stop the Romulans, and be the good guys in a galaxy that needs heroes, etc etc.<br />
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Key storytelling criticisms of the show include the idea that the Romulan Empire should have had enough infrastructure to effect an evacuation without help, and that even if they didn't, the Federation would ''never'' abandon a neighbor who was asking for help- not even a former enemy, and not even when doing so became difficult or inconvenient. Another issue comes up when the show reveals that the Borg have assimilated transgalactic teleporters from a throwaway alien race that appeared in an early episode of ''Voyager'', but only for the Borg queen to use in case the cube she's on is about to be blown up, which begs the question of ''why in the hell aren't they using them to overwhelm the Federation's defenses with drone spam and assimilate everything??'' There's also an (abortive) space battle in the final episode where Riker shows up leading a fleet of ships that are just copy-pastes of the same CG model, which was derided for being cheap and lazy on the part of the showrunners and a failed chance to show Riker in command of the ''Titan'' or ''Enterprise''.<br />
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To make matters even more dumb and yet also more complicated at the same time, the showrunners are apparently under some kind of licensing agreement regarding the portrayal of images and concepts from the earlier shows. This means that they can't, for example, casually mention the Dominion War and its impact on the Federation, because if they did, they'd have to pay a licensing fee. This is why the show has been carefully crafted to look like a distant, derpy cousin of Star Trek, while only occasionally featuring cameos of things such as the Enterprise-D, or directly referencing arcs in previous shows: because if they use concepts from prior Star Trek shows, they have to pay for them.<br />
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Finally, when all has been said and done by the end of Season 1, Picard himself is reduced to a nearly-useless side character in his own show. Where once he commanded the admiration and respect of friends and foes alike, in this show he is consistently portrayed as a disrespected, disregarded, and often powerless caricature of himself, utterly reliant on the characters around him. {{spoiler|It doesn't help they legit kill him in the last episode and then made him an android after he also agreed to "kill" Data whose memories are basically in a server on a planet of Soong androids. The showrunners specifically came out and said their plan was always to kill Picard to make a point about how privileged he was being a captain in Starfleet. You can't make this shit up. Patrick Stewart himself claims that they hadn't written Picard's death until they were almost finished filming the season, so who knows what the hell was going on.}}<br />
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One other thing is certain. Whether you like the series or not, it's clear that this series is not taking place in Gene Roddenberry's noblebright vision of the Federation, and the fact that it is yet another grim, violent entry into the franchise is a point that has left many viewers with a bad aftertaste. If the rumors are true, then this show may have either killed the current grimderp Trek or has left fans so pissed that CBS is, once again, on the verge of financial ruin and possibly looking to sell the franchise since they aren't making the money they thought they would after the massive amounts of money they dumped into both this and Discovery.<br />
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Season 2 premiered in March 2022 after the Covid pandemic delayed production. They definitely listened to some of the major criticisms of the first season - Picard's been reinstated in Starfleet, many fan-favorite starship classes returned for the big space battle in the first episode, the gratuitous swearing and needless grimdark got toned down, and more deep cuts from TOS and DS9 lore show up. <br />
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Q shows up and launches the gang into a hilariously over-the-top alternate timeline where the [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] knob got cranked to 11 and as a result the ''Con''federation of Humanity has been going around [[Imperium of Man|exterminating all xenos scum]] up to and including the Borg, which is admittedly pretty badass. They're all appropriately horrified by this, and steal the Borg queen right as she's about to be executed so they can do a sun-slingshot move to go back to 2024 Los Angeles and <strike>save the whales</strike>fix whatever got messed up. Brent Spiner turns up as yet another Soong ancestor, morally skewed as always, and the punk from Star Trek IV returns, still blasting his boombox all these years later. Picard and co. save the future by ensuring that his ancestor Renee goes on a manned mission to the moon of Europa, where she discovers an alien organism that allows humanity to magically fix Earth's biosphere and make everything noblebright forevermore, apparently because [[Derp|the writers forgot that WWIII will arrive in a few decades]]. Rios decides to stay in the past because he met a sexy doctor and [[What|dies in a barfight]], Dr. Soong is revealed to be working on more Khans, his fake daughter Kore meets Wesley Crusher and becomes a Traveler, and it turns out that the reason Q did all this in the first place was to help Picard confront his deep-seated family issues so he could avoid dying alone, as Q is in the process of dying alone himself. In the season finale, the Borg (now being controlled by Agnes after [[What|she forced the Borg queen to bitch down by getting her to admit her ''own'' loneliness]]) ask to join the Federation so they can keep an eye on some weird transwarp conduit that some unknown entity just opened, which was why the Borg rocked up at the beginning of the season. Least it wrapped up well. <br />
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Would you believe Season 3 manages to turn it around somehow? Essentially a 10-episode attempt to answer the question, 'How can we get all of the original cast members together on a starship in the least contrived way?', Picard, Riker, Troi, LaForge, Worf, Data, and the bearable Crusher all come together to fight the new Borg threat. The series is written and directed by people who truly understand what Star Trek is about, and as such is a welcome sight to fans of the franchise. Each of the original cast gets time to develop their characters further - Worf drinks tea, Beverley finally manages to raise a kid who isn't [[Mary Sue|Wesley]], and Geordi now runs the fleet museum and has raised an impressive engineer himself. The series is practically dedicated to ignoring or fixing the last two seasons of Picard, if not the last quarter-century of TNG-adjacent movie and television media, and somewhat succeeds. {{Spoiler|They even bring back the right bridge, even if the excuse as to why was [[Fail|pulled out of their butts]]…}}<br />
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The only sore spot of the series is the latest ''Enterprise'' at the end of the series, [[Derp|which looks like a horrible kitbash of the original Constitution]], and compares very unfavorably to its predecessor in the looks department. Other than that, it provides what was sorely missing these last few decades: a good send-off for the Next Generation ''after'' 'All Good Things'. <br />
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==''Strange New Worlds''==<br />
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An attempt to put the golden goose back together on the operating table. After seeing the reception of having Captain Pike in Discovery, Paramount decided to simply return to the pilot cast of The Original Series with its fingers crossed that the old bird will resume replicating gold eggs.<br />
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It's good so far. It's fun and optimistic, which is a genuine relief after the grimderp of Discovery and Picard, but isn't afraid to occasionally go in dark places and present genuinely difficult philosophical problems. We'll have to see if it holds up, the science can be very stupid even by ''Trek'' standards, and if you liked the Gorn you'll hate what they're doing with them, but overall, so far so good. The season 1 finale is a treat; it's a retelling of the classic episode "Balance of Terror" but with Pike in command of the ''Enterprise'' instead of Kirk, and they recreate everything from the blocking to the dialogue to the cheesy zooms of the original episode. It's pretty awesome.<br />
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==''Lower Decks''==<br />
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{{topquote|I FAILED THE KOBAYASHI MARU SEVENTEEN TIMES MOTHERFUCKER!|Brad Boimler}}<br />
Mike McMahan is doing this one, him being the person behind the Rick & Morty cartoon. It's set in 2380 on the ''Cerritos'', concentrating (like the TNG episode of the same name) on the grunts working in the bowels of the ship. The main characters are ensigns and low-level lieutenants: Tendi is a perky Orion science office-in-training with massive insecurities about her species. Rutherford is Geordi LaForge with less experience and a Manchurian Candidate backstory. Mariner is basically just reboot-era Kirk down to the captain's kid, broken home complex. They are all the bane (and close friends) of the worrisome Boimler, the Starfleet straight-man who could be the next Picard if he stopped worrying about getting promoted so much.<br />
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Fans feared this would focus on lowbrow "humor" episodes with technobabble nonsense stapled to it just like McMahan's other works; and they were half right, although the technobabble is here honestly ''less'' annoying than in mainline Trek, on account it's not being taken seriously. But over the first season the show found its footing. To enjoy it, you just have to embrace the likely reality that a few decks below all of Picard's noblebright ready room monologues there were hundreds of ignoble, corner-cutting crewmen who just want to get to the end of their shift. It's entertaining, but in a "The Bashir & Garak Show" sort of way. John de Lancie reprises Q, and Frakes returns as Riker, now in command of the USS Titan. <br />
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By the end of the first season, the consensus had formed that Lower Decks is probably the best addition to the franchise since the Rick Berman era ended, with a much better understanding of what Star Trek IS (to its fans) than either Discovery or Picard. The second and third seasons moved the series towards an overarching plot. The Pakleds, a joke throwaway species from TNG, are fittingly brought back as the story's big bad. The Pakleds are basically Ork [[Freebooterz]], an entire species of idiotic space pirates. Brutally kunnin they are not; their "plans" are worthy of Douglas Adams. Mariner gets beaten with the nerfhammer for the middle of season 2 and occasionally in season 3 making her much more tolerable. Meanwhile, the story of Rutherford's cybernetics gradually unfolds as the result of a conspiracy in Starfleet. Along the way, there's an episode ripping off James Cameron's ''Avatar'', a session of Klingon Dungeons & Dragons, space-faring Renfaire fanatics, and Mariner and Boimler having to work the Starfleet booth at job fair.<br />
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In summary, the first season was rife with teething issues (but show me a Trek series which wasn't) and directly appeals to people who loved Star Trek but now believe that "Star Trek is dead, Jim". Second and third season are more appealing to Trekkies who aren't afraid to laugh at the thing they like.<br />
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'''Outstanding Episodes: '''Crisis Point (Mariner hijacks Boimler's holodeck simulation of the bridge crew and turns it to a Star Trek film holodeck program); The Spy Humongous (Captain Freeman is sent to negotiate with the Pakleds while a Pakled spy pretends to be an asylum seeker. Answers the question how the various dangerous plot devices are disposed of); Where Pleasant Fountains Lie (Boimler and Mariner crash on a desert planet escorting an evil AI, Mariner gets well and truly nerfed. The ship's chief engineer turns out to be a prince of aforementioned Renfaire-fanatics); I, Excretus (The crew undergoes a holodeck drill program of various situations from past serieses. Boimler gets to shine in classic Starfleet activities); Grounded (Season 3 pilot. Mariner is convinced her mother is being railroaded in court and more evidence is needed from dry-docked Cerritos); Reflections (Rutherford races his past self in his subconciousness and his repressed memories start surfacing. Mariner and Boimler work a Star Fleet recruitment booth at a fair leading to the section quote.); Hear all, Trust Nothing (DS9 homage episode guest staring Armin Shimmerman and Nana Visitor. Tendi deals with her species embarrasment); Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus (Boimler desings a Star Trek film, but derails it almost immediately for himself and Mariner. Basically an RP sesssion where half of the players derail and split off).<br />
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'''Episodes to avoid:''' Envoys; Temporal Edict; Veritas; A Mathematically Perfect Redemption.<br />
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=='' Prodigy''==<br />
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Here for sake of completeness, an animated show targeting a younger audience that debuted in 2021 on Nickleodeon (alongside Paramount+). The show follows a collection of misfit (mostly young) aliens on a mining colony that find hidden in a crystalline planetoid the USS ''Protostar'', a Starfleet ship with a hologram of Janeway to aid the collection of "Cadets" as they escape and venture out into an galaxy full of adventure while the owner of the mining colony and his robot minion try to take the ''Protostar'' for themselves.<br />
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So far it has a decent critical reception. If you want Star Trek which is noblebright and not ironic and are fine with a PG rating, this may be worth a look.<br />
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= Films =<br />
We're putting these at the end in the (unlikely) event someone does a movie that's in the non-Abrams canon ever. As a general rule, the even-numbered ones aren't complete shit.<br />
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* '''''Star Trek: The Motion Picture''''': AKA: The Slow Motion Picture, or the Motionless Picture. A giant space whatsit is flying towards Earth, the mostly-retired crew has to go figure out what's going on and stop it. Old school sci-fi geeks like the ideas, but terrible pace and interminable special effects that were clearly meant to capitalize on ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' while failing to understand what people like about that movie kill them dead for everyone else. Besides the uniform worn by Kirk, the uniforms also look like pajamas. So no wonder they were changed only a movie later. Features an entirely bald female alien who is [[What|so good at sex that she has to swear an oath not to get it on with the crew]]. Really. This is canon.<br />
* '''''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''''': As Kirk starts to feel his age, a one-off villain from the show played by Ricardo "Corinthian Leather" Montalban makes a dramatic reappearance: [[Meme|KKKHHHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!]] Widely considered the best of all the films, and the only one considered a straight up great film, no qualifiers. If you haven't seen it, see it. So good many later movies in the franchise just try to rip it off instead of finding their own identities. Interesting fact: due to time constraints, Shatner and Montalban weren't available at the same time. So the entire script was written so that Kirk and Khan never need to meet face-to-face. But you'd never notice if it weren't pointed out to you. Roddenberry screeched autistically and objected to some of the actions of his characters, including Kirk shooting a [[Enslavers|brain eating space parasite]] that had literally just emerged from the head of his friend rather than "[[Noblebright|keeping it for study]]." The fact that his strongest objections came to the most win of the films says a great deal about his depreciating value to the franchise around the TNG era. <br />
* '''''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock''''': Where is Spock? ''He's on Genesis.'' ALL AHEAD FULL! Not really bad, just mediocre and run of the mill compared to the superior films that surround it. It was also saddled with the misfortune of undoing some of the previous film's more-daring decisions, and having its only daring decision reversed a film later. If you had to say that any film broke the "odd numbers suck" rule, it would be this one. This was Leonard Nimoy's first attempt at directing a full film, having asked for the seat in exchange for agreeing to play Spock again. <br />
* '''''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''''': The crew of the ''Enterprise'' travels back in time to save the whales. No, literally and unironically. Scott tries to talk to a computer through the mouse, Spock nerve-pinches a punk on a bus in San Francisco, and somehow it works, creating something perhaps not quite in the genre intended but a classic in sci-fi dramedy. ''The Voyage Home'' is a zany comedy romp beloved by the general public and fandom alike, leaving only the most intractable fanbois to bitch and moan. Nimoy directed this one too but there was a contract stipulation that Shatner would get whatever Nimoy got, thus leading to...<br />
* '''''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier''''': aka. the film that should never have been made, even by many die-hard Trekkies. Kirk's actor got his spin behind the camera as agreed and wanted a "thought-provoking movie" after the more comical IV. Good intention, but the abysmal execution leaves the audience facepalming at the very best. Between the weak script, the 'moral' of the story ('faith can be abused by unscrupulous people', for the record) delivered with all the subtlety of a punch to the face, poor (or deliberately campy) special effects, uninspired performances by the actors (who for the most part didn't like the script as it had them behave against everything that had come before and betray Kirk) and Kirk's screentime-hogging (despite being behind the camera); this movie is by far the absolute worst of the original six and simply not worth watching... but it's just dumb and hapless, not dead and soulless like what's to follow from other crews.<br />
* '''''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''''': The Space Cold War ends amidst searing mystery and drama. The sendoff for the original cast, except Kirk who got a worse send-off a movie later. Gene Roddenberry watched it, hated it, and was going to seek legal advice but died a week later. And good riddance to that, because it's a pretty sweet political thriller if your hippie-panties don't get into a twist at the thought that the Federation isn't a perfect place full of perfect people. Press F for Christopher Plummer, second best ham in ''Trek'' history. After the previous movie's painful directing, Sulu's actor only agreed to come back if he got to be captain of his own ship. He did, but Shatner still found a way to steal his thunder.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Generations''''': Malcolm McDowell blows up planets to get into a magic space ribbon to live forever, no it does not make any more sense in context. Bringing the TNG crew to the silver screen was a good idea, but those were thin on the ground. An already-weak story hamstrung by its obsession with being daring and unconventional rather than good (aside from the bit where Worf gets promoted, that was great). Also, Kirk dies on the bridge in the most face-palming manner possible. Nimoy was offered the Director's chair, took one look at the script and demanded a rewrite which didn't happen so he refused to be involved. <br />
* '''''Star Trek First Contact''''': The ''TNG'' crew face off with the Borg to ensure the future happens. Lots of action, a script that sparks with energy and snark, and some quite effective performances make this the only good ''TNG'' movie (we don't blame you TNG cast). It is sadly also the only appearance of the Defiant on the big screen, doing a pretty decent job of fighting the Borg before the Enterprise E saves the day of course. The Borg Queen was also introduced here before Voyager ruined what could have been a good idea. (Or demonstrated the flaws in what was already a shaky idea, depending on who you ask, but either way she works well here in a way she won't later.) <br />
* '''''Star Trek Insurrection''''': If you thought the [[Avatar|Na'vi]] were a bunch of badly-written [[Mary Sue]]s, you ain't seen nothing yet! B-b-b-baby you ain't seen n-n-n-nothing yet! Also, Riker shaves his beard, and that's basically a war crime. Aged from terrible to forgettably bad thanks to that one scene of Picard and Data singing ''HMS Pinafore'' going memetic. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Nemesis''''': The last stand of the ''TNG'' cast, ending not with a bang but a whimper. It also required amending the even=good/odd=bad rule to "''Galaxy Quest'' counts as a ''Star Trek'' film so this one is also odd." Infamous for killing off Data (which was actually Brent Spiner's idea since he was starting to visibly age) and because the director hadn't watched a single episode of TNG, back when it was considered a bad thing not to know anything about the property you were adapting. It also killed Tom Hardy's career for half a decade, [[Grimdark|and nearly killed Hardy himself]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek''''' (2009): Alternate timeline "reboot" (sideboot?) with the original crew, albeit with new younger actors. Timey-wimey shit happens and old prime timeline Spock (reprised by old Leonard Nimoy) is hurled back in time along with a bunch of Romulan assholes. The dickbag Romulans begin fucking shit up, slightly altering history in a way that ensures gratuitous lens flare. [[skub| Skubtastic]], but at least fun to watch (if a literally gleaming, uncomplicated space action-adventure that doesn't delve deeply into the human condition ala II or deeply into idiocy ala V/Generations/Insurrection spells "fun" to you), which is more than ''most'' odd-numbered films can muster. If you still even count it as odd, without the ''Galaxy Quest''-amendment.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Into Darkness''''': Some [[edgy]] [[Fail|shit]]. The second of the alternate timeline ''Trek'' films. Terrorism, conspiracy and flapdoodle. Even more skubtastic, but generally considered worse than its predecessor, partially because (like ''Nemesis'') it tries to be a remake of ''The Wrath of Khan'' and having Kirk at his most punchable.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Beyond''''': Didn't totally suck; graded on a curve against the prior two. So - the good / bad / skub. Good: lots of good character stuff for the entire cast (including Kirk ''not'' being an asshat) and a decent story revolving around a race of mysterious space pirates trying to conquer a colony; handles IRL death of Leonard Nimoy excellently. Bad: villains are under-written, the action photography is poorly-lit shaky-cam horseshit, and the sound work is awful. Skub: Takei came out to complain that its Sulu was gay-married, since he'd played Sulu straight himself, so gay-Sulu was - Takei complained - an insult to his acting prowess (but: alternate universe, remember). If it's the last "Kelvin Timeline" movie, as it seems it will be, at least it ended on a note that wasn't total turd. Apparently we're getting a fourth one now, which was news to everyone including the cast.<br />
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= Novels =<br />
Like most long time franchises ''Star Trek'' has a massive line of books.<br />
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Most are effectively fanfics as nothing but the show and the movies is canon so the writers can do whatever they want. Partial exception to be made for the ''Deep Space Nine'' line; those are considered the "eighth season", justifiably, because they're actually quite good. Start with Andrew "Garak" Robinson's ''Stitch in Time''.<br />
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This changed after ''Nemesis'' since that movie was so godawful the producers calculated they might never have another show or movie in the "Prime" universe; also, several ''DS9'' actors started dropping off dead (so their fans never did get their kino). The writers got their shit together and wrote a group of books as a tight community very close to the shows. The relaunch novels are a continuation of the show they're about. Also there's the ''Titan'' book series which is about Riker and Troi getting their own ship, which happens to be staffed by every race in the Federation including living rocks, [[awesome|space dinosaurs]] that smell like [[meatbread|toast]] and a [[what|space cyborg ostrich]].<br />
<br />
All the relaunch lines eventually got brought together in Star Trek: Destiny, where the Borg go nuts and eat Pluto ... yeah... and then they finally get sick of the Federation somehow managing to not get assimilated all the time, so they finally just send every last cube they have with orders to Exterminatus the absolute SHIT out of the entire Alpha Quadrant. Pretty much every important character from TNG, DS9, and Voyager has to team up to stop them, and even then the Federation still gets its shit kicked in and winds up having to rely on a vaguely ridiculous deus ex machina to beat the Borg, and [[Grimdark|billions of people still die and dozens of planets are blown to shit]]. It was pretty insane.<br />
<br />
Then all the Federation's main enemies get together to form an anti-Federation and start poking the bear, all the while telling their allies that they're somehow warmongering dicks, Section 31 gets its cover blown in a big way, and Riker gets promoted to Admiral. Also, a lot of the newer TNG novels have been devoted to following up on one-shot aliens from the show, like the guys that sent out the probe that made Barclay super-smart and those fish monks that were abducting crewmembers for experiments. Now that the Picard show is coming out, though, this will all presumably be chucked in the dustbin. <br />
<br />
Picard show came. Dustbin. But! Some of the authors who'd been working on the novel continuity for the last twenty years weren't willing to let the Trek novelverse die an inglorious death like the original Star Wars EU, so they got together and wrote a trilogy to give it a proper send-off. The dickhead aliens from that TNG two-part episode with Mark Twain have worked out a way to blow up entire quantum realities and feast on the neural energy of the trillions of lives snuffed out in the process. The novelverse crews all team up to stop them and learn that they're in an alternate timeline created by the Borg during the events of ''First Contact'', and that their reality will have to be erased permanently in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the multiverse. Some of them are less happy about it than others, but they band together to fight the good fight one last time. Everyone fucking dies, of course, but in the end they defeat the dickhead aliens and save the day before being extinguished forever. Still a better note to go out on than Disney saying "lol none of the old EU is canon anymore, buy our new stuff nerds."<br />
<br />
= Video Games =<br />
Again, you're in /tg/, so /v/ comes LAST.<br />
<br />
There have been over 100 Star Trek video games to date but you'll be lucky for find more than [https://www.gog.com/news/6_classic_star_trek_games_ready_to_beam_up_new_players_and_fans_alike 6 on Steam or GOG] that aren't shitty mobile phone games. The vast, vast majority of Star Trek's games are abandonware with no way to purchase them, let alone get them from completely trustable sources. Also for a long time gamers had the (justified) prejudice that ''Trek'' games were shit and ''Wars'' games were good. This changed a bit after ''Elite Force'' redeemed ''Trek'' a bit and more so on the other end after EA ran ''Wars'' to the ground.<br />
<br />
* [https://www.gog.com/partner/startrek List of Star Trek games on GOG.com]<br />
<br />
=== Star Trek Online ===<br />
''Star Trek Online'' is the free-to-play online game built by Cryptic Studios and run by <s>Infogrames</s> <s>Atari</s> <s>Perfect World</s> Gearbox. With an official license CBS, recurring characters voiced by various Trek alumni, and a license to include references to both the reboot chronology (officially known as the "Kelvin Timeline") and recent shows, it's the closest existing thing to an "official" continuation of the "Prime" timeline, and contains history and fluff extending nearly 30 years from the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.<br />
<br />
Taking place in the 25th century (around the year 2409-2412), the Hobus supernova (the event that kicked Nero and Spock into the past alternate timeline during Star Trek 2009) has devastated the Romulans, resulting in the near-collapse and fragmentation of the Romulan Star Empire. This causes tensions between a resurgent Klingon Empire and the Federation which blows up into a war. Members of the new (and nicer) breakaway Romulan Republic play both sides in exchange for development aid.<br />
<br />
There are six possible starts for characters.<br />
*Current Starfleet - The standard starting point.<br />
*Klingons - You are a warrior of the Empire! Qapla' warrior! Today is a good day to die!<br />
*Romulan Republic - Part of a breakaway state after the destabilization of the Star Empire, you get a choice on which major faction (Starfleet or Klingon) you can join later on.<br />
*Dominion - Quite possibly the least played, you do start at level 60 (basically right at end game since levels cap at 65) and you pick which major faction to join too, but you're part of the Dominion so...<br />
*TOS Starfleet - With all the redshirt shenanigans that entails. A time anomaly and weird mission later and you're now in the standard timeline for STO.<br />
*DSC Starfleet - Similar to TOS, comes with a series of starting missions that are possibly the best any of the starts have. Drawback is that it is couched in the Discovery era.<br />
<br />
The game contains deep cuts from all over Trek lore, and answers questions about what happened to various key characters, including Data (took over the Enterprise-E, then retired), the Enterprise (now an even bigger ship run by Andorian captain Shon), and the Voyager crew (it took Harry Kim 30 years to make Captain lol). Raises barely-shown, unnamed, and otherwise obscure races to new prominence as big bad foes, including the Iconians (ancient aliens with god complexes who mutated into energy beings, currently live in Dyson Spheres and were only defeated by a predestination paradox), Tzenkethi (4-armed halo guys whose weak points are the FRONT of their shields), and Na'kuhl (the alien nazis from Enterprise as time-traveling terrorists who blame the Federation for a throwaway event that happened in TNG's beach episode).<br />
<br />
The two most recent major arcs center on a Klingon power struggle and civil between mostly TNG-era Klingons and some DSC-era Klingons (and you also go to Klingon Hell) followed very quickly by a Terran arc with heavy tie-ins to the original Star Trek movie's V'Ger. While the Klingon arc made some players more than a little irked due to not only its length (spread out over several "seasons" of play) and it's attempt to shoehorn in the controversial Discovery era, the Terran arc has been widely praised and brought back a very notorious character from the TNG era.<br />
<br />
Ostensibly free to play, but don't let that fool you... the ''not-so-micro''transactions are the only reason the lights stay on.<br />
<br />
That said, the game does get really decent updates and now is in a groove of running two seasonal events ("Summer on Risa" and "Q's Winter Wonderland") as well as a year-long campaign, as well as a smattering of smaller ones throughout the year. The seasonal ones tend to give you really good shit (often a ship, other times major equipment that can help define an entire character) but the year-long campaign gives you a choice of 3 options to pick from - a shit ton of in-game currency known as Lobi (enough to get a Lobi ship and a little extra), TWO regular Zen Store Tier 6 ships (these unlock for all characters, by the way), or one of the "Premium" ships (ones you typically get from lockbox drops). The only major stipulation is the Premium ship can't be one that has been released in that specific year, but previous years ones are fair game to grab.<br />
<br />
=== Bridge Commander ===<br />
A game that lets you feel like a captain. Very dated, but mods are very good. Has had a resurgence in recent years, with newer mods adding stuff from the newer shows.<br />
<br />
=== Elite Force ===<br />
There was an "Away Team" game that sucked and a "Voyager" game 1995-7 that got canceled. ''Elite Force'' was the ST:VOY away-team FPS game that critics didn't poop on, and it even got a sequel featuring much of the cast of ''TNG''.<br />
<br />
=== Starfleet Command ===<br />
''Starfleet Command'' was a series real time space battle games by Interplay based on the much older tabletop game Star Fleet Battles. It came out in 1999 and was followed by several sequels and expansions. Gameplay was much like ''Battlefleet Gothic'', but with the player only controlling one ship. SFC remains Interplay's best selling game, topping even ''Baldur's Gate''.<br />
<br />
=== Armada ===<br />
<br />
A series of low effort RTS's churned out by Activision in 2000. Tried to take on both ''Homeworld'' and ''Age of Empires'', both of which have recently gotten HD remakes and ''Armada'' hasn't so that should tell you all you need to know. However, for one of the first 3D model space RTS's it was surprisingly easy to mod, resulting in many ship mod packs being made for it.<br />
<br />
=== Legacy ===<br />
Starfleet Command dumbed down but with fancier graphics and the ability to fly in 3D. Features ships and protagonists from all 4 main series before the reboots so it has everything iconic. The Ultimate Universe mod has every single ship from all series before the reboot.<br />
<br />
==NonCanon==<br />
=== Homages ===<br />
Being such a long-running franchise with a wide audience, Star Trek has gained enough pop-culture recognition that it is often referenced in other works. In a few cases entire projects are made to pay homage to Star Trek. Here are some examples.<br />
<br />
==== Galaxy Quest ====<br />
A sci-fi/comedy film released in 1999, directed by Dean Parisot. Built around that ''Three Amigos'' premise of "What if the cast of ''Star Trek'' ended up on a real spaceship and had to actually do the shit they did in the show?", this one parodies science fiction films and series in general - ''Star Trek'' (and its fandom) in particular.<br />
<br />
The film stars big name actors including Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and the late Alan Rickman. The plot revolves around the cast of a defunct cult television series called Galaxy Quest (for example, Tim Allen played the Kirk/Shatner expy and Alan Rickman played the Spock/Nimoy expy). They're also suffering fatigue that mirrors the experiences of the actual Star Trek actors (Rickman's character is typecast with his Galaxy Quest character and laments it, similar to how these things happened to the late, great Leonard Nimoy).<br />
<br />
The cast are suddenly visited by actual aliens, the Thermians, who believe the series to be an accurate documentary (they have no concept of fiction and only the most bare bones idea of lying - which they only just learned about when the antagonist deceived them repeatedly) and seek their help. The Thermians take the actors with them, who find themselves involved in a very real, and dangerous, galactic conflict against the alien warlord, Sarris. Unlike the show where it all wrapped up quickly they struggle to learn about and relate to the aliens. Can these ordinary, flawed actors find greatness within themselves, and possibly personal redemption? (Spoiler: yes, and it is incredible.)<br />
<br />
Speaking of the aliens, in a witty nod to the "rubber forehead aliens" so common in Star Trek, the Thermians first appear to resemble humans with unnaturally pale skin and straight hair/cheap make-up, but that's revealed to be a holographic disguise and their true forms are squid-like. This does not stop one of the actors from striking up a relationship with a female alien anyway. [[/d/| Shine on you crazy /d/iamond!]]<br />
<br />
/tg/ deems this one of the best parodies ever made, and an affectionate love-letter to the franchise as a whole. If you disagree then feel free to consume a big bag of Saurian Swinoid dongs.<br />
<br />
''"Never give up, Never surrender!"''<br />
<br />
==== The Orville ====<br />
Now has [[The Orville|its own page]].<br />
<br />
===Fanfics===<br />
We ''could'' point you to An Archive Of Our Own but, for those (few) of you not keen to watch Kirk and Spock probe Uranus, here are some of the better noncanonical Trek you might want to watch.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek: Renegades====<br />
Kickstarter Trek. The makers submitted their made-for-TV movie pilot to CBS in an attempt to get it made into a legit on-the-air series (and by god it shows), but they were not successful. As a result, while the project limped along for a few years afterward, it has good and bad in equal measure. As a non-official product it also cannot be considered canon. Some characters are actually interesting (about time we saw more of the Breen!) while others are pure Mary Sues (including a male Seven of Nine with a built-in Borg-gun/personal shield/fully-functional hand). Some of the ideas are interesting while others are boring or already-been-done. The CGI is all Hollywood-quality, but the practical effects are okay at best. <br />
It's obvious that they made this without knowing that they were going to be able to make a TV show or not, and tried to cram the sort of build-up and intrigue we saw in DS9 into a span of 90 minutes. For now though, it's decidedly meh, and probably a dead project as well since it hasn't been mentioned on the maker's website in over a year as of late 2019.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek Continues====<br />
Of all the offerings listed here, Star Trek Continues is BY FAR the closest in theme and tone to the original 1960's series. Indeed, this is the whole point: from its inception, this fan-funded project was intended to represent a what-if "4th Season" of the Original Series, ending with the conclusion of the Enterprise's 5-year mission. It is surprisingly and at times ''delightfully'' watchable, with strong stories, consequences and arcs that carry over to later episodes, tons of attention to detail, unexpected cameos, and a cast that really came together, particularly in later episodes. It also delicately navigated a line between viewing female characters through the lens of a show that was rooted in 1960's culture while also not treating them as weak children dependent on men for protection. Star Trek Continues successfully concluded its "season" with all 11 episodes gradually released from 2014 to 2018, to heaps of industry awards and wide praise (including a personal endorsement from Gene Roddenberry's son, who said his father would've approved).<br />
<br />
===Parodies===<br />
====Futurama====<br />
Matt Groening, that mad lad, got almost all the original actors in a ''Futurama'' episode to [re-]enact a ''Trek'' episode on behalf of an alien fan. But not Doohan, so "Scotty" is replaced by "Welshie". Who gets horribly killed and has his corpse zapped whenever the alien loses his temper.<br />
<br />
====Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning====<br />
Another parody, parodying not only ''Star Trek'' but ''Babylon 5'' as well. The seventh in a series fan movies released in 2005, it's about Captain Pirk builds a starship called CPP ''Kickstart'', allies with Russia and takes over the world. He wants to take over more planets but the ships of his P-Fleet aren't fast enough to travel outside the Solar system. A maggot hole opens and it leads to an alternate reality. Pirk wants to take over the Earth of this reality, which leads to an [[awesome]] space battle between the P-Fleet and the fleet of the space station Babel 13 led by Johnny Sherrypie. The movie features some of the best special effects ever put in a sci-fi movie, which is pretty impressive, considering that this is an amateur film with a very low budget and was rendered in five years in someone's bedroom. The film is spoken in Finnish but subtitles are available for a wide variety of languages, including Klingon. They also made [https://web.archive.org/web/20070828010927/http://rpg.starwreck.com/ a role-playing game based on it], where your character [[Truenamer|becomes more incompetent]] [[Page 42|as he levels up]].<br />
<br />
= Criticisms =<br />
Also known as "plot holes", "what an idiot moments", and myriad of other names.<br />
* Cybernetics, as in prosthetics and artificial tools instead of Synthetic lifeforms like Data. There are various stories where physical injuries and handicaps are a big deal and used as allegories for issues like the treatment of the disabled or even euthanasia, but some could argue that even those cases special enough to get an episode shouldn't be an issue in a galaxy where technology has advanced light years and replicators are widespread. Besides whatever in-episode exception is given, this is partly explained by the various factions generally having ''some'' respect for the sanctity and autonomy of the organic form or just being flat-out better than anything technology can recreate, but sometimes it can seem ''awfully'' tempting to <s>magic</s> science up a series of sensors, implants or dermal armor that can give you the durability of a [[Men of Iron|Soong-class android]] or the spectral analysis capabilities of Geordi's visor. There's seldom an in-universe budget issue for this (replicators construct anything out of anything; only mass matters, not cost), though there are some out-of-universe issues for both the budget ("We can't afford more styrofoam tech props!") and plot ("Shut up about how the engineer invented a new engine component last season which would perfectly solve this problem.")<br />
** The technological arms race might also stand out depending on how you interpret the factions who generally lack the Federation's restraint. While Klingons may value the power found in their strong bat'leth arm and the purity of a warrior's physical form, some might argue that their obsession with warrior pride and strength should mean they have [[Big Mek|war engineers]] dedicated to creating the biggest, most badass powered armor with the biggest phasers and blades. And if Romulans and Cardassians are so ruthlessly ambitious, shouldn't their agents have hyper-stealthy scanners and miniaturized electronic warfare suites for better spying? Granted, one counter to that is "because the tech would inevitably be detected and reverse-engineered by Star Trek technobabble, spawning a perpetual cybernetics arms race", but still. And then you get into the Borg, [[Meme|who have no such weaknesses]], and it opens a whole can of worms.<br />
** Keep in mind, that in Federation, only ''biological'' augmentation is illegal (like [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like Khan Noonien Singh). ''Cybernetic'' augmentation is incredibly obscure and rarely seen, but '''is''' legal ([[Artificial Intelligence]] is also legal). And on top of that, Federation pays respect to other ideologies and cultures. As such, if Federation citizen decided to turn himself into robust tank-like full-conversion cyborg with lots of badass gadgets and systems - it would not cost him anything (replicators + post-scarcity economy) - while others would remark how strange he is, but not impose any penalties/punishments/sanctions, and would respect him for his incredible capabilities (for there's no guy in town half as massive!). Most other civilizations/nations have even less restrictions on [[Transhumanism]]/augmentation than Federation has - that is, most of them would also allow ''biological'' augmentation - and they also have replicators.<br />
* Everyone look like some variant of human, without any variety:<br />
** All aliens are just humans with slight alterations of face features, like ridges on their foreheads. Aliens, what would so much as look like other members of ''Homo'' Genus (think difference between modern humans and neanderthals), are very rare. And ''truely alien'' aliens are practically non-existent. Yet mathematically, "non-metamorph/spapeshifter aliens evolving to look perfectly like humans" has so small chance, as to be completely implausible - and '''every''' alien race independently evolving to look like humans is '''absurd'''.<br />
** Almost all cyborgs/robots are human-shaped. Almost all of ''those'' are human-looking, with artificial skin and such. Human shape is not very effective for most tasks - and as such, one could expect vaguely-humanoid (e.g. like [[Dreadnought]] or [https://helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/Hulk Cyberstanian Hulk]) and non-humanoid (e.g. tank-shaped "box on threads with rotating turret") robots/cyborgs to appear from time to time - yet such things are practically non-existent in ''Star Trek'' (IRL, it's the other way around - lots of industrial robots and "boxes on threads", and no synthetic humans). What's more, Borg are partially-mechanical cyborgs, clinging to their ragged flesh for no discernible reason, looking more humanlike than [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] members are - while logically, due to having Replicators, Borg could make themselves fully-robotic (with, at most, only nervous system bein organical; everything else would rather be replaced with strong and durable ultra-tech machinery) '''''and''''' field large vaguely-humanoid/non-humanoid units (strong and tough - and since they're big, they can have bigger brains/computers, cue being smarter).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld weapons stronger/bigger than rifle. Such as LMG and RPG-sized weapons, for tough enemies. There is the Worfzooka from Insurrection ([http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/Ground/Misc-ST.html what is downgraded equivalent of "thumper" grenade launcher]; the '''proper''' anti-tank weapons were never seen or mentioned anywhere).<br />
** More about that [http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Database/Query-ST.php?Series=TNG&Category=Realism&EpName=&Keywords=&Quotes=&Analysis=&Submit=Submit there], [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tactics/ there] and [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/ there]. ''They even don't have grenades''.<br />
* Lack of ''any'' armor. So much as making jumpsuits out of futuristic ballistic (or at least sharp-resistant) materials would make life easier (e.g. Klingons would be forces to switch for guns, as melee weapons couldn't penetrate even such light futuristic armor), while having same weight, cost (replicators, after all!) and being concealable as clothing (as it would have same weight ''as'' clothing); in fact, such protective clothing should completely replace normal clothing - for it has same cost/weight, but is actually protective. That's before going on to ''any'' sort of "proper" armor; no equivalents of [[Power Armor]] and [[Carapace Armour]] - even no equivalents of [[Flak Armor]]. Even those not going into direct combat would logically need to wear armor - due to chance of enemy teleporting on ship, and due to ship's machinery constantly exploding into dangerous shrapnel. There are two exceptions, there was some armor used by security forces in the movies and armored vests in Discovery (though, neither are good at protecting from gunfire).<br />
** Similarly, lack of ''any'' environmental protection. So much as wearing gas masks/rebreathers or [[Space Station 13|breath masks with emergency oxygen tanks]] would make life a lot easier. Logically, with ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies, even the lesser space-faring civilizations (like most Federation's neighbors) should be capable of creating protective suits that are as comfortable to wear as clothing while protecting from vacuum and hostile atmospheres. And on top of that, armor mentioned above could also be sealed work as protection from environmental threats of all sorts. Yet [[Derp|everyone go around in unarmored jumpsuits, no matter where they are - be it unexplored planet with potentially hostile atmosphere/biosphere, damaged ship where systems leak and depressurizations happen, or warzone where enemies use chemical/biological/radiological weapons]]. [[Irony|All that, ironically, makes goody-two-shoes Federation '''''more backwards''''' than]] modern humans (submariners and jet pilots wear rebreathers, astronauts wear emergency space suits) and ''[[Imperium of Man]]'', of all people (many [[Astra Militarum|guardsmen]] wear gas masks and hazmat suits, [[Space Marine]] armor doubles as emergency space suits). What little environmental protection suits are there in ''Star Trek'', are very unreliable and constantly tear - despite the fact, that ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies could allow to make sharp-proof, bullet-proof, phaser-proof (or at least phaser-resistant) reliable space suits, what would weigh and cost just as much as normal ones (because replicators!).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld heavy explosive weapons. Like, for example, miniature antimatter munitions, for when you ''really'' need to blow something up (imagine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) Davy Crockett], but with '''antimatter''' instead of low-grade fission nuke). Heavy/Powered Armor from point above could help to "use that thing and not die from blast/radiation".<br />
* Lack of Ground Vehicles. If you are exploring an alien planet, you'd want to be able to get around it's surface quickly. But basically you're limited to Spaceships and Walking.<br />
* Lack of Boarding/Breaching Vehicles. If you are not tank-like cyborg, and you're fighting inside spaceship (or other cramped place) - you'd want something compact, yet equipped with lots of armor and weapons, preferably remote-controlled and flying. A "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Descent room] [https://www.old-games.ru/game/103.html superiority] starfighter", or [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2729877778&searchtext=Breaching+drone breaching] [https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=244850&searchtext=Breaching+drone&childpublishedfileid=0&browsesort=textsearch&section= drone] variants. Such machine would be many times stronger than [[Power Armor]]/small [[Battlesuit]] soldiers - not to mention infantrymen; it would be impervious to small-arms fire, and resistant to anti-vehicular weapons. But instead, everyone are limited to "walking around, without any armor, and without anything bigger than rifle".<br />
** To understand, how scary such remote-controlled "box of death" or "room superiority starfighter" would be with Star Trek tech... It would technically be a very small spaceship. Made of heavy spaceship-grade armor, resistant to phaser cannons and anti-matter rockets, to the point of being able to take hits from vehicles bigger than itself. With deflector shields on top of that. And instead of 25x184 gatling autocannons and 200mm rocket launchers (what is ''already'' overkill for anything human-sized), it would be armed with '''''ginormous phaser [auto]cannons and antimatter missiles (!)'''''. And it quickly flies on futuristic engines, far stronger than any modern variant of ion or hydrogen engine; so much as it's engine exhaust trust can turn unarmored infantryman into pile of charcoal and fling it across the ship. It's a non-living vehicle, with ton of immunities and resistances that entails. And if it's outfitted with AI (instead or in addition to remote-control system), it gets all advantages of that (absolute timing and precision, intuitive fast mathematics, reaction speed rivaling that of CIWS system, etc). It has virtually limitless operating time, due to working on anti-matter reactor (or something comparable); if it's destroyed, it violently explodes (due to anti-matter reactor and anti-matter ammunition detonation). It may also be outfitted with various tools (e.g. repair tools and manipulators), or even ''portable replicator''. And most of it's opponents are enemies with tiny peashooters and useless chunks of sharp iron, what can't even scratch the machine's paintjob. Have fun.<br />
* And [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MisappliedPhlebotinum why not use teleporter offensively]? Make big antimatter bomb (whatever warheads your torpedoes use; the stronger explosive - the better), set it to explode after teleporting (timer, and other sensors), then teleport it onto enemy ship. Then watch the explosion of epic proportions, as '''enormous''' antimatter warhead (at least 2 meters big in every direction - possibly, so big what it fills all available space on ship's bridge; the bigger can fit inside your teleporter - the better) explodes inside enemy ship. Even tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles can't survive '''that''' much of explosion; ship's systems will also be utterly devastated. There are no people out there, who would be more destructive than antimatter bomb of same mass/size.<br />
**As a counterpoint, transporters can't work through shields and a variety of other things can stop transporters from working including radiation, electromagnetic activity and suchlike. Transporter Inhibitors have been mentioned and shown repeatedly.<br />
* And why there are no ship defenses? For example, so much as "phaser autocannon turret equivalent in size to gatling autocannon" would be great at repelling any boarding infantrymen, and could help against tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles. That's before going on to any bigger defensive systems; the only thing what ''sufficiently big'' turret can't handle, is '''massive antimatter bomb''' (read above). Yet instead, everyone foolishly leave their ships defenseless, despite knowing what enemies ''have'' teleports and ''will'' board their ships.<br />
* Planet of the Hats. Not a problem unique to Trek, but it's very acute here. As mentioned a lot of species in Star Trek are rather one note. For the Klingons it's all about being a [[Proud Warrior Race|Honorable Warrior]], for the Romulans it's all about covert actions, intrigue and political plotting, for the Ferengi it's all about making money and being greedy, etc. Those are the big species and most Species-Of-The-Week are even more one-note than that, such as the species who's hat is being big-game hunters, playing board games or aggressive bartering. Admittedly there's only so much you can fit into part of a 45 minute long TV show and there are some ideas that work better than others, but even so building an entire civilization/country around interpretive dance is pretty dumb.<br />
** Besides, there is large shortage of "atypical" characters, whose characteristics are different from their species' average. Such as a Ferengi guy who isn't greedy trader; Ferengi guy who is militaristic conqueror a-like Conquistadors, who prefers to enslave and "take something forcibly" instead of buying; Romulan soldier/special-agent who is a militaristic gun nut and fan of direct "blow everything up!" actions; Klingon pirate/rebel/marauder who is a militaristic warlike callous asshole without any sense of honor or morals (i.e. unfettered in his desire to conquer and destroy); Human who is hulking, augmented to the point of being non-humanoid, [[Cyborg]] [[Space Marine]], [[Transhumanist]] and conqueror, who tries to "save Federation from it's own stupidity", reverse-engineers Borg tech, "recruits" Borgs (by disconnecting them from [[Hive Mind]] and connecting to himself) and constantly intervenes everywhere.<br />
* Budget problems. Most factions (e.g. Federation lives in post-scarcity economy) have access to Replicators ([https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS_Prime_Directive#Star_Fleet_Universe_Tech_Levels among other things], what clearly classify it as [[Soft Science Fiction]]); they can turn anything into anything, as long as they have supply of energy and bulk matter. Naturally, there ''are'' large supply of energy (from Antimatter reactors), and lots of bulk matter (planets, asteroids, etc). Therefore, "budget limitations" as we know it cease existing, and anyone can take as much big-advanced gear as he wants; from robust full-conversion-cyborg body, to big guns and power armor, to portable replicator, to all sorts of gadgets. Yet characters behave as if they are on strict budget limits - usually coming on missions while grossly under-equipped (only having non-protective uniforms and phaser-pistols); what frequently resulted in problems ([https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction that even got highlighted on TvTropes]).<br />
** In particular they have goofy things like having civilizations in the same technological ball-park of the Federation capture people to mine stuff with pick axes or push mine carts of ore into furnaces like this is the 19th century; even though mining machines like tunneling shield, power tools, and self-moving carts are a lot cheaper than slaves, and should already be invented.<br />
*** Generally, there's shortage of "Sane Evil"/"Pragmatic Evil" types - "those who are ready to do any heinous act, but only as long as it furthers their goal, who are capable of doing good things if it furthers their goal, and who don't do evil if it doesn't further their goal". Most villains in series are [[Grimderp]] [[Stupid Evil]] types who do bad things just to show how evil they are. All while "Pragmatic Evil" types are more interesting, more realistic, more common IRL, and rise many good philosophical question by virtue of ''arguably being more effective than good guys'' ("So you would rather be good yet inefficient, or amoral yet efficient?", "Moral is subjective - yet our system is more effective - and from our point of view, we're perfectly moral", "Your 'morals' and 'ethics' are just handcuffs and shackles you imposed on yourself, what slow down your civilization - like those dumb Klingon codes of honor", etc).<br />
* Numerous other errors (some [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction highlighted on TvTropes]). Such as exploding instrument panels (could be fixed with batteries and wireless connection; and on top of that, no one wears armor, not even flak armor), holodeck problems (mishaps by creating physical, dangerous holograms - yet never gets used for any actually practical ways, like "conjure cannon fodder out of thing air, and beam it to enemy ship"), no computer backups, no transporter tests (teleport a sealed container of water up and down - then teleport a mouse up and down - and check if both are normal - and samples are to be beamed up separately; no one did that), no environmental protection, no physical access doors in brig, shuttles what poorly fly in atmosphere, cargo working in 1G gravity (despite low-gravity being more productive), no space suits or other protective gear, and some other errors.<br />
* The Prime Directive. [[TL;DR]] Starfleet is forbidden from interacting with pre-warp civilizations, and main characters are Starfleet members. In broad strokes it's not a bad idea since we don't want to be Space Cortés enslaving people to mine dilithium and imposing our religion on them at laser-point, and Star Trek has always leaned towards more liberal ideas of respecting the freedom and autonomy of other cultures instead of intervening "because we know best", to say nothing of when time travel and mirror dimensions are involved and you have to preserve the sanctity of the timeline (unless the point of the episode is to FIX what's wrong to get back to your universe). Nor do the Feddies want to accidentally stunt the growth of a civilization by becoming their gods or making them dependent on them and thus incapable of advancing by themselves. The problem is that it comes up when civilizations face some major danger like a killer disease, geological disaster or the Schmazis going around genociding everyone on the planet who's not forest green and the federation's official response is "rules are rules, can't interfere" as millions suffer and die in all sorts of gruesome preventable ways (including ''pre-warp Earth''; they don't care about suffering/deaths of ''their own people'' -but this particular problem comes with the huge caveat of temporal interference as playing god on someone else is one thing, erasing yourself from existence is another-). Many species and civilizations have suffered extinction or collapse because of this (and in many cases, that resulted or could result in evil aggressive post-warp civilization emerging on such unattended planets), and many problems could be easily avoided if not for Prime Directive. Basically, it's a case of a noble ideal which severely hampers the heroes because there's [[Lawful Stupid|very little room for nuance]].<br />
** Such passivity also commonly extends to post-warp civilizations as well. The Federation's strict policy of non-interference in foreign affairs (barring explicit permission or evidence of interference) has led to many non-aligned races like the Bajorans treating the Federation with open distrust (the Bajorans fought a guerilla campaign against the Cardassians, who massacred and enslaved them for years without the Federation lifting so much as a finger, and many cynically see them as allies of convenience who only backed them up when they had something they wanted) or foregoing several opportunities to shift the balance of power in the Federation's favour (the Klingon Civil War is a prime example of that, as not only would have military support for Gowron's faction have the cost the Federation nothing, but Gowron's enemies sought to undo the peace treaty the Federation had with the Klingons for decades while bringing them closer to the Romulans, the only other faction that could meet the Federation on somewhat equal footing) simply because it would be ideologically inconvenient to do so. Then again, the Federation (or at least the highbrow captains and admirals introduced to show they're not all like our Noblebright heroes) has a nasty tendency to overlook the reality on the ground in an imperfect and volatile galaxy, because as Sisko says, "''It's easy to be a saint in paradise!''"<br />
*** Of course, to be fair, interfering in galactic politics ''does'' set a bad precedent as well, as it would paint the Federation as a big bully who strongarms their way into your messes to tell you what to do for their benefit, which would actively harm not just their ideals but their hope of encouraging more peaceful contact in line with those ideals. Heck, whenever we had episodes where the Federation ''did'' launch covert operations to manipulate things to their advantage, it's usually called out as a self-serving and hypocritical move, even if it's absolutely necessary at the time. But as Sisko also said: "''I can live with it.''"<br />
** Of course, we're /tg/. We can appreciate the [[Warhammer 40,000|in-your-face over-the-top appeal]] of [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|being Space Cortés]] and taking an active hand in shaping the destiny of the stars, righting wrongs and kicking ass like a pulp action serial by channeling your inner [[Buck Rogers]]. And while normally [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Terran%20Empire this tack] is shown as a ''bad'' thing, sometimes you just wanna [[Star_Trek_Alternate_Timelines#Commie_Track_Of_War;_Variant_1|fire up your warp drive and get shit done]]. After all, if you're already in a post-scarcity civilization, why enslave the natives when you can get rid of the genuine threat (that ideally is truly more than they can handle), move on and leave 'em to keep trying on their own while giving them a preview of what it means to cherish the sanctity of life?<br />
<br />
= Would you like to know more? =<br />
And oh Lordy, is there more...<br />
*[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/ Main Memory Alpha: A ''Star Trek'' wiki]<br />
*[http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/ Main Memory Beta: The flip-side of Memory Alpha for the less than official stuff]<br />
*[http://sfdebris.com/ SF Debris: opinionated episode reviews, has some non ''Trek'' stuff as well]<br />
*[http://www.letswatchstartrek.com/ Let's Watch Star Trek]: A curated list of the episodes for newcomers - which episodes to watch or skip.<br />
<br />
[[Category: Television]]<br />
[[Category:Star Trek]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Trek&diff=1003308Star Trek2025-06-24T11:17:50Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Criticisms */</p>
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<div>[[File:Enterprise.jpg|thumb|500px|right|If you aren't already hearing the theme song you might not belong here.]]<br />
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{{Topquote|Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!|James T. Kirk, <s>third</s> captain of the starship USS Enterprise}}<br />
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{{Topquote|[[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For the duration of this mission the prime directive is rescinded.]]|Kathryn Janeway, captain of the starship USS Voyager}}<br />
<br />
'''''Star Trek''''' is a multimedia science-fiction series and one of the cornerstones of nerdy media properties (in fact, Klingon is the most learned fictional language, rivalled only by Tolkien's elvish in popularity), and one of the few to crossover into mainstream popularity (alongside ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and a few others). It's also one of the longest-running science fiction franchises, as it began when the the first episode of The Original Series aired in 1966, and since then has had over 50 years of geek history spanning several generations. Needless to say, it's had a huge influence on all things sci-fi, and, by extension, [[/tg/]].<br />
<br />
Originally, ''Star Trek'' was [[noblebright]] beyond noblebright and, in many ways, was the polar opposite of ''[[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K's]]'' [[grimdark]]. The more recent reboot films, however, have taken a much, ''much'' more grimdark tone, which is delightfully [[skub]]tastic.<br />
<br />
= Games =<br />
You're in /tg/ = 1d4chan, so, we'll start with the games.<br />
<br />
There's been plenty of tabletop games and [[/v/|vidya gaems]] featuring ''Star Trek'' without being merchandising bullshit (see: themed ''[[Monopoly]]'' sets), including one of the earliest action multiplayer wargame: ''Netrek''. <br />
<br />
*'''''Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier''''' (1978) The very first Trek tabletop [[RPG]]. Written by, I shit you not, Michael Scott. Groggy (grokky?) as all hell, and due for an OSR.<br />
* '''''[[Starships & Spacemen]]''''' (1978 1e, 2013-present 2e) This was an attempt by a guy named Leonard Kanterman to make his own Star Trek RPG but since he didn't hold the license he had to alter the names and fudge the rules a bit so he wouldn't get sued. It appeared and died fairly quickly. It was later purchased by [[Goblinoid Games]] and heavily reworked to work more like their other game, [[Labyrinth Lord]] but different enough that converting things back and forth should take a minute or two longer than just dropping them in. The 2e version has some decent third party material at least.<br />
* '''''[[Star Fleet Battles]] (SFB)''''' (1979-) The crunchiest starship combat game you're ever going to find outside of a computer. Based on the original series and not any of the later series, for licensing reasons. Takes some liberties with the setting, which (combined with the aforementioned licensing) is why "''Star Trek''" isn't actually in the title. It's had its own video game spinoff in the form of Starfleet Command. The vidya series died when the last company owned by Interplay broke up in the early 2000s, but the original game is still published by its designer, Amarillo Design Bureau (formerly in conjunction with the defunct Task Force Games).<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Role Playing Game''''' (1982-1989) Made by [[FASA]], essentially ''[[Traveller]]''-lite, or a happier, shinier ''[[Rogue Trader]]''. Hasn't aged terribly well, what with having been made when the only canonical ''Star Trek'' materials to work with were the original and animated series, the first four films, and a couple of now non-canon novels. If you try to dust it off, expect tons of conflict with the rest of the show. Died as they were trying to update it for ''TNG'', because Paramount's corporate suits (surprise, surprise) had no idea what an RPG actually entailed and were worried about violence, and getting their cut, and... oh you know the drill by now. Welcome to the 80's.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator''''' (1983) FASA designed this, so it feels like ''[[Battletech]]'' but not as good.<br />
* '''''Prime Directive''''' (1993-2008) The most successful tabletop RPG line (but that's not saying much), it's actually still in print. Produced by Amarillo Design Bureau, so again no direct name-dropping of "''Star Trek''." Lasted as long as it did by constantly evolving, in Borg-like fashion, to adapt to the current zeitgeist. Has had 4 editions, with the second using [[GURPS]], the third using [[Wizards of the Coast|d20]], and the fourth [[d20 Modern]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek [[Card_Game|CCG]]''''' (1994-2007, 2011-2014, 2013-2015, 2018-) There's been a few of these, most notably the games released by [[Decipher]], but never globally popular. They also suffered from game balance problems from fans wanting their fave character, but needing extra rules for their quirks. There's also the problem of putting numbers to character stats, such as one game that asserted that [[Heresy|Picard having about twice the integrity of a Klingon pig]]. Later versions are "deck-building" games to try to cash in on the popularity of ''[[Dominion]]'' and ''[[Thunderstone]]''. And now virtual CCGs are the order of the day.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Next Generation Role Playing Game''''' (1998-2000) The next attempt, made by Last Unicorn Games. Won an Origins Award for best new game. Has a lot of extraneous skills, as expected of a 90's RPG, but does a good job of capturing the feel of the show. Includes core books for Deep Space Nine and The Original Series, with a planned Voyager book never released. Tons of fan material is available, including books for Enterprise, Voyager, and even the Captain Pike era. Authors of the original game have also finished and released adventures and sourcebooks online. Died an untimely death.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Red Alert''''' (2000) A Diskwars game themed to ''Star Trek''.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Roleplaying Game''''' (2002-2005) When [[Decipher]] had the CCG license, they decided, "What the hell, let's make an RPG, too." Some of the authors of the Last Unicorn Games RPG worked on this game. The systems are similar but different enough that they aren't compatible. The fluff focuses more on the Voyager era. A well made game but it's forgotten for a reason. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Online''''' (2010-) An [[MMORPG|MMO]]. Decent gameplay mechanics, especially starship combat. Storyline leaves something to be desired, especially when the ostensibly [[Noblebright|peaceful]] Federation trades shots at least once with every other faction in the galaxy. Is also sadly being screwed over by CBS who keeps retconning the series thus forcing the game to bend more and more unnaturally to fit in the new canon. Still, it's solid enough for an MMO and you can hit max level quick enough to get into the real meat of the game and join a Fleet (their version of a guild) and blow shit up.<br />
* '''''Call To Arms: Star Trek''''' (2011) [[Mongoose_Publishing|Mongoose]]'s license for ''Babylon 5'' expired, so they collaborated with Amarillo Design Bureau (the ''Star Fleet Battles'' guys), re-themed the game to Star Trek along with improving the system to make it more nifty. Less micro-management than SFB, and ships get some cinematic feats.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Expeditions''''' (2011) Ignore the tie-ins to the movie, Reiner Knizia designed this. Explore the gameboard, flip over missions, try to have the proper crew to get victory points.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Fleet Captains''''' (2011) Tile flipping, exploring, and spaceships fighting over resources<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Attack Wing''''' (2013-) [[WizKids]] license the flightpath system from [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and adds ''Star Trek'' to the mix, [[Skub]] ensues. The game has been consistently plagued with balance issues, to the point that the rules errata is more than ten times longer than the actual rules. The actual current rules for things like the Borg special movement and fighter squadrons are completely different than the rules as written.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Ascendancy''''' (2016-) 4X table top boardgame from GaleForce9. Most of the races are represented, though the base set only has the Federation, Klingons and Romulans. Andorians, Vulcans, Cardassians and Ferengi can be purchased as expansions. There is even a Borg expansion that turns the game semi-coop as everyone tries real hard not to be assimilated. <br />
* '''''[[Star Trek Adventures]]''''' (2017-) The latest attempt at an RPG, by Modiphius. It also comes with a whole range of miniatures of the various crews from the show. Runs on a similar engine to the creator's ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' which both makes sense, since they're both pulpy storytelling, and is hilarious, given the total tonal mish-mash between the two. Task resolution is generally done via a mixture of six attributes and six disciplines, which are added together, then used as a modifier for a d20 roll. For instance, combat is usually handled by the Security discipline, but hand-to-hand combat would use Fitness or Daring, while firing a phaser or other long-arm would use Control, and shipborne weapons Insight or Reason. In addition to combat stuff, players might solve problems by obtaining information and sciencing the shit out of it. They also have various Values that can be tapped for additional dice, a shared pool of Momentum all players can spend to gain advantages and add to by overboosting on success, and a pool of Threat that they can give the GM rather than burning Momentum, which he can then spend to make the situation degrade. It's a fun system, but it requires a GM who can wrap their head around the idea of an evolving situation rather than a set encounter to really click, which can be hard for GMs who're used to the ''D&D'' model.<br />
<br />
= So why should I care? =<br />
Because between them, these six TV series and their assorted spinoff movies, books, etc. can provide inspiration for any sci-fi game you could care to run. If you want light-hearted action, look at the sort of things that happened in ''TOS'' or ''DS9'' to get the crew into some dangerous situation. If you want a charismatic villain, look at Gul Dukat or the Borg Queen ([[skub|but not the one in Voyager]]). More serious issues are often handled with various degrees of success. While many science fiction series deal with a wide range of topics, Star Trek does so as aspects of a greater world. Like [[Tolkien]] is to fantasy it's a prime gateway drug to science fiction and especially science fiction which is more than "action movie IN SPACE!"<br />
<br />
Not to mention in any sci-fi RPG with remotely free-form rules you're likely to encounter ''Star Trek'' fanboys, so you might as well know what they're talking about. The unholy spawn of a Trekkie and a [[Furry]] is known as a [[Chakat]], and you should fear it.<br />
<br />
At its best ''Star Trek'' is thoughtful, optimistic futurism with a positive human element and brings you to strange new worlds in the grand tradition of speculative fiction but one that's accessible to even the layman. At its worst ''Star Trek'' is arrogant, smug, hypocritical, one-sided, preachy, dull and sloppy.<br />
<br />
= Setting =<br />
Here's the Cliff's Notes on ''Star Trek''. A couple of general warnings; firstly, ''Star Trek'' likes to ''really'' take its "racial themes" bits just a little too far. Second, despite this, it's rare for an entire race to be completely irredeemable the way many fictional aliens are: there are heroic and sympathetic characters from nearly every race listed below, able to put more-positive spins on their racial themes. Thirdly, aside from very occasional appearances by [[H.P. Lovecraft|aliens who are so bizarre that humankind can barely comprehend them]], all of the aliens look like dudes with rubber masks on (because they are). In real life, this was because there was no budget for anything else, but in-universe it's been explained by some kind of [[Old Ones|Precursor]] race who seeded all of the planets with their broadly humanoid DNA, and every race evolved slightly differently from there. There isn't much [[fluff]] on what these precursors were like, and some of it was contradictory, and Gene Roddenberry didn't like the idea (although he still had to work with the rubber forehead stuff). The good news for fa/tg/uys who like [[homebrew]] is that this makes it fairly easy to write [[d20 system]] rules for all of the races - after all, most ''D&D'' races are just humans with rubber masks on...<br />
<br />
== A Composite Creation ==<br />
This is a general note that one should consider: Star Trek was created in pretty much the opposite way as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked out a bunch of linguistic stuff and general history of Arda in his spare time over the course of years, then decided to use that as the basis for some stories that he eventually gave to some publishers which in the end sold quite well. <br />
<br />
Roddenberry, by contrast, pitched a very broad general idea (it's the future, things are good, we got some guys on a ship exploring space; a "wagon train to the stars") to the networks and eventually Lucy from ''I Love Lucy'' made it happen. Roddenberry then worked with a variety of writers and actors (and some later on in later series) who added to this rough skeleton of an idea in a process that would continue on to this day. <br />
<br />
This is not to knock either approach, but both have their advantages and disadvantages. In regards to Star Trek, a franchise which relies mostly on an episode of the week format (until recently, apparently) that's been going on for more than half a century, there were numerous people at the helm and many of them had often very different ideas about what should be done that were just thrown out to see what stuck, many of which were contradictory, meaning that the canon is a fucking mess ([[Warhammer 40,000|Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?]]). Some of which we'd frankly rather forget (Data being possessed by a mask, for instance). In general fans and fluff writers have been spending a whole lot of time trying to straighten things out and much of the lore is basically a [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main rough consensus of what people like and what fits in with it]. Later series got more systematic about this, but there are still points of contention and a lot of flat out contradictions due to its scattershot nature.<br />
<br />
You know, like [[/co/| comic books]].<br />
<br />
= Factions =<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:800px"><br />
'''The Federation'''<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
[[File:Federation_Ships.jpg|thumb|500px|left|Starfleet's ships of the Line (original universe/canon)]]<br />
Might as well talk about that main faction. The United Federation of Planets is what the [[Tau]] think they are. Its backstory is that in the distant future of the 1990s, [[God-Emperor of Mankind|übermensch]] [[Space Marines|created by genetic engineering]] began conquering the Earth. The [[Imperial Guard|normies]] fought back and won through sheer numbers, cryogenically freezing the Augments and kicking them out of Earth, but the damage and mass political unrest of World War III got half the planet nuked. This was why genetic engineering was banned. Fortunately, in 2063, a <s>drunken asshole</s> heroic visionary named Zefram Cochrane created humanity's first warp drive (though it functioned based on the principle that gravity bends space-time, and was therefore more akin to an Alcubierre drive than anything that's dependent on the [[Warp]]) and made first contact with the Vulcans. The Vulcans eventually helped humanity rebuild and overcome poverty, disease, war and hunger. With its Earthly problems solved, man turned to the stars and found out its three closest neighbors were [[Imperium of Man|racist xenophobic dicks trying to murder each other]]. Since any war between them would've swept up puny little Earth and gotten it glassed, humans decided to force their neighbors to sit down and talk things out. Incredibly, it worked, and the United Federation of Planets was born.<br />
<br />
The Federation is a commie [[noblebright]] hippieland society with a post-scarcity economy and a strong democratic government ([[Mary Sue|pretty much Roddenberry's idea of utopia]]). As a result, Federation citizens work not because they have to, but because they want to. However, despite their advanced technology, transhumanism, that is intentionally making [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like the infamous antagonist Khan Noonien Singh, is illegal.<br />
<br />
The Federation's Navy is almost always called Starfleet. It's a mix between a military, a coast guard and a space agency, and usually rates scientific research as a higher priority than defense. One of its quirks is that it doesn't subscribe to the "bigger is better" policy used in most [[Warhammer 40K|sci-fi]], and even by most of the other ''Star Trek factions''. If the Federation ''does'' make a large ship, it's because they want it to have a daycare, swimming pool and ice cream bar. If they want a warship, they'll take a little gunship half the size of a modern day destroyer and pack it with enough antimatter nukes and guns to exterminate a solar system. In some cases, especially when dealing with ships from several centuries into the future, the ship is bigger on the inside than on the outside [[Creed|allowing it to hide a vast array of powerful armaments, ''space-bending'' equipment, and even whole planetary landscapes]]. They can get away with this because they out-tech almost everyone else by a country mile. The reason for the series' infamous "technobabble" is that <s>even ''they'' don't know everything their tech can do!</s> their technology is always evolving, and they know it so well that they can often use it in ways that even the original in-show design schematics did not intend.<br />
<br />
In theory, Starfleet follows a rule called the "Prime Directive", which says that you're not allowed to interfere with low-tech races ("low-tech" being defined as "not having invented the warp drive", since warp technology apparently follows naturally from the laws of physics) or else things like turning the locals into Nazis might happen. The Original Series talked about this rule all the time, and Captain Kirk threw it aside whenever there was a sexy alien babe in sight. From ''TNG'' onward, it tended to instead be brought up whenever a hack writer needed a reason for the heroes to ''not'' instantly resolve a given problem with their superior technology or a way of making our heroes look like assholes for following it rigidly (yes, we could save this species from extinction but that would be interfering with the cosmic plan!), though there were a few good episodes that took it seriously.<br />
<br />
Some of the more important member races are:<br />
<br />
'''Founding members:'''<br />
* [[Humans]]: You know 'em, you love 'em. Comprise seemingly 90% of Starfleet for reasons in no way related to the cost of makeup/CGI.<br />
* [[Vulcan]]: The Original [[Eldar|Space Elves]], very emotional, especially during "pon'farr" (see below), who followed the teachings of an enlightened sage and embraced logic and rationalism after their emotions nearly led to them [[Slaanesh|wiping themselves out]]. They are what the average race of fantasy elves think they are, except on ''Enterprise'' because the writers wanted to artificially inject tension into the show (some of that was retconned to be a Romulan plot). Occasionally enter a state called "pon'farr," where they need to either [[Dark Eldar| fuck something half to death]], kill it with the nearest sharp object, or die of a brain aneurysm to let out all that pent-up emotional tension. Fa/tg/uys may recognize this as the sensation they feel every time [[Games Workshop]] puts out a new army book. There are ships with mostly Vulcan crews. But only two are seen. One commanded by the biggest jerk among them and the other [[grimdark|got eaten by a giant space amoeba.]] However they're pretty bro-tier overall. <br />
* Andorians: Blue dudes with antennae and constant fits of passion, the polar opposite of Vulcans and their one time foes. Pretty much fa/tg/uys, right down to the romantic streak, in the technical sense. Also, they live underground on a diet of meatbread and rage. Most of what defined them happened in Enterprise as they rarely showed up in the TNG-era, and even then did so as set dressing, allegedly because one of the showrunners hated their antennae and banned anyone from using them.<br />
* Tellarites: Space [[Dwarf|Dorfs]]; like insulting everyone and arguing a lot (no, really, petty insults are considered a polite gesture in Tellarite culture), mostly because the very first tellarite ever shown in the series got in an argument with Spock's dad and now it's their whole racial thing. “Sarek said something in a scene once that was meant to demonstrate that he was stand-offish and kinda rude, but we like Sarek so it's now the defining attribute of this species.” It's all in good fun you understand, your confidence in your ideas and actions should be sturdy enough to withstand honest assessment and critique.<br />
'''Notable Additional Members:'''<br />
* Betazoids: Invariably attractive humanoid aliens with telepathic powers. Half-betazoid, half-humans apparently only have "empathic" powers, so they are well-regarded by Starfleet captains for their ability to point out the obvious and fill out the tight bodygloves that make up the Starfleet uniform in a pleasing manner, especially since theirs seem to come in a custom cut for reasons entirely unrelated to Roddenberry's erection. Their homeworld is like dropping a really hippie college and Space Vegas into a blender. They were taken over during The Dominion war because Earth or Vulcan would be seen as bullshit due to their large post Borg attack defense fleets/ship yards. While the writers would have to actually add new characters for the Andorians and Tellarites(such as Ambassadors for a government in exile). So Betazoid took the hit to raise the stakes.<br />
* Trill: Originally a one-off race introduced as a sapient parasite that possesses and controls a barely, or even unintelligent humanoid host, they were radically reworked in ''Deep Space Nine'', right down to losing their rubber foreheads in favor of spots. Now, the host is itself an intelligent humanoid, and some, but not all, of their kind are able to willingly merge with a symbiont (because someone can't spell) that allows them to access a mixture of the memories and personalities of all previous hosts, though in a way that, theoretically, enhances the host's personality rather than destroying it or subsuming it. Then, when they die, they can pass on the symbiont to another host, theoretically, one they mentored. They went from having a rubber forehead to some spots because Terry Farrell had a allergic reaction to the make-up.<br />
* Tamarians: Previously a one-off in ''TNG'', newly joined as of ''Lower Decks''. Tamarian communication is based entirely around metaphor and idiom, meaning their entire language is predicated on understanding their history's pop culture references. This throws the universal translator for a fit, as it can chew on the vocabulary okay but it can't unpack the contextual meanings. Imagine a medieval monk trying to decipher Korean text messages and you've got the basic idea.<br />
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'''The Klingon Empire'''<br />
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[[Image:Batleth.jpg|thumb|right|A Bat'Leth (sword of honor), one of several types of Klingon bladed weapons. Frequently mocked IRL for being a poorly designed weapon.]]<br />
[[Commissar|''"It is a good day to die!"'']]<br />
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The Federation's main rival and (movie era and afterward) the quintessential ''Star Trek'' race of lumpy foreheaded aliens. Originally they were a rough analog to the Russians (though they took some elements from [[Communism|communist China]]) in a rough cold war allegory with the Federation (even though the Federation are as commie as they come, though admittedly much of that came around in the TNG era). Their defining feature was that they were militaristic and imperialistic while the Federation was scholarly and respected liberty. This gradually moved more and more into them becoming Imperial Japan/[[Vikings]] In SPESSS obsessed with honor, fighting and dying honorably in battle while worshiping at the altar of [[Sigmar|warrior Jesus]], even as they turned from the Federation's bitter enemies into that friend who's fun to be around when he's not getting into drunken bar fights. You see shades of it during the movie era and it became more and more prominent through ''TNG'', culminating in ''DS9''. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Klingons are nothing more than barbaric savages, however; with Worf being part of the crew, and with ''DS9'' dealing with Klingon politics an awful lot we can see Klingon society as it truly is. Even so, they do often wander into self-parody territory.<br />
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The Klingons, in their current iteration, are a feudal society ruled by a council made up of the most powerful families. Klingon society holds very little value on things such as currency and material gain (which results in the Klingon empire [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65l7RHUx2A having a very simplistic understanding of economics]), believing that anything you acquire without some form of blood, sweat and/or tears on your part is a pathetic and dishonorable way of going about things, much the same way many cultures used to hurl abuse at merchants and bankers. Another thing to keep in mind is that a Klingon's reputation is literally everything. Central to this is fighting your battles personally and against worthy opponents. Calling out a superior is almost always an honorable fight, and Klingon captains can expect challenges if they become lax or suspect in their decisions. Klingons are still capable of being cunning and crafty, however, and having a high diplomacy score is viewed as honorable as they still have examples of cunning and clever heroes tricking boorish and stupid monsters.<br />
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[[Warhammer 40000|Klingons often carry swords into battle in an age of energy beam guns]]. In-universe, this is less suicidal than it sounds in the context of boarding actions and tight starship corridors. The Bat'leth is actually a rather shitty weapon. The Mek'leth is noted to be better in most situations. They use the same Disruptor weapons as the Romulans, and at one point used similar starship designs. While is explained as the result of a temporary and unholy alliance, given the eventual animosity between the two races, it was just an excuse to reuse props on a limited budget.<br />
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The Klingons are tied with the Vulcans and the Borg as being the most prominent and recognizable non-human species in Star Trek. Beloved of the Internet and the general public, to the point that there are published books like "A Klingon Christmas" in the world. The Klingons have their own constructed language. If you are ever worrying that you might not be a nerd, learning Klingon will solve that problem for you. Please note that this is in general considered by experts to be pathognomonic of autism. You have not experienced Shakespeare until you hear it in the original Klingon.<br />
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'''The Romulan Star Empire'''<br />
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''"It's always chess with the Romulans"''<br />
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You know those [[Eldar|Vulcans]]? Well a few thousand years ago, as their planet was ravaged by war, some of them turned to intense emotional control and logic to tame their murderous passions, while most others left the planet altogether, founding a colony on the planet Romulus and dubbing themselves [[Dark Eldar|Romulans]]. Since said planet shares a name with a mythical figure known for founding [[Roman Empire|a city which built a vast empire]], and they had warp drive while those around them did not, you probably know that they turned to building an empire of their own. They hold the second place of prominence as immediate rivals to the Federation. Comically, they actually have better emotional control than the average Vulcan, since they gene-engineered most of their problems away years ago, and don't have to deal with the emotional blowback from pon'farr. The downside is that they lost some of their cousins' niftier powers, like mind-reading and being able to transfer their soul into another person for safekeeping. Although Star Trek Online also revealed that their trip to Romulus was a terrible ordeal, and their gene-engineering was taking during that time resulting in them losing most emotions save for bitterness of being "forced out".<br />
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The difference between the Klingons and the Romulans is basically the difference between Gork and Mork, or Khorne and Tzeentch. Klingons will fight you up front with simple brute force. Romulans are sneakier guys, preferring to fight you when you're not looking with spies, cloaked ships and complex plots behind the scenes and playing the long game. There is a lot of political infighting among them, though where the Klingons would duel to the death Romulans would seek to discredit their rivals, have them die in unfortunate "accidents" or disappear. This difference has left both Romulans and Klingons with a big hate-boner for each other, to the Romulans the Klingons are crude brutish barbarians and to the Klingons the Romulans are a pack of scheming cowardly weaklings.<br />
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Like the Klingons, they served as a rough Cold War allegory. In this case, they were rough analogs to Communist China (as seen by 1960s Americans), a distant horde of inscrutable and potentially dangerous Orientals who generally were unseen and projecting vague menace, but when encountered face-to-face could pack quite a punch indeed: the first major Interstellar War that Star Trek Earth fought was with the Romulans, which was fought entirely in space with neither side ever seeing the other face to face. Afterward, they set up a 'Neutral Zone' between the Federation and the Romulan Empire that no one even tried to cross for a century. From the Original Series onward, they frequently squabble and bicker with the Federation, before joining forces with them to fight the Dominion in ''Deep Space Nine'' and having their government devastated in ''Nemesis''. <br />
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In one of the two alternate universes created by J.J.<strike>Binks</strike>Abrams movies, the so-called "Prime Universe", Romulus itself got caught in a supernova as part of the Abramsverse's backstory. ''Picard'' has revealed that Starfleet was going to help evacuate Romulus before the nova hit, but then some rogue androids destroyed the shipyards that the rescue fleet was being built at, so the Federation shrugged, flipped the Romulans the bird, and let them get blown up. The Romulan Star Empire collapsed in the aftermath, with the surviving Romulans are now scattered across half the galaxy. Most of the former Romulan colonies are now officially governed by the Romulan Free State, but their ability to exert their authority is implied to be limited at best and non-existent at worst. The Neutral Zone, in particular, collapsed into near lawlessness. One of their secret police/ anti android cults got a hold of Borg cube and were presumably up to some nefarious shit with it until the events of Star Trek Picard.<br />
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'''The Ferengi Alliance'''<br />
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[[Image:GW_Ferengi.jpg|thumb|left|A typical ferengi engaged in typical ferengi activities]]<br />
{{topquote|A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.|Eighteenth Rule of Acquisition}}<br />
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Introduced in ''TNG's'' early days as the villains for the series, and what [[/pol/]] thinks Jews are. Some Jewish people have actually complained about their being subliminally Jewish and thus anti-Semetic, specifically mentioning that they were money-hungry, lascivious, and ugly, and their large ear lobes were stand-ins for the sterotypical Jewish nose, based on an old medieval stereotype that was enforced to prevent them owning land or assets and ended up sticking around long after the fact (i.e. ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/08/14/science-fictions-anti-semitism-problem/?noredirect=on we're not shitting you] but also they have a valid gripe). Claims of stereotyping aside, they're basically just a ripoff of the ''Shingouz'' from [[Valerian and Laureline|''Valérian and Laureline'']]. <br />
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The idea was to make a caricature of capitalism as a contrast with the techno-communist Federation. This might have worked if these were not [[FAIL|''TNG's'' early days]]. Instead, they overshot the mark by a light year or so, on top of other bad decisions, and you got a race of short, big-eared, [[goblin]]-like losers about as threatening as a grumpy pug. (Gene wanted to make an evil short race as big evil races were overplayed.) Over the first and second seasons they tried to make these guys threatening, but they fell flat on their face every time; eventually the writers just said "fuck it" and the Ferengi got demoted to comic relief species, and their status as terrible enemies was demoted to propaganda designed to scare the Federation while the Ferengi government tried to figure out what to make of a species that rejected the acquisition of wealth as a goal. The Ferengi had some good moments in the later seasons of ''TNG'', but most of the best stuff that fleshed them out came from ''DS9'', which had an [[awesome]] Ferengi bartender named Quark as a major character. For an idea of what the Ferengi might have been like if the writers had their shit together, look up the Druuge of [[Star Control|Star Control II]] or the Magog Cartel from Oddworld. <br />
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Ferengi religion is only hinted upon in ''DS9'', but what is seen implies a simplistic system based on financial success. Ferengi all follow a rulebook/canon known as the Rules of Acquisition, which can be described as Ayn Rand IN SPACE and condensed into the form of Confucius' Analects. There are 285 of these, each a short piece of advice on how to stay in the black. Examples include "Peace is good for business," "War is good for business," "Never have sex with the boss's sister," and "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." The first (and most important) of these is "Once you have their money, you never give it back." Sometimes, the Ferengi Randian spirituality extends into outright interpretations of the afterlife: according to some, the afterlife consists of the Divine Treasury and the Vault of Eternal Destitution, which are respectively analogous to Heaven and Hell. Entrance into one or the other depends on one's business ventures at the time of death; those that were turning a profit are allowed to enter the Divine Treasury, and the rest are damned to the Vault.<br />
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Ferengi government is ruled over by a Grand Nagus, a mix between a <s>pope</s> chief rabbi and a CEO, and he basically treats his civilization like some sort of company, with citizens regarded as workers. Directly below him is the Ferengi Commerce Authority, a [[what|quasi-religious]] organization dedicated to ensuring that correct business practices were followed and correct moral behavior was shown (including keeping the proles in line) - of course, to the Ferengi, these are one and the same. The agents of the FCA are the Liquidators, who are essentially Inquisitors crossed with IRS auditors on steroids. Be afraid. Be very afraid. <br />
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Ferengi females have no rights and are mentioned as [[PROMOTIONS|not even being allowed to wear clothes]], which leads to [[That Guy|boorish behavior]] on the part of Ferengi towards just about any species. Of course, we see female Ferengi on the show who push that envelope, but it seems that overall "regressive" does not even begin to describe the gender relationships in their culture. Quark's mother, a social climber who marries the head of their government, begins pushing through a women's rights movement during DS9, which proves more successful as time goes on.<br />
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'''The Borg Collective'''<br />
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[[Image:Borg cube.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Borg have assimilated and improved your [[d6|die]]. It always rolls six. Crap your pants, 'cause resistance is futile.]]<br />
{{Topquote|We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture shall adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.|The Borg's opening hail. This is not a boast or a brag, it's them simply explaining to you how things are going to go down.}}<br />
{{Topquote|One other thing. You may encounter Enterprise crew members who've already been assimilated. Don't hesitate to fire. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favour.|Picard going full [[grimdark]].}}<br />
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The Ferengi were utter failures as serious villains, so they needed something to fill that gap. Thus they made the Borg, an aggressive [[Tyranid|hive-minded]] collective of hyper-adaptive, [[Necron|regenerating]] cyborgs that assimilates entire species into itself in its attempt to improve and evolve. Shit, that's like coming up with [[Warforged]] while trying to replace [[Kender]].<br />
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In many ways, the Borg are the truest dark reflection of the Federation, and despite their name, they're not Swedish. While the Feds want you to join their little club on your own, to "add your culture to the galactic community," the Prime Directive means they will ultimately accept you turning them down, even if you have shit they really want. The Borg say "fuck that" and just absorb you. While the Federation believes everyone should work together [[Tau|for the greater good]], they still have a very strong sense of individualism and a culture of personal accomplishment (unless your individual belief happens to run counter to the Federation's principles anyway, in which case you're just WRONG because the Federation is the best). The Borg pool all their minds together into a massive collective consciousness in the pursuit of group perfection, becoming an almost-literal personification of techno-capital. The Federation is all about beauty and tranquility and all that hippie stuff, and their tech is eco-friendly and dolphin-safe. Borg [[Tyranids|strip mine entire planets and drain entire oceans]] in the name of growth and efficiency.<br />
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Your standard Borg [[Cubes|cube]] is a huge multi-kilometer [[Firaeveus Carron|metal box]] (yes, bigger than most [[Imperial Navy]] cruisers) able to go up against an entire Federation warfleet and win. That's right, one of their ships could threaten the entire Federation and [[Exterminatus]] Earth. When done right, [[Necron|they are a cold, calculating, nigh-unstoppable force, a threat to all life]] that wants to retain free and distinct personalities (although they will ignore a single person if not on an assimilation mission, as what they really want is to absorb whole civilizations). Apparently, in Picard's nightmare in ''First Contact'', the Borg assimilation process includes a surgical [[Grimdark|drill through the eye. While awake.]] Of all the stuff to come out of the TNG Era they are undoubtedly the most well recognized in mass pop culture.<br />
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Unfortunately they got a bad downgrade during ''Voyager'' (the Borg Queen blew up cubes full of tens of thousands of drones because a few of them have been severed from the Hive Mind), but even there they were frequently not to be messed with. One amusing thing to note for people that haven't watched ''TNG'': the Borg were actually only in six episodes (and three were breakaway drones) and one movie, yet they're arguably the franchise's most famous pure villains aside from Khan. Goes to show how good they were when written properly. Then in ''Voyager'' they get their shit completely pushed in when they discover a new race of extradimensional aliens which they label Species 8472, which were immune to being assimilated, and had to ask the Federation for help in dealing with them. [[Necron#Regarding_Fluff_Change_-_Sore_Butts_Everywhere.|Wait, this sounds familiar...]]<br />
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'''The Cardassian Union'''<br />
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{{Topquote|Out of all the stories you told me, which one were true and which ones weren't."<br><br />
"My dear doctor, they're all true."<br><br />
"Even the Lies?" <br><br />
"Especially the lies.|Julian Bashir and Elim Garak}}<br />
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Introduced in ''TNG'', they are third fiddle to the Klingons and the Romulans. If the Klingons are hypothetically-honorable techno-barbarian warriors and the Romulans are an empire of civilized and refined but sly and ruthless expansionists, the Cardassians are essentially scaly fascists re-enacting ''[[1984]]'' IN SPACE. Their trials announce the outcome at the beginning, and the defense attorney is executed if he wins. Also, THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!<br />
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Originally a race of peaceable, spiritual artists called the Hebitians (ironically not dissimilar to the Bajorans), modern Cardassia was born in hunger and desperation when their homeworld began to suffer simultaneous mass famine, pandemic, resource depletion, and ecological collapse. A military junta seized power, figuratively and literally auctioned off the soul of their culture through liquidating all the planet's art and religious artifacts into cold hard cash, and turned the Cardassians into the opportunistic imperialists they are today.<br />
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Despite being a whole lot weaker than the Federation, the Cardassians manage to hold their own, partly because what they lack in resources and raw power is made up for by a combination of intense cunning and high charisma stats. Compared to the equally deceptive Romulans, the Cardies are more likely to flash you a smile while tickling your ribs with a knife. They'll use any tool they can to gain the upper hand and while that often means unpleasant and terminal sessions in dark rooms, strip mined planets and the enslavement of entire species, they'll gladly become your bestest buddy if it would achieve their goals. Their intelligence service, the Obsidian Order, is also one of the most ruthlessly efficient organizations in the entire sector, managing to outscale the Romulan Tal Shiar when it comes to producing magnificent bastards and manipulating the politics of entire worlds to their advantage. Unlike the Romulans or the Klingons, they don't tolerate the sort of literal infighting that is rampant in both those states, that shit only serves to weaken '''GLORIOUS CARDASSIA''' and needs to be stamped out with ruthless efficiency. Exposing that someone who just happens to be your enemy as being a dangerous subversive is just a benefit, although this can result in both sides of a conflict shouting "For Cardassia!" as they charge each other. Sort of how Democrats and Republicans are both for America, yet oppose each other.<br />
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Cardassia has a very fluid hierarchical government, similar to the political realities of post-Stalin but pre-Collaspe Soviet Russia. Broadly speaking, there are three different facets of the government: the Central Command (which holds all the power) the Obsidian Order (who holds the least amount of power, but controls the most puppets) and the Detapa Council (similar to the [[High Lords of Terra]] and just as worthless). Cardassian society holds a very strict view of family, placing family just below the needs of the State in a vague approximation of Confucianism.<br />
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The State holds a semi-divine mythical status in the eyes of its citizens, with it being viewed as impossible for the State to ever make mistakes. The ideal Cardassian life was one of complete loyalty and servitude to the State and family, with the "repetitive epic," detailing how generations of Cardassians go on to serve both in exactly the same way over and over seen as the height of their culture. The Cardassian government is assumed to be omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent by pretty much every Cardassian, with all Cadassians gladly giving of themselves to the State. Such was this level of belief that when Picard was tortured by the Obsidian order, the torturer saw nothing wrong with bringing his daughter to work because he was working for the State, and therefore the torture of Picard could never be disturbing or wrong. That's why their trials announce their sentences at the beginning and execute the defense attorney if he wins; their "trials" are more excuses to show off the power and infallibility of the State to the masses than actually determine guilt or innocence.<br />
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In terms of the Alpha Quadrant's political landscape, they are basically space fascist Italy: indisputably still a great power but nonetheless basically the weakest of the great powers, resentful of it, and unwilling to accept it. They first bully weaker powers in an attempt to carve out an empire, turn from a military junta to a despotist state after a coup, eventually join a bigger, meaner power in a great war against the rest of the Quadrant in an attempt to gain power and respect, see it blow up in their faces and force them to rise again in revolt to save themselves. Beta canon continues the analogy with the establishment of a democratic but unstable postwar government in the vein of the Years of Lead.<br />
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As far as plot significant activities went, they had a war with the Federation a few years before ''TNG'' which ended in the creation of a Demilitarized Zone between the two powers and (significant to ''Deep Space Nine'') abandoning the previously occupied planet of Bajor they had exploited for resources and along with it the space station Terok Nor, which the Federation took over and renamed Deep Space Nine. After a disastrous war with the Klingon Empire and a faction of ex-Starfleet settlers who refused to be relocated after a treaty called the Maquis led to a popular revolution and overthrow of the existing government, one leader seized power, declared himself absolute ruler, and joined the Dominion towards the end of ''DS9'', which was some serious bad news for the ''DS9'' crew, and, ultimately his own people.<br />
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'''The Bajoran Republic'''<br />
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The Bajorans are a species native to the Planet Bajor. They were, until shortly before the events of ''Deep Space Nine'', under a brutal occupation by the Cardassians who strip mined their planet. They had a fighting resistance which veered in and out of being considered terrorists and all in all were often represented as Palestinians IN SPEHSS. After that, they got their independence, although they're thinking about joining the Federation. The Bajorans have one system and are technologically backwards; the Federation is technically breaking the Prime Directive by interacting with them, but as they've spent years under the oppression of a warp-capable species, they can probably handle it. Also ''DS9'' proves that ancient Bajorans managed to travel at warp speeds to Cardassia using solar sails and an enormous amount of luck, which technically makes them a warp-capable species. The only reason why they are significant in terms of the politics of ''Star Trek'' is that they have a wormhole near their planet, which has some timey-wimey aliens living it that they worship as gods, and serves as the only way to get to or from the Gamma Quadrant that won't take decades, making it strategically priceless. Hilariously, this was discovered almost immediately after the Cardassians ''thought'' they'd extracted everything of value from the Bajorans and peace'd out, certain that the system was no longer worth the PR hit they were taking from it, only to get burned by some harsh seller's remorse. Also, their species has the oldest civilization (roughly a half-million years) of any major ''Star Trek'' race, and the wormhole aliens have gifted them some cool shit, like the Orb of Time.<br />
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The other big thing that makes the Bajorans unique is that they actually have a serious religion going on in a way that isn't an extension of their racial "hat" -the human race is depicted as mostly non-religious. They're also probably one of the most accurate depictions of any highly religious alien race in a sci-fi franchise, because they are divided between the majority who interpret their religion as [[Noblebright|peace and love]], and a small but loud minority of bastards who interpret it as [[Grimdark|condoning acts of terrorism]]. They generally represent all manner of oppressed and colonized peoples throughout Earth's history, with the Cardassian occupation standing in for the Holocaust, Imperial Japanese atrocities in Asia, and European mischief in Africa during the Age of Imperialism.<br />
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'''The Dominion'''<br />
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A vast empire which exists on the other side of the galaxy in the Gamma Quadrant. The Dominion is ruled over by a species of liquid shapeshifters called The Founders.(aka Changlings, Odo's people) They have at their disposal a military composed of two genetically engineered species that worship the Founders as gods: the short and articulate Vorta who serve as ambassadors, bureaucrats, and political commisars and the big brutal Jem'hadar, who are vat grown, drug addicted, cannon fodder. These oversee a large number of vassal races, including (as of later seasons of ''DS9'') the Cardassians.<br />
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The Founders were once (according to them anyway) a peaceful, kind civilization of explorers who wished to see the galaxy, explore strange new worlds, and seek out new forms of life. Unfortunately, they did this in the wrong neighborhood, and quickly ran into species who did not tolerate others. The fact that the Founders were shapeshifters capable of mimicking almost anyone did not help either. Paranoia, mutual mistrust, and some very bad things eventually led to the Founders deciding "fuck this" and moving their planet into a nebula so nobody would bother them. So more or less, a [[Grimdark|grimmer]], [[Grimdark|darker]], counterpart to the Federation, but with spookier Real Aliens.<br />
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The Founders are obsessed with order and are both extremely racist and xenophobic, and believe that all alien life is inherently untrustworthy and evil, and the best thing to do is conquer/enslave them before they do the same to them. They don't care about the rights of "Solids", and will happily ignore any sense of decency when convenient. This can be seen when The Dominion runs a simulation of the Dominion dominating the Alpha Quadrant. When O'Brien is assaulted by a Jem'Hadar and severely beaten to the point of needing emergency teleportation to medical (the crime being "disrespectful"), the Founders (disguised as Federation Officers) do not press charges, and when Sisko comes barging in demanding answers, dismiss him with little concern about their own soldiers brutalizing citizens. Their overall ideology could be thought of as Qin legalism IN SPACE: people are inherently evil and the only way to make a better world is to impose order upon them through brute force from a position of absolute, unquestioned power.<br />
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The Founders, when not wandering around in various forms, tend to spend their time in a massive ocean literally made up of countless billions of Founders, something which is referred to as the Great Link. According to the Founders, this allows them to share information with each other and come to peaceful decisions. This is rapidly proved to be bullshit; when a separated-at-birth one of their own merged into the Great Link to share his memories of the Federation as peaceful and tolerant space hippies, not only did the Founders ignore his memories, but actively fucked with his mind in an attempt to turn him into a sleeper agent. And even if it weren't, it shows their hypocrisy through their willingness to share freedom and liberty among themselves while depriving all their various slaves and conquered peoples of the same.<br />
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The Founders are massive dicks, even to their own people. Failure among Jem'Hadar is rewarded with slow and painful death from deprivation of the drug they're created to need and their lifespans are incredibly short. To be even bigger dicks, the Vorta have no sense of taste and can't appreciate beauty. Not to make them better diplomats, but because they were raised from a primitive stone-age ape tribe, and the Founders think they shouldn't be ever allowed to forget that. (On the plus side, they did give the Vorta an immunity to poison that would make [[Mortarion]] himself jealous. [https://youtu.be/rACCZaBcq1g?t=1m29s Observe.]) This may also stem from their own neuroses: the Founders themselves have almost no bodily needs at all and require no nourishment, so they design their slaves to be like them. Notably, Vorta tend to come in [[Paranoia|packs of clones; a new one is activated when an old one dies, and they retain some memories and personality between "lives,"]] further hammering home how expendable they are to their makers.<br />
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And both races are literally engineered to love their makers for what they have done to them and worship and revere them as gods.<br />
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They ultimately get what's coming to them in the latter half of ''Deep Space Nine'', through an invasion of the Alpha Quadrant that starts out in their favor and rapidly goes against them. <br />
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'''Species 8472 / Undine'''<br />
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The one and only race in the galaxy even the Borg don't want to fuck with. Introduced in Voyager, Species 8472 are three-legged creatures that live in a space called Fluid Space. It's similar to the [[Eye of Terror]] for the fact that it connects to an alternate dimension and [[Khorne|everyone will be ripped apart upon entering.]]<br />
<br />
When the Borg first came around to try and assimilate them they were completely obliterated in a war in which 4 million Borg were killed in the first few days at the cost of almost no members of Species 8472. This war was such a roflstomp that the Borg were forced to call on the Federation for help. [[Tau|The Federation being the better people swallowed their pride and decided to help their sworn enemies,]] [[Eldrad|but were dicks and sent only one ship.]]<br />
<br />
Species 8472 fought with fast moving, small ships and devastating beam weapons so the small ship of the Federation could keep up with them and helped the Borg force the species back into Fluid Space. The Federation were the villains on this one. That said, they eventually came to an accord with Species 8472, preventing further wars between the denizens of Fluid Space, except in lots and lots of video games that want to use a fresh antagonist.<br />
<br />
That and that in ''Star Trek Online'', [[Awesome|they look like the fucking Predator.]]<br />
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<br />
'''The Q'''<br />
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The Q are a race of beings who have elevated themselves to the point where they are basically gods. Most of them do not interact directly with the younger races, who they tend to consider with disdain- if they consider them at all. However a few of them take a more enlightened view, and one in particular has been known to fuck with individual humans from time time. They are mostly a TNG thing, and even there they work mostly by grace of John de Lancie's acting chops as a counterpoint to the charisma of Patrick Stewart, as de Lancie played the ''character'' Q. "Tapestry" even has the two waking up in bed together as a troll from Q. Due entirely to de Lancie's performance, they managed not only to have it not be cringy, but rather funny.<br />
<br />
Q is an all-powerful epic troll. TNG's Q's occasionally [[Tzeentch]]ian games sometimes appeared to be for his own amusement and sometimes acted as education or event protection to the human race. Various subplots involving the Q ''species'' range from somewhat thought provoking to mildly entertaining to ridiculous and banal, but the classic episodes that highlighted the charisma and chemistry of the two actors were often quite excellent. De Lancie also appeared as Q in DS9 and Voyager a couple of times, but the chemistry just isn't there without Stewart. The writers knew it too, composing a scene where Avery Brooks punches this bastard in the face telling him "I'm not Picard!" (with the added fanservice of watching Q get punched, high on the wishlist of anyone that had the misfortune to meet him).<br />
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<br />
=== The Mirror Universe ===<br />
This isn't a faction; it's an alternate setting. Its own factions do bleed into the mainline starting in DS9. So it merits its own section.<br />
<br />
The Mirror is a parallel universe in which [[Alternate History|things have gone differently]] in Earth's History. The main point of divergence appears to occur when the Vulcan scientists who landed at Bozeman, Montana in 2063 are not welcomed with alcohol and music but instead are killed and have their ship looted. It is equally clear that where the main universe is Noblebright the Mirror Universe is Grimdark. Instead of a peace loving Federation searching for knowledge and friendly cooperation for the betterment of all, Earth gave rise to the ''Terran Empire'' which seeks out new life and civilizations to conquer and enslave, as it had done with the Klingons. Pretty much it's the PG-13 version of the Imperium of Man with a bit more Grimderp. Junior officers get promoted by killing their superiors, those that fail at that get thrown in the agony booth for their troubles and Emperor gets the job by usurping the previous incumbent. As a rule, characters in the mainline become, in the Mirror Universe, a selfish asshole version of themselves (or have to go along to get along: O'Brien, Spock). Following comic book logic the uniforms for the female characters are more revealing, and facial hair is vogue. Occasionally people can cross over from one universe to the next due to technobabble and cause mischief in either realm.<br />
<br />
Originally it was a one off TOS setting for an episode of the week, but it was brought back in a few novels and some romps in Deep Space Nine in which [[Fail|the Terran Empire had fallen]]. In Enterprise's fourth season it got a two parter that was pretty good and would have been an annual thing if the show had been renewed, this one having little crossover with the main universe (a ship from TOS ended up in the Mirror Universe and is salvaged after all it's crew have died). We also went there in Discovery, for better or worse. Voyager never did the mirror universe, but instead got a homage episode with some alien historians in the far future getting the details wrong like historians tend to.<br />
<br />
=== The Star Trek Crew ===<br />
Whether the focus of the show is exploration, manning a space station in an important locale or trying to get home, all Star Trek series have a basic set up of casting and focus: namely on a collection of people who are usually the senior-most officers on the ship. If you decide to make a Star Trek inspired game take this into consideration.<br />
<br />
* '''The Captain''': Big cheese. Makes the hard decisions. Needs to be able to talk, think or fight out of situations as needed. The third option fetishist finding the balance between empathy and reason. (Two least skubby examples: Kirk and Picard, but the skub will fly hard if you say one is better than the other, sufficed to say that people like both of them alot but for different reasons)<br />
* '''The First Officer''': Second in command and trusted advisor. Added after the original series, where the role was combined with and split between two others. (Two least skubby examples: Riker and Kira)<br />
* '''The Science Officer''': Got high Int stats. Can analyze the situation and work out solutions. The voice of reason. Almost never human. (Two least skubby examples: Data and Spock)<br />
* '''The Engineer''': Hard working technically minded guy who gets shit done. (Two least skubby examples: Scotty and Geordi)<br />
* '''The Doctor''': Ship's healer with a secondary scientific role. The voice of empathy, whether prickly or serene. (Two least skubby examples: Bones and the EMH Doctor)<br />
* '''The Security Officer''': Rough and tumble no-nonsense sort whose job it is to keep these guys alive when diplomacy fails, which it often does. Often has to juggle providing ship's security with working the tactical station on the bridge in a crisis. (Two least skubby examples: Worf and Odo)<br />
* '''The Helmsman''': Got mad spacecraft piloting skills, either full-sized starships, shuttles, or fighters. Younger and more brash. (Two least skubby examples: Sulu and Tom Paris)<br />
* '''The Other Guy''': A crewmember whose role doesn't cleanly map onto other positions, a role often restricted to a single show. Example positions include communications officer, ship's councilor, transporter chief, and linguist. (Two Least skubby examples: Uhura and Troi)<br />
* '''The Outsider''': Someone who is a passenger and regular cast member, but exists outside the organization, looking in and commenting. Usually works a side-job, like tailor, bartender, or cook. Either a beloved fan-favorite or utterly despised, there is no middle ground. (Two Least skubby examples: Guinan and Quark)<br />
<br />
Some of these hats may be worn by more than one character, some may be worn by no one at all. This is especially true in the original series, which had a smaller cast overall, and which put less emphasis on an ensemble and more on the main trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The usual roles and character dynamics were instead set down by ''The Next Generation'', which later series generally copied.<br />
<br />
= The Shows =<br />
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==''The Original Series''==<br />
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[[File:OG enterprise.jpg|thumb|400px|Right|Do do do...]]<br />
Created in 1966 by legendary sci-fi [[spiritual liege]] and money-grubbing, sexist, pseudo-communist lounge lizard Gene Roddenberry and pitched as a "Wagon Train to the stars", it's a pulpy adventure sci-fi, full of fistfights, sword fights, and hammy speeches. (The guns never work.)<br />
<br />
The USS ''Enterprise'' is tasked by the Federation to go on a five year mission to explore space: the final frontier, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before, though due to budget constraints, her crew often finds that man has in fact gone there before. Or at least something that looks exactly like a man but is actually an [[Xenos|alien]]; most episodes split the difference. James T. Kirk sleeps with [[Hot Chicks|hot alien babes]] who either die tragically or leave tearfully at the end of the episode, but it's 'k because he's too in love with the Enterprise to ever love a mere ''woman'' more. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are cold and logical and rash and emotional respectively, and their constant friction must be resulting in the best make-up sex in the world, Mr. Sulu and Lieutenant Uhura wait in vain for focus episodes that never come, Ensign Chekhov suffers horribly to the approval of American Cold War audiences, and Scotty [[gets shit done]]. Uniforms, while iconic, tend to look a bit civilian though. Miniskirts are apparently mandated attire for the ship's fan-servicey female "yeomen" and others, because 1966. The civilian nature of the attire (including, one must assume, the miniskirts, but they had a visual appeal all their own) were apparently an intentional design decision by Roddenberry who didn't want uniforms to look military. Further specialness on the part of Roddenberry demanded phasers not look like guns ([[FAIL|not even have trigger-guards even though those exist for safety reasons]]), instead looking like nothing in particular at all (although looking back at them today they look sort of like TV remotes, which would be invented much later), and also (probably the only sensible decision in this category) ships that didn't look like rockets, giving ships their distinctive and iconic saucer-engineering-nacelles look that still stands out today.<br />
<br />
The Original Series frequently ran out of budget and entire episodes were filmed using spare costumes belonging to the production company, resulting in a series of extremely goofy excuses to go to planets full of gangsters or [[Nazi]]s. This is often copied by shows who don't realize it was done out of pure expediency, and nowadays this [[TVTropes|"Planet of Hats"]] gimmick is practically a box to check off when doing sci-fi adventure. The lack of budget also resulted in one of the more memorable inventions; unable to budget for a sequence showing the ''Enterprise'' or a shuttle landing on a new planet every week, the writers instead decided to invent the transporter to "beam" the crew down to planets or between starships. Also worth noting: despite its mediocre critical reception, ratings and eventual cancellation, not to forget the uneven quality of many episodes, especially in the Roddenberry-less third season where poor Fred Freiberger had to come onto a show he didn't understand and try to get better ratings with less money, ''TOS'' had a hell of a cultural impact thanks to syndication and it has been said that since it entered syndication in 1969, there hasn't been a 24-hour period without some TV station, in some country, playing Star Trek. Cancellation of The Original Series is now considered one of the worst decisions in TV history, and while much of its silly 60's campiness is now laughable, it often still manages to teach relevant and important lessons today.<br />
<br />
Fun fact: the ''Enterprise'' and each of her 11 sister ships have enough firepower to [[Exterminatus]] a planet by themselves, after getting issued an order called General Order 24. This however is likely a time-consuming task. According to a later DS9 episode, it takes a fleet of 20 warships 1 hour of sustained bombardment to destroy a planets crust and 5 hours of sustained bombardment to destroy a planet down to its mantle. These 20 ships were also in service 100 years after the Enterprise so they were also more powerful. <br />
Kirk has the distinction of being the only known captain to issue a [[Exterminatus|General Order 24]], because a planet was ''too'' much into wargames (he changed his mind after they dropped wargaming).<br />
<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': Balance of Terror (submarine battle in space, debut of the Romulans), The Devil in the Dark (sometimes hostile aliens have a good reason for being hostile) Space Seed (Khan's first appearance), The City on the Edge of Forever (beautiful tragedy), Amok Time (Spock's in heat and he and Kirk have to fight to the death), "The Doomsday Machine" (''Enterprise'' vs. an unstoppable planet killer and the captain whose ship it destroyed)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "And the Children Shall Lead" (annoying kids, magic, and most of TOS's weakness dialed up to 11), The Way to Eden (dumbass hippy episode), Spock's Brain (idiot aliens steal Spock's thinker and McCoy has to remote control him for the rest of the episode).<br />
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==''The Animated Series''==<br />
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The often forgotten middle child. More or less "seasons 4-5" of ''TOS'' with the same writing staff and actors, sans poor Walter Koenig. He was replaced by a weird camel person. He learned this at a convention, from a fan, while he was trying to announce he'd be writing an episode, which Gene promptly demanded he rewrite over and over. Classy. <br />
<br />
Being animated allowed the staff to get a lot more creative with the alien designs and plots, and the writing and acting remain... well, top notch is a stretch, but certainly at the same levels as ''The Original Series'', with the occasional low point. Not ''nearly'' as bad as you're probably picturing from the name, although still limited by the low budget and primitive, cheap animation techniques of the television era it was aired in. Notably some sci-fi novelists were brought in to write some episodes, such as Larry Niven, and at least one episode, "Yesteryear," is considered such a pivotal moment in Spock's development that even people who hate the series enough to consider it all non-canon often make an exception just for that one.<br />
<br />
Also, since the series now has no excuse for throwing in lots of Space Puritans and Space Wizards, it of course continued to do so to derptastic results, because by this point it had become traditional. The presence of a straight-up [[furry]] on the bridge, however, is downright unacceptable.<br />
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==''The Next Generation''==<br />
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[[File:Enterpris D.jpg|thumb|400px|left|USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D: battleship, scientific research center and luxury hotel rolled into one]]<br />
Here's where it starts getting a little deeper and a little darker, although with a lot of left-wing political subtext turned up to 11. The USS ''Enterprise-D'' (the original and C were destroyed in action while A and B were retired) is, like its predecessor, tasked with going where no-one has gone before, but this time around the problems are less likely to be solved in a single episode. Jean-Luc Picard is the captain and he plots and negotiates his way to victory; Mr. Data is cold and unemotional, though not by choice - as an android, he'd very much like to change that; Riker takes over the captain's "sleep with alien babes" duties since Picard is married to the job; Worf the Klingon gets beaten up by monsters to show how tough the monsters are, meaning that Worf winds up looking incredibly weak by the end of the show's run and doesn't regain his badassery until his run on ''DS9''; Dr. Beverly Crusher is good old Bones minus his temper; Dr. Pulaski is Bones ''plus'' temper; Counselor Troi is so badly written she becomes a running joke; and Geordi LaForge [[gets shit done]]. Only two things need to be said about helmsman Wesley Crusher: he was [[Mary Sue|Gene Wesley Roddenberry's shitty self-insert fanfic character]], and his sueness got to the point that even his actor started to hate him within the first season of the show.<br />
<br />
Due to the massive success of The Original Series in syndication (and Paramount being [[Rage|pissed off]] by broadcast networks treating their most valuable IP like any other show), TNG was aired through syndication from the beginning. Although the first two seasons were laughably bad, the quality began to improve dramatically after an increasingly cocaine-addled Gene Roddenberry got too sick to keep ruining it and his partner-in-crime Maurice Hurley was thrown out on his ass, a moment often pinpointed via looking for when [[Meme|Riker grew a beard.]] The later seasons are widely considered to represent the apex of the franchise's episodic formula on the small screen (although ''DS9'' gave it a run for its money with a more serialized approach); sadly, this series only got one good movie.<br />
<br />
The Next Generation started and ended on one of its skubbier elements, that being Q, an omnipotent trans dimensional alien that starts testing Picard in the first episode and is finally persuaded to go away in the last. The entire multi-season run of the show is set up with the subtext that the Q are judging whether humanity is worthy of its implied lofty destiny. What should have been a stifling deus ex machina was carried entirely by the performance of Q's actor; the dialogs between Picard and Q were some of the show's most entertaining, even as the Q episodes tended to be the obligatory season silly story.<br />
<br />
*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "The Measure of a Man" (is Data property or not?), "Q Who?" (introduction of the Borg, Q at his dickish best), "The Best of Both Worlds" (epic Borg 2-parter with plenty of action and drama), "Family" (companion piece to Best of Both Worlds, Picard has to deal with the trauma of being assimilated), "Darmok" (Picard learns to communicate with an alien captain on far-away planet, all of TNG's strengths), "The Inner Light" (I am not crying, you are crying), "Sarek" (excellent Picard and Sarek character piece)<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Code of Honor" (racist and stupid), "Angel One" (sexist and stupid), "Shades of Grey" (half-assed money-saving clip show), "Up The Long Ladder" (annoying Oirish stereotypes wind up on the ''Enterprise'', shenanigans ensue), basically any episode from the first five seasons that focuses on Troi, her mom Lwaxana, or both (not Majel or Marina's fault, they were handed shit writing and had to make do)<br />
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==''Deep Space Nine''==<br />
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[[File:Deep Space 9.jpg|thumb|500px|right|''"A Star Trek show where they stay put? It'll never work."'' Boy did they get that wrong.]]<br />
Unlike all the other series so far, ''Deep Space Nine'' primarily takes place in a fixed location - the titular space station Deep Space Nine, out near the borders of Federation Space. Said space station is near Bajor, which was recently freed from Cardassian occupation, and a wormhole to the other side of the galaxy which allows [[Warp|all sorts of of crazy shit to go down]]. If the other shows are a wagon train, this one's the border fort.<br />
<br />
Benjamin Sisko is the captain, declared Emissary by the nearby Bajorans for making contact with the wormhole aliens they worship, and he successfully hybridizes the blow-the-shit-out-of-whatever-you-can't-punch Kirk approach with the talk-in-a-very-dignified-way-about-the-philosophy-of-the-thing-and-win-by-rhetoric Picard maneuver, in his ultimately-successful quest to become the baddest motherfucker in space, then literally becomes a space god. Kira the Bajoran ex-<s>terrorist</s> <S>''noble freedom fighter''</s> (who are we kidding she calls herself a terrorist) struggles to free and rebuild her people while coming to terms with the moral ambiguities of situations she prefers to see in black-and-white, Dr. Bashir works to find his character for several seasons before becoming a highlight, Dax gets often written poorly and has to switch bodies doing it, Odo IS ''Liquid Space Cop'', Quark runs his bar and [[troll|heckles]] the Federation from the sidelines, Garak pretends to be a tailor while definitely not being a super-spy, hitting on Bashir, and dropping killer lines, and Miles O'Brien [[gets shit done]] and gets physically, mentally, and/or emotionally tortured in at least one episode a season (referred to by the writers as the "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes). Also Worf wanders in halfway through, and actually gets to punch things instead of just getting punched by them, up to and including offing the Klingon chancellor in an honor duel. It's also a lot more political than other series (though ''TNG'' and ''Voyager'' have their moments) and the last series to have Gene Roddenberry's involvement (with less enthusiasm, in fact often much to the benefit of this particular series thematically, although Roddenberry's complete departure did not necessarily bode well for the franchise in general.)<br />
<br />
It's the closest the pre-Kelvin series ever get to [[grimdark]]. Especially when the Dominion show up. With minimal grimderp that plague the later seasons and Kelvin era movies. The show has aged remarkably well and the terrorist/freedom fighter debate was repeatedly explored in a very mature and honest way; the darkest episodes ventured into duping the Romulans into a war by assassinating a senator, and forcing a Klingon regime change [[rip and tear|''the Klingon way'']]. ''DS9'' is the most serialized of all Trek shows and could be considered a forerunner to the golden age of television with its long story arcs and deep character development. It's also notable for singlehandedly salvaging the Ferengi after the mess Gene made of them in the early seasons of TNG and bringing back the mirror universe after nearly thirty years with an ongoing plot showing the consequences of Kirk's meddling. Overall, ''DS9'' has to be considered the most consistently good Trek show thanks to the excellent writing and fantastic performances from a truly wonderful ensemble cast. At least until the final season . . .<br />
<br />
Which brings us to DS9 Skub. The show was airing around the same time as another thematically similar sci-fi show, ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Not only that but characters also shared similarities, as did the episodes especially as both shows became war stories later on. Interestingly, beginning of both series, introduction of characters and airing of similar episodes were often too close to each other for one show to copy the other but this did not stop massive [[Rage]] and [[/v/|fanboy wars]] from starting between fans of the two series accusing one another of plagiarism and having an inferior product. Happily, as time went on and both shows evolved, these hurt feelings have mostly faded.<br />
<br />
There's also that last season. The earlier (good) writers had got pulled to try to make movies, which movies they'd failed at. The new writers also had to bring in a new Dax due to Berman constantly being a sexist asshole to actress Terry Farrell. This new Dax, Ezri, was very different from Jadzia, and she only got that one season to make her mark, which season she had to share with the Great Epic Conclusion (it's a miracle Ezri was as well received as she was, and a testament to Nicole de Boer's talent). Those finale episodes were mostly okay and tied up the story semi-satisfyingly, though a few die-hard subplots fell flat. The season, therefore, was shaky; not necessarily a harbinger for The Decline Of ''Trek'' to come, but at least inauspicious.<br />
<br />
How good is ''Deep Space Nine''? Every subsequent Star Trek series and even the reboot movies have pretty much ripped off ideas and concepts established during the series. Famously, within the "Trekker/Trekkie" fan community, there's a little cell of fans who like it better than most other ''Star Trek''; these fans are typically called "Niners."<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Duet" and "Waltz" (excellent character work elevates low-budget episodes), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (30th anniversary comedy episode that sends the DS9 crew back to the TOS era to stop a rogue Klingon assassinating Kirk), "In the Pale Moonlight" ("how far would you push your principles to save the world?" done very well), "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Nog has PTSD after losing a leg in battle), "The Circle" (the only Star Trek trilogy episode and as close as DS9 will ever get to a movie), "Valiant" (A Defiant full of asshole cadets gets blasted into smithereens for their own hubris), "Empok Nor" (Garak goes feral and brutalizes a lot of people).<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Move Along Home" (some of the crew gets trapped in a board game with annoying rhymes), "Fascination" (Lwaxana Troi is going through Betazoid menopause and wants to bang Odo), "Profit and Lace" (Quark has a horrible relationship with his mom and has a sex change for zany antics), "Let He Who is Without Sin" (bullshit on resort planet Risa)<br />
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==''Voyager''==<br />
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[[File:USS Voyager.jpg|thumb|400px|left|''"Are we home yet?"'' <br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"Tuvok, please give Ensign Kim a dose of the Medical Phaser.]]<br />
Star Trek: Voyager centers around the eponymous USS ''Voyager'', a smallish ship which gets teleported over to the other side of the galaxy. The plot of the series centers on the crew's efforts to get back home, which COULD have made for an excellent premise. Unfortunately, there were few lasting story arcs, with most episodes being fully self-contained (as well as being littered with far too many episodes featuring holodeck or transporter incidents). As a consequence, despite being completely isolated from the Federation, no matter how bad things got Voyager always appeared in the next episode without a scratch, fully supplied, and with all its shuttlecraft intact. Think ''Gilligan's Island'' on a starship.<br />
<br />
Like ''TNG'' and ''DS9'' it's a character-driven drama just as often as it is a sci-fi adventure romp, although compared to TNG only a few of the characters are particularly memorable. The captain and arguable "main character" is Kathryn Janeway, a Katharine Hepburn lookalike (I see what you did there) who is stern without being cold, and principled without being inflexible. The fan favorite is a character called "The Doctor" ([[Doctor Who|No relation]]); he's the solid-light hologram representative of the ship's emergency medical computer, who has to take on actual medical duties when their chief medical officer was conveniently killed in the pilot episode. Other than this, Chakotay is a peace-loving and spiritually rich indian <s>freedom fighter</s> <s>terrorist</s> [[FAIL|who was written with the help of a special Cherokee consultant so native his name was Jamake Highwater and it turned out later on that he was actually Jewish and didn't know dick about native cultures so he made everything up resulting in Chakotay basically being a borderline racist caricature of what you think Indians are like. Akoochimoya.]] Tom Paris is an annoying jerk and is counterbalanced by Harry Kim who is the ideal boy-scout, making him only half as annoying and twice as boring. B'elanna Torres tries to perpetuate a lineage of dudes getting shit done but ends up blankly reciting her technobabble, having second degree plasma burns and – worst of all – systematically fails to get shit done whenever the warp core goes nuts. Tuvok tries hard to be as cool as Spock but ends up being a lame version of the n°1 Vulcan who uses logic to justify everything and makes it short for "you are wrong, I am right because I said so." Kes is passed as a fragile and nice character but it takes a couple of episodes to realize that having a short lifespan does not change the facts: [[powergamer|when you can boil someone to death from the inside of their body, drain life from everything around you to become stronger and do anything you want without knowing how, just by thinking of it]], you are a goddamn Mary Sue. From the fourth season onwards the only character the writers seemed to care about was Seven of Nine, [[Mary Sue|a human woman who recently escaped from Borg control and kept all of her cyborg enhancements but regained her free will]]; another Mary Sue, to be sure, but she's [[Hot Chicks|hot]], and the other characters are much worse, so that's not really a bad thing. Fortunately, The Doctor still received a lot of attention from the writers and almost single-handedly made the show watchable. There was also Neelix, who was the apparent inspiration for Jar-Jar Binks, and any sane crew would have pushed him out of an airlock on the first episode. Fans who stuck with the show despite its glaring failings were given one final slap in the face with the <s>controversial</s> shit final season, in which the producers decided "screw steadily crafting a satisfying conclusion to a story which we have wasted for most of the last seven years anyway; lets just ignore it until the final episode and then throw in some shit about trans-warp conduits and time travel, bitches love time travel!" If you did not care about any of the characters or the subplots or time travel making sense (the writers sure didn't), then the final episode was made just for you (and the Borg got a major setback, too, just don't think about the setup too hard).<br />
<br />
The Doctor never once stopped being totally fucking awesome though (enough so to even earn a cameo in First Contact and for Robert Picardo to turn up as his inventor in an episode of DS9), Jeri Ryan proved she wasn't just eye candy, and the (mostly) great acting from the rest of the cast carries the series from being horrific to ''occasionally'' watchable. Just goes to show that no matter how good your actors are, they can't make diamonds out of shit.<br />
<br />
Overall, most Star Trek fans view Voyager's legacy with a shrug and a "meh." Unfortunately, hopes that Voyager's successor would revitalize the franchise would soon prove to be overly optimistic.<br />
<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Timeless" (excellent time-travel episode), "Year of Hell" (absolutely savage two-parter that trashes ''Voyager'' in service to a story of obsession and why you don't fuck with the timeline), "Tuvix" (one of the all-time skubbiest episodes of any ST show, deals with the complicated ethics of what happens when two people are fused into a new individual by a transporter accident), "Bride of Chaotica!" (aliens get trapped in Tom Paris' 1940s pulp holodeck program, Janeway has to become one of the characters to sort it out, good comedy episode), "Someone to Watch Over Me" (the Doctor falls in love with Seven but can't admit it), "Equinox" (''Voyager'' encounters another castaway Starfleet ship that's tossed Federation law and ethics into the bin to survive and Janeway gets ''really'' pissy about it)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Threshold" (Tom Paris and Janeway turn into [[salamander]]s and have salamander babies; so terrible that rumors persist it was declared non-canonical to this day), "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk" (holodeck malfunction episodes full of more cringe Oirish stereotypes and Janeway wanting to bang a hologram), "Alice" (Stephen King's ''Christine'' IN SPAAACE!)<br />
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<br />
==''Enterprise''==<br />
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[[File:NX-01.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Where it all began. For better or worse...]]<br />
From the minute the Nickelback-tier theme tune started, Enterprise attempted to take Star Trek in a new direction and was only partially successful in doing so. The series never quite caught its footing, although it still managed to have some enjoyable moments. It was most notable for providing a first-hand view of the key events that directly led to the formation of the Federation. The Federation's founding races were also featured heavily, with Andorians, Tellarites, and Vulcans all enjoying significant screen time alongside the human characters.<br />
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It's a prequel to the rest of the canon, taking place on the first ''Enterprise'', before the Federation was founded and during the period when Earth was still an independent power- so there's a lot of primitive versions of things from other series. At least the uniforms were pretty cool in an Air Force sort of way. Captained by <s>that guy from ''Quantum Leap''</s> Jonathan Archer, in hindsight the fact that they had to rename him from their original choice of Jeffrey Archer to avoid confusion with the disgraced British MP and author of the same name probably cursed the series with bad karma before it had even begun shooting. In an unusual twist for a ''Trek'' series, his first officer isn't a <s>terrorist</s> ''noble freedom fighter,'' however she does share a trait with her ''Voyager'' predecessor in that the actress who portrayed her frequently criticized the show's writers in interviews. Other than that, well, Hoshi Sato screams a lot, Travis Mayweather was so dull that even the writers forgot he existed, the resident Vulcan T'Pol serves as both the Science Officer and source of sexy fanservice, Malcolm Reed has an accent, Dr Phlox is a weird creepy alien with weird creepy alien morals (and gets surprisingly interesting when given enough screentime, which hardly ever happened), and Trip also has an accent and [[gets shit done]].<br />
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One thing that makes the show and cast so frustrating is that you get glimpses of interesting things that could be explored but just aren't in favor of rejected TNG concepts. A weapon' officer still having somewhat free range as there are not federation guidelines? Not really, Malcolm is just here to give a second opinion and be Tripp's wingman. A linguist and sociologist without much of a clue as to what everyone will encounter in space in an age before rules of engagement and diplomatic norms are established? Not really, Hoshi just screams a lot to let you know something dangerous or scary is nearby. The struggle between a potentially more profitable civilian life and an assignment as a glorified military grunt before Starfleet is the institution we all know it would become? Who cares, the writers all forgot Travis is even in the show most of the time. All these questions are somewhat hinted at in some episodes when they really could have been defining character arcs for the cast but instead we got vulcan romance getting most of the screentime when the Xindi plot wasn't happening. Oh well.<br />
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Was retooled twice, the third season tries to be ''24'' IN SPACE (stop some aliens, the Xindi, from blowing up Earth) while the 4th season is a massive apology about the last three seasons that tries to fix all the problems they had. As a result, the last season is the only one that's close to being really good.<br />
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Unfortunately, the poorly-received final episode is set on the holodeck of the Enterprise-D, which leaves us with the firm impression that the producers would have much rather have just continued making ''The Next Generation''. Considering the mediocre quality of the ''TNG'' movies we got instead, this probably would have worked out better for all involved (Or not since ''Voyager'' was that; its first episode was even numbered 901, as in Season 9 Episode 1).<br />
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Yet despite all the bad directing, subpar plots, and frankly boring episodes, ''Enterprise'' sometimes still manages to be moderately enjoyable with occasional moments of awesomeness if you can suffer through a fair few awful spots and aggressive mediocrity almost everywhere else. The focus on founding Federation races like the Andorans was refreshing and the technology level, being somewhere between the original series and the real world present-day, was quite interesting. We also got to see the Vulcans portrayed as arrogant, superior dicks. This actually makes a lot more sense than the way they're usually portrayed (which is fairly submissive towards humans) because they are, obviously and objectively, the superior race. The Klingons certainly still considered themselves to be honorable but the show made it clear that the Klingon notion of honor is rarely analogous to the human concept which was interesting as all hell to watch. There have been a few small nods to Enterprise in Discovery and the Abrams movies.<br />
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And let's be fucking honest, [[/tg/]] loves 40k and the Xindi arc was about as grimdark as shit gets. And that was awesome.<br />
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*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "Damage" (Enterprise is nearly destroyed and can barely function), "Zero Hour" (End of Season 3, good action and good payoff), "Regeneration" (Borg episode, silly but well executed), "Babel One", "United" and "The Aenar" (three episode arc involving the Romulan scheme to engineer war, a glimpse of what might have been).<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Dear Doctor" (boring prime directive extremism), "These are the Voyages" (Trip dies in a rush-job ending, last minute or so is alright as a visual send-off divorced from crap narrative).<br />
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==STD aka ''Disco'' aka ''Discovery''==<br />
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[[File:USS Discovery.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Disco Stu's coming for you!]]<br />
<s>A LOAD OF SOCIAL JUSTICE SHIT!</s> Ahem, let's start again, shall we?<br />
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A new "prequel" series set 10 years before ''The Original Series.'' Again. Run exclusively on CBS' paid streaming service (unless you live outside the US and Canada, in which case you can get it on Netflix) to try and drum up sign-ups and revenue, it features a mix of ''Enterprise'' and Abramstrek aesthetics despite supposedly taking place in parallel to the TOS "The Cage" pilot while [[what|having technology superior to late DS9]] and introducing [[dune|mushroom-based space travel]] that would imply [[retcon|all later events and warp travel would be outdated]]. The trailer has attracted a lot of concern over the fact that Klingons have been completely redesigned to look like slit-nosed ogres wearing ancient Egyptian cosplay, and rumors that the Klingons shown were [[Racial Holy War|primitives who had been trapped in stasis]] proved to be unfounded, so there is no excuse. Not having a cold war to posture about, the new villains are based off of Trump-inspired xenophobia by the admission of the authors. Also the lead character is Spock's human sister that he never mentioned before, aka the ''exact'' origin of the [[Mary Sue]] which is just fucking depressing. To further reinforce this, there are ''numerous'' examples of dialogue and exposition that serve only to show how the Mary Sue main character was right all along, usually in conjunction with the death of the character that had foolishly disagreed with her. Want a new Star Trek episode about racism and immigration? Try the now-banned [https://youtu.be/3VEZH8bqytA Star Trek Continues]. Want Star Trek with humor, we suppose: ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'', below. Oh! want a pseudo-Star Trek show about other modern issues? Try ''[[The Orville]]''. That's right, American Dad In Space <strike>may right now be</strike> is a better Star Trek than an actual Star Trek series.<br />
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Initial reviews have been... well, never mind the 2017-era soy-guzzling critics. STD is as much fun as an outbreak of Nurgle's Rot. Mostly. There ''are'' exceptions.<br />
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The writing is overly convoluted, the massive injection of grimdark into pre-TOS continuity is anathema to the hardcore fans (the ''human'' characters are often the ones doing the nastiest shit, including [[Marines Malevolent|trying to kill a Klingon party by planting an explosive on the corpse of one of their comrades for when they came to collect the dead]]) and the Klingons are so flat and devoid of characterization that they might as well be Larry the Cable Guy lookalikes wearing Trump hats. This is a massive disappointment for a series that promised to put a spotlight on Klingon culture but ended up retconning all the characterization that happened in TNG and DS9. It ''may'' get better with time (remember that it took two seasons for TNG to get really good) but given the release schedule (split between 2017 and 2018 with a long break) it may come too late for the fanbase to care. Currently it's cause for more fans to lose their shit over whether it's better or worse than the Abrams movies, which is a new record of [[Skub|Trek Skub]]. Releasing the show on CBS All Access instead of cable or broadcast TV makes it seem that executives don't really give a shit if the show succeeds or fails, bringing up the question of [[Bioware|whether they're deliberately putting Star Trek: Discovery in a no-win scenario where, no matter what happens, the executives have an excuse to cancel Star Trek altogether]]. <br />
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Another stupid decision was not shelling out the cash to bring back Bruce Greenwood and Zachary Quinto as Captain Pike and Spock, respectively. Their ages wouldn't have mattered either if CBS and Paramount weren't too cheap to use the anti-aging CGI tech that is so commonplace these days. Hell, Star Trek makeup artists are among the best in the entertainment business. So they could have pulled it off with applying the bare minimum, and we probably still wouldn't have noticed.<br />
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There were also allegations that large chunks of the plot were stolen from previews of an in-development indie game. The unreleased 2014 game featured giant Tardigrades that had the ability to use an interstellar network to travel anywhere they wanted to- sound familiar?<br />
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We must however give credit where credit is due. Season 1's fifth episode "Choose Your Pain" starred Rainn Wilson as a younger Harcourt Fenton Mudd, and this was a surprising treat. Season 2 also featured Anson Mount as Captain Pike, whose addition to the cast was nothing short of a revelation. Indeed, Pike's character was by far the most well-received aspect of that season.<br />
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Unfortunately, while Season 2 had some watchable moments, it was still middling at best, and nobody is ''ever'' going to let this series live down the garbage fire that was Season 1. If you do decide to watch Season 2, try not to think about it too hard once you are done. It gets worse and worse the more you think about it as you can and will come to realize that {{spoiler|the overarching plot hinges on time-travel but because the writing and production staff kept being shuffled, no one kept continuity so some of the hints of future actions or "red lights" are just forgotten about, some time-travel is done just to set up another event to make it possible for that same time-travel to happen. Think Bill and Ted, except lame and very confusing. Season 2 is an okay show if you look at the state-of-the-art visuals, let the big emotional moments grip you, but if you stop for a second and think about the continuity of events, you push yourself on a slippery slope that ends in not being able to ever trust the showrunning staff again.}}<br />
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Season 3 sees ''Discovery'' transported far into the future, one in which the Federation itself has fallen apart due to the mysterious disappearance of the dilithium required for warp travel. What was the issue with the dilithium? A member of the same species as the character Saru was on a planet with a lot of dilithium and had a freakout so bad it somehow psychically fucked up all dilithium everywhere at roughly the same time. Oh, and apparently turbolifts now fly around in a pocket dimension or some stupid shit.<br />
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Season 4 can basically be summed up as "Hyper-advanced extragalactic gasbags make a mess of things because they're [[Derp|too stupid to comprehend the concept of self as they're a hive mind]]".<br />
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Oh thank the God Emperor it's almost over! After four seasons of shit, season five is finally going to kill it! Oh Throne, thank you!<br />
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==''<strike>Retard</strike>Picard''==<br />
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Set to be a continuation of the original timeline, featuring old man Picard with Patrick Stewart reprising the role. Hopes are not high, but at the very least Patrick Stewart's presence should make it watchable if nothing else. <br />
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Update: Season 3 is the only part maybe worth watching.<br />
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In the first season, Picard ragequit Starfleet after they sat back and let the Romulans get blown up by the supernova mentioned in the first Abrams movie. This happened because some rogue androids orbitally bombarded Mars and blew up the rescue fleet that was being built there, so the Federation has banned all R&D on synthetic lifeforms and subsequently become [[Imperium of Man|isolationist, racist and xenophobic]] (does this remind you of anything?). Picard has been living in his family chateau ever since, making wine and hanging out with his dog and his Romulan housekeepers. Then a scared girl named Dahj turns up on his doorstep, and it turns out she's a highly advanced biological android constructed from the surviving bits of Data's positronic brain by the guy who wanted to dismantle Data in that episode "The Measure of a Man." Before Picard can really figure out what to do about her, she gets killed by a secret society of Luddite anti-android Romulan assholes, but it turns it that's okay because she has a twin "sister" named Soji who is working with some other Romulans on a derelict Borg cube. Picard decides it's time to saddle up and go be a hero again. He starts putting together a crew that includes Agnes Jurati, a former cyberneticist; Raffi Musiker, his last executive officer, [[What|who is now an alcoholic drug-vaping hermit]] after getting kicked out of Starfleet; Cristobal Rios, a scruffy merc pilot whose ship is staffed entirely by holograms of himself; Elnor, a Romulan warrior monk raised by Romulan warrior nuns; and Seven of Nine, who has become a kickass pilot and is no longer wearing her infamous catsuit. Together, they're out to save Soji, stop the Romulans, and be the good guys in a galaxy that needs heroes, etc etc.<br />
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Key storytelling criticisms of the show include the idea that the Romulan Empire should have had enough infrastructure to effect an evacuation without help, and that even if they didn't, the Federation would ''never'' abandon a neighbor who was asking for help- not even a former enemy, and not even when doing so became difficult or inconvenient. Another issue comes up when the show reveals that the Borg have assimilated transgalactic teleporters from a throwaway alien race that appeared in an early episode of ''Voyager'', but only for the Borg queen to use in case the cube she's on is about to be blown up, which begs the question of ''why in the hell aren't they using them to overwhelm the Federation's defenses with drone spam and assimilate everything??'' There's also an (abortive) space battle in the final episode where Riker shows up leading a fleet of ships that are just copy-pastes of the same CG model, which was derided for being cheap and lazy on the part of the showrunners and a failed chance to show Riker in command of the ''Titan'' or ''Enterprise''.<br />
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To make matters even more dumb and yet also more complicated at the same time, the showrunners are apparently under some kind of licensing agreement regarding the portrayal of images and concepts from the earlier shows. This means that they can't, for example, casually mention the Dominion War and its impact on the Federation, because if they did, they'd have to pay a licensing fee. This is why the show has been carefully crafted to look like a distant, derpy cousin of Star Trek, while only occasionally featuring cameos of things such as the Enterprise-D, or directly referencing arcs in previous shows: because if they use concepts from prior Star Trek shows, they have to pay for them.<br />
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Finally, when all has been said and done by the end of Season 1, Picard himself is reduced to a nearly-useless side character in his own show. Where once he commanded the admiration and respect of friends and foes alike, in this show he is consistently portrayed as a disrespected, disregarded, and often powerless caricature of himself, utterly reliant on the characters around him. {{spoiler|It doesn't help they legit kill him in the last episode and then made him an android after he also agreed to "kill" Data whose memories are basically in a server on a planet of Soong androids. The showrunners specifically came out and said their plan was always to kill Picard to make a point about how privileged he was being a captain in Starfleet. You can't make this shit up. Patrick Stewart himself claims that they hadn't written Picard's death until they were almost finished filming the season, so who knows what the hell was going on.}}<br />
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One other thing is certain. Whether you like the series or not, it's clear that this series is not taking place in Gene Roddenberry's noblebright vision of the Federation, and the fact that it is yet another grim, violent entry into the franchise is a point that has left many viewers with a bad aftertaste. If the rumors are true, then this show may have either killed the current grimderp Trek or has left fans so pissed that CBS is, once again, on the verge of financial ruin and possibly looking to sell the franchise since they aren't making the money they thought they would after the massive amounts of money they dumped into both this and Discovery.<br />
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Season 2 premiered in March 2022 after the Covid pandemic delayed production. They definitely listened to some of the major criticisms of the first season - Picard's been reinstated in Starfleet, many fan-favorite starship classes returned for the big space battle in the first episode, the gratuitous swearing and needless grimdark got toned down, and more deep cuts from TOS and DS9 lore show up. <br />
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Q shows up and launches the gang into a hilariously over-the-top alternate timeline where the [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] knob got cranked to 11 and as a result the ''Con''federation of Humanity has been going around [[Imperium of Man|exterminating all xenos scum]] up to and including the Borg, which is admittedly pretty badass. They're all appropriately horrified by this, and steal the Borg queen right as she's about to be executed so they can do a sun-slingshot move to go back to 2024 Los Angeles and <strike>save the whales</strike>fix whatever got messed up. Brent Spiner turns up as yet another Soong ancestor, morally skewed as always, and the punk from Star Trek IV returns, still blasting his boombox all these years later. Picard and co. save the future by ensuring that his ancestor Renee goes on a manned mission to the moon of Europa, where she discovers an alien organism that allows humanity to magically fix Earth's biosphere and make everything noblebright forevermore, apparently because [[Derp|the writers forgot that WWIII will arrive in a few decades]]. Rios decides to stay in the past because he met a sexy doctor and [[What|dies in a barfight]], Dr. Soong is revealed to be working on more Khans, his fake daughter Kore meets Wesley Crusher and becomes a Traveler, and it turns out that the reason Q did all this in the first place was to help Picard confront his deep-seated family issues so he could avoid dying alone, as Q is in the process of dying alone himself. In the season finale, the Borg (now being controlled by Agnes after [[What|she forced the Borg queen to bitch down by getting her to admit her ''own'' loneliness]]) ask to join the Federation so they can keep an eye on some weird transwarp conduit that some unknown entity just opened, which was why the Borg rocked up at the beginning of the season. Least it wrapped up well. <br />
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Would you believe Season 3 manages to turn it around somehow? Essentially a 10-episode attempt to answer the question, 'How can we get all of the original cast members together on a starship in the least contrived way?', Picard, Riker, Troi, LaForge, Worf, Data, and the bearable Crusher all come together to fight the new Borg threat. The series is written and directed by people who truly understand what Star Trek is about, and as such is a welcome sight to fans of the franchise. Each of the original cast gets time to develop their characters further - Worf drinks tea, Beverley finally manages to raise a kid who isn't [[Mary Sue|Wesley]], and Geordi now runs the fleet museum and has raised an impressive engineer himself. The series is practically dedicated to ignoring or fixing the last two seasons of Picard, if not the last quarter-century of TNG-adjacent movie and television media, and somewhat succeeds. {{Spoiler|They even bring back the right bridge, even if the excuse as to why was [[Fail|pulled out of their butts]]…}}<br />
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The only sore spot of the series is the latest ''Enterprise'' at the end of the series, [[Derp|which looks like a horrible kitbash of the original Constitution]], and compares very unfavorably to its predecessor in the looks department. Other than that, it provides what was sorely missing these last few decades: a good send-off for the Next Generation ''after'' 'All Good Things'. <br />
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==''Strange New Worlds''==<br />
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An attempt to put the golden goose back together on the operating table. After seeing the reception of having Captain Pike in Discovery, Paramount decided to simply return to the pilot cast of The Original Series with its fingers crossed that the old bird will resume replicating gold eggs.<br />
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It's good so far. It's fun and optimistic, which is a genuine relief after the grimderp of Discovery and Picard, but isn't afraid to occasionally go in dark places and present genuinely difficult philosophical problems. We'll have to see if it holds up, the science can be very stupid even by ''Trek'' standards, and if you liked the Gorn you'll hate what they're doing with them, but overall, so far so good. The season 1 finale is a treat; it's a retelling of the classic episode "Balance of Terror" but with Pike in command of the ''Enterprise'' instead of Kirk, and they recreate everything from the blocking to the dialogue to the cheesy zooms of the original episode. It's pretty awesome.<br />
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==''Lower Decks''==<br />
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{{topquote|I FAILED THE KOBAYASHI MARU SEVENTEEN TIMES MOTHERFUCKER!|Brad Boimler}}<br />
Mike McMahan is doing this one, him being the person behind the Rick & Morty cartoon. It's set in 2380 on the ''Cerritos'', concentrating (like the TNG episode of the same name) on the grunts working in the bowels of the ship. The main characters are ensigns and low-level lieutenants: Tendi is a perky Orion science office-in-training with massive insecurities about her species. Rutherford is Geordi LaForge with less experience and a Manchurian Candidate backstory. Mariner is basically just reboot-era Kirk down to the captain's kid, broken home complex. They are all the bane (and close friends) of the worrisome Boimler, the Starfleet straight-man who could be the next Picard if he stopped worrying about getting promoted so much.<br />
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Fans feared this would focus on lowbrow "humor" episodes with technobabble nonsense stapled to it just like McMahan's other works; and they were half right, although the technobabble is here honestly ''less'' annoying than in mainline Trek, on account it's not being taken seriously. But over the first season the show found its footing. To enjoy it, you just have to embrace the likely reality that a few decks below all of Picard's noblebright ready room monologues there were hundreds of ignoble, corner-cutting crewmen who just want to get to the end of their shift. It's entertaining, but in a "The Bashir & Garak Show" sort of way. John de Lancie reprises Q, and Frakes returns as Riker, now in command of the USS Titan. <br />
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By the end of the first season, the consensus had formed that Lower Decks is probably the best addition to the franchise since the Rick Berman era ended, with a much better understanding of what Star Trek IS (to its fans) than either Discovery or Picard. The second and third seasons moved the series towards an overarching plot. The Pakleds, a joke throwaway species from TNG, are fittingly brought back as the story's big bad. The Pakleds are basically Ork [[Freebooterz]], an entire species of idiotic space pirates. Brutally kunnin they are not; their "plans" are worthy of Douglas Adams. Mariner gets beaten with the nerfhammer for the middle of season 2 and occasionally in season 3 making her much more tolerable. Meanwhile, the story of Rutherford's cybernetics gradually unfolds as the result of a conspiracy in Starfleet. Along the way, there's an episode ripping off James Cameron's ''Avatar'', a session of Klingon Dungeons & Dragons, space-faring Renfaire fanatics, and Mariner and Boimler having to work the Starfleet booth at job fair.<br />
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In summary, the first season was rife with teething issues (but show me a Trek series which wasn't) and directly appeals to people who loved Star Trek but now believe that "Star Trek is dead, Jim". Second and third season are more appealing to Trekkies who aren't afraid to laugh at the thing they like.<br />
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'''Outstanding Episodes: '''Crisis Point (Mariner hijacks Boimler's holodeck simulation of the bridge crew and turns it to a Star Trek film holodeck program); The Spy Humongous (Captain Freeman is sent to negotiate with the Pakleds while a Pakled spy pretends to be an asylum seeker. Answers the question how the various dangerous plot devices are disposed of); Where Pleasant Fountains Lie (Boimler and Mariner crash on a desert planet escorting an evil AI, Mariner gets well and truly nerfed. The ship's chief engineer turns out to be a prince of aforementioned Renfaire-fanatics); I, Excretus (The crew undergoes a holodeck drill program of various situations from past serieses. Boimler gets to shine in classic Starfleet activities); Grounded (Season 3 pilot. Mariner is convinced her mother is being railroaded in court and more evidence is needed from dry-docked Cerritos); Reflections (Rutherford races his past self in his subconciousness and his repressed memories start surfacing. Mariner and Boimler work a Star Fleet recruitment booth at a fair leading to the section quote.); Hear all, Trust Nothing (DS9 homage episode guest staring Armin Shimmerman and Nana Visitor. Tendi deals with her species embarrasment); Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus (Boimler desings a Star Trek film, but derails it almost immediately for himself and Mariner. Basically an RP sesssion where half of the players derail and split off).<br />
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'''Episodes to avoid:''' Envoys; Temporal Edict; Veritas; A Mathematically Perfect Redemption.<br />
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=='' Prodigy''==<br />
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Here for sake of completeness, an animated show targeting a younger audience that debuted in 2021 on Nickleodeon (alongside Paramount+). The show follows a collection of misfit (mostly young) aliens on a mining colony that find hidden in a crystalline planetoid the USS ''Protostar'', a Starfleet ship with a hologram of Janeway to aid the collection of "Cadets" as they escape and venture out into an galaxy full of adventure while the owner of the mining colony and his robot minion try to take the ''Protostar'' for themselves.<br />
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So far it has a decent critical reception. If you want Star Trek which is noblebright and not ironic and are fine with a PG rating, this may be worth a look.<br />
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= Films =<br />
We're putting these at the end in the (unlikely) event someone does a movie that's in the non-Abrams canon ever. As a general rule, the even-numbered ones aren't complete shit.<br />
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* '''''Star Trek: The Motion Picture''''': AKA: The Slow Motion Picture, or the Motionless Picture. A giant space whatsit is flying towards Earth, the mostly-retired crew has to go figure out what's going on and stop it. Old school sci-fi geeks like the ideas, but terrible pace and interminable special effects that were clearly meant to capitalize on ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' while failing to understand what people like about that movie kill them dead for everyone else. Besides the uniform worn by Kirk, the uniforms also look like pajamas. So no wonder they were changed only a movie later. Features an entirely bald female alien who is [[What|so good at sex that she has to swear an oath not to get it on with the crew]]. Really. This is canon.<br />
* '''''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''''': As Kirk starts to feel his age, a one-off villain from the show played by Ricardo "Corinthian Leather" Montalban makes a dramatic reappearance: [[Meme|KKKHHHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!]] Widely considered the best of all the films, and the only one considered a straight up great film, no qualifiers. If you haven't seen it, see it. So good many later movies in the franchise just try to rip it off instead of finding their own identities. Interesting fact: due to time constraints, Shatner and Montalban weren't available at the same time. So the entire script was written so that Kirk and Khan never need to meet face-to-face. But you'd never notice if it weren't pointed out to you. Roddenberry screeched autistically and objected to some of the actions of his characters, including Kirk shooting a [[Enslavers|brain eating space parasite]] that had literally just emerged from the head of his friend rather than "[[Noblebright|keeping it for study]]." The fact that his strongest objections came to the most win of the films says a great deal about his depreciating value to the franchise around the TNG era. <br />
* '''''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock''''': Where is Spock? ''He's on Genesis.'' ALL AHEAD FULL! Not really bad, just mediocre and run of the mill compared to the superior films that surround it. It was also saddled with the misfortune of undoing some of the previous film's more-daring decisions, and having its only daring decision reversed a film later. If you had to say that any film broke the "odd numbers suck" rule, it would be this one. This was Leonard Nimoy's first attempt at directing a full film, having asked for the seat in exchange for agreeing to play Spock again. <br />
* '''''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''''': The crew of the ''Enterprise'' travels back in time to save the whales. No, literally and unironically. Scott tries to talk to a computer through the mouse, Spock nerve-pinches a punk on a bus in San Francisco, and somehow it works, creating something perhaps not quite in the genre intended but a classic in sci-fi dramedy. ''The Voyage Home'' is a zany comedy romp beloved by the general public and fandom alike, leaving only the most intractable fanbois to bitch and moan. Nimoy directed this one too but there was a contract stipulation that Shatner would get whatever Nimoy got, thus leading to...<br />
* '''''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier''''': aka. the film that should never have been made, even by many die-hard Trekkies. Kirk's actor got his spin behind the camera as agreed and wanted a "thought-provoking movie" after the more comical IV. Good intention, but the abysmal execution leaves the audience facepalming at the very best. Between the weak script, the 'moral' of the story ('faith can be abused by unscrupulous people', for the record) delivered with all the subtlety of a punch to the face, poor (or deliberately campy) special effects, uninspired performances by the actors (who for the most part didn't like the script as it had them behave against everything that had come before and betray Kirk) and Kirk's screentime-hogging (despite being behind the camera); this movie is by far the absolute worst of the original six and simply not worth watching... but it's just dumb and hapless, not dead and soulless like what's to follow from other crews.<br />
* '''''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''''': The Space Cold War ends amidst searing mystery and drama. The sendoff for the original cast, except Kirk who got a worse send-off a movie later. Gene Roddenberry watched it, hated it, and was going to seek legal advice but died a week later. And good riddance to that, because it's a pretty sweet political thriller if your hippie-panties don't get into a twist at the thought that the Federation isn't a perfect place full of perfect people. Press F for Christopher Plummer, second best ham in ''Trek'' history. After the previous movie's painful directing, Sulu's actor only agreed to come back if he got to be captain of his own ship. He did, but Shatner still found a way to steal his thunder.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Generations''''': Malcolm McDowell blows up planets to get into a magic space ribbon to live forever, no it does not make any more sense in context. Bringing the TNG crew to the silver screen was a good idea, but those were thin on the ground. An already-weak story hamstrung by its obsession with being daring and unconventional rather than good (aside from the bit where Worf gets promoted, that was great). Also, Kirk dies on the bridge in the most face-palming manner possible. Nimoy was offered the Director's chair, took one look at the script and demanded a rewrite which didn't happen so he refused to be involved. <br />
* '''''Star Trek First Contact''''': The ''TNG'' crew face off with the Borg to ensure the future happens. Lots of action, a script that sparks with energy and snark, and some quite effective performances make this the only good ''TNG'' movie (we don't blame you TNG cast). It is sadly also the only appearance of the Defiant on the big screen, doing a pretty decent job of fighting the Borg before the Enterprise E saves the day of course. The Borg Queen was also introduced here before Voyager ruined what could have been a good idea. (Or demonstrated the flaws in what was already a shaky idea, depending on who you ask, but either way she works well here in a way she won't later.) <br />
* '''''Star Trek Insurrection''''': If you thought the [[Avatar|Na'vi]] were a bunch of badly-written [[Mary Sue]]s, you ain't seen nothing yet! B-b-b-baby you ain't seen n-n-n-nothing yet! Also, Riker shaves his beard, and that's basically a war crime. Aged from terrible to forgettably bad thanks to that one scene of Picard and Data singing ''HMS Pinafore'' going memetic. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Nemesis''''': The last stand of the ''TNG'' cast, ending not with a bang but a whimper. It also required amending the even=good/odd=bad rule to "''Galaxy Quest'' counts as a ''Star Trek'' film so this one is also odd." Infamous for killing off Data (which was actually Brent Spiner's idea since he was starting to visibly age) and because the director hadn't watched a single episode of TNG, back when it was considered a bad thing not to know anything about the property you were adapting. It also killed Tom Hardy's career for half a decade, [[Grimdark|and nearly killed Hardy himself]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek''''' (2009): Alternate timeline "reboot" (sideboot?) with the original crew, albeit with new younger actors. Timey-wimey shit happens and old prime timeline Spock (reprised by old Leonard Nimoy) is hurled back in time along with a bunch of Romulan assholes. The dickbag Romulans begin fucking shit up, slightly altering history in a way that ensures gratuitous lens flare. [[skub| Skubtastic]], but at least fun to watch (if a literally gleaming, uncomplicated space action-adventure that doesn't delve deeply into the human condition ala II or deeply into idiocy ala V/Generations/Insurrection spells "fun" to you), which is more than ''most'' odd-numbered films can muster. If you still even count it as odd, without the ''Galaxy Quest''-amendment.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Into Darkness''''': Some [[edgy]] [[Fail|shit]]. The second of the alternate timeline ''Trek'' films. Terrorism, conspiracy and flapdoodle. Even more skubtastic, but generally considered worse than its predecessor, partially because (like ''Nemesis'') it tries to be a remake of ''The Wrath of Khan'' and having Kirk at his most punchable.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Beyond''''': Didn't totally suck; graded on a curve against the prior two. So - the good / bad / skub. Good: lots of good character stuff for the entire cast (including Kirk ''not'' being an asshat) and a decent story revolving around a race of mysterious space pirates trying to conquer a colony; handles IRL death of Leonard Nimoy excellently. Bad: villains are under-written, the action photography is poorly-lit shaky-cam horseshit, and the sound work is awful. Skub: Takei came out to complain that its Sulu was gay-married, since he'd played Sulu straight himself, so gay-Sulu was - Takei complained - an insult to his acting prowess (but: alternate universe, remember). If it's the last "Kelvin Timeline" movie, as it seems it will be, at least it ended on a note that wasn't total turd. Apparently we're getting a fourth one now, which was news to everyone including the cast.<br />
<br />
= Novels =<br />
Like most long time franchises ''Star Trek'' has a massive line of books.<br />
<br />
Most are effectively fanfics as nothing but the show and the movies is canon so the writers can do whatever they want. Partial exception to be made for the ''Deep Space Nine'' line; those are considered the "eighth season", justifiably, because they're actually quite good. Start with Andrew "Garak" Robinson's ''Stitch in Time''.<br />
<br />
This changed after ''Nemesis'' since that movie was so godawful the producers calculated they might never have another show or movie in the "Prime" universe; also, several ''DS9'' actors started dropping off dead (so their fans never did get their kino). The writers got their shit together and wrote a group of books as a tight community very close to the shows. The relaunch novels are a continuation of the show they're about. Also there's the ''Titan'' book series which is about Riker and Troi getting their own ship, which happens to be staffed by every race in the Federation including living rocks, [[awesome|space dinosaurs]] that smell like [[meatbread|toast]] and a [[what|space cyborg ostrich]].<br />
<br />
All the relaunch lines eventually got brought together in Star Trek: Destiny, where the Borg go nuts and eat Pluto ... yeah... and then they finally get sick of the Federation somehow managing to not get assimilated all the time, so they finally just send every last cube they have with orders to Exterminatus the absolute SHIT out of the entire Alpha Quadrant. Pretty much every important character from TNG, DS9, and Voyager has to team up to stop them, and even then the Federation still gets its shit kicked in and winds up having to rely on a vaguely ridiculous deus ex machina to beat the Borg, and [[Grimdark|billions of people still die and dozens of planets are blown to shit]]. It was pretty insane.<br />
<br />
Then all the Federation's main enemies get together to form an anti-Federation and start poking the bear, all the while telling their allies that they're somehow warmongering dicks, Section 31 gets its cover blown in a big way, and Riker gets promoted to Admiral. Also, a lot of the newer TNG novels have been devoted to following up on one-shot aliens from the show, like the guys that sent out the probe that made Barclay super-smart and those fish monks that were abducting crewmembers for experiments. Now that the Picard show is coming out, though, this will all presumably be chucked in the dustbin. <br />
<br />
Picard show came. Dustbin. But! Some of the authors who'd been working on the novel continuity for the last twenty years weren't willing to let the Trek novelverse die an inglorious death like the original Star Wars EU, so they got together and wrote a trilogy to give it a proper send-off. The dickhead aliens from that TNG two-part episode with Mark Twain have worked out a way to blow up entire quantum realities and feast on the neural energy of the trillions of lives snuffed out in the process. The novelverse crews all team up to stop them and learn that they're in an alternate timeline created by the Borg during the events of ''First Contact'', and that their reality will have to be erased permanently in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the multiverse. Some of them are less happy about it than others, but they band together to fight the good fight one last time. Everyone fucking dies, of course, but in the end they defeat the dickhead aliens and save the day before being extinguished forever. Still a better note to go out on than Disney saying "lol none of the old EU is canon anymore, buy our new stuff nerds."<br />
<br />
= Video Games =<br />
Again, you're in /tg/, so /v/ comes LAST.<br />
<br />
There have been over 100 Star Trek video games to date but you'll be lucky for find more than [https://www.gog.com/news/6_classic_star_trek_games_ready_to_beam_up_new_players_and_fans_alike 6 on Steam or GOG] that aren't shitty mobile phone games. The vast, vast majority of Star Trek's games are abandonware with no way to purchase them, let alone get them from completely trustable sources. Also for a long time gamers had the (justified) prejudice that ''Trek'' games were shit and ''Wars'' games were good. This changed a bit after ''Elite Force'' redeemed ''Trek'' a bit and more so on the other end after EA ran ''Wars'' to the ground.<br />
<br />
* [https://www.gog.com/partner/startrek List of Star Trek games on GOG.com]<br />
<br />
=== Star Trek Online ===<br />
''Star Trek Online'' is the free-to-play online game built by Cryptic Studios and run by <s>Infogrames</s> <s>Atari</s> <s>Perfect World</s> Gearbox. With an official license CBS, recurring characters voiced by various Trek alumni, and a license to include references to both the reboot chronology (officially known as the "Kelvin Timeline") and recent shows, it's the closest existing thing to an "official" continuation of the "Prime" timeline, and contains history and fluff extending nearly 30 years from the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.<br />
<br />
Taking place in the 25th century (around the year 2409-2412), the Hobus supernova (the event that kicked Nero and Spock into the past alternate timeline during Star Trek 2009) has devastated the Romulans, resulting in the near-collapse and fragmentation of the Romulan Star Empire. This causes tensions between a resurgent Klingon Empire and the Federation which blows up into a war. Members of the new (and nicer) breakaway Romulan Republic play both sides in exchange for development aid.<br />
<br />
There are six possible starts for characters.<br />
*Current Starfleet - The standard starting point.<br />
*Klingons - You are a warrior of the Empire! Qapla' warrior! Today is a good day to die!<br />
*Romulan Republic - Part of a breakaway state after the destabilization of the Star Empire, you get a choice on which major faction (Starfleet or Klingon) you can join later on.<br />
*Dominion - Quite possibly the least played, you do start at level 60 (basically right at end game since levels cap at 65) and you pick which major faction to join too, but you're part of the Dominion so...<br />
*TOS Starfleet - With all the redshirt shenanigans that entails. A time anomaly and weird mission later and you're now in the standard timeline for STO.<br />
*DSC Starfleet - Similar to TOS, comes with a series of starting missions that are possibly the best any of the starts have. Drawback is that it is couched in the Discovery era.<br />
<br />
The game contains deep cuts from all over Trek lore, and answers questions about what happened to various key characters, including Data (took over the Enterprise-E, then retired), the Enterprise (now an even bigger ship run by Andorian captain Shon), and the Voyager crew (it took Harry Kim 30 years to make Captain lol). Raises barely-shown, unnamed, and otherwise obscure races to new prominence as big bad foes, including the Iconians (ancient aliens with god complexes who mutated into energy beings, currently live in Dyson Spheres and were only defeated by a predestination paradox), Tzenkethi (4-armed halo guys whose weak points are the FRONT of their shields), and Na'kuhl (the alien nazis from Enterprise as time-traveling terrorists who blame the Federation for a throwaway event that happened in TNG's beach episode).<br />
<br />
The two most recent major arcs center on a Klingon power struggle and civil between mostly TNG-era Klingons and some DSC-era Klingons (and you also go to Klingon Hell) followed very quickly by a Terran arc with heavy tie-ins to the original Star Trek movie's V'Ger. While the Klingon arc made some players more than a little irked due to not only its length (spread out over several "seasons" of play) and it's attempt to shoehorn in the controversial Discovery era, the Terran arc has been widely praised and brought back a very notorious character from the TNG era.<br />
<br />
Ostensibly free to play, but don't let that fool you... the ''not-so-micro''transactions are the only reason the lights stay on.<br />
<br />
That said, the game does get really decent updates and now is in a groove of running two seasonal events ("Summer on Risa" and "Q's Winter Wonderland") as well as a year-long campaign, as well as a smattering of smaller ones throughout the year. The seasonal ones tend to give you really good shit (often a ship, other times major equipment that can help define an entire character) but the year-long campaign gives you a choice of 3 options to pick from - a shit ton of in-game currency known as Lobi (enough to get a Lobi ship and a little extra), TWO regular Zen Store Tier 6 ships (these unlock for all characters, by the way), or one of the "Premium" ships (ones you typically get from lockbox drops). The only major stipulation is the Premium ship can't be one that has been released in that specific year, but previous years ones are fair game to grab.<br />
<br />
=== Bridge Commander ===<br />
A game that lets you feel like a captain. Very dated, but mods are very good. Has had a resurgence in recent years, with newer mods adding stuff from the newer shows.<br />
<br />
=== Elite Force ===<br />
There was an "Away Team" game that sucked and a "Voyager" game 1995-7 that got canceled. ''Elite Force'' was the ST:VOY away-team FPS game that critics didn't poop on, and it even got a sequel featuring much of the cast of ''TNG''.<br />
<br />
=== Starfleet Command ===<br />
''Starfleet Command'' was a series real time space battle games by Interplay based on the much older tabletop game Star Fleet Battles. It came out in 1999 and was followed by several sequels and expansions. Gameplay was much like ''Battlefleet Gothic'', but with the player only controlling one ship. SFC remains Interplay's best selling game, topping even ''Baldur's Gate''.<br />
<br />
=== Armada ===<br />
<br />
A series of low effort RTS's churned out by Activision in 2000. Tried to take on both ''Homeworld'' and ''Age of Empires'', both of which have recently gotten HD remakes and ''Armada'' hasn't so that should tell you all you need to know. However, for one of the first 3D model space RTS's it was surprisingly easy to mod, resulting in many ship mod packs being made for it.<br />
<br />
=== Legacy ===<br />
Starfleet Command dumbed down but with fancier graphics and the ability to fly in 3D. Features ships and protagonists from all 4 main series before the reboots so it has everything iconic. The Ultimate Universe mod has every single ship from all series before the reboot.<br />
<br />
==NonCanon==<br />
=== Homages ===<br />
Being such a long-running franchise with a wide audience, Star Trek has gained enough pop-culture recognition that it is often referenced in other works. In a few cases entire projects are made to pay homage to Star Trek. Here are some examples.<br />
<br />
==== Galaxy Quest ====<br />
A sci-fi/comedy film released in 1999, directed by Dean Parisot. Built around that ''Three Amigos'' premise of "What if the cast of ''Star Trek'' ended up on a real spaceship and had to actually do the shit they did in the show?", this one parodies science fiction films and series in general - ''Star Trek'' (and its fandom) in particular.<br />
<br />
The film stars big name actors including Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and the late Alan Rickman. The plot revolves around the cast of a defunct cult television series called Galaxy Quest (for example, Tim Allen played the Kirk/Shatner expy and Alan Rickman played the Spock/Nimoy expy). They're also suffering fatigue that mirrors the experiences of the actual Star Trek actors (Rickman's character is typecast with his Galaxy Quest character and laments it, similar to how these things happened to the late, great Leonard Nimoy).<br />
<br />
The cast are suddenly visited by actual aliens, the Thermians, who believe the series to be an accurate documentary (they have no concept of fiction and only the most bare bones idea of lying - which they only just learned about when the antagonist deceived them repeatedly) and seek their help. The Thermians take the actors with them, who find themselves involved in a very real, and dangerous, galactic conflict against the alien warlord, Sarris. Unlike the show where it all wrapped up quickly they struggle to learn about and relate to the aliens. Can these ordinary, flawed actors find greatness within themselves, and possibly personal redemption? (Spoiler: yes, and it is incredible.)<br />
<br />
Speaking of the aliens, in a witty nod to the "rubber forehead aliens" so common in Star Trek, the Thermians first appear to resemble humans with unnaturally pale skin and straight hair/cheap make-up, but that's revealed to be a holographic disguise and their true forms are squid-like. This does not stop one of the actors from striking up a relationship with a female alien anyway. [[/d/| Shine on you crazy /d/iamond!]]<br />
<br />
/tg/ deems this one of the best parodies ever made, and an affectionate love-letter to the franchise as a whole. If you disagree then feel free to consume a big bag of Saurian Swinoid dongs.<br />
<br />
''"Never give up, Never surrender!"''<br />
<br />
==== The Orville ====<br />
Now has [[The Orville|its own page]].<br />
<br />
===Fanfics===<br />
We ''could'' point you to An Archive Of Our Own but, for those (few) of you not keen to watch Kirk and Spock probe Uranus, here are some of the better noncanonical Trek you might want to watch.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek: Renegades====<br />
Kickstarter Trek. The makers submitted their made-for-TV movie pilot to CBS in an attempt to get it made into a legit on-the-air series (and by god it shows), but they were not successful. As a result, while the project limped along for a few years afterward, it has good and bad in equal measure. As a non-official product it also cannot be considered canon. Some characters are actually interesting (about time we saw more of the Breen!) while others are pure Mary Sues (including a male Seven of Nine with a built-in Borg-gun/personal shield/fully-functional hand). Some of the ideas are interesting while others are boring or already-been-done. The CGI is all Hollywood-quality, but the practical effects are okay at best. <br />
It's obvious that they made this without knowing that they were going to be able to make a TV show or not, and tried to cram the sort of build-up and intrigue we saw in DS9 into a span of 90 minutes. For now though, it's decidedly meh, and probably a dead project as well since it hasn't been mentioned on the maker's website in over a year as of late 2019.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek Continues====<br />
Of all the offerings listed here, Star Trek Continues is BY FAR the closest in theme and tone to the original 1960's series. Indeed, this is the whole point: from its inception, this fan-funded project was intended to represent a what-if "4th Season" of the Original Series, ending with the conclusion of the Enterprise's 5-year mission. It is surprisingly and at times ''delightfully'' watchable, with strong stories, consequences and arcs that carry over to later episodes, tons of attention to detail, unexpected cameos, and a cast that really came together, particularly in later episodes. It also delicately navigated a line between viewing female characters through the lens of a show that was rooted in 1960's culture while also not treating them as weak children dependent on men for protection. Star Trek Continues successfully concluded its "season" with all 11 episodes gradually released from 2014 to 2018, to heaps of industry awards and wide praise (including a personal endorsement from Gene Roddenberry's son, who said his father would've approved).<br />
<br />
===Parodies===<br />
====Futurama====<br />
Matt Groening, that mad lad, got almost all the original actors in a ''Futurama'' episode to [re-]enact a ''Trek'' episode on behalf of an alien fan. But not Doohan, so "Scotty" is replaced by "Welshie". Who gets horribly killed and has his corpse zapped whenever the alien loses his temper.<br />
<br />
====Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning====<br />
Another parody, parodying not only ''Star Trek'' but ''Babylon 5'' as well. The seventh in a series fan movies released in 2005, it's about Captain Pirk builds a starship called CPP ''Kickstart'', allies with Russia and takes over the world. He wants to take over more planets but the ships of his P-Fleet aren't fast enough to travel outside the Solar system. A maggot hole opens and it leads to an alternate reality. Pirk wants to take over the Earth of this reality, which leads to an [[awesome]] space battle between the P-Fleet and the fleet of the space station Babel 13 led by Johnny Sherrypie. The movie features some of the best special effects ever put in a sci-fi movie, which is pretty impressive, considering that this is an amateur film with a very low budget and was rendered in five years in someone's bedroom. The film is spoken in Finnish but subtitles are available for a wide variety of languages, including Klingon. They also made [https://web.archive.org/web/20070828010927/http://rpg.starwreck.com/ a role-playing game based on it], where your character [[Truenamer|becomes more incompetent]] [[Page 42|as he levels up]].<br />
<br />
= Criticisms =<br />
Also known as "plot holes", "what an idiot moments", and myriad of other names.<br />
* Cybernetics, as in prosthetics and artificial tools instead of Synthetic lifeforms like Data. There are various stories where physical injuries and handicaps are a big deal and used as allegories for issues like the treatment of the disabled or even euthanasia, but some could argue that even those cases special enough to get an episode shouldn't be an issue in a galaxy where technology has advanced light years and replicators are widespread. Besides whatever in-episode exception is given, this is partly explained by the various factions generally having ''some'' respect for the sanctity and autonomy of the organic form or just being flat-out better than anything technology can recreate, but sometimes it can seem ''awfully'' tempting to <s>magic</s> science up a series of sensors, implants or dermal armor that can give you the durability of a [[Men of Iron|Soong-class android]] or the spectral analysis capabilities of Geordi's visor. There's seldom an in-universe budget issue for this (replicators construct anything out of anything; only mass matters, not cost), though there are some out-of-universe issues for both the budget ("We can't afford more styrofoam tech props!") and plot ("Shut up about how the engineer invented a new engine component last season which would perfectly solve this problem.")<br />
** The technological arms race might also stand out depending on how you interpret the factions who generally lack the Federation's restraint. While Klingons may value the power found in their strong bat'leth arm and the purity of a warrior's physical form, some might argue that their obsession with warrior pride and strength should mean they have [[Big Mek|war engineers]] dedicated to creating the biggest, most badass powered armor with the biggest phasers and blades. And if Romulans and Cardassians are so ruthlessly ambitious, shouldn't their agents have hyper-stealthy scanners and miniaturized electronic warfare suites for better spying? Granted, one counter to that is "because the tech would inevitably be detected and reverse-engineered by Star Trek technobabble, spawning a perpetual cybernetics arms race", but still. And then you get into the Borg, [[Meme|who have no such weaknesses]], and it opens a whole can of worms.<br />
** Keep in mind, that in Federation, only ''biological'' augmentation is illegal (like [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like Khan Noonien Singh). ''Cybernetic'' augmentation is incredibly obscure and rarely seen, but '''is''' legal ([[Artificial Intelligence]] is also legal). And on top of that, Federation pays respect to other ideologies and cultures. As such, if Federation citizen decided to turn himself into robust tank-like full-conversion cyborg with lots of badass gadgets and systems - it would not cost him anything (replicators + post-scarcity economy) - while others would remark how strange he is, but not impose any penalties/punishments/sanctions, and would respect him for his incredible capabilities (for there's no guy in town half as massive!). Most other civilizations/nations have even less restrictions on [[Transhumanism]]/augmentation than Federation has - that is, most of them would also allow ''biological'' augmentation - and they also have replicators.<br />
* Everyone look like some variant of human, without any variety:<br />
** All aliens are just humans with slight alterations of face features, like ridges on their foreheads. Aliens, what would so much as look like other members of ''Homo'' Genus (think difference between modern humans and neanderthals), are very rare. And ''truely alien'' aliens are practically non-existent. Yet mathematically, "non-metamorph/spapeshifter aliens evolving to look perfectly like humans" has so small chance, as to be completely implausible - and '''every''' alien race independently evolving to look like humans is '''absurd'''.<br />
** Almost all cyborgs/robots are human-shaped. Almost all of ''those'' are human-looking, with artificial skin and such. Human shape is not very effective for most tasks - and as such, one could expect vaguely-humanoid (e.g. like [[Dreadnought]] or [https://helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/Hulk Cyberstanian Hulk]) and non-humanoid (e.g. tank-shaped "box on threads with rotating turret") robots/cyborgs to appear from time to time - yet such things are practically non-existent in ''Star Trek'' (IRL, it's the other way around - lots of industrial robots and "boxes on threads", and no synthetic humans). What's more, Borg are partially-mechanical cyborgs, clinging to their ragged flesh for no discernible reason, looking more humanlike than [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] members are - while logically, due to having Replicators, Borg could make themselves fully-robotic (with, at most, only nervous system bein organical; everything else would rather be replaced with strong and durable ultra-tech machinery) '''''and''''' field large vaguely-humanoid/non-humanoid units (strong and tough - and since they're big, they can have bigger brains/computers, cue being smarter).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld weapons stronger/bigger than rifle. Such as LMG and RPG-sized weapons, for tough enemies. There is the Worfzooka from Insurrection ([http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/Ground/Misc-ST.html what is rough equivalent of "thumper" grenade launcher]; the '''proper''' anti-tank weapons were never seen or mentioned anywhere).<br />
** More about that [http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Database/Query-ST.php?Series=TNG&Category=Realism&EpName=&Keywords=&Quotes=&Analysis=&Submit=Submit there], [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tactics/ there] and [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/ there]. ''They even don't have grenades''.<br />
* Lack of ''any'' armor. So much as making jumpsuits out of futuristic ballistic (or at least sharp-resistant) materials would make life easier (e.g. Klingons would be forces to switch for guns, as melee weapons couldn't penetrate even such light futuristic armor), while having same weight, cost (replicators, after all!) and being concealable as clothing (as it would have same weight ''as'' clothing); in fact, such protective clothing should completely replace normal clothing - for it has same cost/weight, but is actually protective. That's before going on to ''any'' sort of "proper" armor; no equivalents of [[Power Armor]] and [[Carapace Armour]] - even no equivalents of [[Flak Armor]]. Even those not going into direct combat would logically need to wear armor - due to chance of enemy teleporting on ship, and due to ship's machinery constantly exploding into dangerous shrapnel. There are two exceptions, there was some armor used by security forces in the movies and armored vests in Discovery (though, neither are good at protecting from gunfire).<br />
** Similarly, lack of ''any'' environmental protection. So much as wearing gas masks/rebreathers or [[Space Station 13|breath masks with emergency oxygen tanks]] would make life a lot easier. Logically, with ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies, even the lesser space-faring civilizations (like most Federation's neighbors) should be capable of creating protective suits that are as comfortable to wear as clothing while protecting from vacuum and hostile atmospheres. And on top of that, armor mentioned above could also be sealed work as protection from environmental threats of all sorts. Yet [[Derp|everyone go around in unarmored jumpsuits, no matter where they are - be it unexplored planet with potentially hostile atmosphere/biosphere, damaged ship where systems leak and depressurizations happen, or warzone where enemies use chemical/biological/radiological weapons]]. [[Irony|All that, ironically, makes goody-two-shoes Federation '''''more backwards''''' than]] modern humans (submariners and jet pilots wear rebreathers, astronauts wear emergency space suits) and ''[[Imperium of Man]]'', of all people (many [[Astra Militarum|guardsmen]] wear gas masks and hazmat suits, [[Space Marine]] armor doubles as emergency space suits). What little environmental protection suits are there in ''Star Trek'', are very unreliable and constantly tear - despite the fact, that ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies could allow to make sharp-proof, bullet-proof, phaser-proof (or at least phaser-resistant) reliable space suits, what would weigh and cost just as much as normal ones (because replicators!).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld heavy explosive weapons. Like, for example, miniature antimatter munitions, for when you ''really'' need to blow something up (imagine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) Davy Crockett], but with '''antimatter''' instead of low-grade fission nuke). Heavy/Powered Armor from point above could help to "use that thing and not die from blast/radiation".<br />
* Lack of Ground Vehicles. If you are exploring an alien planet, you'd want to be able to get around it's surface quickly. But basically you're limited to Spaceships and Walking.<br />
* Lack of Boarding/Breaching Vehicles. If you are not tank-like cyborg, and you're fighting inside spaceship (or other cramped place) - you'd want something compact, yet equipped with lots of armor and weapons, preferably remote-controlled and flying. A "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Descent room] [https://www.old-games.ru/game/103.html superiority] starfighter", or [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2729877778&searchtext=Breaching+drone breaching] [https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=244850&searchtext=Breaching+drone&childpublishedfileid=0&browsesort=textsearch&section= drone] variants. Such machine would be many times stronger than [[Power Armor]]/small [[Battlesuit]] soldiers - not to mention infantrymen; it would be impervious to small-arms fire, and resistant to anti-vehicular weapons. But instead, everyone are limited to "walking around, without any armor, and without anything bigger than rifle".<br />
** To understand, how scary such remote-controlled "box of death" or "room superiority starfighter" would be with Star Trek tech... It would technically be a very small spaceship. Made of heavy spaceship-grade armor, resistant to phaser cannons and anti-matter rockets, to the point of being able to take hits from vehicles bigger than itself. With deflector shields on top of that. And instead of 25x184 gatling autocannons and 200mm rocket launchers (what is ''already'' overkill for anything human-sized), it would be armed with '''''ginormous phaser [auto]cannons and antimatter missiles (!)'''''. And it quickly flies on futuristic engines, far stronger than any modern variant of ion or hydrogen engine; so much as it's engine exhaust trust can turn unarmored infantryman into pile of charcoal and fling it across the ship. It's a non-living vehicle, with ton of immunities and resistances that entails. And if it's outfitted with AI (instead or in addition to remote-control system), it gets all advantages of that (absolute timing and precision, intuitive fast mathematics, reaction speed rivaling that of CIWS system, etc). It has virtually limitless operating time, due to working on anti-matter reactor (or something comparable); if it's destroyed, it violently explodes (due to anti-matter reactor and anti-matter ammunition detonation). It may also be outfitted with various tools (e.g. repair tools and manipulators), or even ''portable replicator''. And most of it's opponents are enemies with tiny peashooters and useless chunks of sharp iron, what can't even scratch the machine's paintjob. Have fun.<br />
* And [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MisappliedPhlebotinum why not use teleporter offensively]? Make big antimatter bomb (whatever warheads your torpedoes use; the stronger explosive - the better), set it to explode after teleporting (timer, and other sensors), then teleport it onto enemy ship. Then watch the explosion of epic proportions, as '''enormous''' antimatter warhead (at least 2 meters big in every direction - possibly, so big what it fills all available space on ship's bridge; the bigger can fit inside your teleporter - the better) explodes inside enemy ship. Even tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles can't survive '''that''' much of explosion; ship's systems will also be utterly devastated. There are no people out there, who would be more destructive than antimatter bomb of same mass/size.<br />
**As a counterpoint, transporters can't work through shields and a variety of other things can stop transporters from working including radiation, electromagnetic activity and suchlike. Transporter Inhibitors have been mentioned and shown repeatedly.<br />
* And why there are no ship defenses? For example, so much as "phaser autocannon turret equivalent in size to gatling autocannon" would be great at repelling any boarding infantrymen, and could help against tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles. That's before going on to any bigger defensive systems; the only thing what ''sufficiently big'' turret can't handle, is '''massive antimatter bomb''' (read above). Yet instead, everyone foolishly leave their ships defenseless, despite knowing what enemies ''have'' teleports and ''will'' board their ships.<br />
* Planet of the Hats. Not a problem unique to Trek, but it's very acute here. As mentioned a lot of species in Star Trek are rather one note. For the Klingons it's all about being a [[Proud Warrior Race|Honorable Warrior]], for the Romulans it's all about covert actions, intrigue and political plotting, for the Ferengi it's all about making money and being greedy, etc. Those are the big species and most Species-Of-The-Week are even more one-note than that, such as the species who's hat is being big-game hunters, playing board games or aggressive bartering. Admittedly there's only so much you can fit into part of a 45 minute long TV show and there are some ideas that work better than others, but even so building an entire civilization/country around interpretive dance is pretty dumb.<br />
** Besides, there is large shortage of "atypical" characters, whose characteristics are different from their species' average. Such as a Ferengi guy who isn't greedy trader; Ferengi guy who is militaristic conqueror a-like Conquistadors, who prefers to enslave and "take something forcibly" instead of buying; Romulan soldier/special-agent who is a militaristic gun nut and fan of direct "blow everything up!" actions; Klingon pirate/rebel/marauder who is a militaristic warlike callous asshole without any sense of honor or morals (i.e. unfettered in his desire to conquer and destroy); Human who is hulking, augmented to the point of being non-humanoid, [[Cyborg]] [[Space Marine]], [[Transhumanist]] and conqueror, who tries to "save Federation from it's own stupidity", reverse-engineers Borg tech, "recruits" Borgs (by disconnecting them from [[Hive Mind]] and connecting to himself) and constantly intervenes everywhere.<br />
* Budget problems. Most factions (e.g. Federation lives in post-scarcity economy) have access to Replicators ([https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS_Prime_Directive#Star_Fleet_Universe_Tech_Levels among other things], what clearly classify it as [[Soft Science Fiction]]); they can turn anything into anything, as long as they have supply of energy and bulk matter. Naturally, there ''are'' large supply of energy (from Antimatter reactors), and lots of bulk matter (planets, asteroids, etc). Therefore, "budget limitations" as we know it cease existing, and anyone can take as much big-advanced gear as he wants; from robust full-conversion-cyborg body, to big guns and power armor, to portable replicator, to all sorts of gadgets. Yet characters behave as if they are on strict budget limits - usually coming on missions while grossly under-equipped (only having non-protective uniforms and phaser-pistols); what frequently resulted in problems ([https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction that even got highlighted on TvTropes]).<br />
** In particular they have goofy things like having civilizations in the same technological ball-park of the Federation capture people to mine stuff with pick axes or push mine carts of ore into furnaces like this is the 19th century; even though mining machines like tunneling shield, power tools, and self-moving carts are a lot cheaper than slaves, and should already be invented.<br />
*** Generally, there's shortage of "Sane Evil"/"Pragmatic Evil" types - "those who are ready to do any heinous act, but only as long as it furthers their goal, who are capable of doing good things if it furthers their goal, and who don't do evil if it doesn't further their goal". Most villains in series are [[Grimderp]] [[Stupid Evil]] types who do bad things just to show how evil they are. All while "Pragmatic Evil" types are more interesting, more realistic, more common IRL, and rise many good philosophical question by virtue of ''arguably being more effective than good guys'' ("So you would rather be good yet inefficient, or amoral yet efficient?", "Moral is subjective - yet our system is more effective - and from our point of view, we're perfectly moral", "Your 'morals' and 'ethics' are just handcuffs and shackles you imposed on yourself, what slow down your civilization - like those dumb Klingon codes of honor", etc).<br />
* Numerous other errors (some [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction highlighted on TvTropes]). Such as exploding instrument panels (could be fixed with batteries and wireless connection; and on top of that, no one wears armor, not even flak armor), holodeck problems (mishaps by creating physical, dangerous holograms - yet never gets used for any actually practical ways, like "conjure cannon fodder out of thing air, and beam it to enemy ship"), no computer backups, no transporter tests (teleport a sealed container of water up and down - then teleport a mouse up and down - and check if both are normal - and samples are to be beamed up separately; no one did that), no environmental protection, no physical access doors in brig, shuttles what poorly fly in atmosphere, cargo working in 1G gravity (despite low-gravity being more productive), no space suits or other protective gear, and some other errors.<br />
* The Prime Directive. [[TL;DR]] Starfleet is forbidden from interacting with pre-warp civilizations, and main characters are Starfleet members. In broad strokes it's not a bad idea since we don't want to be Space Cortés enslaving people to mine dilithium and imposing our religion on them at laser-point, and Star Trek has always leaned towards more liberal ideas of respecting the freedom and autonomy of other cultures instead of intervening "because we know best", to say nothing of when time travel and mirror dimensions are involved and you have to preserve the sanctity of the timeline (unless the point of the episode is to FIX what's wrong to get back to your universe). Nor do the Feddies want to accidentally stunt the growth of a civilization by becoming their gods or making them dependent on them and thus incapable of advancing by themselves. The problem is that it comes up when civilizations face some major danger like a killer disease, geological disaster or the Schmazis going around genociding everyone on the planet who's not forest green and the federation's official response is "rules are rules, can't interfere" as millions suffer and die in all sorts of gruesome preventable ways (including ''pre-warp Earth''; they don't care about suffering/deaths of ''their own people'' -but this particular problem comes with the huge caveat of temporal interference as playing god on someone else is one thing, erasing yourself from existence is another-). Many species and civilizations have suffered extinction or collapse because of this (and in many cases, that resulted or could result in evil aggressive post-warp civilization emerging on such unattended planets), and many problems could be easily avoided if not for Prime Directive. Basically, it's a case of a noble ideal which severely hampers the heroes because there's [[Lawful Stupid|very little room for nuance]].<br />
** Such passivity also commonly extends to post-warp civilizations as well. The Federation's strict policy of non-interference in foreign affairs (barring explicit permission or evidence of interference) has led to many non-aligned races like the Bajorans treating the Federation with open distrust (the Bajorans fought a guerilla campaign against the Cardassians, who massacred and enslaved them for years without the Federation lifting so much as a finger, and many cynically see them as allies of convenience who only backed them up when they had something they wanted) or foregoing several opportunities to shift the balance of power in the Federation's favour (the Klingon Civil War is a prime example of that, as not only would have military support for Gowron's faction have the cost the Federation nothing, but Gowron's enemies sought to undo the peace treaty the Federation had with the Klingons for decades while bringing them closer to the Romulans, the only other faction that could meet the Federation on somewhat equal footing) simply because it would be ideologically inconvenient to do so. Then again, the Federation (or at least the highbrow captains and admirals introduced to show they're not all like our Noblebright heroes) has a nasty tendency to overlook the reality on the ground in an imperfect and volatile galaxy, because as Sisko says, "''It's easy to be a saint in paradise!''"<br />
*** Of course, to be fair, interfering in galactic politics ''does'' set a bad precedent as well, as it would paint the Federation as a big bully who strongarms their way into your messes to tell you what to do for their benefit, which would actively harm not just their ideals but their hope of encouraging more peaceful contact in line with those ideals. Heck, whenever we had episodes where the Federation ''did'' launch covert operations to manipulate things to their advantage, it's usually called out as a self-serving and hypocritical move, even if it's absolutely necessary at the time. But as Sisko also said: "''I can live with it.''"<br />
** Of course, we're /tg/. We can appreciate the [[Warhammer 40,000|in-your-face over-the-top appeal]] of [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|being Space Cortés]] and taking an active hand in shaping the destiny of the stars, righting wrongs and kicking ass like a pulp action serial by channeling your inner [[Buck Rogers]]. And while normally [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Terran%20Empire this tack] is shown as a ''bad'' thing, sometimes you just wanna [[Star_Trek_Alternate_Timelines#Commie_Track_Of_War;_Variant_1|fire up your warp drive and get shit done]]. After all, if you're already in a post-scarcity civilization, why enslave the natives when you can get rid of the genuine threat (that ideally is truly more than they can handle), move on and leave 'em to keep trying on their own while giving them a preview of what it means to cherish the sanctity of life?<br />
<br />
= Would you like to know more? =<br />
And oh Lordy, is there more...<br />
*[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/ Main Memory Alpha: A ''Star Trek'' wiki]<br />
*[http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/ Main Memory Beta: The flip-side of Memory Alpha for the less than official stuff]<br />
*[http://sfdebris.com/ SF Debris: opinionated episode reviews, has some non ''Trek'' stuff as well]<br />
*[http://www.letswatchstartrek.com/ Let's Watch Star Trek]: A curated list of the episodes for newcomers - which episodes to watch or skip.<br />
<br />
[[Category: Television]]<br />
[[Category:Star Trek]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Trek&diff=1003307Star Trek2025-06-24T11:14:38Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Criticisms */</p>
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<div>[[File:Enterprise.jpg|thumb|500px|right|If you aren't already hearing the theme song you might not belong here.]]<br />
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{{Topquote|Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!|James T. Kirk, <s>third</s> captain of the starship USS Enterprise}}<br />
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{{Topquote|[[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For the duration of this mission the prime directive is rescinded.]]|Kathryn Janeway, captain of the starship USS Voyager}}<br />
<br />
'''''Star Trek''''' is a multimedia science-fiction series and one of the cornerstones of nerdy media properties (in fact, Klingon is the most learned fictional language, rivalled only by Tolkien's elvish in popularity), and one of the few to crossover into mainstream popularity (alongside ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and a few others). It's also one of the longest-running science fiction franchises, as it began when the the first episode of The Original Series aired in 1966, and since then has had over 50 years of geek history spanning several generations. Needless to say, it's had a huge influence on all things sci-fi, and, by extension, [[/tg/]].<br />
<br />
Originally, ''Star Trek'' was [[noblebright]] beyond noblebright and, in many ways, was the polar opposite of ''[[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K's]]'' [[grimdark]]. The more recent reboot films, however, have taken a much, ''much'' more grimdark tone, which is delightfully [[skub]]tastic.<br />
<br />
= Games =<br />
You're in /tg/ = 1d4chan, so, we'll start with the games.<br />
<br />
There's been plenty of tabletop games and [[/v/|vidya gaems]] featuring ''Star Trek'' without being merchandising bullshit (see: themed ''[[Monopoly]]'' sets), including one of the earliest action multiplayer wargame: ''Netrek''. <br />
<br />
*'''''Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier''''' (1978) The very first Trek tabletop [[RPG]]. Written by, I shit you not, Michael Scott. Groggy (grokky?) as all hell, and due for an OSR.<br />
* '''''[[Starships & Spacemen]]''''' (1978 1e, 2013-present 2e) This was an attempt by a guy named Leonard Kanterman to make his own Star Trek RPG but since he didn't hold the license he had to alter the names and fudge the rules a bit so he wouldn't get sued. It appeared and died fairly quickly. It was later purchased by [[Goblinoid Games]] and heavily reworked to work more like their other game, [[Labyrinth Lord]] but different enough that converting things back and forth should take a minute or two longer than just dropping them in. The 2e version has some decent third party material at least.<br />
* '''''[[Star Fleet Battles]] (SFB)''''' (1979-) The crunchiest starship combat game you're ever going to find outside of a computer. Based on the original series and not any of the later series, for licensing reasons. Takes some liberties with the setting, which (combined with the aforementioned licensing) is why "''Star Trek''" isn't actually in the title. It's had its own video game spinoff in the form of Starfleet Command. The vidya series died when the last company owned by Interplay broke up in the early 2000s, but the original game is still published by its designer, Amarillo Design Bureau (formerly in conjunction with the defunct Task Force Games).<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Role Playing Game''''' (1982-1989) Made by [[FASA]], essentially ''[[Traveller]]''-lite, or a happier, shinier ''[[Rogue Trader]]''. Hasn't aged terribly well, what with having been made when the only canonical ''Star Trek'' materials to work with were the original and animated series, the first four films, and a couple of now non-canon novels. If you try to dust it off, expect tons of conflict with the rest of the show. Died as they were trying to update it for ''TNG'', because Paramount's corporate suits (surprise, surprise) had no idea what an RPG actually entailed and were worried about violence, and getting their cut, and... oh you know the drill by now. Welcome to the 80's.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator''''' (1983) FASA designed this, so it feels like ''[[Battletech]]'' but not as good.<br />
* '''''Prime Directive''''' (1993-2008) The most successful tabletop RPG line (but that's not saying much), it's actually still in print. Produced by Amarillo Design Bureau, so again no direct name-dropping of "''Star Trek''." Lasted as long as it did by constantly evolving, in Borg-like fashion, to adapt to the current zeitgeist. Has had 4 editions, with the second using [[GURPS]], the third using [[Wizards of the Coast|d20]], and the fourth [[d20 Modern]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek [[Card_Game|CCG]]''''' (1994-2007, 2011-2014, 2013-2015, 2018-) There's been a few of these, most notably the games released by [[Decipher]], but never globally popular. They also suffered from game balance problems from fans wanting their fave character, but needing extra rules for their quirks. There's also the problem of putting numbers to character stats, such as one game that asserted that [[Heresy|Picard having about twice the integrity of a Klingon pig]]. Later versions are "deck-building" games to try to cash in on the popularity of ''[[Dominion]]'' and ''[[Thunderstone]]''. And now virtual CCGs are the order of the day.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Next Generation Role Playing Game''''' (1998-2000) The next attempt, made by Last Unicorn Games. Won an Origins Award for best new game. Has a lot of extraneous skills, as expected of a 90's RPG, but does a good job of capturing the feel of the show. Includes core books for Deep Space Nine and The Original Series, with a planned Voyager book never released. Tons of fan material is available, including books for Enterprise, Voyager, and even the Captain Pike era. Authors of the original game have also finished and released adventures and sourcebooks online. Died an untimely death.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Red Alert''''' (2000) A Diskwars game themed to ''Star Trek''.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Roleplaying Game''''' (2002-2005) When [[Decipher]] had the CCG license, they decided, "What the hell, let's make an RPG, too." Some of the authors of the Last Unicorn Games RPG worked on this game. The systems are similar but different enough that they aren't compatible. The fluff focuses more on the Voyager era. A well made game but it's forgotten for a reason. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Online''''' (2010-) An [[MMORPG|MMO]]. Decent gameplay mechanics, especially starship combat. Storyline leaves something to be desired, especially when the ostensibly [[Noblebright|peaceful]] Federation trades shots at least once with every other faction in the galaxy. Is also sadly being screwed over by CBS who keeps retconning the series thus forcing the game to bend more and more unnaturally to fit in the new canon. Still, it's solid enough for an MMO and you can hit max level quick enough to get into the real meat of the game and join a Fleet (their version of a guild) and blow shit up.<br />
* '''''Call To Arms: Star Trek''''' (2011) [[Mongoose_Publishing|Mongoose]]'s license for ''Babylon 5'' expired, so they collaborated with Amarillo Design Bureau (the ''Star Fleet Battles'' guys), re-themed the game to Star Trek along with improving the system to make it more nifty. Less micro-management than SFB, and ships get some cinematic feats.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Expeditions''''' (2011) Ignore the tie-ins to the movie, Reiner Knizia designed this. Explore the gameboard, flip over missions, try to have the proper crew to get victory points.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Fleet Captains''''' (2011) Tile flipping, exploring, and spaceships fighting over resources<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Attack Wing''''' (2013-) [[WizKids]] license the flightpath system from [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and adds ''Star Trek'' to the mix, [[Skub]] ensues. The game has been consistently plagued with balance issues, to the point that the rules errata is more than ten times longer than the actual rules. The actual current rules for things like the Borg special movement and fighter squadrons are completely different than the rules as written.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Ascendancy''''' (2016-) 4X table top boardgame from GaleForce9. Most of the races are represented, though the base set only has the Federation, Klingons and Romulans. Andorians, Vulcans, Cardassians and Ferengi can be purchased as expansions. There is even a Borg expansion that turns the game semi-coop as everyone tries real hard not to be assimilated. <br />
* '''''[[Star Trek Adventures]]''''' (2017-) The latest attempt at an RPG, by Modiphius. It also comes with a whole range of miniatures of the various crews from the show. Runs on a similar engine to the creator's ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' which both makes sense, since they're both pulpy storytelling, and is hilarious, given the total tonal mish-mash between the two. Task resolution is generally done via a mixture of six attributes and six disciplines, which are added together, then used as a modifier for a d20 roll. For instance, combat is usually handled by the Security discipline, but hand-to-hand combat would use Fitness or Daring, while firing a phaser or other long-arm would use Control, and shipborne weapons Insight or Reason. In addition to combat stuff, players might solve problems by obtaining information and sciencing the shit out of it. They also have various Values that can be tapped for additional dice, a shared pool of Momentum all players can spend to gain advantages and add to by overboosting on success, and a pool of Threat that they can give the GM rather than burning Momentum, which he can then spend to make the situation degrade. It's a fun system, but it requires a GM who can wrap their head around the idea of an evolving situation rather than a set encounter to really click, which can be hard for GMs who're used to the ''D&D'' model.<br />
<br />
= So why should I care? =<br />
Because between them, these six TV series and their assorted spinoff movies, books, etc. can provide inspiration for any sci-fi game you could care to run. If you want light-hearted action, look at the sort of things that happened in ''TOS'' or ''DS9'' to get the crew into some dangerous situation. If you want a charismatic villain, look at Gul Dukat or the Borg Queen ([[skub|but not the one in Voyager]]). More serious issues are often handled with various degrees of success. While many science fiction series deal with a wide range of topics, Star Trek does so as aspects of a greater world. Like [[Tolkien]] is to fantasy it's a prime gateway drug to science fiction and especially science fiction which is more than "action movie IN SPACE!"<br />
<br />
Not to mention in any sci-fi RPG with remotely free-form rules you're likely to encounter ''Star Trek'' fanboys, so you might as well know what they're talking about. The unholy spawn of a Trekkie and a [[Furry]] is known as a [[Chakat]], and you should fear it.<br />
<br />
At its best ''Star Trek'' is thoughtful, optimistic futurism with a positive human element and brings you to strange new worlds in the grand tradition of speculative fiction but one that's accessible to even the layman. At its worst ''Star Trek'' is arrogant, smug, hypocritical, one-sided, preachy, dull and sloppy.<br />
<br />
= Setting =<br />
Here's the Cliff's Notes on ''Star Trek''. A couple of general warnings; firstly, ''Star Trek'' likes to ''really'' take its "racial themes" bits just a little too far. Second, despite this, it's rare for an entire race to be completely irredeemable the way many fictional aliens are: there are heroic and sympathetic characters from nearly every race listed below, able to put more-positive spins on their racial themes. Thirdly, aside from very occasional appearances by [[H.P. Lovecraft|aliens who are so bizarre that humankind can barely comprehend them]], all of the aliens look like dudes with rubber masks on (because they are). In real life, this was because there was no budget for anything else, but in-universe it's been explained by some kind of [[Old Ones|Precursor]] race who seeded all of the planets with their broadly humanoid DNA, and every race evolved slightly differently from there. There isn't much [[fluff]] on what these precursors were like, and some of it was contradictory, and Gene Roddenberry didn't like the idea (although he still had to work with the rubber forehead stuff). The good news for fa/tg/uys who like [[homebrew]] is that this makes it fairly easy to write [[d20 system]] rules for all of the races - after all, most ''D&D'' races are just humans with rubber masks on...<br />
<br />
== A Composite Creation ==<br />
This is a general note that one should consider: Star Trek was created in pretty much the opposite way as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked out a bunch of linguistic stuff and general history of Arda in his spare time over the course of years, then decided to use that as the basis for some stories that he eventually gave to some publishers which in the end sold quite well. <br />
<br />
Roddenberry, by contrast, pitched a very broad general idea (it's the future, things are good, we got some guys on a ship exploring space; a "wagon train to the stars") to the networks and eventually Lucy from ''I Love Lucy'' made it happen. Roddenberry then worked with a variety of writers and actors (and some later on in later series) who added to this rough skeleton of an idea in a process that would continue on to this day. <br />
<br />
This is not to knock either approach, but both have their advantages and disadvantages. In regards to Star Trek, a franchise which relies mostly on an episode of the week format (until recently, apparently) that's been going on for more than half a century, there were numerous people at the helm and many of them had often very different ideas about what should be done that were just thrown out to see what stuck, many of which were contradictory, meaning that the canon is a fucking mess ([[Warhammer 40,000|Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?]]). Some of which we'd frankly rather forget (Data being possessed by a mask, for instance). In general fans and fluff writers have been spending a whole lot of time trying to straighten things out and much of the lore is basically a [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main rough consensus of what people like and what fits in with it]. Later series got more systematic about this, but there are still points of contention and a lot of flat out contradictions due to its scattershot nature.<br />
<br />
You know, like [[/co/| comic books]].<br />
<br />
= Factions =<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:800px"><br />
'''The Federation'''<br />
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[[File:Federation_Ships.jpg|thumb|500px|left|Starfleet's ships of the Line (original universe/canon)]]<br />
Might as well talk about that main faction. The United Federation of Planets is what the [[Tau]] think they are. Its backstory is that in the distant future of the 1990s, [[God-Emperor of Mankind|übermensch]] [[Space Marines|created by genetic engineering]] began conquering the Earth. The [[Imperial Guard|normies]] fought back and won through sheer numbers, cryogenically freezing the Augments and kicking them out of Earth, but the damage and mass political unrest of World War III got half the planet nuked. This was why genetic engineering was banned. Fortunately, in 2063, a <s>drunken asshole</s> heroic visionary named Zefram Cochrane created humanity's first warp drive (though it functioned based on the principle that gravity bends space-time, and was therefore more akin to an Alcubierre drive than anything that's dependent on the [[Warp]]) and made first contact with the Vulcans. The Vulcans eventually helped humanity rebuild and overcome poverty, disease, war and hunger. With its Earthly problems solved, man turned to the stars and found out its three closest neighbors were [[Imperium of Man|racist xenophobic dicks trying to murder each other]]. Since any war between them would've swept up puny little Earth and gotten it glassed, humans decided to force their neighbors to sit down and talk things out. Incredibly, it worked, and the United Federation of Planets was born.<br />
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The Federation is a commie [[noblebright]] hippieland society with a post-scarcity economy and a strong democratic government ([[Mary Sue|pretty much Roddenberry's idea of utopia]]). As a result, Federation citizens work not because they have to, but because they want to. However, despite their advanced technology, transhumanism, that is intentionally making [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like the infamous antagonist Khan Noonien Singh, is illegal.<br />
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The Federation's Navy is almost always called Starfleet. It's a mix between a military, a coast guard and a space agency, and usually rates scientific research as a higher priority than defense. One of its quirks is that it doesn't subscribe to the "bigger is better" policy used in most [[Warhammer 40K|sci-fi]], and even by most of the other ''Star Trek factions''. If the Federation ''does'' make a large ship, it's because they want it to have a daycare, swimming pool and ice cream bar. If they want a warship, they'll take a little gunship half the size of a modern day destroyer and pack it with enough antimatter nukes and guns to exterminate a solar system. In some cases, especially when dealing with ships from several centuries into the future, the ship is bigger on the inside than on the outside [[Creed|allowing it to hide a vast array of powerful armaments, ''space-bending'' equipment, and even whole planetary landscapes]]. They can get away with this because they out-tech almost everyone else by a country mile. The reason for the series' infamous "technobabble" is that <s>even ''they'' don't know everything their tech can do!</s> their technology is always evolving, and they know it so well that they can often use it in ways that even the original in-show design schematics did not intend.<br />
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In theory, Starfleet follows a rule called the "Prime Directive", which says that you're not allowed to interfere with low-tech races ("low-tech" being defined as "not having invented the warp drive", since warp technology apparently follows naturally from the laws of physics) or else things like turning the locals into Nazis might happen. The Original Series talked about this rule all the time, and Captain Kirk threw it aside whenever there was a sexy alien babe in sight. From ''TNG'' onward, it tended to instead be brought up whenever a hack writer needed a reason for the heroes to ''not'' instantly resolve a given problem with their superior technology or a way of making our heroes look like assholes for following it rigidly (yes, we could save this species from extinction but that would be interfering with the cosmic plan!), though there were a few good episodes that took it seriously.<br />
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Some of the more important member races are:<br />
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'''Founding members:'''<br />
* [[Humans]]: You know 'em, you love 'em. Comprise seemingly 90% of Starfleet for reasons in no way related to the cost of makeup/CGI.<br />
* [[Vulcan]]: The Original [[Eldar|Space Elves]], very emotional, especially during "pon'farr" (see below), who followed the teachings of an enlightened sage and embraced logic and rationalism after their emotions nearly led to them [[Slaanesh|wiping themselves out]]. They are what the average race of fantasy elves think they are, except on ''Enterprise'' because the writers wanted to artificially inject tension into the show (some of that was retconned to be a Romulan plot). Occasionally enter a state called "pon'farr," where they need to either [[Dark Eldar| fuck something half to death]], kill it with the nearest sharp object, or die of a brain aneurysm to let out all that pent-up emotional tension. Fa/tg/uys may recognize this as the sensation they feel every time [[Games Workshop]] puts out a new army book. There are ships with mostly Vulcan crews. But only two are seen. One commanded by the biggest jerk among them and the other [[grimdark|got eaten by a giant space amoeba.]] However they're pretty bro-tier overall. <br />
* Andorians: Blue dudes with antennae and constant fits of passion, the polar opposite of Vulcans and their one time foes. Pretty much fa/tg/uys, right down to the romantic streak, in the technical sense. Also, they live underground on a diet of meatbread and rage. Most of what defined them happened in Enterprise as they rarely showed up in the TNG-era, and even then did so as set dressing, allegedly because one of the showrunners hated their antennae and banned anyone from using them.<br />
* Tellarites: Space [[Dwarf|Dorfs]]; like insulting everyone and arguing a lot (no, really, petty insults are considered a polite gesture in Tellarite culture), mostly because the very first tellarite ever shown in the series got in an argument with Spock's dad and now it's their whole racial thing. “Sarek said something in a scene once that was meant to demonstrate that he was stand-offish and kinda rude, but we like Sarek so it's now the defining attribute of this species.” It's all in good fun you understand, your confidence in your ideas and actions should be sturdy enough to withstand honest assessment and critique.<br />
'''Notable Additional Members:'''<br />
* Betazoids: Invariably attractive humanoid aliens with telepathic powers. Half-betazoid, half-humans apparently only have "empathic" powers, so they are well-regarded by Starfleet captains for their ability to point out the obvious and fill out the tight bodygloves that make up the Starfleet uniform in a pleasing manner, especially since theirs seem to come in a custom cut for reasons entirely unrelated to Roddenberry's erection. Their homeworld is like dropping a really hippie college and Space Vegas into a blender. They were taken over during The Dominion war because Earth or Vulcan would be seen as bullshit due to their large post Borg attack defense fleets/ship yards. While the writers would have to actually add new characters for the Andorians and Tellarites(such as Ambassadors for a government in exile). So Betazoid took the hit to raise the stakes.<br />
* Trill: Originally a one-off race introduced as a sapient parasite that possesses and controls a barely, or even unintelligent humanoid host, they were radically reworked in ''Deep Space Nine'', right down to losing their rubber foreheads in favor of spots. Now, the host is itself an intelligent humanoid, and some, but not all, of their kind are able to willingly merge with a symbiont (because someone can't spell) that allows them to access a mixture of the memories and personalities of all previous hosts, though in a way that, theoretically, enhances the host's personality rather than destroying it or subsuming it. Then, when they die, they can pass on the symbiont to another host, theoretically, one they mentored. They went from having a rubber forehead to some spots because Terry Farrell had a allergic reaction to the make-up.<br />
* Tamarians: Previously a one-off in ''TNG'', newly joined as of ''Lower Decks''. Tamarian communication is based entirely around metaphor and idiom, meaning their entire language is predicated on understanding their history's pop culture references. This throws the universal translator for a fit, as it can chew on the vocabulary okay but it can't unpack the contextual meanings. Imagine a medieval monk trying to decipher Korean text messages and you've got the basic idea.<br />
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'''The Klingon Empire'''<br />
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[[Image:Batleth.jpg|thumb|right|A Bat'Leth (sword of honor), one of several types of Klingon bladed weapons. Frequently mocked IRL for being a poorly designed weapon.]]<br />
[[Commissar|''"It is a good day to die!"'']]<br />
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The Federation's main rival and (movie era and afterward) the quintessential ''Star Trek'' race of lumpy foreheaded aliens. Originally they were a rough analog to the Russians (though they took some elements from [[Communism|communist China]]) in a rough cold war allegory with the Federation (even though the Federation are as commie as they come, though admittedly much of that came around in the TNG era). Their defining feature was that they were militaristic and imperialistic while the Federation was scholarly and respected liberty. This gradually moved more and more into them becoming Imperial Japan/[[Vikings]] In SPESSS obsessed with honor, fighting and dying honorably in battle while worshiping at the altar of [[Sigmar|warrior Jesus]], even as they turned from the Federation's bitter enemies into that friend who's fun to be around when he's not getting into drunken bar fights. You see shades of it during the movie era and it became more and more prominent through ''TNG'', culminating in ''DS9''. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Klingons are nothing more than barbaric savages, however; with Worf being part of the crew, and with ''DS9'' dealing with Klingon politics an awful lot we can see Klingon society as it truly is. Even so, they do often wander into self-parody territory.<br />
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The Klingons, in their current iteration, are a feudal society ruled by a council made up of the most powerful families. Klingon society holds very little value on things such as currency and material gain (which results in the Klingon empire [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65l7RHUx2A having a very simplistic understanding of economics]), believing that anything you acquire without some form of blood, sweat and/or tears on your part is a pathetic and dishonorable way of going about things, much the same way many cultures used to hurl abuse at merchants and bankers. Another thing to keep in mind is that a Klingon's reputation is literally everything. Central to this is fighting your battles personally and against worthy opponents. Calling out a superior is almost always an honorable fight, and Klingon captains can expect challenges if they become lax or suspect in their decisions. Klingons are still capable of being cunning and crafty, however, and having a high diplomacy score is viewed as honorable as they still have examples of cunning and clever heroes tricking boorish and stupid monsters.<br />
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[[Warhammer 40000|Klingons often carry swords into battle in an age of energy beam guns]]. In-universe, this is less suicidal than it sounds in the context of boarding actions and tight starship corridors. The Bat'leth is actually a rather shitty weapon. The Mek'leth is noted to be better in most situations. They use the same Disruptor weapons as the Romulans, and at one point used similar starship designs. While is explained as the result of a temporary and unholy alliance, given the eventual animosity between the two races, it was just an excuse to reuse props on a limited budget.<br />
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The Klingons are tied with the Vulcans and the Borg as being the most prominent and recognizable non-human species in Star Trek. Beloved of the Internet and the general public, to the point that there are published books like "A Klingon Christmas" in the world. The Klingons have their own constructed language. If you are ever worrying that you might not be a nerd, learning Klingon will solve that problem for you. Please note that this is in general considered by experts to be pathognomonic of autism. You have not experienced Shakespeare until you hear it in the original Klingon.<br />
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'''The Romulan Star Empire'''<br />
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''"It's always chess with the Romulans"''<br />
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You know those [[Eldar|Vulcans]]? Well a few thousand years ago, as their planet was ravaged by war, some of them turned to intense emotional control and logic to tame their murderous passions, while most others left the planet altogether, founding a colony on the planet Romulus and dubbing themselves [[Dark Eldar|Romulans]]. Since said planet shares a name with a mythical figure known for founding [[Roman Empire|a city which built a vast empire]], and they had warp drive while those around them did not, you probably know that they turned to building an empire of their own. They hold the second place of prominence as immediate rivals to the Federation. Comically, they actually have better emotional control than the average Vulcan, since they gene-engineered most of their problems away years ago, and don't have to deal with the emotional blowback from pon'farr. The downside is that they lost some of their cousins' niftier powers, like mind-reading and being able to transfer their soul into another person for safekeeping. Although Star Trek Online also revealed that their trip to Romulus was a terrible ordeal, and their gene-engineering was taking during that time resulting in them losing most emotions save for bitterness of being "forced out".<br />
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The difference between the Klingons and the Romulans is basically the difference between Gork and Mork, or Khorne and Tzeentch. Klingons will fight you up front with simple brute force. Romulans are sneakier guys, preferring to fight you when you're not looking with spies, cloaked ships and complex plots behind the scenes and playing the long game. There is a lot of political infighting among them, though where the Klingons would duel to the death Romulans would seek to discredit their rivals, have them die in unfortunate "accidents" or disappear. This difference has left both Romulans and Klingons with a big hate-boner for each other, to the Romulans the Klingons are crude brutish barbarians and to the Klingons the Romulans are a pack of scheming cowardly weaklings.<br />
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Like the Klingons, they served as a rough Cold War allegory. In this case, they were rough analogs to Communist China (as seen by 1960s Americans), a distant horde of inscrutable and potentially dangerous Orientals who generally were unseen and projecting vague menace, but when encountered face-to-face could pack quite a punch indeed: the first major Interstellar War that Star Trek Earth fought was with the Romulans, which was fought entirely in space with neither side ever seeing the other face to face. Afterward, they set up a 'Neutral Zone' between the Federation and the Romulan Empire that no one even tried to cross for a century. From the Original Series onward, they frequently squabble and bicker with the Federation, before joining forces with them to fight the Dominion in ''Deep Space Nine'' and having their government devastated in ''Nemesis''. <br />
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In one of the two alternate universes created by J.J.<strike>Binks</strike>Abrams movies, the so-called "Prime Universe", Romulus itself got caught in a supernova as part of the Abramsverse's backstory. ''Picard'' has revealed that Starfleet was going to help evacuate Romulus before the nova hit, but then some rogue androids destroyed the shipyards that the rescue fleet was being built at, so the Federation shrugged, flipped the Romulans the bird, and let them get blown up. The Romulan Star Empire collapsed in the aftermath, with the surviving Romulans are now scattered across half the galaxy. Most of the former Romulan colonies are now officially governed by the Romulan Free State, but their ability to exert their authority is implied to be limited at best and non-existent at worst. The Neutral Zone, in particular, collapsed into near lawlessness. One of their secret police/ anti android cults got a hold of Borg cube and were presumably up to some nefarious shit with it until the events of Star Trek Picard.<br />
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'''The Ferengi Alliance'''<br />
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[[Image:GW_Ferengi.jpg|thumb|left|A typical ferengi engaged in typical ferengi activities]]<br />
{{topquote|A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.|Eighteenth Rule of Acquisition}}<br />
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Introduced in ''TNG's'' early days as the villains for the series, and what [[/pol/]] thinks Jews are. Some Jewish people have actually complained about their being subliminally Jewish and thus anti-Semetic, specifically mentioning that they were money-hungry, lascivious, and ugly, and their large ear lobes were stand-ins for the sterotypical Jewish nose, based on an old medieval stereotype that was enforced to prevent them owning land or assets and ended up sticking around long after the fact (i.e. ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/08/14/science-fictions-anti-semitism-problem/?noredirect=on we're not shitting you] but also they have a valid gripe). Claims of stereotyping aside, they're basically just a ripoff of the ''Shingouz'' from [[Valerian and Laureline|''Valérian and Laureline'']]. <br />
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The idea was to make a caricature of capitalism as a contrast with the techno-communist Federation. This might have worked if these were not [[FAIL|''TNG's'' early days]]. Instead, they overshot the mark by a light year or so, on top of other bad decisions, and you got a race of short, big-eared, [[goblin]]-like losers about as threatening as a grumpy pug. (Gene wanted to make an evil short race as big evil races were overplayed.) Over the first and second seasons they tried to make these guys threatening, but they fell flat on their face every time; eventually the writers just said "fuck it" and the Ferengi got demoted to comic relief species, and their status as terrible enemies was demoted to propaganda designed to scare the Federation while the Ferengi government tried to figure out what to make of a species that rejected the acquisition of wealth as a goal. The Ferengi had some good moments in the later seasons of ''TNG'', but most of the best stuff that fleshed them out came from ''DS9'', which had an [[awesome]] Ferengi bartender named Quark as a major character. For an idea of what the Ferengi might have been like if the writers had their shit together, look up the Druuge of [[Star Control|Star Control II]] or the Magog Cartel from Oddworld. <br />
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Ferengi religion is only hinted upon in ''DS9'', but what is seen implies a simplistic system based on financial success. Ferengi all follow a rulebook/canon known as the Rules of Acquisition, which can be described as Ayn Rand IN SPACE and condensed into the form of Confucius' Analects. There are 285 of these, each a short piece of advice on how to stay in the black. Examples include "Peace is good for business," "War is good for business," "Never have sex with the boss's sister," and "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." The first (and most important) of these is "Once you have their money, you never give it back." Sometimes, the Ferengi Randian spirituality extends into outright interpretations of the afterlife: according to some, the afterlife consists of the Divine Treasury and the Vault of Eternal Destitution, which are respectively analogous to Heaven and Hell. Entrance into one or the other depends on one's business ventures at the time of death; those that were turning a profit are allowed to enter the Divine Treasury, and the rest are damned to the Vault.<br />
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Ferengi government is ruled over by a Grand Nagus, a mix between a <s>pope</s> chief rabbi and a CEO, and he basically treats his civilization like some sort of company, with citizens regarded as workers. Directly below him is the Ferengi Commerce Authority, a [[what|quasi-religious]] organization dedicated to ensuring that correct business practices were followed and correct moral behavior was shown (including keeping the proles in line) - of course, to the Ferengi, these are one and the same. The agents of the FCA are the Liquidators, who are essentially Inquisitors crossed with IRS auditors on steroids. Be afraid. Be very afraid. <br />
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Ferengi females have no rights and are mentioned as [[PROMOTIONS|not even being allowed to wear clothes]], which leads to [[That Guy|boorish behavior]] on the part of Ferengi towards just about any species. Of course, we see female Ferengi on the show who push that envelope, but it seems that overall "regressive" does not even begin to describe the gender relationships in their culture. Quark's mother, a social climber who marries the head of their government, begins pushing through a women's rights movement during DS9, which proves more successful as time goes on.<br />
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'''The Borg Collective'''<br />
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[[Image:Borg cube.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Borg have assimilated and improved your [[d6|die]]. It always rolls six. Crap your pants, 'cause resistance is futile.]]<br />
{{Topquote|We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture shall adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.|The Borg's opening hail. This is not a boast or a brag, it's them simply explaining to you how things are going to go down.}}<br />
{{Topquote|One other thing. You may encounter Enterprise crew members who've already been assimilated. Don't hesitate to fire. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favour.|Picard going full [[grimdark]].}}<br />
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The Ferengi were utter failures as serious villains, so they needed something to fill that gap. Thus they made the Borg, an aggressive [[Tyranid|hive-minded]] collective of hyper-adaptive, [[Necron|regenerating]] cyborgs that assimilates entire species into itself in its attempt to improve and evolve. Shit, that's like coming up with [[Warforged]] while trying to replace [[Kender]].<br />
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In many ways, the Borg are the truest dark reflection of the Federation, and despite their name, they're not Swedish. While the Feds want you to join their little club on your own, to "add your culture to the galactic community," the Prime Directive means they will ultimately accept you turning them down, even if you have shit they really want. The Borg say "fuck that" and just absorb you. While the Federation believes everyone should work together [[Tau|for the greater good]], they still have a very strong sense of individualism and a culture of personal accomplishment (unless your individual belief happens to run counter to the Federation's principles anyway, in which case you're just WRONG because the Federation is the best). The Borg pool all their minds together into a massive collective consciousness in the pursuit of group perfection, becoming an almost-literal personification of techno-capital. The Federation is all about beauty and tranquility and all that hippie stuff, and their tech is eco-friendly and dolphin-safe. Borg [[Tyranids|strip mine entire planets and drain entire oceans]] in the name of growth and efficiency.<br />
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Your standard Borg [[Cubes|cube]] is a huge multi-kilometer [[Firaeveus Carron|metal box]] (yes, bigger than most [[Imperial Navy]] cruisers) able to go up against an entire Federation warfleet and win. That's right, one of their ships could threaten the entire Federation and [[Exterminatus]] Earth. When done right, [[Necron|they are a cold, calculating, nigh-unstoppable force, a threat to all life]] that wants to retain free and distinct personalities (although they will ignore a single person if not on an assimilation mission, as what they really want is to absorb whole civilizations). Apparently, in Picard's nightmare in ''First Contact'', the Borg assimilation process includes a surgical [[Grimdark|drill through the eye. While awake.]] Of all the stuff to come out of the TNG Era they are undoubtedly the most well recognized in mass pop culture.<br />
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Unfortunately they got a bad downgrade during ''Voyager'' (the Borg Queen blew up cubes full of tens of thousands of drones because a few of them have been severed from the Hive Mind), but even there they were frequently not to be messed with. One amusing thing to note for people that haven't watched ''TNG'': the Borg were actually only in six episodes (and three were breakaway drones) and one movie, yet they're arguably the franchise's most famous pure villains aside from Khan. Goes to show how good they were when written properly. Then in ''Voyager'' they get their shit completely pushed in when they discover a new race of extradimensional aliens which they label Species 8472, which were immune to being assimilated, and had to ask the Federation for help in dealing with them. [[Necron#Regarding_Fluff_Change_-_Sore_Butts_Everywhere.|Wait, this sounds familiar...]]<br />
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'''The Cardassian Union'''<br />
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{{Topquote|Out of all the stories you told me, which one were true and which ones weren't."<br><br />
"My dear doctor, they're all true."<br><br />
"Even the Lies?" <br><br />
"Especially the lies.|Julian Bashir and Elim Garak}}<br />
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Introduced in ''TNG'', they are third fiddle to the Klingons and the Romulans. If the Klingons are hypothetically-honorable techno-barbarian warriors and the Romulans are an empire of civilized and refined but sly and ruthless expansionists, the Cardassians are essentially scaly fascists re-enacting ''[[1984]]'' IN SPACE. Their trials announce the outcome at the beginning, and the defense attorney is executed if he wins. Also, THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!<br />
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Originally a race of peaceable, spiritual artists called the Hebitians (ironically not dissimilar to the Bajorans), modern Cardassia was born in hunger and desperation when their homeworld began to suffer simultaneous mass famine, pandemic, resource depletion, and ecological collapse. A military junta seized power, figuratively and literally auctioned off the soul of their culture through liquidating all the planet's art and religious artifacts into cold hard cash, and turned the Cardassians into the opportunistic imperialists they are today.<br />
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Despite being a whole lot weaker than the Federation, the Cardassians manage to hold their own, partly because what they lack in resources and raw power is made up for by a combination of intense cunning and high charisma stats. Compared to the equally deceptive Romulans, the Cardies are more likely to flash you a smile while tickling your ribs with a knife. They'll use any tool they can to gain the upper hand and while that often means unpleasant and terminal sessions in dark rooms, strip mined planets and the enslavement of entire species, they'll gladly become your bestest buddy if it would achieve their goals. Their intelligence service, the Obsidian Order, is also one of the most ruthlessly efficient organizations in the entire sector, managing to outscale the Romulan Tal Shiar when it comes to producing magnificent bastards and manipulating the politics of entire worlds to their advantage. Unlike the Romulans or the Klingons, they don't tolerate the sort of literal infighting that is rampant in both those states, that shit only serves to weaken '''GLORIOUS CARDASSIA''' and needs to be stamped out with ruthless efficiency. Exposing that someone who just happens to be your enemy as being a dangerous subversive is just a benefit, although this can result in both sides of a conflict shouting "For Cardassia!" as they charge each other. Sort of how Democrats and Republicans are both for America, yet oppose each other.<br />
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Cardassia has a very fluid hierarchical government, similar to the political realities of post-Stalin but pre-Collaspe Soviet Russia. Broadly speaking, there are three different facets of the government: the Central Command (which holds all the power) the Obsidian Order (who holds the least amount of power, but controls the most puppets) and the Detapa Council (similar to the [[High Lords of Terra]] and just as worthless). Cardassian society holds a very strict view of family, placing family just below the needs of the State in a vague approximation of Confucianism.<br />
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The State holds a semi-divine mythical status in the eyes of its citizens, with it being viewed as impossible for the State to ever make mistakes. The ideal Cardassian life was one of complete loyalty and servitude to the State and family, with the "repetitive epic," detailing how generations of Cardassians go on to serve both in exactly the same way over and over seen as the height of their culture. The Cardassian government is assumed to be omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent by pretty much every Cardassian, with all Cadassians gladly giving of themselves to the State. Such was this level of belief that when Picard was tortured by the Obsidian order, the torturer saw nothing wrong with bringing his daughter to work because he was working for the State, and therefore the torture of Picard could never be disturbing or wrong. That's why their trials announce their sentences at the beginning and execute the defense attorney if he wins; their "trials" are more excuses to show off the power and infallibility of the State to the masses than actually determine guilt or innocence.<br />
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In terms of the Alpha Quadrant's political landscape, they are basically space fascist Italy: indisputably still a great power but nonetheless basically the weakest of the great powers, resentful of it, and unwilling to accept it. They first bully weaker powers in an attempt to carve out an empire, turn from a military junta to a despotist state after a coup, eventually join a bigger, meaner power in a great war against the rest of the Quadrant in an attempt to gain power and respect, see it blow up in their faces and force them to rise again in revolt to save themselves. Beta canon continues the analogy with the establishment of a democratic but unstable postwar government in the vein of the Years of Lead.<br />
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As far as plot significant activities went, they had a war with the Federation a few years before ''TNG'' which ended in the creation of a Demilitarized Zone between the two powers and (significant to ''Deep Space Nine'') abandoning the previously occupied planet of Bajor they had exploited for resources and along with it the space station Terok Nor, which the Federation took over and renamed Deep Space Nine. After a disastrous war with the Klingon Empire and a faction of ex-Starfleet settlers who refused to be relocated after a treaty called the Maquis led to a popular revolution and overthrow of the existing government, one leader seized power, declared himself absolute ruler, and joined the Dominion towards the end of ''DS9'', which was some serious bad news for the ''DS9'' crew, and, ultimately his own people.<br />
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'''The Bajoran Republic'''<br />
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The Bajorans are a species native to the Planet Bajor. They were, until shortly before the events of ''Deep Space Nine'', under a brutal occupation by the Cardassians who strip mined their planet. They had a fighting resistance which veered in and out of being considered terrorists and all in all were often represented as Palestinians IN SPEHSS. After that, they got their independence, although they're thinking about joining the Federation. The Bajorans have one system and are technologically backwards; the Federation is technically breaking the Prime Directive by interacting with them, but as they've spent years under the oppression of a warp-capable species, they can probably handle it. Also ''DS9'' proves that ancient Bajorans managed to travel at warp speeds to Cardassia using solar sails and an enormous amount of luck, which technically makes them a warp-capable species. The only reason why they are significant in terms of the politics of ''Star Trek'' is that they have a wormhole near their planet, which has some timey-wimey aliens living it that they worship as gods, and serves as the only way to get to or from the Gamma Quadrant that won't take decades, making it strategically priceless. Hilariously, this was discovered almost immediately after the Cardassians ''thought'' they'd extracted everything of value from the Bajorans and peace'd out, certain that the system was no longer worth the PR hit they were taking from it, only to get burned by some harsh seller's remorse. Also, their species has the oldest civilization (roughly a half-million years) of any major ''Star Trek'' race, and the wormhole aliens have gifted them some cool shit, like the Orb of Time.<br />
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The other big thing that makes the Bajorans unique is that they actually have a serious religion going on in a way that isn't an extension of their racial "hat" -the human race is depicted as mostly non-religious. They're also probably one of the most accurate depictions of any highly religious alien race in a sci-fi franchise, because they are divided between the majority who interpret their religion as [[Noblebright|peace and love]], and a small but loud minority of bastards who interpret it as [[Grimdark|condoning acts of terrorism]]. They generally represent all manner of oppressed and colonized peoples throughout Earth's history, with the Cardassian occupation standing in for the Holocaust, Imperial Japanese atrocities in Asia, and European mischief in Africa during the Age of Imperialism.<br />
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'''The Dominion'''<br />
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A vast empire which exists on the other side of the galaxy in the Gamma Quadrant. The Dominion is ruled over by a species of liquid shapeshifters called The Founders.(aka Changlings, Odo's people) They have at their disposal a military composed of two genetically engineered species that worship the Founders as gods: the short and articulate Vorta who serve as ambassadors, bureaucrats, and political commisars and the big brutal Jem'hadar, who are vat grown, drug addicted, cannon fodder. These oversee a large number of vassal races, including (as of later seasons of ''DS9'') the Cardassians.<br />
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The Founders were once (according to them anyway) a peaceful, kind civilization of explorers who wished to see the galaxy, explore strange new worlds, and seek out new forms of life. Unfortunately, they did this in the wrong neighborhood, and quickly ran into species who did not tolerate others. The fact that the Founders were shapeshifters capable of mimicking almost anyone did not help either. Paranoia, mutual mistrust, and some very bad things eventually led to the Founders deciding "fuck this" and moving their planet into a nebula so nobody would bother them. So more or less, a [[Grimdark|grimmer]], [[Grimdark|darker]], counterpart to the Federation, but with spookier Real Aliens.<br />
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The Founders are obsessed with order and are both extremely racist and xenophobic, and believe that all alien life is inherently untrustworthy and evil, and the best thing to do is conquer/enslave them before they do the same to them. They don't care about the rights of "Solids", and will happily ignore any sense of decency when convenient. This can be seen when The Dominion runs a simulation of the Dominion dominating the Alpha Quadrant. When O'Brien is assaulted by a Jem'Hadar and severely beaten to the point of needing emergency teleportation to medical (the crime being "disrespectful"), the Founders (disguised as Federation Officers) do not press charges, and when Sisko comes barging in demanding answers, dismiss him with little concern about their own soldiers brutalizing citizens. Their overall ideology could be thought of as Qin legalism IN SPACE: people are inherently evil and the only way to make a better world is to impose order upon them through brute force from a position of absolute, unquestioned power.<br />
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The Founders, when not wandering around in various forms, tend to spend their time in a massive ocean literally made up of countless billions of Founders, something which is referred to as the Great Link. According to the Founders, this allows them to share information with each other and come to peaceful decisions. This is rapidly proved to be bullshit; when a separated-at-birth one of their own merged into the Great Link to share his memories of the Federation as peaceful and tolerant space hippies, not only did the Founders ignore his memories, but actively fucked with his mind in an attempt to turn him into a sleeper agent. And even if it weren't, it shows their hypocrisy through their willingness to share freedom and liberty among themselves while depriving all their various slaves and conquered peoples of the same.<br />
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The Founders are massive dicks, even to their own people. Failure among Jem'Hadar is rewarded with slow and painful death from deprivation of the drug they're created to need and their lifespans are incredibly short. To be even bigger dicks, the Vorta have no sense of taste and can't appreciate beauty. Not to make them better diplomats, but because they were raised from a primitive stone-age ape tribe, and the Founders think they shouldn't be ever allowed to forget that. (On the plus side, they did give the Vorta an immunity to poison that would make [[Mortarion]] himself jealous. [https://youtu.be/rACCZaBcq1g?t=1m29s Observe.]) This may also stem from their own neuroses: the Founders themselves have almost no bodily needs at all and require no nourishment, so they design their slaves to be like them. Notably, Vorta tend to come in [[Paranoia|packs of clones; a new one is activated when an old one dies, and they retain some memories and personality between "lives,"]] further hammering home how expendable they are to their makers.<br />
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And both races are literally engineered to love their makers for what they have done to them and worship and revere them as gods.<br />
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They ultimately get what's coming to them in the latter half of ''Deep Space Nine'', through an invasion of the Alpha Quadrant that starts out in their favor and rapidly goes against them. <br />
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'''Species 8472 / Undine'''<br />
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The one and only race in the galaxy even the Borg don't want to fuck with. Introduced in Voyager, Species 8472 are three-legged creatures that live in a space called Fluid Space. It's similar to the [[Eye of Terror]] for the fact that it connects to an alternate dimension and [[Khorne|everyone will be ripped apart upon entering.]]<br />
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When the Borg first came around to try and assimilate them they were completely obliterated in a war in which 4 million Borg were killed in the first few days at the cost of almost no members of Species 8472. This war was such a roflstomp that the Borg were forced to call on the Federation for help. [[Tau|The Federation being the better people swallowed their pride and decided to help their sworn enemies,]] [[Eldrad|but were dicks and sent only one ship.]]<br />
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Species 8472 fought with fast moving, small ships and devastating beam weapons so the small ship of the Federation could keep up with them and helped the Borg force the species back into Fluid Space. The Federation were the villains on this one. That said, they eventually came to an accord with Species 8472, preventing further wars between the denizens of Fluid Space, except in lots and lots of video games that want to use a fresh antagonist.<br />
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That and that in ''Star Trek Online'', [[Awesome|they look like the fucking Predator.]]<br />
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'''The Q'''<br />
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The Q are a race of beings who have elevated themselves to the point where they are basically gods. Most of them do not interact directly with the younger races, who they tend to consider with disdain- if they consider them at all. However a few of them take a more enlightened view, and one in particular has been known to fuck with individual humans from time time. They are mostly a TNG thing, and even there they work mostly by grace of John de Lancie's acting chops as a counterpoint to the charisma of Patrick Stewart, as de Lancie played the ''character'' Q. "Tapestry" even has the two waking up in bed together as a troll from Q. Due entirely to de Lancie's performance, they managed not only to have it not be cringy, but rather funny.<br />
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Q is an all-powerful epic troll. TNG's Q's occasionally [[Tzeentch]]ian games sometimes appeared to be for his own amusement and sometimes acted as education or event protection to the human race. Various subplots involving the Q ''species'' range from somewhat thought provoking to mildly entertaining to ridiculous and banal, but the classic episodes that highlighted the charisma and chemistry of the two actors were often quite excellent. De Lancie also appeared as Q in DS9 and Voyager a couple of times, but the chemistry just isn't there without Stewart. The writers knew it too, composing a scene where Avery Brooks punches this bastard in the face telling him "I'm not Picard!" (with the added fanservice of watching Q get punched, high on the wishlist of anyone that had the misfortune to meet him).<br />
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=== The Mirror Universe ===<br />
This isn't a faction; it's an alternate setting. Its own factions do bleed into the mainline starting in DS9. So it merits its own section.<br />
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The Mirror is a parallel universe in which [[Alternate History|things have gone differently]] in Earth's History. The main point of divergence appears to occur when the Vulcan scientists who landed at Bozeman, Montana in 2063 are not welcomed with alcohol and music but instead are killed and have their ship looted. It is equally clear that where the main universe is Noblebright the Mirror Universe is Grimdark. Instead of a peace loving Federation searching for knowledge and friendly cooperation for the betterment of all, Earth gave rise to the ''Terran Empire'' which seeks out new life and civilizations to conquer and enslave, as it had done with the Klingons. Pretty much it's the PG-13 version of the Imperium of Man with a bit more Grimderp. Junior officers get promoted by killing their superiors, those that fail at that get thrown in the agony booth for their troubles and Emperor gets the job by usurping the previous incumbent. As a rule, characters in the mainline become, in the Mirror Universe, a selfish asshole version of themselves (or have to go along to get along: O'Brien, Spock). Following comic book logic the uniforms for the female characters are more revealing, and facial hair is vogue. Occasionally people can cross over from one universe to the next due to technobabble and cause mischief in either realm.<br />
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Originally it was a one off TOS setting for an episode of the week, but it was brought back in a few novels and some romps in Deep Space Nine in which [[Fail|the Terran Empire had fallen]]. In Enterprise's fourth season it got a two parter that was pretty good and would have been an annual thing if the show had been renewed, this one having little crossover with the main universe (a ship from TOS ended up in the Mirror Universe and is salvaged after all it's crew have died). We also went there in Discovery, for better or worse. Voyager never did the mirror universe, but instead got a homage episode with some alien historians in the far future getting the details wrong like historians tend to.<br />
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=== The Star Trek Crew ===<br />
Whether the focus of the show is exploration, manning a space station in an important locale or trying to get home, all Star Trek series have a basic set up of casting and focus: namely on a collection of people who are usually the senior-most officers on the ship. If you decide to make a Star Trek inspired game take this into consideration.<br />
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* '''The Captain''': Big cheese. Makes the hard decisions. Needs to be able to talk, think or fight out of situations as needed. The third option fetishist finding the balance between empathy and reason. (Two least skubby examples: Kirk and Picard, but the skub will fly hard if you say one is better than the other, sufficed to say that people like both of them alot but for different reasons)<br />
* '''The First Officer''': Second in command and trusted advisor. Added after the original series, where the role was combined with and split between two others. (Two least skubby examples: Riker and Kira)<br />
* '''The Science Officer''': Got high Int stats. Can analyze the situation and work out solutions. The voice of reason. Almost never human. (Two least skubby examples: Data and Spock)<br />
* '''The Engineer''': Hard working technically minded guy who gets shit done. (Two least skubby examples: Scotty and Geordi)<br />
* '''The Doctor''': Ship's healer with a secondary scientific role. The voice of empathy, whether prickly or serene. (Two least skubby examples: Bones and the EMH Doctor)<br />
* '''The Security Officer''': Rough and tumble no-nonsense sort whose job it is to keep these guys alive when diplomacy fails, which it often does. Often has to juggle providing ship's security with working the tactical station on the bridge in a crisis. (Two least skubby examples: Worf and Odo)<br />
* '''The Helmsman''': Got mad spacecraft piloting skills, either full-sized starships, shuttles, or fighters. Younger and more brash. (Two least skubby examples: Sulu and Tom Paris)<br />
* '''The Other Guy''': A crewmember whose role doesn't cleanly map onto other positions, a role often restricted to a single show. Example positions include communications officer, ship's councilor, transporter chief, and linguist. (Two Least skubby examples: Uhura and Troi)<br />
* '''The Outsider''': Someone who is a passenger and regular cast member, but exists outside the organization, looking in and commenting. Usually works a side-job, like tailor, bartender, or cook. Either a beloved fan-favorite or utterly despised, there is no middle ground. (Two Least skubby examples: Guinan and Quark)<br />
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Some of these hats may be worn by more than one character, some may be worn by no one at all. This is especially true in the original series, which had a smaller cast overall, and which put less emphasis on an ensemble and more on the main trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The usual roles and character dynamics were instead set down by ''The Next Generation'', which later series generally copied.<br />
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= The Shows =<br />
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==''The Original Series''==<br />
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[[File:OG enterprise.jpg|thumb|400px|Right|Do do do...]]<br />
Created in 1966 by legendary sci-fi [[spiritual liege]] and money-grubbing, sexist, pseudo-communist lounge lizard Gene Roddenberry and pitched as a "Wagon Train to the stars", it's a pulpy adventure sci-fi, full of fistfights, sword fights, and hammy speeches. (The guns never work.)<br />
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The USS ''Enterprise'' is tasked by the Federation to go on a five year mission to explore space: the final frontier, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before, though due to budget constraints, her crew often finds that man has in fact gone there before. Or at least something that looks exactly like a man but is actually an [[Xenos|alien]]; most episodes split the difference. James T. Kirk sleeps with [[Hot Chicks|hot alien babes]] who either die tragically or leave tearfully at the end of the episode, but it's 'k because he's too in love with the Enterprise to ever love a mere ''woman'' more. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are cold and logical and rash and emotional respectively, and their constant friction must be resulting in the best make-up sex in the world, Mr. Sulu and Lieutenant Uhura wait in vain for focus episodes that never come, Ensign Chekhov suffers horribly to the approval of American Cold War audiences, and Scotty [[gets shit done]]. Uniforms, while iconic, tend to look a bit civilian though. Miniskirts are apparently mandated attire for the ship's fan-servicey female "yeomen" and others, because 1966. The civilian nature of the attire (including, one must assume, the miniskirts, but they had a visual appeal all their own) were apparently an intentional design decision by Roddenberry who didn't want uniforms to look military. Further specialness on the part of Roddenberry demanded phasers not look like guns ([[FAIL|not even have trigger-guards even though those exist for safety reasons]]), instead looking like nothing in particular at all (although looking back at them today they look sort of like TV remotes, which would be invented much later), and also (probably the only sensible decision in this category) ships that didn't look like rockets, giving ships their distinctive and iconic saucer-engineering-nacelles look that still stands out today.<br />
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The Original Series frequently ran out of budget and entire episodes were filmed using spare costumes belonging to the production company, resulting in a series of extremely goofy excuses to go to planets full of gangsters or [[Nazi]]s. This is often copied by shows who don't realize it was done out of pure expediency, and nowadays this [[TVTropes|"Planet of Hats"]] gimmick is practically a box to check off when doing sci-fi adventure. The lack of budget also resulted in one of the more memorable inventions; unable to budget for a sequence showing the ''Enterprise'' or a shuttle landing on a new planet every week, the writers instead decided to invent the transporter to "beam" the crew down to planets or between starships. Also worth noting: despite its mediocre critical reception, ratings and eventual cancellation, not to forget the uneven quality of many episodes, especially in the Roddenberry-less third season where poor Fred Freiberger had to come onto a show he didn't understand and try to get better ratings with less money, ''TOS'' had a hell of a cultural impact thanks to syndication and it has been said that since it entered syndication in 1969, there hasn't been a 24-hour period without some TV station, in some country, playing Star Trek. Cancellation of The Original Series is now considered one of the worst decisions in TV history, and while much of its silly 60's campiness is now laughable, it often still manages to teach relevant and important lessons today.<br />
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Fun fact: the ''Enterprise'' and each of her 11 sister ships have enough firepower to [[Exterminatus]] a planet by themselves, after getting issued an order called General Order 24. This however is likely a time-consuming task. According to a later DS9 episode, it takes a fleet of 20 warships 1 hour of sustained bombardment to destroy a planets crust and 5 hours of sustained bombardment to destroy a planet down to its mantle. These 20 ships were also in service 100 years after the Enterprise so they were also more powerful. <br />
Kirk has the distinction of being the only known captain to issue a [[Exterminatus|General Order 24]], because a planet was ''too'' much into wargames (he changed his mind after they dropped wargaming).<br />
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* '''Outstanding Episodes''': Balance of Terror (submarine battle in space, debut of the Romulans), The Devil in the Dark (sometimes hostile aliens have a good reason for being hostile) Space Seed (Khan's first appearance), The City on the Edge of Forever (beautiful tragedy), Amok Time (Spock's in heat and he and Kirk have to fight to the death), "The Doomsday Machine" (''Enterprise'' vs. an unstoppable planet killer and the captain whose ship it destroyed)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "And the Children Shall Lead" (annoying kids, magic, and most of TOS's weakness dialed up to 11), The Way to Eden (dumbass hippy episode), Spock's Brain (idiot aliens steal Spock's thinker and McCoy has to remote control him for the rest of the episode).<br />
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==''The Animated Series''==<br />
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The often forgotten middle child. More or less "seasons 4-5" of ''TOS'' with the same writing staff and actors, sans poor Walter Koenig. He was replaced by a weird camel person. He learned this at a convention, from a fan, while he was trying to announce he'd be writing an episode, which Gene promptly demanded he rewrite over and over. Classy. <br />
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Being animated allowed the staff to get a lot more creative with the alien designs and plots, and the writing and acting remain... well, top notch is a stretch, but certainly at the same levels as ''The Original Series'', with the occasional low point. Not ''nearly'' as bad as you're probably picturing from the name, although still limited by the low budget and primitive, cheap animation techniques of the television era it was aired in. Notably some sci-fi novelists were brought in to write some episodes, such as Larry Niven, and at least one episode, "Yesteryear," is considered such a pivotal moment in Spock's development that even people who hate the series enough to consider it all non-canon often make an exception just for that one.<br />
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Also, since the series now has no excuse for throwing in lots of Space Puritans and Space Wizards, it of course continued to do so to derptastic results, because by this point it had become traditional. The presence of a straight-up [[furry]] on the bridge, however, is downright unacceptable.<br />
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==''The Next Generation''==<br />
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[[File:Enterpris D.jpg|thumb|400px|left|USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D: battleship, scientific research center and luxury hotel rolled into one]]<br />
Here's where it starts getting a little deeper and a little darker, although with a lot of left-wing political subtext turned up to 11. The USS ''Enterprise-D'' (the original and C were destroyed in action while A and B were retired) is, like its predecessor, tasked with going where no-one has gone before, but this time around the problems are less likely to be solved in a single episode. Jean-Luc Picard is the captain and he plots and negotiates his way to victory; Mr. Data is cold and unemotional, though not by choice - as an android, he'd very much like to change that; Riker takes over the captain's "sleep with alien babes" duties since Picard is married to the job; Worf the Klingon gets beaten up by monsters to show how tough the monsters are, meaning that Worf winds up looking incredibly weak by the end of the show's run and doesn't regain his badassery until his run on ''DS9''; Dr. Beverly Crusher is good old Bones minus his temper; Dr. Pulaski is Bones ''plus'' temper; Counselor Troi is so badly written she becomes a running joke; and Geordi LaForge [[gets shit done]]. Only two things need to be said about helmsman Wesley Crusher: he was [[Mary Sue|Gene Wesley Roddenberry's shitty self-insert fanfic character]], and his sueness got to the point that even his actor started to hate him within the first season of the show.<br />
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Due to the massive success of The Original Series in syndication (and Paramount being [[Rage|pissed off]] by broadcast networks treating their most valuable IP like any other show), TNG was aired through syndication from the beginning. Although the first two seasons were laughably bad, the quality began to improve dramatically after an increasingly cocaine-addled Gene Roddenberry got too sick to keep ruining it and his partner-in-crime Maurice Hurley was thrown out on his ass, a moment often pinpointed via looking for when [[Meme|Riker grew a beard.]] The later seasons are widely considered to represent the apex of the franchise's episodic formula on the small screen (although ''DS9'' gave it a run for its money with a more serialized approach); sadly, this series only got one good movie.<br />
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The Next Generation started and ended on one of its skubbier elements, that being Q, an omnipotent trans dimensional alien that starts testing Picard in the first episode and is finally persuaded to go away in the last. The entire multi-season run of the show is set up with the subtext that the Q are judging whether humanity is worthy of its implied lofty destiny. What should have been a stifling deus ex machina was carried entirely by the performance of Q's actor; the dialogs between Picard and Q were some of the show's most entertaining, even as the Q episodes tended to be the obligatory season silly story.<br />
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*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "The Measure of a Man" (is Data property or not?), "Q Who?" (introduction of the Borg, Q at his dickish best), "The Best of Both Worlds" (epic Borg 2-parter with plenty of action and drama), "Family" (companion piece to Best of Both Worlds, Picard has to deal with the trauma of being assimilated), "Darmok" (Picard learns to communicate with an alien captain on far-away planet, all of TNG's strengths), "The Inner Light" (I am not crying, you are crying), "Sarek" (excellent Picard and Sarek character piece)<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Code of Honor" (racist and stupid), "Angel One" (sexist and stupid), "Shades of Grey" (half-assed money-saving clip show), "Up The Long Ladder" (annoying Oirish stereotypes wind up on the ''Enterprise'', shenanigans ensue), basically any episode from the first five seasons that focuses on Troi, her mom Lwaxana, or both (not Majel or Marina's fault, they were handed shit writing and had to make do)<br />
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==''Deep Space Nine''==<br />
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[[File:Deep Space 9.jpg|thumb|500px|right|''"A Star Trek show where they stay put? It'll never work."'' Boy did they get that wrong.]]<br />
Unlike all the other series so far, ''Deep Space Nine'' primarily takes place in a fixed location - the titular space station Deep Space Nine, out near the borders of Federation Space. Said space station is near Bajor, which was recently freed from Cardassian occupation, and a wormhole to the other side of the galaxy which allows [[Warp|all sorts of of crazy shit to go down]]. If the other shows are a wagon train, this one's the border fort.<br />
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Benjamin Sisko is the captain, declared Emissary by the nearby Bajorans for making contact with the wormhole aliens they worship, and he successfully hybridizes the blow-the-shit-out-of-whatever-you-can't-punch Kirk approach with the talk-in-a-very-dignified-way-about-the-philosophy-of-the-thing-and-win-by-rhetoric Picard maneuver, in his ultimately-successful quest to become the baddest motherfucker in space, then literally becomes a space god. Kira the Bajoran ex-<s>terrorist</s> <S>''noble freedom fighter''</s> (who are we kidding she calls herself a terrorist) struggles to free and rebuild her people while coming to terms with the moral ambiguities of situations she prefers to see in black-and-white, Dr. Bashir works to find his character for several seasons before becoming a highlight, Dax gets often written poorly and has to switch bodies doing it, Odo IS ''Liquid Space Cop'', Quark runs his bar and [[troll|heckles]] the Federation from the sidelines, Garak pretends to be a tailor while definitely not being a super-spy, hitting on Bashir, and dropping killer lines, and Miles O'Brien [[gets shit done]] and gets physically, mentally, and/or emotionally tortured in at least one episode a season (referred to by the writers as the "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes). Also Worf wanders in halfway through, and actually gets to punch things instead of just getting punched by them, up to and including offing the Klingon chancellor in an honor duel. It's also a lot more political than other series (though ''TNG'' and ''Voyager'' have their moments) and the last series to have Gene Roddenberry's involvement (with less enthusiasm, in fact often much to the benefit of this particular series thematically, although Roddenberry's complete departure did not necessarily bode well for the franchise in general.)<br />
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It's the closest the pre-Kelvin series ever get to [[grimdark]]. Especially when the Dominion show up. With minimal grimderp that plague the later seasons and Kelvin era movies. The show has aged remarkably well and the terrorist/freedom fighter debate was repeatedly explored in a very mature and honest way; the darkest episodes ventured into duping the Romulans into a war by assassinating a senator, and forcing a Klingon regime change [[rip and tear|''the Klingon way'']]. ''DS9'' is the most serialized of all Trek shows and could be considered a forerunner to the golden age of television with its long story arcs and deep character development. It's also notable for singlehandedly salvaging the Ferengi after the mess Gene made of them in the early seasons of TNG and bringing back the mirror universe after nearly thirty years with an ongoing plot showing the consequences of Kirk's meddling. Overall, ''DS9'' has to be considered the most consistently good Trek show thanks to the excellent writing and fantastic performances from a truly wonderful ensemble cast. At least until the final season . . .<br />
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Which brings us to DS9 Skub. The show was airing around the same time as another thematically similar sci-fi show, ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Not only that but characters also shared similarities, as did the episodes especially as both shows became war stories later on. Interestingly, beginning of both series, introduction of characters and airing of similar episodes were often too close to each other for one show to copy the other but this did not stop massive [[Rage]] and [[/v/|fanboy wars]] from starting between fans of the two series accusing one another of plagiarism and having an inferior product. Happily, as time went on and both shows evolved, these hurt feelings have mostly faded.<br />
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There's also that last season. The earlier (good) writers had got pulled to try to make movies, which movies they'd failed at. The new writers also had to bring in a new Dax due to Berman constantly being a sexist asshole to actress Terry Farrell. This new Dax, Ezri, was very different from Jadzia, and she only got that one season to make her mark, which season she had to share with the Great Epic Conclusion (it's a miracle Ezri was as well received as she was, and a testament to Nicole de Boer's talent). Those finale episodes were mostly okay and tied up the story semi-satisfyingly, though a few die-hard subplots fell flat. The season, therefore, was shaky; not necessarily a harbinger for The Decline Of ''Trek'' to come, but at least inauspicious.<br />
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How good is ''Deep Space Nine''? Every subsequent Star Trek series and even the reboot movies have pretty much ripped off ideas and concepts established during the series. Famously, within the "Trekker/Trekkie" fan community, there's a little cell of fans who like it better than most other ''Star Trek''; these fans are typically called "Niners."<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Duet" and "Waltz" (excellent character work elevates low-budget episodes), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (30th anniversary comedy episode that sends the DS9 crew back to the TOS era to stop a rogue Klingon assassinating Kirk), "In the Pale Moonlight" ("how far would you push your principles to save the world?" done very well), "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Nog has PTSD after losing a leg in battle), "The Circle" (the only Star Trek trilogy episode and as close as DS9 will ever get to a movie), "Valiant" (A Defiant full of asshole cadets gets blasted into smithereens for their own hubris), "Empok Nor" (Garak goes feral and brutalizes a lot of people).<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Move Along Home" (some of the crew gets trapped in a board game with annoying rhymes), "Fascination" (Lwaxana Troi is going through Betazoid menopause and wants to bang Odo), "Profit and Lace" (Quark has a horrible relationship with his mom and has a sex change for zany antics), "Let He Who is Without Sin" (bullshit on resort planet Risa)<br />
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==''Voyager''==<br />
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[[File:USS Voyager.jpg|thumb|400px|left|''"Are we home yet?"'' <br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"Tuvok, please give Ensign Kim a dose of the Medical Phaser.]]<br />
Star Trek: Voyager centers around the eponymous USS ''Voyager'', a smallish ship which gets teleported over to the other side of the galaxy. The plot of the series centers on the crew's efforts to get back home, which COULD have made for an excellent premise. Unfortunately, there were few lasting story arcs, with most episodes being fully self-contained (as well as being littered with far too many episodes featuring holodeck or transporter incidents). As a consequence, despite being completely isolated from the Federation, no matter how bad things got Voyager always appeared in the next episode without a scratch, fully supplied, and with all its shuttlecraft intact. Think ''Gilligan's Island'' on a starship.<br />
<br />
Like ''TNG'' and ''DS9'' it's a character-driven drama just as often as it is a sci-fi adventure romp, although compared to TNG only a few of the characters are particularly memorable. The captain and arguable "main character" is Kathryn Janeway, a Katharine Hepburn lookalike (I see what you did there) who is stern without being cold, and principled without being inflexible. The fan favorite is a character called "The Doctor" ([[Doctor Who|No relation]]); he's the solid-light hologram representative of the ship's emergency medical computer, who has to take on actual medical duties when their chief medical officer was conveniently killed in the pilot episode. Other than this, Chakotay is a peace-loving and spiritually rich indian <s>freedom fighter</s> <s>terrorist</s> [[FAIL|who was written with the help of a special Cherokee consultant so native his name was Jamake Highwater and it turned out later on that he was actually Jewish and didn't know dick about native cultures so he made everything up resulting in Chakotay basically being a borderline racist caricature of what you think Indians are like. Akoochimoya.]] Tom Paris is an annoying jerk and is counterbalanced by Harry Kim who is the ideal boy-scout, making him only half as annoying and twice as boring. B'elanna Torres tries to perpetuate a lineage of dudes getting shit done but ends up blankly reciting her technobabble, having second degree plasma burns and – worst of all – systematically fails to get shit done whenever the warp core goes nuts. Tuvok tries hard to be as cool as Spock but ends up being a lame version of the n°1 Vulcan who uses logic to justify everything and makes it short for "you are wrong, I am right because I said so." Kes is passed as a fragile and nice character but it takes a couple of episodes to realize that having a short lifespan does not change the facts: [[powergamer|when you can boil someone to death from the inside of their body, drain life from everything around you to become stronger and do anything you want without knowing how, just by thinking of it]], you are a goddamn Mary Sue. From the fourth season onwards the only character the writers seemed to care about was Seven of Nine, [[Mary Sue|a human woman who recently escaped from Borg control and kept all of her cyborg enhancements but regained her free will]]; another Mary Sue, to be sure, but she's [[Hot Chicks|hot]], and the other characters are much worse, so that's not really a bad thing. Fortunately, The Doctor still received a lot of attention from the writers and almost single-handedly made the show watchable. There was also Neelix, who was the apparent inspiration for Jar-Jar Binks, and any sane crew would have pushed him out of an airlock on the first episode. Fans who stuck with the show despite its glaring failings were given one final slap in the face with the <s>controversial</s> shit final season, in which the producers decided "screw steadily crafting a satisfying conclusion to a story which we have wasted for most of the last seven years anyway; lets just ignore it until the final episode and then throw in some shit about trans-warp conduits and time travel, bitches love time travel!" If you did not care about any of the characters or the subplots or time travel making sense (the writers sure didn't), then the final episode was made just for you (and the Borg got a major setback, too, just don't think about the setup too hard).<br />
<br />
The Doctor never once stopped being totally fucking awesome though (enough so to even earn a cameo in First Contact and for Robert Picardo to turn up as his inventor in an episode of DS9), Jeri Ryan proved she wasn't just eye candy, and the (mostly) great acting from the rest of the cast carries the series from being horrific to ''occasionally'' watchable. Just goes to show that no matter how good your actors are, they can't make diamonds out of shit.<br />
<br />
Overall, most Star Trek fans view Voyager's legacy with a shrug and a "meh." Unfortunately, hopes that Voyager's successor would revitalize the franchise would soon prove to be overly optimistic.<br />
<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Timeless" (excellent time-travel episode), "Year of Hell" (absolutely savage two-parter that trashes ''Voyager'' in service to a story of obsession and why you don't fuck with the timeline), "Tuvix" (one of the all-time skubbiest episodes of any ST show, deals with the complicated ethics of what happens when two people are fused into a new individual by a transporter accident), "Bride of Chaotica!" (aliens get trapped in Tom Paris' 1940s pulp holodeck program, Janeway has to become one of the characters to sort it out, good comedy episode), "Someone to Watch Over Me" (the Doctor falls in love with Seven but can't admit it), "Equinox" (''Voyager'' encounters another castaway Starfleet ship that's tossed Federation law and ethics into the bin to survive and Janeway gets ''really'' pissy about it)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Threshold" (Tom Paris and Janeway turn into [[salamander]]s and have salamander babies; so terrible that rumors persist it was declared non-canonical to this day), "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk" (holodeck malfunction episodes full of more cringe Oirish stereotypes and Janeway wanting to bang a hologram), "Alice" (Stephen King's ''Christine'' IN SPAAACE!)<br />
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==''Enterprise''==<br />
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[[File:NX-01.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Where it all began. For better or worse...]]<br />
From the minute the Nickelback-tier theme tune started, Enterprise attempted to take Star Trek in a new direction and was only partially successful in doing so. The series never quite caught its footing, although it still managed to have some enjoyable moments. It was most notable for providing a first-hand view of the key events that directly led to the formation of the Federation. The Federation's founding races were also featured heavily, with Andorians, Tellarites, and Vulcans all enjoying significant screen time alongside the human characters.<br />
<br />
It's a prequel to the rest of the canon, taking place on the first ''Enterprise'', before the Federation was founded and during the period when Earth was still an independent power- so there's a lot of primitive versions of things from other series. At least the uniforms were pretty cool in an Air Force sort of way. Captained by <s>that guy from ''Quantum Leap''</s> Jonathan Archer, in hindsight the fact that they had to rename him from their original choice of Jeffrey Archer to avoid confusion with the disgraced British MP and author of the same name probably cursed the series with bad karma before it had even begun shooting. In an unusual twist for a ''Trek'' series, his first officer isn't a <s>terrorist</s> ''noble freedom fighter,'' however she does share a trait with her ''Voyager'' predecessor in that the actress who portrayed her frequently criticized the show's writers in interviews. Other than that, well, Hoshi Sato screams a lot, Travis Mayweather was so dull that even the writers forgot he existed, the resident Vulcan T'Pol serves as both the Science Officer and source of sexy fanservice, Malcolm Reed has an accent, Dr Phlox is a weird creepy alien with weird creepy alien morals (and gets surprisingly interesting when given enough screentime, which hardly ever happened), and Trip also has an accent and [[gets shit done]].<br />
<br />
One thing that makes the show and cast so frustrating is that you get glimpses of interesting things that could be explored but just aren't in favor of rejected TNG concepts. A weapon' officer still having somewhat free range as there are not federation guidelines? Not really, Malcolm is just here to give a second opinion and be Tripp's wingman. A linguist and sociologist without much of a clue as to what everyone will encounter in space in an age before rules of engagement and diplomatic norms are established? Not really, Hoshi just screams a lot to let you know something dangerous or scary is nearby. The struggle between a potentially more profitable civilian life and an assignment as a glorified military grunt before Starfleet is the institution we all know it would become? Who cares, the writers all forgot Travis is even in the show most of the time. All these questions are somewhat hinted at in some episodes when they really could have been defining character arcs for the cast but instead we got vulcan romance getting most of the screentime when the Xindi plot wasn't happening. Oh well.<br />
<br />
Was retooled twice, the third season tries to be ''24'' IN SPACE (stop some aliens, the Xindi, from blowing up Earth) while the 4th season is a massive apology about the last three seasons that tries to fix all the problems they had. As a result, the last season is the only one that's close to being really good.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the poorly-received final episode is set on the holodeck of the Enterprise-D, which leaves us with the firm impression that the producers would have much rather have just continued making ''The Next Generation''. Considering the mediocre quality of the ''TNG'' movies we got instead, this probably would have worked out better for all involved (Or not since ''Voyager'' was that; its first episode was even numbered 901, as in Season 9 Episode 1).<br />
<br />
Yet despite all the bad directing, subpar plots, and frankly boring episodes, ''Enterprise'' sometimes still manages to be moderately enjoyable with occasional moments of awesomeness if you can suffer through a fair few awful spots and aggressive mediocrity almost everywhere else. The focus on founding Federation races like the Andorans was refreshing and the technology level, being somewhere between the original series and the real world present-day, was quite interesting. We also got to see the Vulcans portrayed as arrogant, superior dicks. This actually makes a lot more sense than the way they're usually portrayed (which is fairly submissive towards humans) because they are, obviously and objectively, the superior race. The Klingons certainly still considered themselves to be honorable but the show made it clear that the Klingon notion of honor is rarely analogous to the human concept which was interesting as all hell to watch. There have been a few small nods to Enterprise in Discovery and the Abrams movies.<br />
<br />
And let's be fucking honest, [[/tg/]] loves 40k and the Xindi arc was about as grimdark as shit gets. And that was awesome.<br />
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*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "Damage" (Enterprise is nearly destroyed and can barely function), "Zero Hour" (End of Season 3, good action and good payoff), "Regeneration" (Borg episode, silly but well executed), "Babel One", "United" and "The Aenar" (three episode arc involving the Romulan scheme to engineer war, a glimpse of what might have been).<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Dear Doctor" (boring prime directive extremism), "These are the Voyages" (Trip dies in a rush-job ending, last minute or so is alright as a visual send-off divorced from crap narrative).<br />
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==STD aka ''Disco'' aka ''Discovery''==<br />
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----<br />
[[File:USS Discovery.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Disco Stu's coming for you!]]<br />
<s>A LOAD OF SOCIAL JUSTICE SHIT!</s> Ahem, let's start again, shall we?<br />
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<br />
A new "prequel" series set 10 years before ''The Original Series.'' Again. Run exclusively on CBS' paid streaming service (unless you live outside the US and Canada, in which case you can get it on Netflix) to try and drum up sign-ups and revenue, it features a mix of ''Enterprise'' and Abramstrek aesthetics despite supposedly taking place in parallel to the TOS "The Cage" pilot while [[what|having technology superior to late DS9]] and introducing [[dune|mushroom-based space travel]] that would imply [[retcon|all later events and warp travel would be outdated]]. The trailer has attracted a lot of concern over the fact that Klingons have been completely redesigned to look like slit-nosed ogres wearing ancient Egyptian cosplay, and rumors that the Klingons shown were [[Racial Holy War|primitives who had been trapped in stasis]] proved to be unfounded, so there is no excuse. Not having a cold war to posture about, the new villains are based off of Trump-inspired xenophobia by the admission of the authors. Also the lead character is Spock's human sister that he never mentioned before, aka the ''exact'' origin of the [[Mary Sue]] which is just fucking depressing. To further reinforce this, there are ''numerous'' examples of dialogue and exposition that serve only to show how the Mary Sue main character was right all along, usually in conjunction with the death of the character that had foolishly disagreed with her. Want a new Star Trek episode about racism and immigration? Try the now-banned [https://youtu.be/3VEZH8bqytA Star Trek Continues]. Want Star Trek with humor, we suppose: ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'', below. Oh! want a pseudo-Star Trek show about other modern issues? Try ''[[The Orville]]''. That's right, American Dad In Space <strike>may right now be</strike> is a better Star Trek than an actual Star Trek series.<br />
<br />
Initial reviews have been... well, never mind the 2017-era soy-guzzling critics. STD is as much fun as an outbreak of Nurgle's Rot. Mostly. There ''are'' exceptions.<br />
<br />
The writing is overly convoluted, the massive injection of grimdark into pre-TOS continuity is anathema to the hardcore fans (the ''human'' characters are often the ones doing the nastiest shit, including [[Marines Malevolent|trying to kill a Klingon party by planting an explosive on the corpse of one of their comrades for when they came to collect the dead]]) and the Klingons are so flat and devoid of characterization that they might as well be Larry the Cable Guy lookalikes wearing Trump hats. This is a massive disappointment for a series that promised to put a spotlight on Klingon culture but ended up retconning all the characterization that happened in TNG and DS9. It ''may'' get better with time (remember that it took two seasons for TNG to get really good) but given the release schedule (split between 2017 and 2018 with a long break) it may come too late for the fanbase to care. Currently it's cause for more fans to lose their shit over whether it's better or worse than the Abrams movies, which is a new record of [[Skub|Trek Skub]]. Releasing the show on CBS All Access instead of cable or broadcast TV makes it seem that executives don't really give a shit if the show succeeds or fails, bringing up the question of [[Bioware|whether they're deliberately putting Star Trek: Discovery in a no-win scenario where, no matter what happens, the executives have an excuse to cancel Star Trek altogether]]. <br />
<br />
Another stupid decision was not shelling out the cash to bring back Bruce Greenwood and Zachary Quinto as Captain Pike and Spock, respectively. Their ages wouldn't have mattered either if CBS and Paramount weren't too cheap to use the anti-aging CGI tech that is so commonplace these days. Hell, Star Trek makeup artists are among the best in the entertainment business. So they could have pulled it off with applying the bare minimum, and we probably still wouldn't have noticed.<br />
<br />
There were also allegations that large chunks of the plot were stolen from previews of an in-development indie game. The unreleased 2014 game featured giant Tardigrades that had the ability to use an interstellar network to travel anywhere they wanted to- sound familiar?<br />
<br />
We must however give credit where credit is due. Season 1's fifth episode "Choose Your Pain" starred Rainn Wilson as a younger Harcourt Fenton Mudd, and this was a surprising treat. Season 2 also featured Anson Mount as Captain Pike, whose addition to the cast was nothing short of a revelation. Indeed, Pike's character was by far the most well-received aspect of that season.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, while Season 2 had some watchable moments, it was still middling at best, and nobody is ''ever'' going to let this series live down the garbage fire that was Season 1. If you do decide to watch Season 2, try not to think about it too hard once you are done. It gets worse and worse the more you think about it as you can and will come to realize that {{spoiler|the overarching plot hinges on time-travel but because the writing and production staff kept being shuffled, no one kept continuity so some of the hints of future actions or "red lights" are just forgotten about, some time-travel is done just to set up another event to make it possible for that same time-travel to happen. Think Bill and Ted, except lame and very confusing. Season 2 is an okay show if you look at the state-of-the-art visuals, let the big emotional moments grip you, but if you stop for a second and think about the continuity of events, you push yourself on a slippery slope that ends in not being able to ever trust the showrunning staff again.}}<br />
<br />
Season 3 sees ''Discovery'' transported far into the future, one in which the Federation itself has fallen apart due to the mysterious disappearance of the dilithium required for warp travel. What was the issue with the dilithium? A member of the same species as the character Saru was on a planet with a lot of dilithium and had a freakout so bad it somehow psychically fucked up all dilithium everywhere at roughly the same time. Oh, and apparently turbolifts now fly around in a pocket dimension or some stupid shit.<br />
<br />
Season 4 can basically be summed up as "Hyper-advanced extragalactic gasbags make a mess of things because they're [[Derp|too stupid to comprehend the concept of self as they're a hive mind]]".<br />
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Oh thank the God Emperor it's almost over! After four seasons of shit, season five is finally going to kill it! Oh Throne, thank you!<br />
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==''<strike>Retard</strike>Picard''==<br />
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Set to be a continuation of the original timeline, featuring old man Picard with Patrick Stewart reprising the role. Hopes are not high, but at the very least Patrick Stewart's presence should make it watchable if nothing else. <br />
<br />
Update: Season 3 is the only part maybe worth watching.<br />
<br />
In the first season, Picard ragequit Starfleet after they sat back and let the Romulans get blown up by the supernova mentioned in the first Abrams movie. This happened because some rogue androids orbitally bombarded Mars and blew up the rescue fleet that was being built there, so the Federation has banned all R&D on synthetic lifeforms and subsequently become [[Imperium of Man|isolationist, racist and xenophobic]] (does this remind you of anything?). Picard has been living in his family chateau ever since, making wine and hanging out with his dog and his Romulan housekeepers. Then a scared girl named Dahj turns up on his doorstep, and it turns out she's a highly advanced biological android constructed from the surviving bits of Data's positronic brain by the guy who wanted to dismantle Data in that episode "The Measure of a Man." Before Picard can really figure out what to do about her, she gets killed by a secret society of Luddite anti-android Romulan assholes, but it turns it that's okay because she has a twin "sister" named Soji who is working with some other Romulans on a derelict Borg cube. Picard decides it's time to saddle up and go be a hero again. He starts putting together a crew that includes Agnes Jurati, a former cyberneticist; Raffi Musiker, his last executive officer, [[What|who is now an alcoholic drug-vaping hermit]] after getting kicked out of Starfleet; Cristobal Rios, a scruffy merc pilot whose ship is staffed entirely by holograms of himself; Elnor, a Romulan warrior monk raised by Romulan warrior nuns; and Seven of Nine, who has become a kickass pilot and is no longer wearing her infamous catsuit. Together, they're out to save Soji, stop the Romulans, and be the good guys in a galaxy that needs heroes, etc etc.<br />
<br />
Key storytelling criticisms of the show include the idea that the Romulan Empire should have had enough infrastructure to effect an evacuation without help, and that even if they didn't, the Federation would ''never'' abandon a neighbor who was asking for help- not even a former enemy, and not even when doing so became difficult or inconvenient. Another issue comes up when the show reveals that the Borg have assimilated transgalactic teleporters from a throwaway alien race that appeared in an early episode of ''Voyager'', but only for the Borg queen to use in case the cube she's on is about to be blown up, which begs the question of ''why in the hell aren't they using them to overwhelm the Federation's defenses with drone spam and assimilate everything??'' There's also an (abortive) space battle in the final episode where Riker shows up leading a fleet of ships that are just copy-pastes of the same CG model, which was derided for being cheap and lazy on the part of the showrunners and a failed chance to show Riker in command of the ''Titan'' or ''Enterprise''.<br />
<br />
To make matters even more dumb and yet also more complicated at the same time, the showrunners are apparently under some kind of licensing agreement regarding the portrayal of images and concepts from the earlier shows. This means that they can't, for example, casually mention the Dominion War and its impact on the Federation, because if they did, they'd have to pay a licensing fee. This is why the show has been carefully crafted to look like a distant, derpy cousin of Star Trek, while only occasionally featuring cameos of things such as the Enterprise-D, or directly referencing arcs in previous shows: because if they use concepts from prior Star Trek shows, they have to pay for them.<br />
<br />
Finally, when all has been said and done by the end of Season 1, Picard himself is reduced to a nearly-useless side character in his own show. Where once he commanded the admiration and respect of friends and foes alike, in this show he is consistently portrayed as a disrespected, disregarded, and often powerless caricature of himself, utterly reliant on the characters around him. {{spoiler|It doesn't help they legit kill him in the last episode and then made him an android after he also agreed to "kill" Data whose memories are basically in a server on a planet of Soong androids. The showrunners specifically came out and said their plan was always to kill Picard to make a point about how privileged he was being a captain in Starfleet. You can't make this shit up. Patrick Stewart himself claims that they hadn't written Picard's death until they were almost finished filming the season, so who knows what the hell was going on.}}<br />
<br />
One other thing is certain. Whether you like the series or not, it's clear that this series is not taking place in Gene Roddenberry's noblebright vision of the Federation, and the fact that it is yet another grim, violent entry into the franchise is a point that has left many viewers with a bad aftertaste. If the rumors are true, then this show may have either killed the current grimderp Trek or has left fans so pissed that CBS is, once again, on the verge of financial ruin and possibly looking to sell the franchise since they aren't making the money they thought they would after the massive amounts of money they dumped into both this and Discovery.<br />
<br />
Season 2 premiered in March 2022 after the Covid pandemic delayed production. They definitely listened to some of the major criticisms of the first season - Picard's been reinstated in Starfleet, many fan-favorite starship classes returned for the big space battle in the first episode, the gratuitous swearing and needless grimdark got toned down, and more deep cuts from TOS and DS9 lore show up. <br />
<br />
Q shows up and launches the gang into a hilariously over-the-top alternate timeline where the [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] knob got cranked to 11 and as a result the ''Con''federation of Humanity has been going around [[Imperium of Man|exterminating all xenos scum]] up to and including the Borg, which is admittedly pretty badass. They're all appropriately horrified by this, and steal the Borg queen right as she's about to be executed so they can do a sun-slingshot move to go back to 2024 Los Angeles and <strike>save the whales</strike>fix whatever got messed up. Brent Spiner turns up as yet another Soong ancestor, morally skewed as always, and the punk from Star Trek IV returns, still blasting his boombox all these years later. Picard and co. save the future by ensuring that his ancestor Renee goes on a manned mission to the moon of Europa, where she discovers an alien organism that allows humanity to magically fix Earth's biosphere and make everything noblebright forevermore, apparently because [[Derp|the writers forgot that WWIII will arrive in a few decades]]. Rios decides to stay in the past because he met a sexy doctor and [[What|dies in a barfight]], Dr. Soong is revealed to be working on more Khans, his fake daughter Kore meets Wesley Crusher and becomes a Traveler, and it turns out that the reason Q did all this in the first place was to help Picard confront his deep-seated family issues so he could avoid dying alone, as Q is in the process of dying alone himself. In the season finale, the Borg (now being controlled by Agnes after [[What|she forced the Borg queen to bitch down by getting her to admit her ''own'' loneliness]]) ask to join the Federation so they can keep an eye on some weird transwarp conduit that some unknown entity just opened, which was why the Borg rocked up at the beginning of the season. Least it wrapped up well. <br />
<br />
Would you believe Season 3 manages to turn it around somehow? Essentially a 10-episode attempt to answer the question, 'How can we get all of the original cast members together on a starship in the least contrived way?', Picard, Riker, Troi, LaForge, Worf, Data, and the bearable Crusher all come together to fight the new Borg threat. The series is written and directed by people who truly understand what Star Trek is about, and as such is a welcome sight to fans of the franchise. Each of the original cast gets time to develop their characters further - Worf drinks tea, Beverley finally manages to raise a kid who isn't [[Mary Sue|Wesley]], and Geordi now runs the fleet museum and has raised an impressive engineer himself. The series is practically dedicated to ignoring or fixing the last two seasons of Picard, if not the last quarter-century of TNG-adjacent movie and television media, and somewhat succeeds. {{Spoiler|They even bring back the right bridge, even if the excuse as to why was [[Fail|pulled out of their butts]]…}}<br />
<br />
The only sore spot of the series is the latest ''Enterprise'' at the end of the series, [[Derp|which looks like a horrible kitbash of the original Constitution]], and compares very unfavorably to its predecessor in the looks department. Other than that, it provides what was sorely missing these last few decades: a good send-off for the Next Generation ''after'' 'All Good Things'. <br />
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==''Strange New Worlds''==<br />
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An attempt to put the golden goose back together on the operating table. After seeing the reception of having Captain Pike in Discovery, Paramount decided to simply return to the pilot cast of The Original Series with its fingers crossed that the old bird will resume replicating gold eggs.<br />
<br />
It's good so far. It's fun and optimistic, which is a genuine relief after the grimderp of Discovery and Picard, but isn't afraid to occasionally go in dark places and present genuinely difficult philosophical problems. We'll have to see if it holds up, the science can be very stupid even by ''Trek'' standards, and if you liked the Gorn you'll hate what they're doing with them, but overall, so far so good. The season 1 finale is a treat; it's a retelling of the classic episode "Balance of Terror" but with Pike in command of the ''Enterprise'' instead of Kirk, and they recreate everything from the blocking to the dialogue to the cheesy zooms of the original episode. It's pretty awesome.<br />
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==''Lower Decks''==<br />
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{{topquote|I FAILED THE KOBAYASHI MARU SEVENTEEN TIMES MOTHERFUCKER!|Brad Boimler}}<br />
Mike McMahan is doing this one, him being the person behind the Rick & Morty cartoon. It's set in 2380 on the ''Cerritos'', concentrating (like the TNG episode of the same name) on the grunts working in the bowels of the ship. The main characters are ensigns and low-level lieutenants: Tendi is a perky Orion science office-in-training with massive insecurities about her species. Rutherford is Geordi LaForge with less experience and a Manchurian Candidate backstory. Mariner is basically just reboot-era Kirk down to the captain's kid, broken home complex. They are all the bane (and close friends) of the worrisome Boimler, the Starfleet straight-man who could be the next Picard if he stopped worrying about getting promoted so much.<br />
[[File:Star_Trek_Lower_Decks.jpg|400px|right]]<br />
Fans feared this would focus on lowbrow "humor" episodes with technobabble nonsense stapled to it just like McMahan's other works; and they were half right, although the technobabble is here honestly ''less'' annoying than in mainline Trek, on account it's not being taken seriously. But over the first season the show found its footing. To enjoy it, you just have to embrace the likely reality that a few decks below all of Picard's noblebright ready room monologues there were hundreds of ignoble, corner-cutting crewmen who just want to get to the end of their shift. It's entertaining, but in a "The Bashir & Garak Show" sort of way. John de Lancie reprises Q, and Frakes returns as Riker, now in command of the USS Titan. <br />
<br />
By the end of the first season, the consensus had formed that Lower Decks is probably the best addition to the franchise since the Rick Berman era ended, with a much better understanding of what Star Trek IS (to its fans) than either Discovery or Picard. The second and third seasons moved the series towards an overarching plot. The Pakleds, a joke throwaway species from TNG, are fittingly brought back as the story's big bad. The Pakleds are basically Ork [[Freebooterz]], an entire species of idiotic space pirates. Brutally kunnin they are not; their "plans" are worthy of Douglas Adams. Mariner gets beaten with the nerfhammer for the middle of season 2 and occasionally in season 3 making her much more tolerable. Meanwhile, the story of Rutherford's cybernetics gradually unfolds as the result of a conspiracy in Starfleet. Along the way, there's an episode ripping off James Cameron's ''Avatar'', a session of Klingon Dungeons & Dragons, space-faring Renfaire fanatics, and Mariner and Boimler having to work the Starfleet booth at job fair.<br />
<br />
In summary, the first season was rife with teething issues (but show me a Trek series which wasn't) and directly appeals to people who loved Star Trek but now believe that "Star Trek is dead, Jim". Second and third season are more appealing to Trekkies who aren't afraid to laugh at the thing they like.<br />
<br />
'''Outstanding Episodes: '''Crisis Point (Mariner hijacks Boimler's holodeck simulation of the bridge crew and turns it to a Star Trek film holodeck program); The Spy Humongous (Captain Freeman is sent to negotiate with the Pakleds while a Pakled spy pretends to be an asylum seeker. Answers the question how the various dangerous plot devices are disposed of); Where Pleasant Fountains Lie (Boimler and Mariner crash on a desert planet escorting an evil AI, Mariner gets well and truly nerfed. The ship's chief engineer turns out to be a prince of aforementioned Renfaire-fanatics); I, Excretus (The crew undergoes a holodeck drill program of various situations from past serieses. Boimler gets to shine in classic Starfleet activities); Grounded (Season 3 pilot. Mariner is convinced her mother is being railroaded in court and more evidence is needed from dry-docked Cerritos); Reflections (Rutherford races his past self in his subconciousness and his repressed memories start surfacing. Mariner and Boimler work a Star Fleet recruitment booth at a fair leading to the section quote.); Hear all, Trust Nothing (DS9 homage episode guest staring Armin Shimmerman and Nana Visitor. Tendi deals with her species embarrasment); Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus (Boimler desings a Star Trek film, but derails it almost immediately for himself and Mariner. Basically an RP sesssion where half of the players derail and split off).<br />
<br />
'''Episodes to avoid:''' Envoys; Temporal Edict; Veritas; A Mathematically Perfect Redemption.<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:800px"><br />
<br />
=='' Prodigy''==<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><br />
Here for sake of completeness, an animated show targeting a younger audience that debuted in 2021 on Nickleodeon (alongside Paramount+). The show follows a collection of misfit (mostly young) aliens on a mining colony that find hidden in a crystalline planetoid the USS ''Protostar'', a Starfleet ship with a hologram of Janeway to aid the collection of "Cadets" as they escape and venture out into an galaxy full of adventure while the owner of the mining colony and his robot minion try to take the ''Protostar'' for themselves.<br />
<br />
So far it has a decent critical reception. If you want Star Trek which is noblebright and not ironic and are fine with a PG rating, this may be worth a look.<br />
</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
= Films =<br />
We're putting these at the end in the (unlikely) event someone does a movie that's in the non-Abrams canon ever. As a general rule, the even-numbered ones aren't complete shit.<br />
<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Motion Picture''''': AKA: The Slow Motion Picture, or the Motionless Picture. A giant space whatsit is flying towards Earth, the mostly-retired crew has to go figure out what's going on and stop it. Old school sci-fi geeks like the ideas, but terrible pace and interminable special effects that were clearly meant to capitalize on ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' while failing to understand what people like about that movie kill them dead for everyone else. Besides the uniform worn by Kirk, the uniforms also look like pajamas. So no wonder they were changed only a movie later. Features an entirely bald female alien who is [[What|so good at sex that she has to swear an oath not to get it on with the crew]]. Really. This is canon.<br />
* '''''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''''': As Kirk starts to feel his age, a one-off villain from the show played by Ricardo "Corinthian Leather" Montalban makes a dramatic reappearance: [[Meme|KKKHHHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!]] Widely considered the best of all the films, and the only one considered a straight up great film, no qualifiers. If you haven't seen it, see it. So good many later movies in the franchise just try to rip it off instead of finding their own identities. Interesting fact: due to time constraints, Shatner and Montalban weren't available at the same time. So the entire script was written so that Kirk and Khan never need to meet face-to-face. But you'd never notice if it weren't pointed out to you. Roddenberry screeched autistically and objected to some of the actions of his characters, including Kirk shooting a [[Enslavers|brain eating space parasite]] that had literally just emerged from the head of his friend rather than "[[Noblebright|keeping it for study]]." The fact that his strongest objections came to the most win of the films says a great deal about his depreciating value to the franchise around the TNG era. <br />
* '''''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock''''': Where is Spock? ''He's on Genesis.'' ALL AHEAD FULL! Not really bad, just mediocre and run of the mill compared to the superior films that surround it. It was also saddled with the misfortune of undoing some of the previous film's more-daring decisions, and having its only daring decision reversed a film later. If you had to say that any film broke the "odd numbers suck" rule, it would be this one. This was Leonard Nimoy's first attempt at directing a full film, having asked for the seat in exchange for agreeing to play Spock again. <br />
* '''''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''''': The crew of the ''Enterprise'' travels back in time to save the whales. No, literally and unironically. Scott tries to talk to a computer through the mouse, Spock nerve-pinches a punk on a bus in San Francisco, and somehow it works, creating something perhaps not quite in the genre intended but a classic in sci-fi dramedy. ''The Voyage Home'' is a zany comedy romp beloved by the general public and fandom alike, leaving only the most intractable fanbois to bitch and moan. Nimoy directed this one too but there was a contract stipulation that Shatner would get whatever Nimoy got, thus leading to...<br />
* '''''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier''''': aka. the film that should never have been made, even by many die-hard Trekkies. Kirk's actor got his spin behind the camera as agreed and wanted a "thought-provoking movie" after the more comical IV. Good intention, but the abysmal execution leaves the audience facepalming at the very best. Between the weak script, the 'moral' of the story ('faith can be abused by unscrupulous people', for the record) delivered with all the subtlety of a punch to the face, poor (or deliberately campy) special effects, uninspired performances by the actors (who for the most part didn't like the script as it had them behave against everything that had come before and betray Kirk) and Kirk's screentime-hogging (despite being behind the camera); this movie is by far the absolute worst of the original six and simply not worth watching... but it's just dumb and hapless, not dead and soulless like what's to follow from other crews.<br />
* '''''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''''': The Space Cold War ends amidst searing mystery and drama. The sendoff for the original cast, except Kirk who got a worse send-off a movie later. Gene Roddenberry watched it, hated it, and was going to seek legal advice but died a week later. And good riddance to that, because it's a pretty sweet political thriller if your hippie-panties don't get into a twist at the thought that the Federation isn't a perfect place full of perfect people. Press F for Christopher Plummer, second best ham in ''Trek'' history. After the previous movie's painful directing, Sulu's actor only agreed to come back if he got to be captain of his own ship. He did, but Shatner still found a way to steal his thunder.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Generations''''': Malcolm McDowell blows up planets to get into a magic space ribbon to live forever, no it does not make any more sense in context. Bringing the TNG crew to the silver screen was a good idea, but those were thin on the ground. An already-weak story hamstrung by its obsession with being daring and unconventional rather than good (aside from the bit where Worf gets promoted, that was great). Also, Kirk dies on the bridge in the most face-palming manner possible. Nimoy was offered the Director's chair, took one look at the script and demanded a rewrite which didn't happen so he refused to be involved. <br />
* '''''Star Trek First Contact''''': The ''TNG'' crew face off with the Borg to ensure the future happens. Lots of action, a script that sparks with energy and snark, and some quite effective performances make this the only good ''TNG'' movie (we don't blame you TNG cast). It is sadly also the only appearance of the Defiant on the big screen, doing a pretty decent job of fighting the Borg before the Enterprise E saves the day of course. The Borg Queen was also introduced here before Voyager ruined what could have been a good idea. (Or demonstrated the flaws in what was already a shaky idea, depending on who you ask, but either way she works well here in a way she won't later.) <br />
* '''''Star Trek Insurrection''''': If you thought the [[Avatar|Na'vi]] were a bunch of badly-written [[Mary Sue]]s, you ain't seen nothing yet! B-b-b-baby you ain't seen n-n-n-nothing yet! Also, Riker shaves his beard, and that's basically a war crime. Aged from terrible to forgettably bad thanks to that one scene of Picard and Data singing ''HMS Pinafore'' going memetic. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Nemesis''''': The last stand of the ''TNG'' cast, ending not with a bang but a whimper. It also required amending the even=good/odd=bad rule to "''Galaxy Quest'' counts as a ''Star Trek'' film so this one is also odd." Infamous for killing off Data (which was actually Brent Spiner's idea since he was starting to visibly age) and because the director hadn't watched a single episode of TNG, back when it was considered a bad thing not to know anything about the property you were adapting. It also killed Tom Hardy's career for half a decade, [[Grimdark|and nearly killed Hardy himself]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek''''' (2009): Alternate timeline "reboot" (sideboot?) with the original crew, albeit with new younger actors. Timey-wimey shit happens and old prime timeline Spock (reprised by old Leonard Nimoy) is hurled back in time along with a bunch of Romulan assholes. The dickbag Romulans begin fucking shit up, slightly altering history in a way that ensures gratuitous lens flare. [[skub| Skubtastic]], but at least fun to watch (if a literally gleaming, uncomplicated space action-adventure that doesn't delve deeply into the human condition ala II or deeply into idiocy ala V/Generations/Insurrection spells "fun" to you), which is more than ''most'' odd-numbered films can muster. If you still even count it as odd, without the ''Galaxy Quest''-amendment.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Into Darkness''''': Some [[edgy]] [[Fail|shit]]. The second of the alternate timeline ''Trek'' films. Terrorism, conspiracy and flapdoodle. Even more skubtastic, but generally considered worse than its predecessor, partially because (like ''Nemesis'') it tries to be a remake of ''The Wrath of Khan'' and having Kirk at his most punchable.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Beyond''''': Didn't totally suck; graded on a curve against the prior two. So - the good / bad / skub. Good: lots of good character stuff for the entire cast (including Kirk ''not'' being an asshat) and a decent story revolving around a race of mysterious space pirates trying to conquer a colony; handles IRL death of Leonard Nimoy excellently. Bad: villains are under-written, the action photography is poorly-lit shaky-cam horseshit, and the sound work is awful. Skub: Takei came out to complain that its Sulu was gay-married, since he'd played Sulu straight himself, so gay-Sulu was - Takei complained - an insult to his acting prowess (but: alternate universe, remember). If it's the last "Kelvin Timeline" movie, as it seems it will be, at least it ended on a note that wasn't total turd. Apparently we're getting a fourth one now, which was news to everyone including the cast.<br />
<br />
= Novels =<br />
Like most long time franchises ''Star Trek'' has a massive line of books.<br />
<br />
Most are effectively fanfics as nothing but the show and the movies is canon so the writers can do whatever they want. Partial exception to be made for the ''Deep Space Nine'' line; those are considered the "eighth season", justifiably, because they're actually quite good. Start with Andrew "Garak" Robinson's ''Stitch in Time''.<br />
<br />
This changed after ''Nemesis'' since that movie was so godawful the producers calculated they might never have another show or movie in the "Prime" universe; also, several ''DS9'' actors started dropping off dead (so their fans never did get their kino). The writers got their shit together and wrote a group of books as a tight community very close to the shows. The relaunch novels are a continuation of the show they're about. Also there's the ''Titan'' book series which is about Riker and Troi getting their own ship, which happens to be staffed by every race in the Federation including living rocks, [[awesome|space dinosaurs]] that smell like [[meatbread|toast]] and a [[what|space cyborg ostrich]].<br />
<br />
All the relaunch lines eventually got brought together in Star Trek: Destiny, where the Borg go nuts and eat Pluto ... yeah... and then they finally get sick of the Federation somehow managing to not get assimilated all the time, so they finally just send every last cube they have with orders to Exterminatus the absolute SHIT out of the entire Alpha Quadrant. Pretty much every important character from TNG, DS9, and Voyager has to team up to stop them, and even then the Federation still gets its shit kicked in and winds up having to rely on a vaguely ridiculous deus ex machina to beat the Borg, and [[Grimdark|billions of people still die and dozens of planets are blown to shit]]. It was pretty insane.<br />
<br />
Then all the Federation's main enemies get together to form an anti-Federation and start poking the bear, all the while telling their allies that they're somehow warmongering dicks, Section 31 gets its cover blown in a big way, and Riker gets promoted to Admiral. Also, a lot of the newer TNG novels have been devoted to following up on one-shot aliens from the show, like the guys that sent out the probe that made Barclay super-smart and those fish monks that were abducting crewmembers for experiments. Now that the Picard show is coming out, though, this will all presumably be chucked in the dustbin. <br />
<br />
Picard show came. Dustbin. But! Some of the authors who'd been working on the novel continuity for the last twenty years weren't willing to let the Trek novelverse die an inglorious death like the original Star Wars EU, so they got together and wrote a trilogy to give it a proper send-off. The dickhead aliens from that TNG two-part episode with Mark Twain have worked out a way to blow up entire quantum realities and feast on the neural energy of the trillions of lives snuffed out in the process. The novelverse crews all team up to stop them and learn that they're in an alternate timeline created by the Borg during the events of ''First Contact'', and that their reality will have to be erased permanently in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the multiverse. Some of them are less happy about it than others, but they band together to fight the good fight one last time. Everyone fucking dies, of course, but in the end they defeat the dickhead aliens and save the day before being extinguished forever. Still a better note to go out on than Disney saying "lol none of the old EU is canon anymore, buy our new stuff nerds."<br />
<br />
= Video Games =<br />
Again, you're in /tg/, so /v/ comes LAST.<br />
<br />
There have been over 100 Star Trek video games to date but you'll be lucky for find more than [https://www.gog.com/news/6_classic_star_trek_games_ready_to_beam_up_new_players_and_fans_alike 6 on Steam or GOG] that aren't shitty mobile phone games. The vast, vast majority of Star Trek's games are abandonware with no way to purchase them, let alone get them from completely trustable sources. Also for a long time gamers had the (justified) prejudice that ''Trek'' games were shit and ''Wars'' games were good. This changed a bit after ''Elite Force'' redeemed ''Trek'' a bit and more so on the other end after EA ran ''Wars'' to the ground.<br />
<br />
* [https://www.gog.com/partner/startrek List of Star Trek games on GOG.com]<br />
<br />
=== Star Trek Online ===<br />
''Star Trek Online'' is the free-to-play online game built by Cryptic Studios and run by <s>Infogrames</s> <s>Atari</s> <s>Perfect World</s> Gearbox. With an official license CBS, recurring characters voiced by various Trek alumni, and a license to include references to both the reboot chronology (officially known as the "Kelvin Timeline") and recent shows, it's the closest existing thing to an "official" continuation of the "Prime" timeline, and contains history and fluff extending nearly 30 years from the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.<br />
<br />
Taking place in the 25th century (around the year 2409-2412), the Hobus supernova (the event that kicked Nero and Spock into the past alternate timeline during Star Trek 2009) has devastated the Romulans, resulting in the near-collapse and fragmentation of the Romulan Star Empire. This causes tensions between a resurgent Klingon Empire and the Federation which blows up into a war. Members of the new (and nicer) breakaway Romulan Republic play both sides in exchange for development aid.<br />
<br />
There are six possible starts for characters.<br />
*Current Starfleet - The standard starting point.<br />
*Klingons - You are a warrior of the Empire! Qapla' warrior! Today is a good day to die!<br />
*Romulan Republic - Part of a breakaway state after the destabilization of the Star Empire, you get a choice on which major faction (Starfleet or Klingon) you can join later on.<br />
*Dominion - Quite possibly the least played, you do start at level 60 (basically right at end game since levels cap at 65) and you pick which major faction to join too, but you're part of the Dominion so...<br />
*TOS Starfleet - With all the redshirt shenanigans that entails. A time anomaly and weird mission later and you're now in the standard timeline for STO.<br />
*DSC Starfleet - Similar to TOS, comes with a series of starting missions that are possibly the best any of the starts have. Drawback is that it is couched in the Discovery era.<br />
<br />
The game contains deep cuts from all over Trek lore, and answers questions about what happened to various key characters, including Data (took over the Enterprise-E, then retired), the Enterprise (now an even bigger ship run by Andorian captain Shon), and the Voyager crew (it took Harry Kim 30 years to make Captain lol). Raises barely-shown, unnamed, and otherwise obscure races to new prominence as big bad foes, including the Iconians (ancient aliens with god complexes who mutated into energy beings, currently live in Dyson Spheres and were only defeated by a predestination paradox), Tzenkethi (4-armed halo guys whose weak points are the FRONT of their shields), and Na'kuhl (the alien nazis from Enterprise as time-traveling terrorists who blame the Federation for a throwaway event that happened in TNG's beach episode).<br />
<br />
The two most recent major arcs center on a Klingon power struggle and civil between mostly TNG-era Klingons and some DSC-era Klingons (and you also go to Klingon Hell) followed very quickly by a Terran arc with heavy tie-ins to the original Star Trek movie's V'Ger. While the Klingon arc made some players more than a little irked due to not only its length (spread out over several "seasons" of play) and it's attempt to shoehorn in the controversial Discovery era, the Terran arc has been widely praised and brought back a very notorious character from the TNG era.<br />
<br />
Ostensibly free to play, but don't let that fool you... the ''not-so-micro''transactions are the only reason the lights stay on.<br />
<br />
That said, the game does get really decent updates and now is in a groove of running two seasonal events ("Summer on Risa" and "Q's Winter Wonderland") as well as a year-long campaign, as well as a smattering of smaller ones throughout the year. The seasonal ones tend to give you really good shit (often a ship, other times major equipment that can help define an entire character) but the year-long campaign gives you a choice of 3 options to pick from - a shit ton of in-game currency known as Lobi (enough to get a Lobi ship and a little extra), TWO regular Zen Store Tier 6 ships (these unlock for all characters, by the way), or one of the "Premium" ships (ones you typically get from lockbox drops). The only major stipulation is the Premium ship can't be one that has been released in that specific year, but previous years ones are fair game to grab.<br />
<br />
=== Bridge Commander ===<br />
A game that lets you feel like a captain. Very dated, but mods are very good. Has had a resurgence in recent years, with newer mods adding stuff from the newer shows.<br />
<br />
=== Elite Force ===<br />
There was an "Away Team" game that sucked and a "Voyager" game 1995-7 that got canceled. ''Elite Force'' was the ST:VOY away-team FPS game that critics didn't poop on, and it even got a sequel featuring much of the cast of ''TNG''.<br />
<br />
=== Starfleet Command ===<br />
''Starfleet Command'' was a series real time space battle games by Interplay based on the much older tabletop game Star Fleet Battles. It came out in 1999 and was followed by several sequels and expansions. Gameplay was much like ''Battlefleet Gothic'', but with the player only controlling one ship. SFC remains Interplay's best selling game, topping even ''Baldur's Gate''.<br />
<br />
=== Armada ===<br />
<br />
A series of low effort RTS's churned out by Activision in 2000. Tried to take on both ''Homeworld'' and ''Age of Empires'', both of which have recently gotten HD remakes and ''Armada'' hasn't so that should tell you all you need to know. However, for one of the first 3D model space RTS's it was surprisingly easy to mod, resulting in many ship mod packs being made for it.<br />
<br />
=== Legacy ===<br />
Starfleet Command dumbed down but with fancier graphics and the ability to fly in 3D. Features ships and protagonists from all 4 main series before the reboots so it has everything iconic. The Ultimate Universe mod has every single ship from all series before the reboot.<br />
<br />
==NonCanon==<br />
=== Homages ===<br />
Being such a long-running franchise with a wide audience, Star Trek has gained enough pop-culture recognition that it is often referenced in other works. In a few cases entire projects are made to pay homage to Star Trek. Here are some examples.<br />
<br />
==== Galaxy Quest ====<br />
A sci-fi/comedy film released in 1999, directed by Dean Parisot. Built around that ''Three Amigos'' premise of "What if the cast of ''Star Trek'' ended up on a real spaceship and had to actually do the shit they did in the show?", this one parodies science fiction films and series in general - ''Star Trek'' (and its fandom) in particular.<br />
<br />
The film stars big name actors including Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and the late Alan Rickman. The plot revolves around the cast of a defunct cult television series called Galaxy Quest (for example, Tim Allen played the Kirk/Shatner expy and Alan Rickman played the Spock/Nimoy expy). They're also suffering fatigue that mirrors the experiences of the actual Star Trek actors (Rickman's character is typecast with his Galaxy Quest character and laments it, similar to how these things happened to the late, great Leonard Nimoy).<br />
<br />
The cast are suddenly visited by actual aliens, the Thermians, who believe the series to be an accurate documentary (they have no concept of fiction and only the most bare bones idea of lying - which they only just learned about when the antagonist deceived them repeatedly) and seek their help. The Thermians take the actors with them, who find themselves involved in a very real, and dangerous, galactic conflict against the alien warlord, Sarris. Unlike the show where it all wrapped up quickly they struggle to learn about and relate to the aliens. Can these ordinary, flawed actors find greatness within themselves, and possibly personal redemption? (Spoiler: yes, and it is incredible.)<br />
<br />
Speaking of the aliens, in a witty nod to the "rubber forehead aliens" so common in Star Trek, the Thermians first appear to resemble humans with unnaturally pale skin and straight hair/cheap make-up, but that's revealed to be a holographic disguise and their true forms are squid-like. This does not stop one of the actors from striking up a relationship with a female alien anyway. [[/d/| Shine on you crazy /d/iamond!]]<br />
<br />
/tg/ deems this one of the best parodies ever made, and an affectionate love-letter to the franchise as a whole. If you disagree then feel free to consume a big bag of Saurian Swinoid dongs.<br />
<br />
''"Never give up, Never surrender!"''<br />
<br />
==== The Orville ====<br />
Now has [[The Orville|its own page]].<br />
<br />
===Fanfics===<br />
We ''could'' point you to An Archive Of Our Own but, for those (few) of you not keen to watch Kirk and Spock probe Uranus, here are some of the better noncanonical Trek you might want to watch.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek: Renegades====<br />
Kickstarter Trek. The makers submitted their made-for-TV movie pilot to CBS in an attempt to get it made into a legit on-the-air series (and by god it shows), but they were not successful. As a result, while the project limped along for a few years afterward, it has good and bad in equal measure. As a non-official product it also cannot be considered canon. Some characters are actually interesting (about time we saw more of the Breen!) while others are pure Mary Sues (including a male Seven of Nine with a built-in Borg-gun/personal shield/fully-functional hand). Some of the ideas are interesting while others are boring or already-been-done. The CGI is all Hollywood-quality, but the practical effects are okay at best. <br />
It's obvious that they made this without knowing that they were going to be able to make a TV show or not, and tried to cram the sort of build-up and intrigue we saw in DS9 into a span of 90 minutes. For now though, it's decidedly meh, and probably a dead project as well since it hasn't been mentioned on the maker's website in over a year as of late 2019.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek Continues====<br />
Of all the offerings listed here, Star Trek Continues is BY FAR the closest in theme and tone to the original 1960's series. Indeed, this is the whole point: from its inception, this fan-funded project was intended to represent a what-if "4th Season" of the Original Series, ending with the conclusion of the Enterprise's 5-year mission. It is surprisingly and at times ''delightfully'' watchable, with strong stories, consequences and arcs that carry over to later episodes, tons of attention to detail, unexpected cameos, and a cast that really came together, particularly in later episodes. It also delicately navigated a line between viewing female characters through the lens of a show that was rooted in 1960's culture while also not treating them as weak children dependent on men for protection. Star Trek Continues successfully concluded its "season" with all 11 episodes gradually released from 2014 to 2018, to heaps of industry awards and wide praise (including a personal endorsement from Gene Roddenberry's son, who said his father would've approved).<br />
<br />
===Parodies===<br />
====Futurama====<br />
Matt Groening, that mad lad, got almost all the original actors in a ''Futurama'' episode to [re-]enact a ''Trek'' episode on behalf of an alien fan. But not Doohan, so "Scotty" is replaced by "Welshie". Who gets horribly killed and has his corpse zapped whenever the alien loses his temper.<br />
<br />
====Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning====<br />
Another parody, parodying not only ''Star Trek'' but ''Babylon 5'' as well. The seventh in a series fan movies released in 2005, it's about Captain Pirk builds a starship called CPP ''Kickstart'', allies with Russia and takes over the world. He wants to take over more planets but the ships of his P-Fleet aren't fast enough to travel outside the Solar system. A maggot hole opens and it leads to an alternate reality. Pirk wants to take over the Earth of this reality, which leads to an [[awesome]] space battle between the P-Fleet and the fleet of the space station Babel 13 led by Johnny Sherrypie. The movie features some of the best special effects ever put in a sci-fi movie, which is pretty impressive, considering that this is an amateur film with a very low budget and was rendered in five years in someone's bedroom. The film is spoken in Finnish but subtitles are available for a wide variety of languages, including Klingon. They also made [https://web.archive.org/web/20070828010927/http://rpg.starwreck.com/ a role-playing game based on it], where your character [[Truenamer|becomes more incompetent]] [[Page 42|as he levels up]].<br />
<br />
= Criticisms =<br />
Also known as "plot holes", "what an idiot moments", and myriad of other names.<br />
* Cybernetics, as in prosthetics and artificial tools instead of Synthetic lifeforms like Data. There are various stories where physical injuries and handicaps are a big deal and used as allegories for issues like the treatment of the disabled or even euthanasia, but some could argue that even those cases special enough to get an episode shouldn't be an issue in a galaxy where technology has advanced light years and replicators are widespread. Besides whatever in-episode exception is given, this is partly explained by the various factions generally having ''some'' respect for the sanctity and autonomy of the organic form or just being flat-out better than anything technology can recreate, but sometimes it can seem ''awfully'' tempting to <s>magic</s> science up a series of sensors, implants or dermal armor that can give you the durability of a [[Men of Iron|Soong-class android]] or the spectral analysis capabilities of Geordi's visor. There's seldom an in-universe budget issue for this (replicators construct anything out of anything; only mass matters, not cost), though there are some out-of-universe issues for both the budget ("We can't afford more styrofoam tech props!") and plot ("Shut up about how the engineer invented a new engine component last season which would perfectly solve this problem.")<br />
** The technological arms race might also stand out depending on how you interpret the factions who generally lack the Federation's restraint. While Klingons may value the power found in their strong bat'leth arm and the purity of a warrior's physical form, some might argue that their obsession with warrior pride and strength should mean they have [[Big Mek|war engineers]] dedicated to creating the biggest, most badass powered armor with the biggest phasers and blades. And if Romulans and Cardassians are so ruthlessly ambitious, shouldn't their agents have hyper-stealthy scanners and miniaturized electronic warfare suites for better spying? Granted, one counter to that is "because the tech would inevitably be detected and reverse-engineered by Star Trek technobabble, spawning a perpetual cybernetics arms race", but still. And then you get into the Borg, [[Meme|who have no such weaknesses]], and it opens a whole can of worms.<br />
** Keep in mind, that in Federation, only ''biological'' augmentation is illegal (like [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like Khan Noonien Singh). ''Cybernetic'' augmentation is incredibly obscure and rarely seen, but '''is''' legal ([[Artificial Intelligence]] is also legal). And on top of that, Federation pays respect to other ideologies and cultures. As such, if Federation citizen decided to turn himself into robust tank-like full-conversion cyborg with lots of badass gadgets and systems - it would not cost him anything (replicators + post-scarcity economy) - while others would remark how strange he is, but not impose any penalties/punishments/sanctions, and would respect him for his incredible capabilities (for there's no guy in town half as massive!). Most other civilizations/nations have even less restrictions on [[Transhumanism]]/augmentation than Federation has - that is, most of them would also allow ''biological'' augmentation - and they also have replicators.<br />
* Everyone look like some variant of human, without any variety:<br />
** All aliens are just humans with slight alterations of face features, like ridges on their foreheads. Aliens, what would so much as look like other members of ''Homo'' Genus (think difference between modern humans and neanderthals), are very rare. And ''truely alien'' aliens are practically non-existent. Yet mathematically, "non-metamorph/spapeshifter aliens evolving to look perfectly like humans" has so small chance, as to be completely implausible - and '''every''' alien race independently evolving to look like humans is '''absurd'''.<br />
** Almost all cyborgs/robots are human-shaped. Almost all of ''those'' are human-looking, with artificial skin and such. Human shape is not very effective for most tasks - and as such, one could expect vaguely-humanoid (e.g. like [[Dreadnought]] or [https://helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/Hulk Cyberstanian Hulk]) and non-humanoid (e.g. tank-shaped "box on threads with rotating turret") robots/cyborgs to appear from time to time - yet such things are practically non-existent in ''Star Trek'' (IRL, it's the other way around - lots of industrial robots and "boxes on threads", and no synthetic humans). What's more, Borg are partially-mechanical cyborgs, clinging to their ragged flesh for no discernible reason, looking more humanlike than [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] members are - while logically, due to having Replicators, Borg could make themselves fully-robotic (with, at most, only nervous system bein organical; everything else would rather be replaced with strong and durable ultra-tech machinery) '''''and''''' field large vaguely-humanoid/non-humanoid units (strong and tough - and since they're big, they can have bigger brains/computers, cue being smarter).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld weapons stronger/bigger than rifle. Such as LMG and RPG-sized weapons, for tough enemies. There is the Worfzooka from Insurrection.<br />
** More about that [http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Database/Query-ST.php?Series=TNG&Category=Realism&EpName=&Keywords=&Quotes=&Analysis=&Submit=Submit there], [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tactics/ there] and [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/ there]. ''They even don't have grenades''.<br />
* Lack of ''any'' armor. So much as making jumpsuits out of futuristic ballistic (or at least sharp-resistant) materials would make life easier (e.g. Klingons would be forces to switch for guns, as melee weapons couldn't penetrate even such light futuristic armor), while having same weight, cost (replicators, after all!) and being concealable as clothing (as it would have same weight ''as'' clothing); in fact, such protective clothing should completely replace normal clothing - for it has same cost/weight, but is actually protective. That's before going on to ''any'' sort of "proper" armor; no equivalents of [[Power Armor]] and [[Carapace Armour]] - even no equivalents of [[Flak Armor]]. Even those not going into direct combat would logically need to wear armor - due to chance of enemy teleporting on ship, and due to ship's machinery constantly exploding into dangerous shrapnel. There are two exceptions, there was some armor used by security forces in the movies and armored vests in Discovery (though, neither are good at protecting from gunfire).<br />
** Similarly, lack of ''any'' environmental protection. So much as wearing gas masks/rebreathers or [[Space Station 13|breath masks with emergency oxygen tanks]] would make life a lot easier. Logically, with ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies, even the lesser space-faring civilizations (like most Federation's neighbors) should be capable of creating protective suits that are as comfortable to wear as clothing while protecting from vacuum and hostile atmospheres. And on top of that, armor mentioned above could also be sealed work as protection from environmental threats of all sorts. Yet [[Derp|everyone go around in unarmored jumpsuits, no matter where they are - be it unexplored planet with potentially hostile atmosphere/biosphere, damaged ship where systems leak and depressurizations happen, or warzone where enemies use chemical/biological/radiological weapons]]. [[Irony|All that, ironically, makes goody-two-shoes Federation '''''more backwards''''' than]] modern humans (submariners and jet pilots wear rebreathers, astronauts wear emergency space suits) and ''[[Imperium of Man]]'', of all people (many [[Astra Militarum|guardsmen]] wear gas masks and hazmat suits, [[Space Marine]] armor doubles as emergency space suits). What little environmental protection suits are there in ''Star Trek'', are very unreliable and constantly tear - despite the fact, that ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies could allow to make sharp-proof, bullet-proof, phaser-proof (or at least phaser-resistant) reliable space suits, what would weigh and cost just as much as normal ones (because replicators!).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld heavy explosive weapons. Like, for example, miniature antimatter munitions, for when you ''really'' need to blow something up (imagine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) Davy Crockett], but with '''antimatter''' instead of low-grade fission nuke). Heavy/Powered Armor from point above could help to "use that thing and not die from blast/radiation".<br />
* Lack of Ground Vehicles. If you are exploring an alien planet, you'd want to be able to get around it's surface quickly. But basically you're limited to Spaceships and Walking.<br />
* Lack of Boarding/Breaching Vehicles. If you are not tank-like cyborg, and you're fighting inside spaceship (or other cramped place) - you'd want something compact, yet equipped with lots of armor and weapons, preferably remote-controlled and flying. A "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Descent room] [https://www.old-games.ru/game/103.html superiority] starfighter", or [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2729877778&searchtext=Breaching+drone breaching] [https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=244850&searchtext=Breaching+drone&childpublishedfileid=0&browsesort=textsearch&section= drone] variants. Such machine would be many times stronger than [[Power Armor]]/small [[Battlesuit]] soldiers - not to mention infantrymen; it would be impervious to small-arms fire, and resistant to anti-vehicular weapons. But instead, everyone are limited to "walking around, without any armor, and without anything bigger than rifle".<br />
** To understand, how scary such remote-controlled "box of death" or "room superiority starfighter" would be with Star Trek tech... It would technically be a very small spaceship. Made of heavy spaceship-grade armor, resistant to phaser cannons and anti-matter rockets, to the point of being able to take hits from vehicles bigger than itself. With deflector shields on top of that. And instead of 25x184 gatling autocannons and 200mm rocket launchers (what is ''already'' overkill for anything human-sized), it would be armed with '''''ginormous phaser [auto]cannons and antimatter missiles (!)'''''. And it quickly flies on futuristic engines, far stronger than any modern variant of ion or hydrogen engine; so much as it's engine exhaust trust can turn unarmored infantryman into pile of charcoal and fling it across the ship. It's a non-living vehicle, with ton of immunities and resistances that entails. And if it's outfitted with AI (instead or in addition to remote-control system), it gets all advantages of that (absolute timing and precision, intuitive fast mathematics, reaction speed rivaling that of CIWS system, etc). It has virtually limitless operating time, due to working on anti-matter reactor (or something comparable); if it's destroyed, it violently explodes (due to anti-matter reactor and anti-matter ammunition detonation). It may also be outfitted with various tools (e.g. repair tools and manipulators), or even ''portable replicator''. And most of it's opponents are enemies with tiny peashooters and useless chunks of sharp iron, what can't even scratch the machine's paintjob. Have fun.<br />
* And [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MisappliedPhlebotinum why not use teleporter offensively]? Make big antimatter bomb (whatever warheads your torpedoes use; the stronger explosive - the better), set it to explode after teleporting (timer, and other sensors), then teleport it onto enemy ship. Then watch the explosion of epic proportions, as '''enormous''' antimatter warhead (at least 2 meters big in every direction - possibly, so big what it fills all available space on ship's bridge; the bigger can fit inside your teleporter - the better) explodes inside enemy ship. Even tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles can't survive '''that''' much of explosion; ship's systems will also be utterly devastated. There are no people out there, who would be more destructive than antimatter bomb of same mass/size.<br />
**As a counterpoint, transporters can't work through shields and a variety of other things can stop transporters from working including radiation, electromagnetic activity and suchlike. Transporter Inhibitors have been mentioned and shown repeatedly.<br />
* And why there are no ship defenses? For example, so much as "phaser autocannon turret equivalent in size to gatling autocannon" would be great at repelling any boarding infantrymen, and could help against tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles. That's before going on to any bigger defensive systems; the only thing what ''sufficiently big'' turret can't handle, is '''massive antimatter bomb''' (read above). Yet instead, everyone foolishly leave their ships defenseless, despite knowing what enemies ''have'' teleports and ''will'' board their ships.<br />
* Planet of the Hats. Not a problem unique to Trek, but it's very acute here. As mentioned a lot of species in Star Trek are rather one note. For the Klingons it's all about being a [[Proud Warrior Race|Honorable Warrior]], for the Romulans it's all about covert actions, intrigue and political plotting, for the Ferengi it's all about making money and being greedy, etc. Those are the big species and most Species-Of-The-Week are even more one-note than that, such as the species who's hat is being big-game hunters, playing board games or aggressive bartering. Admittedly there's only so much you can fit into part of a 45 minute long TV show and there are some ideas that work better than others, but even so building an entire civilization/country around interpretive dance is pretty dumb.<br />
** Besides, there is large shortage of "atypical" characters, whose characteristics are different from their species' average. Such as a Ferengi guy who isn't greedy trader; Ferengi guy who is militaristic conqueror a-like Conquistadors, who prefers to enslave and "take something forcibly" instead of buying; Romulan soldier/special-agent who is a militaristic gun nut and fan of direct "blow everything up!" actions; Klingon pirate/rebel/marauder who is a militaristic warlike callous asshole without any sense of honor or morals (i.e. unfettered in his desire to conquer and destroy); Human who is hulking, augmented to the point of being non-humanoid, [[Cyborg]] [[Space Marine]], [[Transhumanist]] and conqueror, who tries to "save Federation from it's own stupidity", reverse-engineers Borg tech, "recruits" Borgs (by disconnecting them from [[Hive Mind]] and connecting to himself) and constantly intervenes everywhere.<br />
* Budget problems. Most factions (e.g. Federation lives in post-scarcity economy) have access to Replicators ([https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS_Prime_Directive#Star_Fleet_Universe_Tech_Levels among other things], what clearly classify it as [[Soft Science Fiction]]); they can turn anything into anything, as long as they have supply of energy and bulk matter. Naturally, there ''are'' large supply of energy (from Antimatter reactors), and lots of bulk matter (planets, asteroids, etc). Therefore, "budget limitations" as we know it cease existing, and anyone can take as much big-advanced gear as he wants; from robust full-conversion-cyborg body, to big guns and power armor, to portable replicator, to all sorts of gadgets. Yet characters behave as if they are on strict budget limits - usually coming on missions while grossly under-equipped (only having non-protective uniforms and phaser-pistols); what frequently resulted in problems ([https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction that even got highlighted on TvTropes]).<br />
** In particular they have goofy things like having civilizations in the same technological ball-park of the Federation capture people to mine stuff with pick axes or push mine carts of ore into furnaces like this is the 19th century; even though mining machines like tunneling shield, power tools, and self-moving carts are a lot cheaper than slaves, and should already be invented.<br />
*** Generally, there's shortage of "Sane Evil"/"Pragmatic Evil" types - "those who are ready to do any heinous act, but only as long as it furthers their goal, who are capable of doing good things if it furthers their goal, and who don't do evil if it doesn't further their goal". Most villains in series are [[Grimderp]] [[Stupid Evil]] types who do bad things just to show how evil they are. All while "Pragmatic Evil" types are more interesting, more realistic, more common IRL, and rise many good philosophical question by virtue of ''arguably being more effective than good guys'' ("So you would rather be good yet inefficient, or amoral yet efficient?", "Moral is subjective - yet our system is more effective - and from our point of view, we're perfectly moral", "Your 'morals' and 'ethics' are just handcuffs and shackles you imposed on yourself, what slow down your civilization - like those dumb Klingon codes of honor", etc).<br />
* Numerous other errors (some [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction highlighted on TvTropes]). Such as exploding instrument panels (could be fixed with batteries and wireless connection; and on top of that, no one wears armor, not even flak armor), holodeck problems (mishaps by creating physical, dangerous holograms - yet never gets used for any actually practical ways, like "conjure cannon fodder out of thing air, and beam it to enemy ship"), no computer backups, no transporter tests (teleport a sealed container of water up and down - then teleport a mouse up and down - and check if both are normal - and samples are to be beamed up separately; no one did that), no environmental protection, no physical access doors in brig, shuttles what poorly fly in atmosphere, cargo working in 1G gravity (despite low-gravity being more productive), no space suits or other protective gear, and some other errors.<br />
* The Prime Directive. [[TL;DR]] Starfleet is forbidden from interacting with pre-warp civilizations, and main characters are Starfleet members. In broad strokes it's not a bad idea since we don't want to be Space Cortés enslaving people to mine dilithium and imposing our religion on them at laser-point, and Star Trek has always leaned towards more liberal ideas of respecting the freedom and autonomy of other cultures instead of intervening "because we know best", to say nothing of when time travel and mirror dimensions are involved and you have to preserve the sanctity of the timeline (unless the point of the episode is to FIX what's wrong to get back to your universe). Nor do the Feddies want to accidentally stunt the growth of a civilization by becoming their gods or making them dependent on them and thus incapable of advancing by themselves. The problem is that it comes up when civilizations face some major danger like a killer disease, geological disaster or the Schmazis going around genociding everyone on the planet who's not forest green and the federation's official response is "rules are rules, can't interfere" as millions suffer and die in all sorts of gruesome preventable ways (including ''pre-warp Earth''; they don't care about suffering/deaths of ''their own people'' -but this particular problem comes with the huge caveat of temporal interference as playing god on someone else is one thing, erasing yourself from existence is another-). Many species and civilizations have suffered extinction or collapse because of this (and in many cases, that resulted or could result in evil aggressive post-warp civilization emerging on such unattended planets), and many problems could be easily avoided if not for Prime Directive. Basically, it's a case of a noble ideal which severely hampers the heroes because there's [[Lawful Stupid|very little room for nuance]].<br />
** Such passivity also commonly extends to post-warp civilizations as well. The Federation's strict policy of non-interference in foreign affairs (barring explicit permission or evidence of interference) has led to many non-aligned races like the Bajorans treating the Federation with open distrust (the Bajorans fought a guerilla campaign against the Cardassians, who massacred and enslaved them for years without the Federation lifting so much as a finger, and many cynically see them as allies of convenience who only backed them up when they had something they wanted) or foregoing several opportunities to shift the balance of power in the Federation's favour (the Klingon Civil War is a prime example of that, as not only would have military support for Gowron's faction have the cost the Federation nothing, but Gowron's enemies sought to undo the peace treaty the Federation had with the Klingons for decades while bringing them closer to the Romulans, the only other faction that could meet the Federation on somewhat equal footing) simply because it would be ideologically inconvenient to do so. Then again, the Federation (or at least the highbrow captains and admirals introduced to show they're not all like our Noblebright heroes) has a nasty tendency to overlook the reality on the ground in an imperfect and volatile galaxy, because as Sisko says, "''It's easy to be a saint in paradise!''"<br />
*** Of course, to be fair, interfering in galactic politics ''does'' set a bad precedent as well, as it would paint the Federation as a big bully who strongarms their way into your messes to tell you what to do for their benefit, which would actively harm not just their ideals but their hope of encouraging more peaceful contact in line with those ideals. Heck, whenever we had episodes where the Federation ''did'' launch covert operations to manipulate things to their advantage, it's usually called out as a self-serving and hypocritical move, even if it's absolutely necessary at the time. But as Sisko also said: "''I can live with it.''"<br />
** Of course, we're /tg/. We can appreciate the [[Warhammer 40,000|in-your-face over-the-top appeal]] of [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|being Space Cortés]] and taking an active hand in shaping the destiny of the stars, righting wrongs and kicking ass like a pulp action serial by channeling your inner [[Buck Rogers]]. And while normally [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Terran%20Empire this tack] is shown as a ''bad'' thing, sometimes you just wanna [[Star_Trek_Alternate_Timelines#Commie_Track_Of_War;_Variant_1|fire up your warp drive and get shit done]]. After all, if you're already in a post-scarcity civilization, why enslave the natives when you can get rid of the genuine threat (that ideally is truly more than they can handle), move on and leave 'em to keep trying on their own while giving them a preview of what it means to cherish the sanctity of life?<br />
<br />
= Would you like to know more? =<br />
And oh Lordy, is there more...<br />
*[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/ Main Memory Alpha: A ''Star Trek'' wiki]<br />
*[http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/ Main Memory Beta: The flip-side of Memory Alpha for the less than official stuff]<br />
*[http://sfdebris.com/ SF Debris: opinionated episode reviews, has some non ''Trek'' stuff as well]<br />
*[http://www.letswatchstartrek.com/ Let's Watch Star Trek]: A curated list of the episodes for newcomers - which episodes to watch or skip.<br />
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[[Category: Television]]<br />
[[Category:Star Trek]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Trek&diff=1003306Star Trek2025-06-24T09:58:47Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Criticisms */</p>
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<div>[[File:Enterprise.jpg|thumb|500px|right|If you aren't already hearing the theme song you might not belong here.]]<br />
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{{Topquote|Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!|James T. Kirk, <s>third</s> captain of the starship USS Enterprise}}<br />
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{{Topquote|[[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For the duration of this mission the prime directive is rescinded.]]|Kathryn Janeway, captain of the starship USS Voyager}}<br />
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'''''Star Trek''''' is a multimedia science-fiction series and one of the cornerstones of nerdy media properties (in fact, Klingon is the most learned fictional language, rivalled only by Tolkien's elvish in popularity), and one of the few to crossover into mainstream popularity (alongside ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and a few others). It's also one of the longest-running science fiction franchises, as it began when the the first episode of The Original Series aired in 1966, and since then has had over 50 years of geek history spanning several generations. Needless to say, it's had a huge influence on all things sci-fi, and, by extension, [[/tg/]].<br />
<br />
Originally, ''Star Trek'' was [[noblebright]] beyond noblebright and, in many ways, was the polar opposite of ''[[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K's]]'' [[grimdark]]. The more recent reboot films, however, have taken a much, ''much'' more grimdark tone, which is delightfully [[skub]]tastic.<br />
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= Games =<br />
You're in /tg/ = 1d4chan, so, we'll start with the games.<br />
<br />
There's been plenty of tabletop games and [[/v/|vidya gaems]] featuring ''Star Trek'' without being merchandising bullshit (see: themed ''[[Monopoly]]'' sets), including one of the earliest action multiplayer wargame: ''Netrek''. <br />
<br />
*'''''Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier''''' (1978) The very first Trek tabletop [[RPG]]. Written by, I shit you not, Michael Scott. Groggy (grokky?) as all hell, and due for an OSR.<br />
* '''''[[Starships & Spacemen]]''''' (1978 1e, 2013-present 2e) This was an attempt by a guy named Leonard Kanterman to make his own Star Trek RPG but since he didn't hold the license he had to alter the names and fudge the rules a bit so he wouldn't get sued. It appeared and died fairly quickly. It was later purchased by [[Goblinoid Games]] and heavily reworked to work more like their other game, [[Labyrinth Lord]] but different enough that converting things back and forth should take a minute or two longer than just dropping them in. The 2e version has some decent third party material at least.<br />
* '''''[[Star Fleet Battles]] (SFB)''''' (1979-) The crunchiest starship combat game you're ever going to find outside of a computer. Based on the original series and not any of the later series, for licensing reasons. Takes some liberties with the setting, which (combined with the aforementioned licensing) is why "''Star Trek''" isn't actually in the title. It's had its own video game spinoff in the form of Starfleet Command. The vidya series died when the last company owned by Interplay broke up in the early 2000s, but the original game is still published by its designer, Amarillo Design Bureau (formerly in conjunction with the defunct Task Force Games).<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Role Playing Game''''' (1982-1989) Made by [[FASA]], essentially ''[[Traveller]]''-lite, or a happier, shinier ''[[Rogue Trader]]''. Hasn't aged terribly well, what with having been made when the only canonical ''Star Trek'' materials to work with were the original and animated series, the first four films, and a couple of now non-canon novels. If you try to dust it off, expect tons of conflict with the rest of the show. Died as they were trying to update it for ''TNG'', because Paramount's corporate suits (surprise, surprise) had no idea what an RPG actually entailed and were worried about violence, and getting their cut, and... oh you know the drill by now. Welcome to the 80's.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator''''' (1983) FASA designed this, so it feels like ''[[Battletech]]'' but not as good.<br />
* '''''Prime Directive''''' (1993-2008) The most successful tabletop RPG line (but that's not saying much), it's actually still in print. Produced by Amarillo Design Bureau, so again no direct name-dropping of "''Star Trek''." Lasted as long as it did by constantly evolving, in Borg-like fashion, to adapt to the current zeitgeist. Has had 4 editions, with the second using [[GURPS]], the third using [[Wizards of the Coast|d20]], and the fourth [[d20 Modern]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek [[Card_Game|CCG]]''''' (1994-2007, 2011-2014, 2013-2015, 2018-) There's been a few of these, most notably the games released by [[Decipher]], but never globally popular. They also suffered from game balance problems from fans wanting their fave character, but needing extra rules for their quirks. There's also the problem of putting numbers to character stats, such as one game that asserted that [[Heresy|Picard having about twice the integrity of a Klingon pig]]. Later versions are "deck-building" games to try to cash in on the popularity of ''[[Dominion]]'' and ''[[Thunderstone]]''. And now virtual CCGs are the order of the day.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Next Generation Role Playing Game''''' (1998-2000) The next attempt, made by Last Unicorn Games. Won an Origins Award for best new game. Has a lot of extraneous skills, as expected of a 90's RPG, but does a good job of capturing the feel of the show. Includes core books for Deep Space Nine and The Original Series, with a planned Voyager book never released. Tons of fan material is available, including books for Enterprise, Voyager, and even the Captain Pike era. Authors of the original game have also finished and released adventures and sourcebooks online. Died an untimely death.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Red Alert''''' (2000) A Diskwars game themed to ''Star Trek''.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Roleplaying Game''''' (2002-2005) When [[Decipher]] had the CCG license, they decided, "What the hell, let's make an RPG, too." Some of the authors of the Last Unicorn Games RPG worked on this game. The systems are similar but different enough that they aren't compatible. The fluff focuses more on the Voyager era. A well made game but it's forgotten for a reason. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Online''''' (2010-) An [[MMORPG|MMO]]. Decent gameplay mechanics, especially starship combat. Storyline leaves something to be desired, especially when the ostensibly [[Noblebright|peaceful]] Federation trades shots at least once with every other faction in the galaxy. Is also sadly being screwed over by CBS who keeps retconning the series thus forcing the game to bend more and more unnaturally to fit in the new canon. Still, it's solid enough for an MMO and you can hit max level quick enough to get into the real meat of the game and join a Fleet (their version of a guild) and blow shit up.<br />
* '''''Call To Arms: Star Trek''''' (2011) [[Mongoose_Publishing|Mongoose]]'s license for ''Babylon 5'' expired, so they collaborated with Amarillo Design Bureau (the ''Star Fleet Battles'' guys), re-themed the game to Star Trek along with improving the system to make it more nifty. Less micro-management than SFB, and ships get some cinematic feats.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Expeditions''''' (2011) Ignore the tie-ins to the movie, Reiner Knizia designed this. Explore the gameboard, flip over missions, try to have the proper crew to get victory points.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Fleet Captains''''' (2011) Tile flipping, exploring, and spaceships fighting over resources<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Attack Wing''''' (2013-) [[WizKids]] license the flightpath system from [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and adds ''Star Trek'' to the mix, [[Skub]] ensues. The game has been consistently plagued with balance issues, to the point that the rules errata is more than ten times longer than the actual rules. The actual current rules for things like the Borg special movement and fighter squadrons are completely different than the rules as written.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Ascendancy''''' (2016-) 4X table top boardgame from GaleForce9. Most of the races are represented, though the base set only has the Federation, Klingons and Romulans. Andorians, Vulcans, Cardassians and Ferengi can be purchased as expansions. There is even a Borg expansion that turns the game semi-coop as everyone tries real hard not to be assimilated. <br />
* '''''[[Star Trek Adventures]]''''' (2017-) The latest attempt at an RPG, by Modiphius. It also comes with a whole range of miniatures of the various crews from the show. Runs on a similar engine to the creator's ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' which both makes sense, since they're both pulpy storytelling, and is hilarious, given the total tonal mish-mash between the two. Task resolution is generally done via a mixture of six attributes and six disciplines, which are added together, then used as a modifier for a d20 roll. For instance, combat is usually handled by the Security discipline, but hand-to-hand combat would use Fitness or Daring, while firing a phaser or other long-arm would use Control, and shipborne weapons Insight or Reason. In addition to combat stuff, players might solve problems by obtaining information and sciencing the shit out of it. They also have various Values that can be tapped for additional dice, a shared pool of Momentum all players can spend to gain advantages and add to by overboosting on success, and a pool of Threat that they can give the GM rather than burning Momentum, which he can then spend to make the situation degrade. It's a fun system, but it requires a GM who can wrap their head around the idea of an evolving situation rather than a set encounter to really click, which can be hard for GMs who're used to the ''D&D'' model.<br />
<br />
= So why should I care? =<br />
Because between them, these six TV series and their assorted spinoff movies, books, etc. can provide inspiration for any sci-fi game you could care to run. If you want light-hearted action, look at the sort of things that happened in ''TOS'' or ''DS9'' to get the crew into some dangerous situation. If you want a charismatic villain, look at Gul Dukat or the Borg Queen ([[skub|but not the one in Voyager]]). More serious issues are often handled with various degrees of success. While many science fiction series deal with a wide range of topics, Star Trek does so as aspects of a greater world. Like [[Tolkien]] is to fantasy it's a prime gateway drug to science fiction and especially science fiction which is more than "action movie IN SPACE!"<br />
<br />
Not to mention in any sci-fi RPG with remotely free-form rules you're likely to encounter ''Star Trek'' fanboys, so you might as well know what they're talking about. The unholy spawn of a Trekkie and a [[Furry]] is known as a [[Chakat]], and you should fear it.<br />
<br />
At its best ''Star Trek'' is thoughtful, optimistic futurism with a positive human element and brings you to strange new worlds in the grand tradition of speculative fiction but one that's accessible to even the layman. At its worst ''Star Trek'' is arrogant, smug, hypocritical, one-sided, preachy, dull and sloppy.<br />
<br />
= Setting =<br />
Here's the Cliff's Notes on ''Star Trek''. A couple of general warnings; firstly, ''Star Trek'' likes to ''really'' take its "racial themes" bits just a little too far. Second, despite this, it's rare for an entire race to be completely irredeemable the way many fictional aliens are: there are heroic and sympathetic characters from nearly every race listed below, able to put more-positive spins on their racial themes. Thirdly, aside from very occasional appearances by [[H.P. Lovecraft|aliens who are so bizarre that humankind can barely comprehend them]], all of the aliens look like dudes with rubber masks on (because they are). In real life, this was because there was no budget for anything else, but in-universe it's been explained by some kind of [[Old Ones|Precursor]] race who seeded all of the planets with their broadly humanoid DNA, and every race evolved slightly differently from there. There isn't much [[fluff]] on what these precursors were like, and some of it was contradictory, and Gene Roddenberry didn't like the idea (although he still had to work with the rubber forehead stuff). The good news for fa/tg/uys who like [[homebrew]] is that this makes it fairly easy to write [[d20 system]] rules for all of the races - after all, most ''D&D'' races are just humans with rubber masks on...<br />
<br />
== A Composite Creation ==<br />
This is a general note that one should consider: Star Trek was created in pretty much the opposite way as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked out a bunch of linguistic stuff and general history of Arda in his spare time over the course of years, then decided to use that as the basis for some stories that he eventually gave to some publishers which in the end sold quite well. <br />
<br />
Roddenberry, by contrast, pitched a very broad general idea (it's the future, things are good, we got some guys on a ship exploring space; a "wagon train to the stars") to the networks and eventually Lucy from ''I Love Lucy'' made it happen. Roddenberry then worked with a variety of writers and actors (and some later on in later series) who added to this rough skeleton of an idea in a process that would continue on to this day. <br />
<br />
This is not to knock either approach, but both have their advantages and disadvantages. In regards to Star Trek, a franchise which relies mostly on an episode of the week format (until recently, apparently) that's been going on for more than half a century, there were numerous people at the helm and many of them had often very different ideas about what should be done that were just thrown out to see what stuck, many of which were contradictory, meaning that the canon is a fucking mess ([[Warhammer 40,000|Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?]]). Some of which we'd frankly rather forget (Data being possessed by a mask, for instance). In general fans and fluff writers have been spending a whole lot of time trying to straighten things out and much of the lore is basically a [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main rough consensus of what people like and what fits in with it]. Later series got more systematic about this, but there are still points of contention and a lot of flat out contradictions due to its scattershot nature.<br />
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You know, like [[/co/| comic books]].<br />
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= Factions =<br />
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'''The Federation'''<br />
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[[File:Federation_Ships.jpg|thumb|500px|left|Starfleet's ships of the Line (original universe/canon)]]<br />
Might as well talk about that main faction. The United Federation of Planets is what the [[Tau]] think they are. Its backstory is that in the distant future of the 1990s, [[God-Emperor of Mankind|übermensch]] [[Space Marines|created by genetic engineering]] began conquering the Earth. The [[Imperial Guard|normies]] fought back and won through sheer numbers, cryogenically freezing the Augments and kicking them out of Earth, but the damage and mass political unrest of World War III got half the planet nuked. This was why genetic engineering was banned. Fortunately, in 2063, a <s>drunken asshole</s> heroic visionary named Zefram Cochrane created humanity's first warp drive (though it functioned based on the principle that gravity bends space-time, and was therefore more akin to an Alcubierre drive than anything that's dependent on the [[Warp]]) and made first contact with the Vulcans. The Vulcans eventually helped humanity rebuild and overcome poverty, disease, war and hunger. With its Earthly problems solved, man turned to the stars and found out its three closest neighbors were [[Imperium of Man|racist xenophobic dicks trying to murder each other]]. Since any war between them would've swept up puny little Earth and gotten it glassed, humans decided to force their neighbors to sit down and talk things out. Incredibly, it worked, and the United Federation of Planets was born.<br />
<br />
The Federation is a commie [[noblebright]] hippieland society with a post-scarcity economy and a strong democratic government ([[Mary Sue|pretty much Roddenberry's idea of utopia]]). As a result, Federation citizens work not because they have to, but because they want to. However, despite their advanced technology, transhumanism, that is intentionally making [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like the infamous antagonist Khan Noonien Singh, is illegal.<br />
<br />
The Federation's Navy is almost always called Starfleet. It's a mix between a military, a coast guard and a space agency, and usually rates scientific research as a higher priority than defense. One of its quirks is that it doesn't subscribe to the "bigger is better" policy used in most [[Warhammer 40K|sci-fi]], and even by most of the other ''Star Trek factions''. If the Federation ''does'' make a large ship, it's because they want it to have a daycare, swimming pool and ice cream bar. If they want a warship, they'll take a little gunship half the size of a modern day destroyer and pack it with enough antimatter nukes and guns to exterminate a solar system. In some cases, especially when dealing with ships from several centuries into the future, the ship is bigger on the inside than on the outside [[Creed|allowing it to hide a vast array of powerful armaments, ''space-bending'' equipment, and even whole planetary landscapes]]. They can get away with this because they out-tech almost everyone else by a country mile. The reason for the series' infamous "technobabble" is that <s>even ''they'' don't know everything their tech can do!</s> their technology is always evolving, and they know it so well that they can often use it in ways that even the original in-show design schematics did not intend.<br />
<br />
In theory, Starfleet follows a rule called the "Prime Directive", which says that you're not allowed to interfere with low-tech races ("low-tech" being defined as "not having invented the warp drive", since warp technology apparently follows naturally from the laws of physics) or else things like turning the locals into Nazis might happen. The Original Series talked about this rule all the time, and Captain Kirk threw it aside whenever there was a sexy alien babe in sight. From ''TNG'' onward, it tended to instead be brought up whenever a hack writer needed a reason for the heroes to ''not'' instantly resolve a given problem with their superior technology or a way of making our heroes look like assholes for following it rigidly (yes, we could save this species from extinction but that would be interfering with the cosmic plan!), though there were a few good episodes that took it seriously.<br />
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Some of the more important member races are:<br />
<br />
'''Founding members:'''<br />
* [[Humans]]: You know 'em, you love 'em. Comprise seemingly 90% of Starfleet for reasons in no way related to the cost of makeup/CGI.<br />
* [[Vulcan]]: The Original [[Eldar|Space Elves]], very emotional, especially during "pon'farr" (see below), who followed the teachings of an enlightened sage and embraced logic and rationalism after their emotions nearly led to them [[Slaanesh|wiping themselves out]]. They are what the average race of fantasy elves think they are, except on ''Enterprise'' because the writers wanted to artificially inject tension into the show (some of that was retconned to be a Romulan plot). Occasionally enter a state called "pon'farr," where they need to either [[Dark Eldar| fuck something half to death]], kill it with the nearest sharp object, or die of a brain aneurysm to let out all that pent-up emotional tension. Fa/tg/uys may recognize this as the sensation they feel every time [[Games Workshop]] puts out a new army book. There are ships with mostly Vulcan crews. But only two are seen. One commanded by the biggest jerk among them and the other [[grimdark|got eaten by a giant space amoeba.]] However they're pretty bro-tier overall. <br />
* Andorians: Blue dudes with antennae and constant fits of passion, the polar opposite of Vulcans and their one time foes. Pretty much fa/tg/uys, right down to the romantic streak, in the technical sense. Also, they live underground on a diet of meatbread and rage. Most of what defined them happened in Enterprise as they rarely showed up in the TNG-era, and even then did so as set dressing, allegedly because one of the showrunners hated their antennae and banned anyone from using them.<br />
* Tellarites: Space [[Dwarf|Dorfs]]; like insulting everyone and arguing a lot (no, really, petty insults are considered a polite gesture in Tellarite culture), mostly because the very first tellarite ever shown in the series got in an argument with Spock's dad and now it's their whole racial thing. “Sarek said something in a scene once that was meant to demonstrate that he was stand-offish and kinda rude, but we like Sarek so it's now the defining attribute of this species.” It's all in good fun you understand, your confidence in your ideas and actions should be sturdy enough to withstand honest assessment and critique.<br />
'''Notable Additional Members:'''<br />
* Betazoids: Invariably attractive humanoid aliens with telepathic powers. Half-betazoid, half-humans apparently only have "empathic" powers, so they are well-regarded by Starfleet captains for their ability to point out the obvious and fill out the tight bodygloves that make up the Starfleet uniform in a pleasing manner, especially since theirs seem to come in a custom cut for reasons entirely unrelated to Roddenberry's erection. Their homeworld is like dropping a really hippie college and Space Vegas into a blender. They were taken over during The Dominion war because Earth or Vulcan would be seen as bullshit due to their large post Borg attack defense fleets/ship yards. While the writers would have to actually add new characters for the Andorians and Tellarites(such as Ambassadors for a government in exile). So Betazoid took the hit to raise the stakes.<br />
* Trill: Originally a one-off race introduced as a sapient parasite that possesses and controls a barely, or even unintelligent humanoid host, they were radically reworked in ''Deep Space Nine'', right down to losing their rubber foreheads in favor of spots. Now, the host is itself an intelligent humanoid, and some, but not all, of their kind are able to willingly merge with a symbiont (because someone can't spell) that allows them to access a mixture of the memories and personalities of all previous hosts, though in a way that, theoretically, enhances the host's personality rather than destroying it or subsuming it. Then, when they die, they can pass on the symbiont to another host, theoretically, one they mentored. They went from having a rubber forehead to some spots because Terry Farrell had a allergic reaction to the make-up.<br />
* Tamarians: Previously a one-off in ''TNG'', newly joined as of ''Lower Decks''. Tamarian communication is based entirely around metaphor and idiom, meaning their entire language is predicated on understanding their history's pop culture references. This throws the universal translator for a fit, as it can chew on the vocabulary okay but it can't unpack the contextual meanings. Imagine a medieval monk trying to decipher Korean text messages and you've got the basic idea.<br />
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<br />
'''The Klingon Empire'''<br />
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[[Image:Batleth.jpg|thumb|right|A Bat'Leth (sword of honor), one of several types of Klingon bladed weapons. Frequently mocked IRL for being a poorly designed weapon.]]<br />
[[Commissar|''"It is a good day to die!"'']]<br />
<br />
The Federation's main rival and (movie era and afterward) the quintessential ''Star Trek'' race of lumpy foreheaded aliens. Originally they were a rough analog to the Russians (though they took some elements from [[Communism|communist China]]) in a rough cold war allegory with the Federation (even though the Federation are as commie as they come, though admittedly much of that came around in the TNG era). Their defining feature was that they were militaristic and imperialistic while the Federation was scholarly and respected liberty. This gradually moved more and more into them becoming Imperial Japan/[[Vikings]] In SPESSS obsessed with honor, fighting and dying honorably in battle while worshiping at the altar of [[Sigmar|warrior Jesus]], even as they turned from the Federation's bitter enemies into that friend who's fun to be around when he's not getting into drunken bar fights. You see shades of it during the movie era and it became more and more prominent through ''TNG'', culminating in ''DS9''. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Klingons are nothing more than barbaric savages, however; with Worf being part of the crew, and with ''DS9'' dealing with Klingon politics an awful lot we can see Klingon society as it truly is. Even so, they do often wander into self-parody territory.<br />
<br />
The Klingons, in their current iteration, are a feudal society ruled by a council made up of the most powerful families. Klingon society holds very little value on things such as currency and material gain (which results in the Klingon empire [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65l7RHUx2A having a very simplistic understanding of economics]), believing that anything you acquire without some form of blood, sweat and/or tears on your part is a pathetic and dishonorable way of going about things, much the same way many cultures used to hurl abuse at merchants and bankers. Another thing to keep in mind is that a Klingon's reputation is literally everything. Central to this is fighting your battles personally and against worthy opponents. Calling out a superior is almost always an honorable fight, and Klingon captains can expect challenges if they become lax or suspect in their decisions. Klingons are still capable of being cunning and crafty, however, and having a high diplomacy score is viewed as honorable as they still have examples of cunning and clever heroes tricking boorish and stupid monsters.<br />
<br />
[[Warhammer 40000|Klingons often carry swords into battle in an age of energy beam guns]]. In-universe, this is less suicidal than it sounds in the context of boarding actions and tight starship corridors. The Bat'leth is actually a rather shitty weapon. The Mek'leth is noted to be better in most situations. They use the same Disruptor weapons as the Romulans, and at one point used similar starship designs. While is explained as the result of a temporary and unholy alliance, given the eventual animosity between the two races, it was just an excuse to reuse props on a limited budget.<br />
<br />
The Klingons are tied with the Vulcans and the Borg as being the most prominent and recognizable non-human species in Star Trek. Beloved of the Internet and the general public, to the point that there are published books like "A Klingon Christmas" in the world. The Klingons have their own constructed language. If you are ever worrying that you might not be a nerd, learning Klingon will solve that problem for you. Please note that this is in general considered by experts to be pathognomonic of autism. You have not experienced Shakespeare until you hear it in the original Klingon.<br />
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'''The Romulan Star Empire'''<br />
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''"It's always chess with the Romulans"''<br />
<br />
You know those [[Eldar|Vulcans]]? Well a few thousand years ago, as their planet was ravaged by war, some of them turned to intense emotional control and logic to tame their murderous passions, while most others left the planet altogether, founding a colony on the planet Romulus and dubbing themselves [[Dark Eldar|Romulans]]. Since said planet shares a name with a mythical figure known for founding [[Roman Empire|a city which built a vast empire]], and they had warp drive while those around them did not, you probably know that they turned to building an empire of their own. They hold the second place of prominence as immediate rivals to the Federation. Comically, they actually have better emotional control than the average Vulcan, since they gene-engineered most of their problems away years ago, and don't have to deal with the emotional blowback from pon'farr. The downside is that they lost some of their cousins' niftier powers, like mind-reading and being able to transfer their soul into another person for safekeeping. Although Star Trek Online also revealed that their trip to Romulus was a terrible ordeal, and their gene-engineering was taking during that time resulting in them losing most emotions save for bitterness of being "forced out".<br />
<br />
The difference between the Klingons and the Romulans is basically the difference between Gork and Mork, or Khorne and Tzeentch. Klingons will fight you up front with simple brute force. Romulans are sneakier guys, preferring to fight you when you're not looking with spies, cloaked ships and complex plots behind the scenes and playing the long game. There is a lot of political infighting among them, though where the Klingons would duel to the death Romulans would seek to discredit their rivals, have them die in unfortunate "accidents" or disappear. This difference has left both Romulans and Klingons with a big hate-boner for each other, to the Romulans the Klingons are crude brutish barbarians and to the Klingons the Romulans are a pack of scheming cowardly weaklings.<br />
<br />
Like the Klingons, they served as a rough Cold War allegory. In this case, they were rough analogs to Communist China (as seen by 1960s Americans), a distant horde of inscrutable and potentially dangerous Orientals who generally were unseen and projecting vague menace, but when encountered face-to-face could pack quite a punch indeed: the first major Interstellar War that Star Trek Earth fought was with the Romulans, which was fought entirely in space with neither side ever seeing the other face to face. Afterward, they set up a 'Neutral Zone' between the Federation and the Romulan Empire that no one even tried to cross for a century. From the Original Series onward, they frequently squabble and bicker with the Federation, before joining forces with them to fight the Dominion in ''Deep Space Nine'' and having their government devastated in ''Nemesis''. <br />
<br />
In one of the two alternate universes created by J.J.<strike>Binks</strike>Abrams movies, the so-called "Prime Universe", Romulus itself got caught in a supernova as part of the Abramsverse's backstory. ''Picard'' has revealed that Starfleet was going to help evacuate Romulus before the nova hit, but then some rogue androids destroyed the shipyards that the rescue fleet was being built at, so the Federation shrugged, flipped the Romulans the bird, and let them get blown up. The Romulan Star Empire collapsed in the aftermath, with the surviving Romulans are now scattered across half the galaxy. Most of the former Romulan colonies are now officially governed by the Romulan Free State, but their ability to exert their authority is implied to be limited at best and non-existent at worst. The Neutral Zone, in particular, collapsed into near lawlessness. One of their secret police/ anti android cults got a hold of Borg cube and were presumably up to some nefarious shit with it until the events of Star Trek Picard.<br />
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'''The Ferengi Alliance'''<br />
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[[Image:GW_Ferengi.jpg|thumb|left|A typical ferengi engaged in typical ferengi activities]]<br />
{{topquote|A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.|Eighteenth Rule of Acquisition}}<br />
<br />
Introduced in ''TNG's'' early days as the villains for the series, and what [[/pol/]] thinks Jews are. Some Jewish people have actually complained about their being subliminally Jewish and thus anti-Semetic, specifically mentioning that they were money-hungry, lascivious, and ugly, and their large ear lobes were stand-ins for the sterotypical Jewish nose, based on an old medieval stereotype that was enforced to prevent them owning land or assets and ended up sticking around long after the fact (i.e. ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/08/14/science-fictions-anti-semitism-problem/?noredirect=on we're not shitting you] but also they have a valid gripe). Claims of stereotyping aside, they're basically just a ripoff of the ''Shingouz'' from [[Valerian and Laureline|''Valérian and Laureline'']]. <br />
<br />
The idea was to make a caricature of capitalism as a contrast with the techno-communist Federation. This might have worked if these were not [[FAIL|''TNG's'' early days]]. Instead, they overshot the mark by a light year or so, on top of other bad decisions, and you got a race of short, big-eared, [[goblin]]-like losers about as threatening as a grumpy pug. (Gene wanted to make an evil short race as big evil races were overplayed.) Over the first and second seasons they tried to make these guys threatening, but they fell flat on their face every time; eventually the writers just said "fuck it" and the Ferengi got demoted to comic relief species, and their status as terrible enemies was demoted to propaganda designed to scare the Federation while the Ferengi government tried to figure out what to make of a species that rejected the acquisition of wealth as a goal. The Ferengi had some good moments in the later seasons of ''TNG'', but most of the best stuff that fleshed them out came from ''DS9'', which had an [[awesome]] Ferengi bartender named Quark as a major character. For an idea of what the Ferengi might have been like if the writers had their shit together, look up the Druuge of [[Star Control|Star Control II]] or the Magog Cartel from Oddworld. <br />
<br />
Ferengi religion is only hinted upon in ''DS9'', but what is seen implies a simplistic system based on financial success. Ferengi all follow a rulebook/canon known as the Rules of Acquisition, which can be described as Ayn Rand IN SPACE and condensed into the form of Confucius' Analects. There are 285 of these, each a short piece of advice on how to stay in the black. Examples include "Peace is good for business," "War is good for business," "Never have sex with the boss's sister," and "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." The first (and most important) of these is "Once you have their money, you never give it back." Sometimes, the Ferengi Randian spirituality extends into outright interpretations of the afterlife: according to some, the afterlife consists of the Divine Treasury and the Vault of Eternal Destitution, which are respectively analogous to Heaven and Hell. Entrance into one or the other depends on one's business ventures at the time of death; those that were turning a profit are allowed to enter the Divine Treasury, and the rest are damned to the Vault.<br />
<br />
Ferengi government is ruled over by a Grand Nagus, a mix between a <s>pope</s> chief rabbi and a CEO, and he basically treats his civilization like some sort of company, with citizens regarded as workers. Directly below him is the Ferengi Commerce Authority, a [[what|quasi-religious]] organization dedicated to ensuring that correct business practices were followed and correct moral behavior was shown (including keeping the proles in line) - of course, to the Ferengi, these are one and the same. The agents of the FCA are the Liquidators, who are essentially Inquisitors crossed with IRS auditors on steroids. Be afraid. Be very afraid. <br />
<br />
Ferengi females have no rights and are mentioned as [[PROMOTIONS|not even being allowed to wear clothes]], which leads to [[That Guy|boorish behavior]] on the part of Ferengi towards just about any species. Of course, we see female Ferengi on the show who push that envelope, but it seems that overall "regressive" does not even begin to describe the gender relationships in their culture. Quark's mother, a social climber who marries the head of their government, begins pushing through a women's rights movement during DS9, which proves more successful as time goes on.<br />
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'''The Borg Collective'''<br />
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[[Image:Borg cube.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Borg have assimilated and improved your [[d6|die]]. It always rolls six. Crap your pants, 'cause resistance is futile.]]<br />
{{Topquote|We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture shall adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.|The Borg's opening hail. This is not a boast or a brag, it's them simply explaining to you how things are going to go down.}}<br />
{{Topquote|One other thing. You may encounter Enterprise crew members who've already been assimilated. Don't hesitate to fire. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favour.|Picard going full [[grimdark]].}}<br />
<br />
The Ferengi were utter failures as serious villains, so they needed something to fill that gap. Thus they made the Borg, an aggressive [[Tyranid|hive-minded]] collective of hyper-adaptive, [[Necron|regenerating]] cyborgs that assimilates entire species into itself in its attempt to improve and evolve. Shit, that's like coming up with [[Warforged]] while trying to replace [[Kender]].<br />
<br />
In many ways, the Borg are the truest dark reflection of the Federation, and despite their name, they're not Swedish. While the Feds want you to join their little club on your own, to "add your culture to the galactic community," the Prime Directive means they will ultimately accept you turning them down, even if you have shit they really want. The Borg say "fuck that" and just absorb you. While the Federation believes everyone should work together [[Tau|for the greater good]], they still have a very strong sense of individualism and a culture of personal accomplishment (unless your individual belief happens to run counter to the Federation's principles anyway, in which case you're just WRONG because the Federation is the best). The Borg pool all their minds together into a massive collective consciousness in the pursuit of group perfection, becoming an almost-literal personification of techno-capital. The Federation is all about beauty and tranquility and all that hippie stuff, and their tech is eco-friendly and dolphin-safe. Borg [[Tyranids|strip mine entire planets and drain entire oceans]] in the name of growth and efficiency.<br />
<br />
Your standard Borg [[Cubes|cube]] is a huge multi-kilometer [[Firaeveus Carron|metal box]] (yes, bigger than most [[Imperial Navy]] cruisers) able to go up against an entire Federation warfleet and win. That's right, one of their ships could threaten the entire Federation and [[Exterminatus]] Earth. When done right, [[Necron|they are a cold, calculating, nigh-unstoppable force, a threat to all life]] that wants to retain free and distinct personalities (although they will ignore a single person if not on an assimilation mission, as what they really want is to absorb whole civilizations). Apparently, in Picard's nightmare in ''First Contact'', the Borg assimilation process includes a surgical [[Grimdark|drill through the eye. While awake.]] Of all the stuff to come out of the TNG Era they are undoubtedly the most well recognized in mass pop culture.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately they got a bad downgrade during ''Voyager'' (the Borg Queen blew up cubes full of tens of thousands of drones because a few of them have been severed from the Hive Mind), but even there they were frequently not to be messed with. One amusing thing to note for people that haven't watched ''TNG'': the Borg were actually only in six episodes (and three were breakaway drones) and one movie, yet they're arguably the franchise's most famous pure villains aside from Khan. Goes to show how good they were when written properly. Then in ''Voyager'' they get their shit completely pushed in when they discover a new race of extradimensional aliens which they label Species 8472, which were immune to being assimilated, and had to ask the Federation for help in dealing with them. [[Necron#Regarding_Fluff_Change_-_Sore_Butts_Everywhere.|Wait, this sounds familiar...]]<br />
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'''The Cardassian Union'''<br />
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{{Topquote|Out of all the stories you told me, which one were true and which ones weren't."<br><br />
"My dear doctor, they're all true."<br><br />
"Even the Lies?" <br><br />
"Especially the lies.|Julian Bashir and Elim Garak}}<br />
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Introduced in ''TNG'', they are third fiddle to the Klingons and the Romulans. If the Klingons are hypothetically-honorable techno-barbarian warriors and the Romulans are an empire of civilized and refined but sly and ruthless expansionists, the Cardassians are essentially scaly fascists re-enacting ''[[1984]]'' IN SPACE. Their trials announce the outcome at the beginning, and the defense attorney is executed if he wins. Also, THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!<br />
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Originally a race of peaceable, spiritual artists called the Hebitians (ironically not dissimilar to the Bajorans), modern Cardassia was born in hunger and desperation when their homeworld began to suffer simultaneous mass famine, pandemic, resource depletion, and ecological collapse. A military junta seized power, figuratively and literally auctioned off the soul of their culture through liquidating all the planet's art and religious artifacts into cold hard cash, and turned the Cardassians into the opportunistic imperialists they are today.<br />
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Despite being a whole lot weaker than the Federation, the Cardassians manage to hold their own, partly because what they lack in resources and raw power is made up for by a combination of intense cunning and high charisma stats. Compared to the equally deceptive Romulans, the Cardies are more likely to flash you a smile while tickling your ribs with a knife. They'll use any tool they can to gain the upper hand and while that often means unpleasant and terminal sessions in dark rooms, strip mined planets and the enslavement of entire species, they'll gladly become your bestest buddy if it would achieve their goals. Their intelligence service, the Obsidian Order, is also one of the most ruthlessly efficient organizations in the entire sector, managing to outscale the Romulan Tal Shiar when it comes to producing magnificent bastards and manipulating the politics of entire worlds to their advantage. Unlike the Romulans or the Klingons, they don't tolerate the sort of literal infighting that is rampant in both those states, that shit only serves to weaken '''GLORIOUS CARDASSIA''' and needs to be stamped out with ruthless efficiency. Exposing that someone who just happens to be your enemy as being a dangerous subversive is just a benefit, although this can result in both sides of a conflict shouting "For Cardassia!" as they charge each other. Sort of how Democrats and Republicans are both for America, yet oppose each other.<br />
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Cardassia has a very fluid hierarchical government, similar to the political realities of post-Stalin but pre-Collaspe Soviet Russia. Broadly speaking, there are three different facets of the government: the Central Command (which holds all the power) the Obsidian Order (who holds the least amount of power, but controls the most puppets) and the Detapa Council (similar to the [[High Lords of Terra]] and just as worthless). Cardassian society holds a very strict view of family, placing family just below the needs of the State in a vague approximation of Confucianism.<br />
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The State holds a semi-divine mythical status in the eyes of its citizens, with it being viewed as impossible for the State to ever make mistakes. The ideal Cardassian life was one of complete loyalty and servitude to the State and family, with the "repetitive epic," detailing how generations of Cardassians go on to serve both in exactly the same way over and over seen as the height of their culture. The Cardassian government is assumed to be omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent by pretty much every Cardassian, with all Cadassians gladly giving of themselves to the State. Such was this level of belief that when Picard was tortured by the Obsidian order, the torturer saw nothing wrong with bringing his daughter to work because he was working for the State, and therefore the torture of Picard could never be disturbing or wrong. That's why their trials announce their sentences at the beginning and execute the defense attorney if he wins; their "trials" are more excuses to show off the power and infallibility of the State to the masses than actually determine guilt or innocence.<br />
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In terms of the Alpha Quadrant's political landscape, they are basically space fascist Italy: indisputably still a great power but nonetheless basically the weakest of the great powers, resentful of it, and unwilling to accept it. They first bully weaker powers in an attempt to carve out an empire, turn from a military junta to a despotist state after a coup, eventually join a bigger, meaner power in a great war against the rest of the Quadrant in an attempt to gain power and respect, see it blow up in their faces and force them to rise again in revolt to save themselves. Beta canon continues the analogy with the establishment of a democratic but unstable postwar government in the vein of the Years of Lead.<br />
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As far as plot significant activities went, they had a war with the Federation a few years before ''TNG'' which ended in the creation of a Demilitarized Zone between the two powers and (significant to ''Deep Space Nine'') abandoning the previously occupied planet of Bajor they had exploited for resources and along with it the space station Terok Nor, which the Federation took over and renamed Deep Space Nine. After a disastrous war with the Klingon Empire and a faction of ex-Starfleet settlers who refused to be relocated after a treaty called the Maquis led to a popular revolution and overthrow of the existing government, one leader seized power, declared himself absolute ruler, and joined the Dominion towards the end of ''DS9'', which was some serious bad news for the ''DS9'' crew, and, ultimately his own people.<br />
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'''The Bajoran Republic'''<br />
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The Bajorans are a species native to the Planet Bajor. They were, until shortly before the events of ''Deep Space Nine'', under a brutal occupation by the Cardassians who strip mined their planet. They had a fighting resistance which veered in and out of being considered terrorists and all in all were often represented as Palestinians IN SPEHSS. After that, they got their independence, although they're thinking about joining the Federation. The Bajorans have one system and are technologically backwards; the Federation is technically breaking the Prime Directive by interacting with them, but as they've spent years under the oppression of a warp-capable species, they can probably handle it. Also ''DS9'' proves that ancient Bajorans managed to travel at warp speeds to Cardassia using solar sails and an enormous amount of luck, which technically makes them a warp-capable species. The only reason why they are significant in terms of the politics of ''Star Trek'' is that they have a wormhole near their planet, which has some timey-wimey aliens living it that they worship as gods, and serves as the only way to get to or from the Gamma Quadrant that won't take decades, making it strategically priceless. Hilariously, this was discovered almost immediately after the Cardassians ''thought'' they'd extracted everything of value from the Bajorans and peace'd out, certain that the system was no longer worth the PR hit they were taking from it, only to get burned by some harsh seller's remorse. Also, their species has the oldest civilization (roughly a half-million years) of any major ''Star Trek'' race, and the wormhole aliens have gifted them some cool shit, like the Orb of Time.<br />
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The other big thing that makes the Bajorans unique is that they actually have a serious religion going on in a way that isn't an extension of their racial "hat" -the human race is depicted as mostly non-religious. They're also probably one of the most accurate depictions of any highly religious alien race in a sci-fi franchise, because they are divided between the majority who interpret their religion as [[Noblebright|peace and love]], and a small but loud minority of bastards who interpret it as [[Grimdark|condoning acts of terrorism]]. They generally represent all manner of oppressed and colonized peoples throughout Earth's history, with the Cardassian occupation standing in for the Holocaust, Imperial Japanese atrocities in Asia, and European mischief in Africa during the Age of Imperialism.<br />
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'''The Dominion'''<br />
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A vast empire which exists on the other side of the galaxy in the Gamma Quadrant. The Dominion is ruled over by a species of liquid shapeshifters called The Founders.(aka Changlings, Odo's people) They have at their disposal a military composed of two genetically engineered species that worship the Founders as gods: the short and articulate Vorta who serve as ambassadors, bureaucrats, and political commisars and the big brutal Jem'hadar, who are vat grown, drug addicted, cannon fodder. These oversee a large number of vassal races, including (as of later seasons of ''DS9'') the Cardassians.<br />
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The Founders were once (according to them anyway) a peaceful, kind civilization of explorers who wished to see the galaxy, explore strange new worlds, and seek out new forms of life. Unfortunately, they did this in the wrong neighborhood, and quickly ran into species who did not tolerate others. The fact that the Founders were shapeshifters capable of mimicking almost anyone did not help either. Paranoia, mutual mistrust, and some very bad things eventually led to the Founders deciding "fuck this" and moving their planet into a nebula so nobody would bother them. So more or less, a [[Grimdark|grimmer]], [[Grimdark|darker]], counterpart to the Federation, but with spookier Real Aliens.<br />
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The Founders are obsessed with order and are both extremely racist and xenophobic, and believe that all alien life is inherently untrustworthy and evil, and the best thing to do is conquer/enslave them before they do the same to them. They don't care about the rights of "Solids", and will happily ignore any sense of decency when convenient. This can be seen when The Dominion runs a simulation of the Dominion dominating the Alpha Quadrant. When O'Brien is assaulted by a Jem'Hadar and severely beaten to the point of needing emergency teleportation to medical (the crime being "disrespectful"), the Founders (disguised as Federation Officers) do not press charges, and when Sisko comes barging in demanding answers, dismiss him with little concern about their own soldiers brutalizing citizens. Their overall ideology could be thought of as Qin legalism IN SPACE: people are inherently evil and the only way to make a better world is to impose order upon them through brute force from a position of absolute, unquestioned power.<br />
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The Founders, when not wandering around in various forms, tend to spend their time in a massive ocean literally made up of countless billions of Founders, something which is referred to as the Great Link. According to the Founders, this allows them to share information with each other and come to peaceful decisions. This is rapidly proved to be bullshit; when a separated-at-birth one of their own merged into the Great Link to share his memories of the Federation as peaceful and tolerant space hippies, not only did the Founders ignore his memories, but actively fucked with his mind in an attempt to turn him into a sleeper agent. And even if it weren't, it shows their hypocrisy through their willingness to share freedom and liberty among themselves while depriving all their various slaves and conquered peoples of the same.<br />
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The Founders are massive dicks, even to their own people. Failure among Jem'Hadar is rewarded with slow and painful death from deprivation of the drug they're created to need and their lifespans are incredibly short. To be even bigger dicks, the Vorta have no sense of taste and can't appreciate beauty. Not to make them better diplomats, but because they were raised from a primitive stone-age ape tribe, and the Founders think they shouldn't be ever allowed to forget that. (On the plus side, they did give the Vorta an immunity to poison that would make [[Mortarion]] himself jealous. [https://youtu.be/rACCZaBcq1g?t=1m29s Observe.]) This may also stem from their own neuroses: the Founders themselves have almost no bodily needs at all and require no nourishment, so they design their slaves to be like them. Notably, Vorta tend to come in [[Paranoia|packs of clones; a new one is activated when an old one dies, and they retain some memories and personality between "lives,"]] further hammering home how expendable they are to their makers.<br />
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And both races are literally engineered to love their makers for what they have done to them and worship and revere them as gods.<br />
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They ultimately get what's coming to them in the latter half of ''Deep Space Nine'', through an invasion of the Alpha Quadrant that starts out in their favor and rapidly goes against them. <br />
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'''Species 8472 / Undine'''<br />
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The one and only race in the galaxy even the Borg don't want to fuck with. Introduced in Voyager, Species 8472 are three-legged creatures that live in a space called Fluid Space. It's similar to the [[Eye of Terror]] for the fact that it connects to an alternate dimension and [[Khorne|everyone will be ripped apart upon entering.]]<br />
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When the Borg first came around to try and assimilate them they were completely obliterated in a war in which 4 million Borg were killed in the first few days at the cost of almost no members of Species 8472. This war was such a roflstomp that the Borg were forced to call on the Federation for help. [[Tau|The Federation being the better people swallowed their pride and decided to help their sworn enemies,]] [[Eldrad|but were dicks and sent only one ship.]]<br />
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Species 8472 fought with fast moving, small ships and devastating beam weapons so the small ship of the Federation could keep up with them and helped the Borg force the species back into Fluid Space. The Federation were the villains on this one. That said, they eventually came to an accord with Species 8472, preventing further wars between the denizens of Fluid Space, except in lots and lots of video games that want to use a fresh antagonist.<br />
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That and that in ''Star Trek Online'', [[Awesome|they look like the fucking Predator.]]<br />
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'''The Q'''<br />
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The Q are a race of beings who have elevated themselves to the point where they are basically gods. Most of them do not interact directly with the younger races, who they tend to consider with disdain- if they consider them at all. However a few of them take a more enlightened view, and one in particular has been known to fuck with individual humans from time time. They are mostly a TNG thing, and even there they work mostly by grace of John de Lancie's acting chops as a counterpoint to the charisma of Patrick Stewart, as de Lancie played the ''character'' Q. "Tapestry" even has the two waking up in bed together as a troll from Q. Due entirely to de Lancie's performance, they managed not only to have it not be cringy, but rather funny.<br />
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Q is an all-powerful epic troll. TNG's Q's occasionally [[Tzeentch]]ian games sometimes appeared to be for his own amusement and sometimes acted as education or event protection to the human race. Various subplots involving the Q ''species'' range from somewhat thought provoking to mildly entertaining to ridiculous and banal, but the classic episodes that highlighted the charisma and chemistry of the two actors were often quite excellent. De Lancie also appeared as Q in DS9 and Voyager a couple of times, but the chemistry just isn't there without Stewart. The writers knew it too, composing a scene where Avery Brooks punches this bastard in the face telling him "I'm not Picard!" (with the added fanservice of watching Q get punched, high on the wishlist of anyone that had the misfortune to meet him).<br />
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=== The Mirror Universe ===<br />
This isn't a faction; it's an alternate setting. Its own factions do bleed into the mainline starting in DS9. So it merits its own section.<br />
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The Mirror is a parallel universe in which [[Alternate History|things have gone differently]] in Earth's History. The main point of divergence appears to occur when the Vulcan scientists who landed at Bozeman, Montana in 2063 are not welcomed with alcohol and music but instead are killed and have their ship looted. It is equally clear that where the main universe is Noblebright the Mirror Universe is Grimdark. Instead of a peace loving Federation searching for knowledge and friendly cooperation for the betterment of all, Earth gave rise to the ''Terran Empire'' which seeks out new life and civilizations to conquer and enslave, as it had done with the Klingons. Pretty much it's the PG-13 version of the Imperium of Man with a bit more Grimderp. Junior officers get promoted by killing their superiors, those that fail at that get thrown in the agony booth for their troubles and Emperor gets the job by usurping the previous incumbent. As a rule, characters in the mainline become, in the Mirror Universe, a selfish asshole version of themselves (or have to go along to get along: O'Brien, Spock). Following comic book logic the uniforms for the female characters are more revealing, and facial hair is vogue. Occasionally people can cross over from one universe to the next due to technobabble and cause mischief in either realm.<br />
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Originally it was a one off TOS setting for an episode of the week, but it was brought back in a few novels and some romps in Deep Space Nine in which [[Fail|the Terran Empire had fallen]]. In Enterprise's fourth season it got a two parter that was pretty good and would have been an annual thing if the show had been renewed, this one having little crossover with the main universe (a ship from TOS ended up in the Mirror Universe and is salvaged after all it's crew have died). We also went there in Discovery, for better or worse. Voyager never did the mirror universe, but instead got a homage episode with some alien historians in the far future getting the details wrong like historians tend to.<br />
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=== The Star Trek Crew ===<br />
Whether the focus of the show is exploration, manning a space station in an important locale or trying to get home, all Star Trek series have a basic set up of casting and focus: namely on a collection of people who are usually the senior-most officers on the ship. If you decide to make a Star Trek inspired game take this into consideration.<br />
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* '''The Captain''': Big cheese. Makes the hard decisions. Needs to be able to talk, think or fight out of situations as needed. The third option fetishist finding the balance between empathy and reason. (Two least skubby examples: Kirk and Picard, but the skub will fly hard if you say one is better than the other, sufficed to say that people like both of them alot but for different reasons)<br />
* '''The First Officer''': Second in command and trusted advisor. Added after the original series, where the role was combined with and split between two others. (Two least skubby examples: Riker and Kira)<br />
* '''The Science Officer''': Got high Int stats. Can analyze the situation and work out solutions. The voice of reason. Almost never human. (Two least skubby examples: Data and Spock)<br />
* '''The Engineer''': Hard working technically minded guy who gets shit done. (Two least skubby examples: Scotty and Geordi)<br />
* '''The Doctor''': Ship's healer with a secondary scientific role. The voice of empathy, whether prickly or serene. (Two least skubby examples: Bones and the EMH Doctor)<br />
* '''The Security Officer''': Rough and tumble no-nonsense sort whose job it is to keep these guys alive when diplomacy fails, which it often does. Often has to juggle providing ship's security with working the tactical station on the bridge in a crisis. (Two least skubby examples: Worf and Odo)<br />
* '''The Helmsman''': Got mad spacecraft piloting skills, either full-sized starships, shuttles, or fighters. Younger and more brash. (Two least skubby examples: Sulu and Tom Paris)<br />
* '''The Other Guy''': A crewmember whose role doesn't cleanly map onto other positions, a role often restricted to a single show. Example positions include communications officer, ship's councilor, transporter chief, and linguist. (Two Least skubby examples: Uhura and Troi)<br />
* '''The Outsider''': Someone who is a passenger and regular cast member, but exists outside the organization, looking in and commenting. Usually works a side-job, like tailor, bartender, or cook. Either a beloved fan-favorite or utterly despised, there is no middle ground. (Two Least skubby examples: Guinan and Quark)<br />
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Some of these hats may be worn by more than one character, some may be worn by no one at all. This is especially true in the original series, which had a smaller cast overall, and which put less emphasis on an ensemble and more on the main trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The usual roles and character dynamics were instead set down by ''The Next Generation'', which later series generally copied.<br />
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= The Shows =<br />
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==''The Original Series''==<br />
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[[File:OG enterprise.jpg|thumb|400px|Right|Do do do...]]<br />
Created in 1966 by legendary sci-fi [[spiritual liege]] and money-grubbing, sexist, pseudo-communist lounge lizard Gene Roddenberry and pitched as a "Wagon Train to the stars", it's a pulpy adventure sci-fi, full of fistfights, sword fights, and hammy speeches. (The guns never work.)<br />
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The USS ''Enterprise'' is tasked by the Federation to go on a five year mission to explore space: the final frontier, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before, though due to budget constraints, her crew often finds that man has in fact gone there before. Or at least something that looks exactly like a man but is actually an [[Xenos|alien]]; most episodes split the difference. James T. Kirk sleeps with [[Hot Chicks|hot alien babes]] who either die tragically or leave tearfully at the end of the episode, but it's 'k because he's too in love with the Enterprise to ever love a mere ''woman'' more. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are cold and logical and rash and emotional respectively, and their constant friction must be resulting in the best make-up sex in the world, Mr. Sulu and Lieutenant Uhura wait in vain for focus episodes that never come, Ensign Chekhov suffers horribly to the approval of American Cold War audiences, and Scotty [[gets shit done]]. Uniforms, while iconic, tend to look a bit civilian though. Miniskirts are apparently mandated attire for the ship's fan-servicey female "yeomen" and others, because 1966. The civilian nature of the attire (including, one must assume, the miniskirts, but they had a visual appeal all their own) were apparently an intentional design decision by Roddenberry who didn't want uniforms to look military. Further specialness on the part of Roddenberry demanded phasers not look like guns ([[FAIL|not even have trigger-guards even though those exist for safety reasons]]), instead looking like nothing in particular at all (although looking back at them today they look sort of like TV remotes, which would be invented much later), and also (probably the only sensible decision in this category) ships that didn't look like rockets, giving ships their distinctive and iconic saucer-engineering-nacelles look that still stands out today.<br />
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The Original Series frequently ran out of budget and entire episodes were filmed using spare costumes belonging to the production company, resulting in a series of extremely goofy excuses to go to planets full of gangsters or [[Nazi]]s. This is often copied by shows who don't realize it was done out of pure expediency, and nowadays this [[TVTropes|"Planet of Hats"]] gimmick is practically a box to check off when doing sci-fi adventure. The lack of budget also resulted in one of the more memorable inventions; unable to budget for a sequence showing the ''Enterprise'' or a shuttle landing on a new planet every week, the writers instead decided to invent the transporter to "beam" the crew down to planets or between starships. Also worth noting: despite its mediocre critical reception, ratings and eventual cancellation, not to forget the uneven quality of many episodes, especially in the Roddenberry-less third season where poor Fred Freiberger had to come onto a show he didn't understand and try to get better ratings with less money, ''TOS'' had a hell of a cultural impact thanks to syndication and it has been said that since it entered syndication in 1969, there hasn't been a 24-hour period without some TV station, in some country, playing Star Trek. Cancellation of The Original Series is now considered one of the worst decisions in TV history, and while much of its silly 60's campiness is now laughable, it often still manages to teach relevant and important lessons today.<br />
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Fun fact: the ''Enterprise'' and each of her 11 sister ships have enough firepower to [[Exterminatus]] a planet by themselves, after getting issued an order called General Order 24. This however is likely a time-consuming task. According to a later DS9 episode, it takes a fleet of 20 warships 1 hour of sustained bombardment to destroy a planets crust and 5 hours of sustained bombardment to destroy a planet down to its mantle. These 20 ships were also in service 100 years after the Enterprise so they were also more powerful. <br />
Kirk has the distinction of being the only known captain to issue a [[Exterminatus|General Order 24]], because a planet was ''too'' much into wargames (he changed his mind after they dropped wargaming).<br />
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* '''Outstanding Episodes''': Balance of Terror (submarine battle in space, debut of the Romulans), The Devil in the Dark (sometimes hostile aliens have a good reason for being hostile) Space Seed (Khan's first appearance), The City on the Edge of Forever (beautiful tragedy), Amok Time (Spock's in heat and he and Kirk have to fight to the death), "The Doomsday Machine" (''Enterprise'' vs. an unstoppable planet killer and the captain whose ship it destroyed)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "And the Children Shall Lead" (annoying kids, magic, and most of TOS's weakness dialed up to 11), The Way to Eden (dumbass hippy episode), Spock's Brain (idiot aliens steal Spock's thinker and McCoy has to remote control him for the rest of the episode).<br />
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==''The Animated Series''==<br />
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The often forgotten middle child. More or less "seasons 4-5" of ''TOS'' with the same writing staff and actors, sans poor Walter Koenig. He was replaced by a weird camel person. He learned this at a convention, from a fan, while he was trying to announce he'd be writing an episode, which Gene promptly demanded he rewrite over and over. Classy. <br />
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Being animated allowed the staff to get a lot more creative with the alien designs and plots, and the writing and acting remain... well, top notch is a stretch, but certainly at the same levels as ''The Original Series'', with the occasional low point. Not ''nearly'' as bad as you're probably picturing from the name, although still limited by the low budget and primitive, cheap animation techniques of the television era it was aired in. Notably some sci-fi novelists were brought in to write some episodes, such as Larry Niven, and at least one episode, "Yesteryear," is considered such a pivotal moment in Spock's development that even people who hate the series enough to consider it all non-canon often make an exception just for that one.<br />
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Also, since the series now has no excuse for throwing in lots of Space Puritans and Space Wizards, it of course continued to do so to derptastic results, because by this point it had become traditional. The presence of a straight-up [[furry]] on the bridge, however, is downright unacceptable.<br />
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==''The Next Generation''==<br />
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[[File:Enterpris D.jpg|thumb|400px|left|USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D: battleship, scientific research center and luxury hotel rolled into one]]<br />
Here's where it starts getting a little deeper and a little darker, although with a lot of left-wing political subtext turned up to 11. The USS ''Enterprise-D'' (the original and C were destroyed in action while A and B were retired) is, like its predecessor, tasked with going where no-one has gone before, but this time around the problems are less likely to be solved in a single episode. Jean-Luc Picard is the captain and he plots and negotiates his way to victory; Mr. Data is cold and unemotional, though not by choice - as an android, he'd very much like to change that; Riker takes over the captain's "sleep with alien babes" duties since Picard is married to the job; Worf the Klingon gets beaten up by monsters to show how tough the monsters are, meaning that Worf winds up looking incredibly weak by the end of the show's run and doesn't regain his badassery until his run on ''DS9''; Dr. Beverly Crusher is good old Bones minus his temper; Dr. Pulaski is Bones ''plus'' temper; Counselor Troi is so badly written she becomes a running joke; and Geordi LaForge [[gets shit done]]. Only two things need to be said about helmsman Wesley Crusher: he was [[Mary Sue|Gene Wesley Roddenberry's shitty self-insert fanfic character]], and his sueness got to the point that even his actor started to hate him within the first season of the show.<br />
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Due to the massive success of The Original Series in syndication (and Paramount being [[Rage|pissed off]] by broadcast networks treating their most valuable IP like any other show), TNG was aired through syndication from the beginning. Although the first two seasons were laughably bad, the quality began to improve dramatically after an increasingly cocaine-addled Gene Roddenberry got too sick to keep ruining it and his partner-in-crime Maurice Hurley was thrown out on his ass, a moment often pinpointed via looking for when [[Meme|Riker grew a beard.]] The later seasons are widely considered to represent the apex of the franchise's episodic formula on the small screen (although ''DS9'' gave it a run for its money with a more serialized approach); sadly, this series only got one good movie.<br />
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The Next Generation started and ended on one of its skubbier elements, that being Q, an omnipotent trans dimensional alien that starts testing Picard in the first episode and is finally persuaded to go away in the last. The entire multi-season run of the show is set up with the subtext that the Q are judging whether humanity is worthy of its implied lofty destiny. What should have been a stifling deus ex machina was carried entirely by the performance of Q's actor; the dialogs between Picard and Q were some of the show's most entertaining, even as the Q episodes tended to be the obligatory season silly story.<br />
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*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "The Measure of a Man" (is Data property or not?), "Q Who?" (introduction of the Borg, Q at his dickish best), "The Best of Both Worlds" (epic Borg 2-parter with plenty of action and drama), "Family" (companion piece to Best of Both Worlds, Picard has to deal with the trauma of being assimilated), "Darmok" (Picard learns to communicate with an alien captain on far-away planet, all of TNG's strengths), "The Inner Light" (I am not crying, you are crying), "Sarek" (excellent Picard and Sarek character piece)<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Code of Honor" (racist and stupid), "Angel One" (sexist and stupid), "Shades of Grey" (half-assed money-saving clip show), "Up The Long Ladder" (annoying Oirish stereotypes wind up on the ''Enterprise'', shenanigans ensue), basically any episode from the first five seasons that focuses on Troi, her mom Lwaxana, or both (not Majel or Marina's fault, they were handed shit writing and had to make do)<br />
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==''Deep Space Nine''==<br />
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[[File:Deep Space 9.jpg|thumb|500px|right|''"A Star Trek show where they stay put? It'll never work."'' Boy did they get that wrong.]]<br />
Unlike all the other series so far, ''Deep Space Nine'' primarily takes place in a fixed location - the titular space station Deep Space Nine, out near the borders of Federation Space. Said space station is near Bajor, which was recently freed from Cardassian occupation, and a wormhole to the other side of the galaxy which allows [[Warp|all sorts of of crazy shit to go down]]. If the other shows are a wagon train, this one's the border fort.<br />
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Benjamin Sisko is the captain, declared Emissary by the nearby Bajorans for making contact with the wormhole aliens they worship, and he successfully hybridizes the blow-the-shit-out-of-whatever-you-can't-punch Kirk approach with the talk-in-a-very-dignified-way-about-the-philosophy-of-the-thing-and-win-by-rhetoric Picard maneuver, in his ultimately-successful quest to become the baddest motherfucker in space, then literally becomes a space god. Kira the Bajoran ex-<s>terrorist</s> <S>''noble freedom fighter''</s> (who are we kidding she calls herself a terrorist) struggles to free and rebuild her people while coming to terms with the moral ambiguities of situations she prefers to see in black-and-white, Dr. Bashir works to find his character for several seasons before becoming a highlight, Dax gets often written poorly and has to switch bodies doing it, Odo IS ''Liquid Space Cop'', Quark runs his bar and [[troll|heckles]] the Federation from the sidelines, Garak pretends to be a tailor while definitely not being a super-spy, hitting on Bashir, and dropping killer lines, and Miles O'Brien [[gets shit done]] and gets physically, mentally, and/or emotionally tortured in at least one episode a season (referred to by the writers as the "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes). Also Worf wanders in halfway through, and actually gets to punch things instead of just getting punched by them, up to and including offing the Klingon chancellor in an honor duel. It's also a lot more political than other series (though ''TNG'' and ''Voyager'' have their moments) and the last series to have Gene Roddenberry's involvement (with less enthusiasm, in fact often much to the benefit of this particular series thematically, although Roddenberry's complete departure did not necessarily bode well for the franchise in general.)<br />
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It's the closest the pre-Kelvin series ever get to [[grimdark]]. Especially when the Dominion show up. With minimal grimderp that plague the later seasons and Kelvin era movies. The show has aged remarkably well and the terrorist/freedom fighter debate was repeatedly explored in a very mature and honest way; the darkest episodes ventured into duping the Romulans into a war by assassinating a senator, and forcing a Klingon regime change [[rip and tear|''the Klingon way'']]. ''DS9'' is the most serialized of all Trek shows and could be considered a forerunner to the golden age of television with its long story arcs and deep character development. It's also notable for singlehandedly salvaging the Ferengi after the mess Gene made of them in the early seasons of TNG and bringing back the mirror universe after nearly thirty years with an ongoing plot showing the consequences of Kirk's meddling. Overall, ''DS9'' has to be considered the most consistently good Trek show thanks to the excellent writing and fantastic performances from a truly wonderful ensemble cast. At least until the final season . . .<br />
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Which brings us to DS9 Skub. The show was airing around the same time as another thematically similar sci-fi show, ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Not only that but characters also shared similarities, as did the episodes especially as both shows became war stories later on. Interestingly, beginning of both series, introduction of characters and airing of similar episodes were often too close to each other for one show to copy the other but this did not stop massive [[Rage]] and [[/v/|fanboy wars]] from starting between fans of the two series accusing one another of plagiarism and having an inferior product. Happily, as time went on and both shows evolved, these hurt feelings have mostly faded.<br />
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There's also that last season. The earlier (good) writers had got pulled to try to make movies, which movies they'd failed at. The new writers also had to bring in a new Dax due to Berman constantly being a sexist asshole to actress Terry Farrell. This new Dax, Ezri, was very different from Jadzia, and she only got that one season to make her mark, which season she had to share with the Great Epic Conclusion (it's a miracle Ezri was as well received as she was, and a testament to Nicole de Boer's talent). Those finale episodes were mostly okay and tied up the story semi-satisfyingly, though a few die-hard subplots fell flat. The season, therefore, was shaky; not necessarily a harbinger for The Decline Of ''Trek'' to come, but at least inauspicious.<br />
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How good is ''Deep Space Nine''? Every subsequent Star Trek series and even the reboot movies have pretty much ripped off ideas and concepts established during the series. Famously, within the "Trekker/Trekkie" fan community, there's a little cell of fans who like it better than most other ''Star Trek''; these fans are typically called "Niners."<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Duet" and "Waltz" (excellent character work elevates low-budget episodes), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (30th anniversary comedy episode that sends the DS9 crew back to the TOS era to stop a rogue Klingon assassinating Kirk), "In the Pale Moonlight" ("how far would you push your principles to save the world?" done very well), "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Nog has PTSD after losing a leg in battle), "The Circle" (the only Star Trek trilogy episode and as close as DS9 will ever get to a movie), "Valiant" (A Defiant full of asshole cadets gets blasted into smithereens for their own hubris), "Empok Nor" (Garak goes feral and brutalizes a lot of people).<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Move Along Home" (some of the crew gets trapped in a board game with annoying rhymes), "Fascination" (Lwaxana Troi is going through Betazoid menopause and wants to bang Odo), "Profit and Lace" (Quark has a horrible relationship with his mom and has a sex change for zany antics), "Let He Who is Without Sin" (bullshit on resort planet Risa)<br />
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==''Voyager''==<br />
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[[File:USS Voyager.jpg|thumb|400px|left|''"Are we home yet?"'' <br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"Tuvok, please give Ensign Kim a dose of the Medical Phaser.]]<br />
Star Trek: Voyager centers around the eponymous USS ''Voyager'', a smallish ship which gets teleported over to the other side of the galaxy. The plot of the series centers on the crew's efforts to get back home, which COULD have made for an excellent premise. Unfortunately, there were few lasting story arcs, with most episodes being fully self-contained (as well as being littered with far too many episodes featuring holodeck or transporter incidents). As a consequence, despite being completely isolated from the Federation, no matter how bad things got Voyager always appeared in the next episode without a scratch, fully supplied, and with all its shuttlecraft intact. Think ''Gilligan's Island'' on a starship.<br />
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Like ''TNG'' and ''DS9'' it's a character-driven drama just as often as it is a sci-fi adventure romp, although compared to TNG only a few of the characters are particularly memorable. The captain and arguable "main character" is Kathryn Janeway, a Katharine Hepburn lookalike (I see what you did there) who is stern without being cold, and principled without being inflexible. The fan favorite is a character called "The Doctor" ([[Doctor Who|No relation]]); he's the solid-light hologram representative of the ship's emergency medical computer, who has to take on actual medical duties when their chief medical officer was conveniently killed in the pilot episode. Other than this, Chakotay is a peace-loving and spiritually rich indian <s>freedom fighter</s> <s>terrorist</s> [[FAIL|who was written with the help of a special Cherokee consultant so native his name was Jamake Highwater and it turned out later on that he was actually Jewish and didn't know dick about native cultures so he made everything up resulting in Chakotay basically being a borderline racist caricature of what you think Indians are like. Akoochimoya.]] Tom Paris is an annoying jerk and is counterbalanced by Harry Kim who is the ideal boy-scout, making him only half as annoying and twice as boring. B'elanna Torres tries to perpetuate a lineage of dudes getting shit done but ends up blankly reciting her technobabble, having second degree plasma burns and – worst of all – systematically fails to get shit done whenever the warp core goes nuts. Tuvok tries hard to be as cool as Spock but ends up being a lame version of the n°1 Vulcan who uses logic to justify everything and makes it short for "you are wrong, I am right because I said so." Kes is passed as a fragile and nice character but it takes a couple of episodes to realize that having a short lifespan does not change the facts: [[powergamer|when you can boil someone to death from the inside of their body, drain life from everything around you to become stronger and do anything you want without knowing how, just by thinking of it]], you are a goddamn Mary Sue. From the fourth season onwards the only character the writers seemed to care about was Seven of Nine, [[Mary Sue|a human woman who recently escaped from Borg control and kept all of her cyborg enhancements but regained her free will]]; another Mary Sue, to be sure, but she's [[Hot Chicks|hot]], and the other characters are much worse, so that's not really a bad thing. Fortunately, The Doctor still received a lot of attention from the writers and almost single-handedly made the show watchable. There was also Neelix, who was the apparent inspiration for Jar-Jar Binks, and any sane crew would have pushed him out of an airlock on the first episode. Fans who stuck with the show despite its glaring failings were given one final slap in the face with the <s>controversial</s> shit final season, in which the producers decided "screw steadily crafting a satisfying conclusion to a story which we have wasted for most of the last seven years anyway; lets just ignore it until the final episode and then throw in some shit about trans-warp conduits and time travel, bitches love time travel!" If you did not care about any of the characters or the subplots or time travel making sense (the writers sure didn't), then the final episode was made just for you (and the Borg got a major setback, too, just don't think about the setup too hard).<br />
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The Doctor never once stopped being totally fucking awesome though (enough so to even earn a cameo in First Contact and for Robert Picardo to turn up as his inventor in an episode of DS9), Jeri Ryan proved she wasn't just eye candy, and the (mostly) great acting from the rest of the cast carries the series from being horrific to ''occasionally'' watchable. Just goes to show that no matter how good your actors are, they can't make diamonds out of shit.<br />
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Overall, most Star Trek fans view Voyager's legacy with a shrug and a "meh." Unfortunately, hopes that Voyager's successor would revitalize the franchise would soon prove to be overly optimistic.<br />
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* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Timeless" (excellent time-travel episode), "Year of Hell" (absolutely savage two-parter that trashes ''Voyager'' in service to a story of obsession and why you don't fuck with the timeline), "Tuvix" (one of the all-time skubbiest episodes of any ST show, deals with the complicated ethics of what happens when two people are fused into a new individual by a transporter accident), "Bride of Chaotica!" (aliens get trapped in Tom Paris' 1940s pulp holodeck program, Janeway has to become one of the characters to sort it out, good comedy episode), "Someone to Watch Over Me" (the Doctor falls in love with Seven but can't admit it), "Equinox" (''Voyager'' encounters another castaway Starfleet ship that's tossed Federation law and ethics into the bin to survive and Janeway gets ''really'' pissy about it)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Threshold" (Tom Paris and Janeway turn into [[salamander]]s and have salamander babies; so terrible that rumors persist it was declared non-canonical to this day), "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk" (holodeck malfunction episodes full of more cringe Oirish stereotypes and Janeway wanting to bang a hologram), "Alice" (Stephen King's ''Christine'' IN SPAAACE!)<br />
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==''Enterprise''==<br />
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[[File:NX-01.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Where it all began. For better or worse...]]<br />
From the minute the Nickelback-tier theme tune started, Enterprise attempted to take Star Trek in a new direction and was only partially successful in doing so. The series never quite caught its footing, although it still managed to have some enjoyable moments. It was most notable for providing a first-hand view of the key events that directly led to the formation of the Federation. The Federation's founding races were also featured heavily, with Andorians, Tellarites, and Vulcans all enjoying significant screen time alongside the human characters.<br />
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It's a prequel to the rest of the canon, taking place on the first ''Enterprise'', before the Federation was founded and during the period when Earth was still an independent power- so there's a lot of primitive versions of things from other series. At least the uniforms were pretty cool in an Air Force sort of way. Captained by <s>that guy from ''Quantum Leap''</s> Jonathan Archer, in hindsight the fact that they had to rename him from their original choice of Jeffrey Archer to avoid confusion with the disgraced British MP and author of the same name probably cursed the series with bad karma before it had even begun shooting. In an unusual twist for a ''Trek'' series, his first officer isn't a <s>terrorist</s> ''noble freedom fighter,'' however she does share a trait with her ''Voyager'' predecessor in that the actress who portrayed her frequently criticized the show's writers in interviews. Other than that, well, Hoshi Sato screams a lot, Travis Mayweather was so dull that even the writers forgot he existed, the resident Vulcan T'Pol serves as both the Science Officer and source of sexy fanservice, Malcolm Reed has an accent, Dr Phlox is a weird creepy alien with weird creepy alien morals (and gets surprisingly interesting when given enough screentime, which hardly ever happened), and Trip also has an accent and [[gets shit done]].<br />
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One thing that makes the show and cast so frustrating is that you get glimpses of interesting things that could be explored but just aren't in favor of rejected TNG concepts. A weapon' officer still having somewhat free range as there are not federation guidelines? Not really, Malcolm is just here to give a second opinion and be Tripp's wingman. A linguist and sociologist without much of a clue as to what everyone will encounter in space in an age before rules of engagement and diplomatic norms are established? Not really, Hoshi just screams a lot to let you know something dangerous or scary is nearby. The struggle between a potentially more profitable civilian life and an assignment as a glorified military grunt before Starfleet is the institution we all know it would become? Who cares, the writers all forgot Travis is even in the show most of the time. All these questions are somewhat hinted at in some episodes when they really could have been defining character arcs for the cast but instead we got vulcan romance getting most of the screentime when the Xindi plot wasn't happening. Oh well.<br />
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Was retooled twice, the third season tries to be ''24'' IN SPACE (stop some aliens, the Xindi, from blowing up Earth) while the 4th season is a massive apology about the last three seasons that tries to fix all the problems they had. As a result, the last season is the only one that's close to being really good.<br />
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Unfortunately, the poorly-received final episode is set on the holodeck of the Enterprise-D, which leaves us with the firm impression that the producers would have much rather have just continued making ''The Next Generation''. Considering the mediocre quality of the ''TNG'' movies we got instead, this probably would have worked out better for all involved (Or not since ''Voyager'' was that; its first episode was even numbered 901, as in Season 9 Episode 1).<br />
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Yet despite all the bad directing, subpar plots, and frankly boring episodes, ''Enterprise'' sometimes still manages to be moderately enjoyable with occasional moments of awesomeness if you can suffer through a fair few awful spots and aggressive mediocrity almost everywhere else. The focus on founding Federation races like the Andorans was refreshing and the technology level, being somewhere between the original series and the real world present-day, was quite interesting. We also got to see the Vulcans portrayed as arrogant, superior dicks. This actually makes a lot more sense than the way they're usually portrayed (which is fairly submissive towards humans) because they are, obviously and objectively, the superior race. The Klingons certainly still considered themselves to be honorable but the show made it clear that the Klingon notion of honor is rarely analogous to the human concept which was interesting as all hell to watch. There have been a few small nods to Enterprise in Discovery and the Abrams movies.<br />
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And let's be fucking honest, [[/tg/]] loves 40k and the Xindi arc was about as grimdark as shit gets. And that was awesome.<br />
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*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "Damage" (Enterprise is nearly destroyed and can barely function), "Zero Hour" (End of Season 3, good action and good payoff), "Regeneration" (Borg episode, silly but well executed), "Babel One", "United" and "The Aenar" (three episode arc involving the Romulan scheme to engineer war, a glimpse of what might have been).<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Dear Doctor" (boring prime directive extremism), "These are the Voyages" (Trip dies in a rush-job ending, last minute or so is alright as a visual send-off divorced from crap narrative).<br />
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==STD aka ''Disco'' aka ''Discovery''==<br />
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[[File:USS Discovery.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Disco Stu's coming for you!]]<br />
<s>A LOAD OF SOCIAL JUSTICE SHIT!</s> Ahem, let's start again, shall we?<br />
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A new "prequel" series set 10 years before ''The Original Series.'' Again. Run exclusively on CBS' paid streaming service (unless you live outside the US and Canada, in which case you can get it on Netflix) to try and drum up sign-ups and revenue, it features a mix of ''Enterprise'' and Abramstrek aesthetics despite supposedly taking place in parallel to the TOS "The Cage" pilot while [[what|having technology superior to late DS9]] and introducing [[dune|mushroom-based space travel]] that would imply [[retcon|all later events and warp travel would be outdated]]. The trailer has attracted a lot of concern over the fact that Klingons have been completely redesigned to look like slit-nosed ogres wearing ancient Egyptian cosplay, and rumors that the Klingons shown were [[Racial Holy War|primitives who had been trapped in stasis]] proved to be unfounded, so there is no excuse. Not having a cold war to posture about, the new villains are based off of Trump-inspired xenophobia by the admission of the authors. Also the lead character is Spock's human sister that he never mentioned before, aka the ''exact'' origin of the [[Mary Sue]] which is just fucking depressing. To further reinforce this, there are ''numerous'' examples of dialogue and exposition that serve only to show how the Mary Sue main character was right all along, usually in conjunction with the death of the character that had foolishly disagreed with her. Want a new Star Trek episode about racism and immigration? Try the now-banned [https://youtu.be/3VEZH8bqytA Star Trek Continues]. Want Star Trek with humor, we suppose: ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'', below. Oh! want a pseudo-Star Trek show about other modern issues? Try ''[[The Orville]]''. That's right, American Dad In Space <strike>may right now be</strike> is a better Star Trek than an actual Star Trek series.<br />
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Initial reviews have been... well, never mind the 2017-era soy-guzzling critics. STD is as much fun as an outbreak of Nurgle's Rot. Mostly. There ''are'' exceptions.<br />
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The writing is overly convoluted, the massive injection of grimdark into pre-TOS continuity is anathema to the hardcore fans (the ''human'' characters are often the ones doing the nastiest shit, including [[Marines Malevolent|trying to kill a Klingon party by planting an explosive on the corpse of one of their comrades for when they came to collect the dead]]) and the Klingons are so flat and devoid of characterization that they might as well be Larry the Cable Guy lookalikes wearing Trump hats. This is a massive disappointment for a series that promised to put a spotlight on Klingon culture but ended up retconning all the characterization that happened in TNG and DS9. It ''may'' get better with time (remember that it took two seasons for TNG to get really good) but given the release schedule (split between 2017 and 2018 with a long break) it may come too late for the fanbase to care. Currently it's cause for more fans to lose their shit over whether it's better or worse than the Abrams movies, which is a new record of [[Skub|Trek Skub]]. Releasing the show on CBS All Access instead of cable or broadcast TV makes it seem that executives don't really give a shit if the show succeeds or fails, bringing up the question of [[Bioware|whether they're deliberately putting Star Trek: Discovery in a no-win scenario where, no matter what happens, the executives have an excuse to cancel Star Trek altogether]]. <br />
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Another stupid decision was not shelling out the cash to bring back Bruce Greenwood and Zachary Quinto as Captain Pike and Spock, respectively. Their ages wouldn't have mattered either if CBS and Paramount weren't too cheap to use the anti-aging CGI tech that is so commonplace these days. Hell, Star Trek makeup artists are among the best in the entertainment business. So they could have pulled it off with applying the bare minimum, and we probably still wouldn't have noticed.<br />
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There were also allegations that large chunks of the plot were stolen from previews of an in-development indie game. The unreleased 2014 game featured giant Tardigrades that had the ability to use an interstellar network to travel anywhere they wanted to- sound familiar?<br />
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We must however give credit where credit is due. Season 1's fifth episode "Choose Your Pain" starred Rainn Wilson as a younger Harcourt Fenton Mudd, and this was a surprising treat. Season 2 also featured Anson Mount as Captain Pike, whose addition to the cast was nothing short of a revelation. Indeed, Pike's character was by far the most well-received aspect of that season.<br />
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Unfortunately, while Season 2 had some watchable moments, it was still middling at best, and nobody is ''ever'' going to let this series live down the garbage fire that was Season 1. If you do decide to watch Season 2, try not to think about it too hard once you are done. It gets worse and worse the more you think about it as you can and will come to realize that {{spoiler|the overarching plot hinges on time-travel but because the writing and production staff kept being shuffled, no one kept continuity so some of the hints of future actions or "red lights" are just forgotten about, some time-travel is done just to set up another event to make it possible for that same time-travel to happen. Think Bill and Ted, except lame and very confusing. Season 2 is an okay show if you look at the state-of-the-art visuals, let the big emotional moments grip you, but if you stop for a second and think about the continuity of events, you push yourself on a slippery slope that ends in not being able to ever trust the showrunning staff again.}}<br />
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Season 3 sees ''Discovery'' transported far into the future, one in which the Federation itself has fallen apart due to the mysterious disappearance of the dilithium required for warp travel. What was the issue with the dilithium? A member of the same species as the character Saru was on a planet with a lot of dilithium and had a freakout so bad it somehow psychically fucked up all dilithium everywhere at roughly the same time. Oh, and apparently turbolifts now fly around in a pocket dimension or some stupid shit.<br />
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Season 4 can basically be summed up as "Hyper-advanced extragalactic gasbags make a mess of things because they're [[Derp|too stupid to comprehend the concept of self as they're a hive mind]]".<br />
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Oh thank the God Emperor it's almost over! After four seasons of shit, season five is finally going to kill it! Oh Throne, thank you!<br />
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==''<strike>Retard</strike>Picard''==<br />
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Set to be a continuation of the original timeline, featuring old man Picard with Patrick Stewart reprising the role. Hopes are not high, but at the very least Patrick Stewart's presence should make it watchable if nothing else. <br />
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Update: Season 3 is the only part maybe worth watching.<br />
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In the first season, Picard ragequit Starfleet after they sat back and let the Romulans get blown up by the supernova mentioned in the first Abrams movie. This happened because some rogue androids orbitally bombarded Mars and blew up the rescue fleet that was being built there, so the Federation has banned all R&D on synthetic lifeforms and subsequently become [[Imperium of Man|isolationist, racist and xenophobic]] (does this remind you of anything?). Picard has been living in his family chateau ever since, making wine and hanging out with his dog and his Romulan housekeepers. Then a scared girl named Dahj turns up on his doorstep, and it turns out she's a highly advanced biological android constructed from the surviving bits of Data's positronic brain by the guy who wanted to dismantle Data in that episode "The Measure of a Man." Before Picard can really figure out what to do about her, she gets killed by a secret society of Luddite anti-android Romulan assholes, but it turns it that's okay because she has a twin "sister" named Soji who is working with some other Romulans on a derelict Borg cube. Picard decides it's time to saddle up and go be a hero again. He starts putting together a crew that includes Agnes Jurati, a former cyberneticist; Raffi Musiker, his last executive officer, [[What|who is now an alcoholic drug-vaping hermit]] after getting kicked out of Starfleet; Cristobal Rios, a scruffy merc pilot whose ship is staffed entirely by holograms of himself; Elnor, a Romulan warrior monk raised by Romulan warrior nuns; and Seven of Nine, who has become a kickass pilot and is no longer wearing her infamous catsuit. Together, they're out to save Soji, stop the Romulans, and be the good guys in a galaxy that needs heroes, etc etc.<br />
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Key storytelling criticisms of the show include the idea that the Romulan Empire should have had enough infrastructure to effect an evacuation without help, and that even if they didn't, the Federation would ''never'' abandon a neighbor who was asking for help- not even a former enemy, and not even when doing so became difficult or inconvenient. Another issue comes up when the show reveals that the Borg have assimilated transgalactic teleporters from a throwaway alien race that appeared in an early episode of ''Voyager'', but only for the Borg queen to use in case the cube she's on is about to be blown up, which begs the question of ''why in the hell aren't they using them to overwhelm the Federation's defenses with drone spam and assimilate everything??'' There's also an (abortive) space battle in the final episode where Riker shows up leading a fleet of ships that are just copy-pastes of the same CG model, which was derided for being cheap and lazy on the part of the showrunners and a failed chance to show Riker in command of the ''Titan'' or ''Enterprise''.<br />
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To make matters even more dumb and yet also more complicated at the same time, the showrunners are apparently under some kind of licensing agreement regarding the portrayal of images and concepts from the earlier shows. This means that they can't, for example, casually mention the Dominion War and its impact on the Federation, because if they did, they'd have to pay a licensing fee. This is why the show has been carefully crafted to look like a distant, derpy cousin of Star Trek, while only occasionally featuring cameos of things such as the Enterprise-D, or directly referencing arcs in previous shows: because if they use concepts from prior Star Trek shows, they have to pay for them.<br />
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Finally, when all has been said and done by the end of Season 1, Picard himself is reduced to a nearly-useless side character in his own show. Where once he commanded the admiration and respect of friends and foes alike, in this show he is consistently portrayed as a disrespected, disregarded, and often powerless caricature of himself, utterly reliant on the characters around him. {{spoiler|It doesn't help they legit kill him in the last episode and then made him an android after he also agreed to "kill" Data whose memories are basically in a server on a planet of Soong androids. The showrunners specifically came out and said their plan was always to kill Picard to make a point about how privileged he was being a captain in Starfleet. You can't make this shit up. Patrick Stewart himself claims that they hadn't written Picard's death until they were almost finished filming the season, so who knows what the hell was going on.}}<br />
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One other thing is certain. Whether you like the series or not, it's clear that this series is not taking place in Gene Roddenberry's noblebright vision of the Federation, and the fact that it is yet another grim, violent entry into the franchise is a point that has left many viewers with a bad aftertaste. If the rumors are true, then this show may have either killed the current grimderp Trek or has left fans so pissed that CBS is, once again, on the verge of financial ruin and possibly looking to sell the franchise since they aren't making the money they thought they would after the massive amounts of money they dumped into both this and Discovery.<br />
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Season 2 premiered in March 2022 after the Covid pandemic delayed production. They definitely listened to some of the major criticisms of the first season - Picard's been reinstated in Starfleet, many fan-favorite starship classes returned for the big space battle in the first episode, the gratuitous swearing and needless grimdark got toned down, and more deep cuts from TOS and DS9 lore show up. <br />
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Q shows up and launches the gang into a hilariously over-the-top alternate timeline where the [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] knob got cranked to 11 and as a result the ''Con''federation of Humanity has been going around [[Imperium of Man|exterminating all xenos scum]] up to and including the Borg, which is admittedly pretty badass. They're all appropriately horrified by this, and steal the Borg queen right as she's about to be executed so they can do a sun-slingshot move to go back to 2024 Los Angeles and <strike>save the whales</strike>fix whatever got messed up. Brent Spiner turns up as yet another Soong ancestor, morally skewed as always, and the punk from Star Trek IV returns, still blasting his boombox all these years later. Picard and co. save the future by ensuring that his ancestor Renee goes on a manned mission to the moon of Europa, where she discovers an alien organism that allows humanity to magically fix Earth's biosphere and make everything noblebright forevermore, apparently because [[Derp|the writers forgot that WWIII will arrive in a few decades]]. Rios decides to stay in the past because he met a sexy doctor and [[What|dies in a barfight]], Dr. Soong is revealed to be working on more Khans, his fake daughter Kore meets Wesley Crusher and becomes a Traveler, and it turns out that the reason Q did all this in the first place was to help Picard confront his deep-seated family issues so he could avoid dying alone, as Q is in the process of dying alone himself. In the season finale, the Borg (now being controlled by Agnes after [[What|she forced the Borg queen to bitch down by getting her to admit her ''own'' loneliness]]) ask to join the Federation so they can keep an eye on some weird transwarp conduit that some unknown entity just opened, which was why the Borg rocked up at the beginning of the season. Least it wrapped up well. <br />
<br />
Would you believe Season 3 manages to turn it around somehow? Essentially a 10-episode attempt to answer the question, 'How can we get all of the original cast members together on a starship in the least contrived way?', Picard, Riker, Troi, LaForge, Worf, Data, and the bearable Crusher all come together to fight the new Borg threat. The series is written and directed by people who truly understand what Star Trek is about, and as such is a welcome sight to fans of the franchise. Each of the original cast gets time to develop their characters further - Worf drinks tea, Beverley finally manages to raise a kid who isn't [[Mary Sue|Wesley]], and Geordi now runs the fleet museum and has raised an impressive engineer himself. The series is practically dedicated to ignoring or fixing the last two seasons of Picard, if not the last quarter-century of TNG-adjacent movie and television media, and somewhat succeeds. {{Spoiler|They even bring back the right bridge, even if the excuse as to why was [[Fail|pulled out of their butts]]…}}<br />
<br />
The only sore spot of the series is the latest ''Enterprise'' at the end of the series, [[Derp|which looks like a horrible kitbash of the original Constitution]], and compares very unfavorably to its predecessor in the looks department. Other than that, it provides what was sorely missing these last few decades: a good send-off for the Next Generation ''after'' 'All Good Things'. <br />
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==''Strange New Worlds''==<br />
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An attempt to put the golden goose back together on the operating table. After seeing the reception of having Captain Pike in Discovery, Paramount decided to simply return to the pilot cast of The Original Series with its fingers crossed that the old bird will resume replicating gold eggs.<br />
<br />
It's good so far. It's fun and optimistic, which is a genuine relief after the grimderp of Discovery and Picard, but isn't afraid to occasionally go in dark places and present genuinely difficult philosophical problems. We'll have to see if it holds up, the science can be very stupid even by ''Trek'' standards, and if you liked the Gorn you'll hate what they're doing with them, but overall, so far so good. The season 1 finale is a treat; it's a retelling of the classic episode "Balance of Terror" but with Pike in command of the ''Enterprise'' instead of Kirk, and they recreate everything from the blocking to the dialogue to the cheesy zooms of the original episode. It's pretty awesome.<br />
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==''Lower Decks''==<br />
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{{topquote|I FAILED THE KOBAYASHI MARU SEVENTEEN TIMES MOTHERFUCKER!|Brad Boimler}}<br />
Mike McMahan is doing this one, him being the person behind the Rick & Morty cartoon. It's set in 2380 on the ''Cerritos'', concentrating (like the TNG episode of the same name) on the grunts working in the bowels of the ship. The main characters are ensigns and low-level lieutenants: Tendi is a perky Orion science office-in-training with massive insecurities about her species. Rutherford is Geordi LaForge with less experience and a Manchurian Candidate backstory. Mariner is basically just reboot-era Kirk down to the captain's kid, broken home complex. They are all the bane (and close friends) of the worrisome Boimler, the Starfleet straight-man who could be the next Picard if he stopped worrying about getting promoted so much.<br />
[[File:Star_Trek_Lower_Decks.jpg|400px|right]]<br />
Fans feared this would focus on lowbrow "humor" episodes with technobabble nonsense stapled to it just like McMahan's other works; and they were half right, although the technobabble is here honestly ''less'' annoying than in mainline Trek, on account it's not being taken seriously. But over the first season the show found its footing. To enjoy it, you just have to embrace the likely reality that a few decks below all of Picard's noblebright ready room monologues there were hundreds of ignoble, corner-cutting crewmen who just want to get to the end of their shift. It's entertaining, but in a "The Bashir & Garak Show" sort of way. John de Lancie reprises Q, and Frakes returns as Riker, now in command of the USS Titan. <br />
<br />
By the end of the first season, the consensus had formed that Lower Decks is probably the best addition to the franchise since the Rick Berman era ended, with a much better understanding of what Star Trek IS (to its fans) than either Discovery or Picard. The second and third seasons moved the series towards an overarching plot. The Pakleds, a joke throwaway species from TNG, are fittingly brought back as the story's big bad. The Pakleds are basically Ork [[Freebooterz]], an entire species of idiotic space pirates. Brutally kunnin they are not; their "plans" are worthy of Douglas Adams. Mariner gets beaten with the nerfhammer for the middle of season 2 and occasionally in season 3 making her much more tolerable. Meanwhile, the story of Rutherford's cybernetics gradually unfolds as the result of a conspiracy in Starfleet. Along the way, there's an episode ripping off James Cameron's ''Avatar'', a session of Klingon Dungeons & Dragons, space-faring Renfaire fanatics, and Mariner and Boimler having to work the Starfleet booth at job fair.<br />
<br />
In summary, the first season was rife with teething issues (but show me a Trek series which wasn't) and directly appeals to people who loved Star Trek but now believe that "Star Trek is dead, Jim". Second and third season are more appealing to Trekkies who aren't afraid to laugh at the thing they like.<br />
<br />
'''Outstanding Episodes: '''Crisis Point (Mariner hijacks Boimler's holodeck simulation of the bridge crew and turns it to a Star Trek film holodeck program); The Spy Humongous (Captain Freeman is sent to negotiate with the Pakleds while a Pakled spy pretends to be an asylum seeker. Answers the question how the various dangerous plot devices are disposed of); Where Pleasant Fountains Lie (Boimler and Mariner crash on a desert planet escorting an evil AI, Mariner gets well and truly nerfed. The ship's chief engineer turns out to be a prince of aforementioned Renfaire-fanatics); I, Excretus (The crew undergoes a holodeck drill program of various situations from past serieses. Boimler gets to shine in classic Starfleet activities); Grounded (Season 3 pilot. Mariner is convinced her mother is being railroaded in court and more evidence is needed from dry-docked Cerritos); Reflections (Rutherford races his past self in his subconciousness and his repressed memories start surfacing. Mariner and Boimler work a Star Fleet recruitment booth at a fair leading to the section quote.); Hear all, Trust Nothing (DS9 homage episode guest staring Armin Shimmerman and Nana Visitor. Tendi deals with her species embarrasment); Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus (Boimler desings a Star Trek film, but derails it almost immediately for himself and Mariner. Basically an RP sesssion where half of the players derail and split off).<br />
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'''Episodes to avoid:''' Envoys; Temporal Edict; Veritas; A Mathematically Perfect Redemption.<br />
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=='' Prodigy''==<br />
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Here for sake of completeness, an animated show targeting a younger audience that debuted in 2021 on Nickleodeon (alongside Paramount+). The show follows a collection of misfit (mostly young) aliens on a mining colony that find hidden in a crystalline planetoid the USS ''Protostar'', a Starfleet ship with a hologram of Janeway to aid the collection of "Cadets" as they escape and venture out into an galaxy full of adventure while the owner of the mining colony and his robot minion try to take the ''Protostar'' for themselves.<br />
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So far it has a decent critical reception. If you want Star Trek which is noblebright and not ironic and are fine with a PG rating, this may be worth a look.<br />
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<br />
= Films =<br />
We're putting these at the end in the (unlikely) event someone does a movie that's in the non-Abrams canon ever. As a general rule, the even-numbered ones aren't complete shit.<br />
<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Motion Picture''''': AKA: The Slow Motion Picture, or the Motionless Picture. A giant space whatsit is flying towards Earth, the mostly-retired crew has to go figure out what's going on and stop it. Old school sci-fi geeks like the ideas, but terrible pace and interminable special effects that were clearly meant to capitalize on ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' while failing to understand what people like about that movie kill them dead for everyone else. Besides the uniform worn by Kirk, the uniforms also look like pajamas. So no wonder they were changed only a movie later. Features an entirely bald female alien who is [[What|so good at sex that she has to swear an oath not to get it on with the crew]]. Really. This is canon.<br />
* '''''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''''': As Kirk starts to feel his age, a one-off villain from the show played by Ricardo "Corinthian Leather" Montalban makes a dramatic reappearance: [[Meme|KKKHHHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!]] Widely considered the best of all the films, and the only one considered a straight up great film, no qualifiers. If you haven't seen it, see it. So good many later movies in the franchise just try to rip it off instead of finding their own identities. Interesting fact: due to time constraints, Shatner and Montalban weren't available at the same time. So the entire script was written so that Kirk and Khan never need to meet face-to-face. But you'd never notice if it weren't pointed out to you. Roddenberry screeched autistically and objected to some of the actions of his characters, including Kirk shooting a [[Enslavers|brain eating space parasite]] that had literally just emerged from the head of his friend rather than "[[Noblebright|keeping it for study]]." The fact that his strongest objections came to the most win of the films says a great deal about his depreciating value to the franchise around the TNG era. <br />
* '''''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock''''': Where is Spock? ''He's on Genesis.'' ALL AHEAD FULL! Not really bad, just mediocre and run of the mill compared to the superior films that surround it. It was also saddled with the misfortune of undoing some of the previous film's more-daring decisions, and having its only daring decision reversed a film later. If you had to say that any film broke the "odd numbers suck" rule, it would be this one. This was Leonard Nimoy's first attempt at directing a full film, having asked for the seat in exchange for agreeing to play Spock again. <br />
* '''''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''''': The crew of the ''Enterprise'' travels back in time to save the whales. No, literally and unironically. Scott tries to talk to a computer through the mouse, Spock nerve-pinches a punk on a bus in San Francisco, and somehow it works, creating something perhaps not quite in the genre intended but a classic in sci-fi dramedy. ''The Voyage Home'' is a zany comedy romp beloved by the general public and fandom alike, leaving only the most intractable fanbois to bitch and moan. Nimoy directed this one too but there was a contract stipulation that Shatner would get whatever Nimoy got, thus leading to...<br />
* '''''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier''''': aka. the film that should never have been made, even by many die-hard Trekkies. Kirk's actor got his spin behind the camera as agreed and wanted a "thought-provoking movie" after the more comical IV. Good intention, but the abysmal execution leaves the audience facepalming at the very best. Between the weak script, the 'moral' of the story ('faith can be abused by unscrupulous people', for the record) delivered with all the subtlety of a punch to the face, poor (or deliberately campy) special effects, uninspired performances by the actors (who for the most part didn't like the script as it had them behave against everything that had come before and betray Kirk) and Kirk's screentime-hogging (despite being behind the camera); this movie is by far the absolute worst of the original six and simply not worth watching... but it's just dumb and hapless, not dead and soulless like what's to follow from other crews.<br />
* '''''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''''': The Space Cold War ends amidst searing mystery and drama. The sendoff for the original cast, except Kirk who got a worse send-off a movie later. Gene Roddenberry watched it, hated it, and was going to seek legal advice but died a week later. And good riddance to that, because it's a pretty sweet political thriller if your hippie-panties don't get into a twist at the thought that the Federation isn't a perfect place full of perfect people. Press F for Christopher Plummer, second best ham in ''Trek'' history. After the previous movie's painful directing, Sulu's actor only agreed to come back if he got to be captain of his own ship. He did, but Shatner still found a way to steal his thunder.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Generations''''': Malcolm McDowell blows up planets to get into a magic space ribbon to live forever, no it does not make any more sense in context. Bringing the TNG crew to the silver screen was a good idea, but those were thin on the ground. An already-weak story hamstrung by its obsession with being daring and unconventional rather than good (aside from the bit where Worf gets promoted, that was great). Also, Kirk dies on the bridge in the most face-palming manner possible. Nimoy was offered the Director's chair, took one look at the script and demanded a rewrite which didn't happen so he refused to be involved. <br />
* '''''Star Trek First Contact''''': The ''TNG'' crew face off with the Borg to ensure the future happens. Lots of action, a script that sparks with energy and snark, and some quite effective performances make this the only good ''TNG'' movie (we don't blame you TNG cast). It is sadly also the only appearance of the Defiant on the big screen, doing a pretty decent job of fighting the Borg before the Enterprise E saves the day of course. The Borg Queen was also introduced here before Voyager ruined what could have been a good idea. (Or demonstrated the flaws in what was already a shaky idea, depending on who you ask, but either way she works well here in a way she won't later.) <br />
* '''''Star Trek Insurrection''''': If you thought the [[Avatar|Na'vi]] were a bunch of badly-written [[Mary Sue]]s, you ain't seen nothing yet! B-b-b-baby you ain't seen n-n-n-nothing yet! Also, Riker shaves his beard, and that's basically a war crime. Aged from terrible to forgettably bad thanks to that one scene of Picard and Data singing ''HMS Pinafore'' going memetic. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Nemesis''''': The last stand of the ''TNG'' cast, ending not with a bang but a whimper. It also required amending the even=good/odd=bad rule to "''Galaxy Quest'' counts as a ''Star Trek'' film so this one is also odd." Infamous for killing off Data (which was actually Brent Spiner's idea since he was starting to visibly age) and because the director hadn't watched a single episode of TNG, back when it was considered a bad thing not to know anything about the property you were adapting. It also killed Tom Hardy's career for half a decade, [[Grimdark|and nearly killed Hardy himself]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek''''' (2009): Alternate timeline "reboot" (sideboot?) with the original crew, albeit with new younger actors. Timey-wimey shit happens and old prime timeline Spock (reprised by old Leonard Nimoy) is hurled back in time along with a bunch of Romulan assholes. The dickbag Romulans begin fucking shit up, slightly altering history in a way that ensures gratuitous lens flare. [[skub| Skubtastic]], but at least fun to watch (if a literally gleaming, uncomplicated space action-adventure that doesn't delve deeply into the human condition ala II or deeply into idiocy ala V/Generations/Insurrection spells "fun" to you), which is more than ''most'' odd-numbered films can muster. If you still even count it as odd, without the ''Galaxy Quest''-amendment.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Into Darkness''''': Some [[edgy]] [[Fail|shit]]. The second of the alternate timeline ''Trek'' films. Terrorism, conspiracy and flapdoodle. Even more skubtastic, but generally considered worse than its predecessor, partially because (like ''Nemesis'') it tries to be a remake of ''The Wrath of Khan'' and having Kirk at his most punchable.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Beyond''''': Didn't totally suck; graded on a curve against the prior two. So - the good / bad / skub. Good: lots of good character stuff for the entire cast (including Kirk ''not'' being an asshat) and a decent story revolving around a race of mysterious space pirates trying to conquer a colony; handles IRL death of Leonard Nimoy excellently. Bad: villains are under-written, the action photography is poorly-lit shaky-cam horseshit, and the sound work is awful. Skub: Takei came out to complain that its Sulu was gay-married, since he'd played Sulu straight himself, so gay-Sulu was - Takei complained - an insult to his acting prowess (but: alternate universe, remember). If it's the last "Kelvin Timeline" movie, as it seems it will be, at least it ended on a note that wasn't total turd. Apparently we're getting a fourth one now, which was news to everyone including the cast.<br />
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= Novels =<br />
Like most long time franchises ''Star Trek'' has a massive line of books.<br />
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Most are effectively fanfics as nothing but the show and the movies is canon so the writers can do whatever they want. Partial exception to be made for the ''Deep Space Nine'' line; those are considered the "eighth season", justifiably, because they're actually quite good. Start with Andrew "Garak" Robinson's ''Stitch in Time''.<br />
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This changed after ''Nemesis'' since that movie was so godawful the producers calculated they might never have another show or movie in the "Prime" universe; also, several ''DS9'' actors started dropping off dead (so their fans never did get their kino). The writers got their shit together and wrote a group of books as a tight community very close to the shows. The relaunch novels are a continuation of the show they're about. Also there's the ''Titan'' book series which is about Riker and Troi getting their own ship, which happens to be staffed by every race in the Federation including living rocks, [[awesome|space dinosaurs]] that smell like [[meatbread|toast]] and a [[what|space cyborg ostrich]].<br />
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All the relaunch lines eventually got brought together in Star Trek: Destiny, where the Borg go nuts and eat Pluto ... yeah... and then they finally get sick of the Federation somehow managing to not get assimilated all the time, so they finally just send every last cube they have with orders to Exterminatus the absolute SHIT out of the entire Alpha Quadrant. Pretty much every important character from TNG, DS9, and Voyager has to team up to stop them, and even then the Federation still gets its shit kicked in and winds up having to rely on a vaguely ridiculous deus ex machina to beat the Borg, and [[Grimdark|billions of people still die and dozens of planets are blown to shit]]. It was pretty insane.<br />
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Then all the Federation's main enemies get together to form an anti-Federation and start poking the bear, all the while telling their allies that they're somehow warmongering dicks, Section 31 gets its cover blown in a big way, and Riker gets promoted to Admiral. Also, a lot of the newer TNG novels have been devoted to following up on one-shot aliens from the show, like the guys that sent out the probe that made Barclay super-smart and those fish monks that were abducting crewmembers for experiments. Now that the Picard show is coming out, though, this will all presumably be chucked in the dustbin. <br />
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Picard show came. Dustbin. But! Some of the authors who'd been working on the novel continuity for the last twenty years weren't willing to let the Trek novelverse die an inglorious death like the original Star Wars EU, so they got together and wrote a trilogy to give it a proper send-off. The dickhead aliens from that TNG two-part episode with Mark Twain have worked out a way to blow up entire quantum realities and feast on the neural energy of the trillions of lives snuffed out in the process. The novelverse crews all team up to stop them and learn that they're in an alternate timeline created by the Borg during the events of ''First Contact'', and that their reality will have to be erased permanently in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the multiverse. Some of them are less happy about it than others, but they band together to fight the good fight one last time. Everyone fucking dies, of course, but in the end they defeat the dickhead aliens and save the day before being extinguished forever. Still a better note to go out on than Disney saying "lol none of the old EU is canon anymore, buy our new stuff nerds."<br />
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= Video Games =<br />
Again, you're in /tg/, so /v/ comes LAST.<br />
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There have been over 100 Star Trek video games to date but you'll be lucky for find more than [https://www.gog.com/news/6_classic_star_trek_games_ready_to_beam_up_new_players_and_fans_alike 6 on Steam or GOG] that aren't shitty mobile phone games. The vast, vast majority of Star Trek's games are abandonware with no way to purchase them, let alone get them from completely trustable sources. Also for a long time gamers had the (justified) prejudice that ''Trek'' games were shit and ''Wars'' games were good. This changed a bit after ''Elite Force'' redeemed ''Trek'' a bit and more so on the other end after EA ran ''Wars'' to the ground.<br />
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* [https://www.gog.com/partner/startrek List of Star Trek games on GOG.com]<br />
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=== Star Trek Online ===<br />
''Star Trek Online'' is the free-to-play online game built by Cryptic Studios and run by <s>Infogrames</s> <s>Atari</s> <s>Perfect World</s> Gearbox. With an official license CBS, recurring characters voiced by various Trek alumni, and a license to include references to both the reboot chronology (officially known as the "Kelvin Timeline") and recent shows, it's the closest existing thing to an "official" continuation of the "Prime" timeline, and contains history and fluff extending nearly 30 years from the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.<br />
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Taking place in the 25th century (around the year 2409-2412), the Hobus supernova (the event that kicked Nero and Spock into the past alternate timeline during Star Trek 2009) has devastated the Romulans, resulting in the near-collapse and fragmentation of the Romulan Star Empire. This causes tensions between a resurgent Klingon Empire and the Federation which blows up into a war. Members of the new (and nicer) breakaway Romulan Republic play both sides in exchange for development aid.<br />
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There are six possible starts for characters.<br />
*Current Starfleet - The standard starting point.<br />
*Klingons - You are a warrior of the Empire! Qapla' warrior! Today is a good day to die!<br />
*Romulan Republic - Part of a breakaway state after the destabilization of the Star Empire, you get a choice on which major faction (Starfleet or Klingon) you can join later on.<br />
*Dominion - Quite possibly the least played, you do start at level 60 (basically right at end game since levels cap at 65) and you pick which major faction to join too, but you're part of the Dominion so...<br />
*TOS Starfleet - With all the redshirt shenanigans that entails. A time anomaly and weird mission later and you're now in the standard timeline for STO.<br />
*DSC Starfleet - Similar to TOS, comes with a series of starting missions that are possibly the best any of the starts have. Drawback is that it is couched in the Discovery era.<br />
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The game contains deep cuts from all over Trek lore, and answers questions about what happened to various key characters, including Data (took over the Enterprise-E, then retired), the Enterprise (now an even bigger ship run by Andorian captain Shon), and the Voyager crew (it took Harry Kim 30 years to make Captain lol). Raises barely-shown, unnamed, and otherwise obscure races to new prominence as big bad foes, including the Iconians (ancient aliens with god complexes who mutated into energy beings, currently live in Dyson Spheres and were only defeated by a predestination paradox), Tzenkethi (4-armed halo guys whose weak points are the FRONT of their shields), and Na'kuhl (the alien nazis from Enterprise as time-traveling terrorists who blame the Federation for a throwaway event that happened in TNG's beach episode).<br />
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The two most recent major arcs center on a Klingon power struggle and civil between mostly TNG-era Klingons and some DSC-era Klingons (and you also go to Klingon Hell) followed very quickly by a Terran arc with heavy tie-ins to the original Star Trek movie's V'Ger. While the Klingon arc made some players more than a little irked due to not only its length (spread out over several "seasons" of play) and it's attempt to shoehorn in the controversial Discovery era, the Terran arc has been widely praised and brought back a very notorious character from the TNG era.<br />
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Ostensibly free to play, but don't let that fool you... the ''not-so-micro''transactions are the only reason the lights stay on.<br />
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That said, the game does get really decent updates and now is in a groove of running two seasonal events ("Summer on Risa" and "Q's Winter Wonderland") as well as a year-long campaign, as well as a smattering of smaller ones throughout the year. The seasonal ones tend to give you really good shit (often a ship, other times major equipment that can help define an entire character) but the year-long campaign gives you a choice of 3 options to pick from - a shit ton of in-game currency known as Lobi (enough to get a Lobi ship and a little extra), TWO regular Zen Store Tier 6 ships (these unlock for all characters, by the way), or one of the "Premium" ships (ones you typically get from lockbox drops). The only major stipulation is the Premium ship can't be one that has been released in that specific year, but previous years ones are fair game to grab.<br />
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=== Bridge Commander ===<br />
A game that lets you feel like a captain. Very dated, but mods are very good. Has had a resurgence in recent years, with newer mods adding stuff from the newer shows.<br />
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=== Elite Force ===<br />
There was an "Away Team" game that sucked and a "Voyager" game 1995-7 that got canceled. ''Elite Force'' was the ST:VOY away-team FPS game that critics didn't poop on, and it even got a sequel featuring much of the cast of ''TNG''.<br />
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=== Starfleet Command ===<br />
''Starfleet Command'' was a series real time space battle games by Interplay based on the much older tabletop game Star Fleet Battles. It came out in 1999 and was followed by several sequels and expansions. Gameplay was much like ''Battlefleet Gothic'', but with the player only controlling one ship. SFC remains Interplay's best selling game, topping even ''Baldur's Gate''.<br />
<br />
=== Armada ===<br />
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A series of low effort RTS's churned out by Activision in 2000. Tried to take on both ''Homeworld'' and ''Age of Empires'', both of which have recently gotten HD remakes and ''Armada'' hasn't so that should tell you all you need to know. However, for one of the first 3D model space RTS's it was surprisingly easy to mod, resulting in many ship mod packs being made for it.<br />
<br />
=== Legacy ===<br />
Starfleet Command dumbed down but with fancier graphics and the ability to fly in 3D. Features ships and protagonists from all 4 main series before the reboots so it has everything iconic. The Ultimate Universe mod has every single ship from all series before the reboot.<br />
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==NonCanon==<br />
=== Homages ===<br />
Being such a long-running franchise with a wide audience, Star Trek has gained enough pop-culture recognition that it is often referenced in other works. In a few cases entire projects are made to pay homage to Star Trek. Here are some examples.<br />
<br />
==== Galaxy Quest ====<br />
A sci-fi/comedy film released in 1999, directed by Dean Parisot. Built around that ''Three Amigos'' premise of "What if the cast of ''Star Trek'' ended up on a real spaceship and had to actually do the shit they did in the show?", this one parodies science fiction films and series in general - ''Star Trek'' (and its fandom) in particular.<br />
<br />
The film stars big name actors including Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and the late Alan Rickman. The plot revolves around the cast of a defunct cult television series called Galaxy Quest (for example, Tim Allen played the Kirk/Shatner expy and Alan Rickman played the Spock/Nimoy expy). They're also suffering fatigue that mirrors the experiences of the actual Star Trek actors (Rickman's character is typecast with his Galaxy Quest character and laments it, similar to how these things happened to the late, great Leonard Nimoy).<br />
<br />
The cast are suddenly visited by actual aliens, the Thermians, who believe the series to be an accurate documentary (they have no concept of fiction and only the most bare bones idea of lying - which they only just learned about when the antagonist deceived them repeatedly) and seek their help. The Thermians take the actors with them, who find themselves involved in a very real, and dangerous, galactic conflict against the alien warlord, Sarris. Unlike the show where it all wrapped up quickly they struggle to learn about and relate to the aliens. Can these ordinary, flawed actors find greatness within themselves, and possibly personal redemption? (Spoiler: yes, and it is incredible.)<br />
<br />
Speaking of the aliens, in a witty nod to the "rubber forehead aliens" so common in Star Trek, the Thermians first appear to resemble humans with unnaturally pale skin and straight hair/cheap make-up, but that's revealed to be a holographic disguise and their true forms are squid-like. This does not stop one of the actors from striking up a relationship with a female alien anyway. [[/d/| Shine on you crazy /d/iamond!]]<br />
<br />
/tg/ deems this one of the best parodies ever made, and an affectionate love-letter to the franchise as a whole. If you disagree then feel free to consume a big bag of Saurian Swinoid dongs.<br />
<br />
''"Never give up, Never surrender!"''<br />
<br />
==== The Orville ====<br />
Now has [[The Orville|its own page]].<br />
<br />
===Fanfics===<br />
We ''could'' point you to An Archive Of Our Own but, for those (few) of you not keen to watch Kirk and Spock probe Uranus, here are some of the better noncanonical Trek you might want to watch.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek: Renegades====<br />
Kickstarter Trek. The makers submitted their made-for-TV movie pilot to CBS in an attempt to get it made into a legit on-the-air series (and by god it shows), but they were not successful. As a result, while the project limped along for a few years afterward, it has good and bad in equal measure. As a non-official product it also cannot be considered canon. Some characters are actually interesting (about time we saw more of the Breen!) while others are pure Mary Sues (including a male Seven of Nine with a built-in Borg-gun/personal shield/fully-functional hand). Some of the ideas are interesting while others are boring or already-been-done. The CGI is all Hollywood-quality, but the practical effects are okay at best. <br />
It's obvious that they made this without knowing that they were going to be able to make a TV show or not, and tried to cram the sort of build-up and intrigue we saw in DS9 into a span of 90 minutes. For now though, it's decidedly meh, and probably a dead project as well since it hasn't been mentioned on the maker's website in over a year as of late 2019.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek Continues====<br />
Of all the offerings listed here, Star Trek Continues is BY FAR the closest in theme and tone to the original 1960's series. Indeed, this is the whole point: from its inception, this fan-funded project was intended to represent a what-if "4th Season" of the Original Series, ending with the conclusion of the Enterprise's 5-year mission. It is surprisingly and at times ''delightfully'' watchable, with strong stories, consequences and arcs that carry over to later episodes, tons of attention to detail, unexpected cameos, and a cast that really came together, particularly in later episodes. It also delicately navigated a line between viewing female characters through the lens of a show that was rooted in 1960's culture while also not treating them as weak children dependent on men for protection. Star Trek Continues successfully concluded its "season" with all 11 episodes gradually released from 2014 to 2018, to heaps of industry awards and wide praise (including a personal endorsement from Gene Roddenberry's son, who said his father would've approved).<br />
<br />
===Parodies===<br />
====Futurama====<br />
Matt Groening, that mad lad, got almost all the original actors in a ''Futurama'' episode to [re-]enact a ''Trek'' episode on behalf of an alien fan. But not Doohan, so "Scotty" is replaced by "Welshie". Who gets horribly killed and has his corpse zapped whenever the alien loses his temper.<br />
<br />
====Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning====<br />
Another parody, parodying not only ''Star Trek'' but ''Babylon 5'' as well. The seventh in a series fan movies released in 2005, it's about Captain Pirk builds a starship called CPP ''Kickstart'', allies with Russia and takes over the world. He wants to take over more planets but the ships of his P-Fleet aren't fast enough to travel outside the Solar system. A maggot hole opens and it leads to an alternate reality. Pirk wants to take over the Earth of this reality, which leads to an [[awesome]] space battle between the P-Fleet and the fleet of the space station Babel 13 led by Johnny Sherrypie. The movie features some of the best special effects ever put in a sci-fi movie, which is pretty impressive, considering that this is an amateur film with a very low budget and was rendered in five years in someone's bedroom. The film is spoken in Finnish but subtitles are available for a wide variety of languages, including Klingon. They also made [https://web.archive.org/web/20070828010927/http://rpg.starwreck.com/ a role-playing game based on it], where your character [[Truenamer|becomes more incompetent]] [[Page 42|as he levels up]].<br />
<br />
= Criticisms =<br />
Also known as "plot holes", "what an idiot moments", and myriad of other names.<br />
* Cybernetics, as in prosthetics and artificial tools instead of Synthetic lifeforms like Data. There are various stories where physical injuries and handicaps are a big deal and used as allegories for issues like the treatment of the disabled or even euthanasia, but some could argue that even those cases special enough to get an episode shouldn't be an issue in a galaxy where technology has advanced light years and replicators are widespread. Besides whatever in-episode exception is given, this is partly explained by the various factions generally having ''some'' respect for the sanctity and autonomy of the organic form or just being flat-out better than anything technology can recreate, but sometimes it can seem ''awfully'' tempting to <s>magic</s> science up a series of sensors, implants or dermal armor that can give you the durability of a [[Men of Iron|Soong-class android]] or the spectral analysis capabilities of Geordi's visor. There's seldom an in-universe budget issue for this (replicators construct anything out of anything; only mass matters, not cost), though there are some out-of-universe issues for both the budget ("We can't afford more styrofoam tech props!") and plot ("Shut up about how the engineer invented a new engine component last season which would perfectly solve this problem.")<br />
** The technological arms race might also stand out depending on how you interpret the factions who generally lack the Federation's restraint. While Klingons may value the power found in their strong bat'leth arm and the purity of a warrior's physical form, some might argue that their obsession with warrior pride and strength should mean they have [[Big Mek|war engineers]] dedicated to creating the biggest, most badass powered armor with the biggest phasers and blades. And if Romulans and Cardassians are so ruthlessly ambitious, shouldn't their agents have hyper-stealthy scanners and miniaturized electronic warfare suites for better spying? Granted, one counter to that is "because the tech would inevitably be detected and reverse-engineered by Star Trek technobabble, spawning a perpetual cybernetics arms race", but still. And then you get into the Borg, [[Meme|who have no such weaknesses]], and it opens a whole can of worms.<br />
** Keep in mind, that in Federation, only ''biological'' augmentation is illegal (like [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like Khan Noonien Singh). ''Cybernetic'' augmentation is incredibly obscure and rarely seen, but '''is''' legal ([[Artificial Intelligence]] is also legal). And on top of that, Federation pays respect to other ideologies and cultures. As such, if Federation citizen decided to turn himself into robust tank-like full-conversion cyborg with lots of badass gadgets and systems - it would not cost him anything (replicators + post-scarcity economy) - while others would remark how strange he is, but not impose any penalties/punishments/sanctions, and would respect him for his incredible capabilities (for there's no guy in town half as massive!). Most other civilizations/nations have even less restrictions on [[Transhumanism]]/augmentation than Federation has - that is, most of them would also allow ''biological'' augmentation - and they also have replicators.<br />
* Everyone look like some variant of human, without any variety:<br />
** All aliens are just humans with slight alterations of face features, like ridges on their foreheads. Aliens, what would so much as look like other members of ''Homo'' Genus (think difference between modern humans and neanderthals), are very rare. And ''truely alien'' aliens are practically non-existent. Yet mathematically, "non-metamorph/spapeshifter aliens evolving to look perfectly like humans" has so small chance, as to be completely implausible - and '''every''' alien race independently evolving to look like humans is '''absurd'''.<br />
** Almost all cyborgs/robots are human-shaped. Almost all of ''those'' are human-looking, with artificial skin and such. Human shape is not very effective for most tasks - and as such, one could expect vaguely-humanoid (e.g. like [[Dreadnought]] or [https://helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/Hulk Cyberstanian Hulk]) and non-humanoid (e.g. tank-shaped "box on threads with rotating turret") robots/cyborgs to appear from time to time - yet such things are practically non-existent in ''Star Trek'' (IRL, it's the other way around - lots of industrial robots and "boxes on threads", and no synthetic humans). What's more, Borg are partially-mechanical cyborgs, clinging to their ragged flesh for no discernible reason, looking more humanlike than [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] members are - while logically, due to having Replicators, Borg could make themselves fully-robotic (with, at most, only nervous system bein organical; everything else would rather be replaced with strong and durable ultra-tech machinery) '''''and''''' field large vaguely-humanoid/non-humanoid units (strong and tough - and since they're big, they can have bigger brains/computers, cue being smarter).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld weapons stronger/bigger than rifle. Such as LMG and RPG-sized weapons, for tough enemies. There is the Worfzooka from Insurrection.<br />
** More about that [http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Database/Query-ST.php?Series=TNG&Category=Realism&EpName=&Keywords=&Quotes=&Analysis=&Submit=Submit there], [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tactics/ there] and [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/ there].<br />
* Lack of ''any'' armor. So much as making jumpsuits out of futuristic ballistic (or at least sharp-resistant) materials would make life easier (e.g. Klingons would be forces to switch for guns, as melee weapons couldn't penetrate even such light futuristic armor), while having same weight, cost (replicators, after all!) and being concealable as clothing (as it would have same weight ''as'' clothing); in fact, such protective clothing should completely replace normal clothing - for it has same cost/weight, but is actually protective. That's before going on to ''any'' sort of "proper" armor; no equivalents of [[Power Armor]] and [[Carapace Armour]] - even no equivalents of [[Flak Armor]]. Even those not going into direct combat would logically need to wear armor - due to chance of enemy teleporting on ship, and due to ship's machinery constantly exploding into dangerous shrapnel. There are two exceptions, there was some armor used by security forces in the movies and armored vests in Discovery (though, neither are good at protecting from gunfire).<br />
** Similarly, lack of ''any'' environmental protection. So much as wearing gas masks/rebreathers or [[Space Station 13|breath masks with emergency oxygen tanks]] would make life a lot easier. Logically, with ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies, even the lesser space-faring civilizations (like most Federation's neighbors) should be capable of creating protective suits that are as comfortable to wear as clothing while protecting from vacuum and hostile atmospheres. And on top of that, armor mentioned above could also be sealed work as protection from environmental threats of all sorts. Yet [[Derp|everyone go around in unarmored jumpsuits, no matter where they are - be it unexplored planet with potentially hostile atmosphere/biosphere, damaged ship where systems leak and depressurizations happen, or warzone where enemies use chemical/biological/radiological weapons]]. [[Irony|All that, ironically, makes goody-two-shoes Federation '''''more backwards''''' than]] modern humans (submariners and jet pilots wear rebreathers, astronauts wear emergency space suits) and ''[[Imperium of Man]]'', of all people (many [[Astra Militarum|guardsmen]] wear gas masks and hazmat suits, [[Space Marine]] armor doubles as emergency space suits). What little environmental protection suits are there in ''Star Trek'', are very unreliable and constantly tear - despite the fact, that ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies could allow to make sharp-proof, bullet-proof, phaser-proof (or at least phaser-resistant) reliable space suits, what would weigh and cost just as much as normal ones (because replicators!).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld heavy explosive weapons. Like, for example, miniature antimatter munitions, for when you ''really'' need to blow something up (imagine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) Davy Crockett], but with '''antimatter''' instead of low-grade fission nuke). Heavy/Powered Armor from point above could help to "use that thing and not die from blast/radiation".<br />
* Lack of Ground Vehicles. If you are exploring an alien planet, you'd want to be able to get around it's surface quickly. But basically you're limited to Spaceships and Walking.<br />
* Lack of Boarding/Breaching Vehicles. If you are not tank-like cyborg, and you're fighting inside spaceship (or other cramped place) - you'd want something compact, yet equipped with lots of armor and weapons, preferably remote-controlled and flying. A "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Descent room] [https://www.old-games.ru/game/103.html superiority] starfighter", or [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2729877778&searchtext=Breaching+drone breaching] [https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=244850&searchtext=Breaching+drone&childpublishedfileid=0&browsesort=textsearch&section= drone] variants. Such machine would be many times stronger than [[Power Armor]]/small [[Battlesuit]] soldiers - not to mention infantrymen; it would be impervious to small-arms fire, and resistant to anti-vehicular weapons. But instead, everyone are limited to "walking around, without any armor, and without anything bigger than rifle".<br />
** To understand, how scary such remote-controlled "box of death" or "room superiority starfighter" would be with Star Trek tech... It would technically be a very small spaceship. Made of heavy spaceship-grade armor, resistant to phaser cannons and anti-matter rockets, to the point of being able to take hits from vehicles bigger than itself. With deflector shields on top of that. And instead of 25x184 gatling autocannons and 200mm rocket launchers (what is ''already'' overkill for anything human-sized), it would be armed with '''''ginormous phaser [auto]cannons and antimatter missiles (!)'''''. And it quickly flies on futuristic engines, far stronger than any modern variant of ion or hydrogen engine; so much as it's engine exhaust trust can turn unarmored infantryman into pile of charcoal and fling it across the ship. It's a non-living vehicle, with ton of immunities and resistances that entails. And if it's outfitted with AI (instead or in addition to remote-control system), it gets all advantages of that (absolute timing and precision, intuitive fast mathematics, reaction speed rivaling that of CIWS system, etc). It has virtually limitless operating time, due to working on anti-matter reactor (or something comparable); if it's destroyed, it violently explodes (due to anti-matter reactor and anti-matter ammunition detonation). It may also be outfitted with various tools (e.g. repair tools and manipulators), or even ''portable replicator''. And most of it's opponents are enemies with tiny peashooters and useless chunks of sharp iron, what can't even scratch the machine's paintjob. Have fun.<br />
* And [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MisappliedPhlebotinum why not use teleporter offensively]? Make big antimatter bomb (whatever warheads your torpedoes use; the stronger explosive - the better), set it to explode after teleporting (timer, and other sensors), then teleport it onto enemy ship. Then watch the explosion of epic proportions, as '''enormous''' antimatter warhead (at least 2 meters big in every direction - possibly, so big what it fills all available space on ship's bridge; the bigger can fit inside your teleporter - the better) explodes inside enemy ship. Even tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles can't survive '''that''' much of explosion; ship's systems will also be utterly devastated. There are no people out there, who would be more destructive than antimatter bomb of same mass/size.<br />
**As a counterpoint, transporters can't work through shields and a variety of other things can stop transporters from working including radiation, electromagnetic activity and suchlike. Transporter Inhibitors have been mentioned and shown repeatedly.<br />
* And why there are no ship defenses? For example, so much as "phaser autocannon turret equivalent in size to gatling autocannon" would be great at repelling any boarding infantrymen, and could help against tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles. That's before going on to any bigger defensive systems; the only thing what ''sufficiently big'' turret can't handle, is '''massive antimatter bomb''' (read above). Yet instead, everyone foolishly leave their ships defenseless, despite knowing what enemies ''have'' teleports and ''will'' board their ships.<br />
* Planet of the Hats. Not a problem unique to Trek, but it's very acute here. As mentioned a lot of species in Star Trek are rather one note. For the Klingons it's all about being a [[Proud Warrior Race|Honorable Warrior]], for the Romulans it's all about covert actions, intrigue and political plotting, for the Ferengi it's all about making money and being greedy, etc. Those are the big species and most Species-Of-The-Week are even more one-note than that, such as the species who's hat is being big-game hunters, playing board games or aggressive bartering. Admittedly there's only so much you can fit into part of a 45 minute long TV show and there are some ideas that work better than others, but even so building an entire civilization/country around interpretive dance is pretty dumb.<br />
** Besides, there is large shortage of "atypical" characters, whose characteristics are different from their species' average. Such as a Ferengi guy who isn't greedy trader; Ferengi guy who is militaristic conqueror a-like Conquistadors, who prefers to enslave and "take something forcibly" instead of buying; Romulan soldier/special-agent who is a militaristic gun nut and fan of direct "blow everything up!" actions; Klingon pirate/rebel/marauder who is a militaristic warlike callous asshole without any sense of honor or morals (i.e. unfettered in his desire to conquer and destroy); Human who is hulking, augmented to the point of being non-humanoid, [[Cyborg]] [[Space Marine]], [[Transhumanist]] and conqueror, who tries to "save Federation from it's own stupidity", reverse-engineers Borg tech, "recruits" Borgs (by disconnecting them from [[Hive Mind]] and connecting to himself) and constantly intervenes everywhere.<br />
* Budget problems. Most factions (e.g. Federation lives in post-scarcity economy) have access to Replicators ([https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS_Prime_Directive#Star_Fleet_Universe_Tech_Levels among other things], what clearly classify it as [[Soft Science Fiction]]); they can turn anything into anything, as long as they have supply of energy and bulk matter. Naturally, there ''are'' large supply of energy (from Antimatter reactors), and lots of bulk matter (planets, asteroids, etc). Therefore, "budget limitations" as we know it cease existing, and anyone can take as much big-advanced gear as he wants; from robust full-conversion-cyborg body, to big guns and power armor, to portable replicator, to all sorts of gadgets. Yet characters behave as if they are on strict budget limits - usually coming on missions while grossly under-equipped (only having non-protective uniforms and phaser-pistols); what frequently resulted in problems ([https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction that even got highlighted on TvTropes]).<br />
** In particular they have goofy things like having civilizations in the same technological ball-park of the Federation capture people to mine stuff with pick axes or push mine carts of ore into furnaces like this is the 19th century; even though mining machines like tunneling shield, power tools, and self-moving carts are a lot cheaper than slaves, and should already be invented.<br />
*** Generally, there's shortage of "Sane Evil"/"Pragmatic Evil" types - "those who are ready to do any heinous act, but only as long as it furthers their goal, who are capable of doing good things if it furthers their goal, and who don't do evil if it doesn't further their goal". Most villains in series are [[Grimderp]] [[Stupid Evil]] types who do bad things just to show how evil they are. All while "Pragmatic Evil" types are more interesting, more realistic, more common IRL, and rise many good philosophical question by virtue of ''arguably being more effective than good guys'' ("So you would rather be good yet inefficient, or amoral yet efficient?", "Moral is subjective - yet our system is more effective - and from our point of view, we're perfectly moral", "Your 'morals' and 'ethics' are just handcuffs and shackles you imposed on yourself, what slow down your civilization - like those dumb Klingon codes of honor", etc).<br />
* Numerous other errors (some [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction highlighted on TvTropes]). Such as exploding instrument panels (could be fixed with batteries and wireless connection; and on top of that, no one wears armor, not even flak armor), holodeck problems (mishaps by creating physical, dangerous holograms - yet never gets used for any actually practical ways, like "conjure cannon fodder out of thing air, and beam it to enemy ship"), no computer backups, no transporter tests (teleport a sealed container of water up and down - then teleport a mouse up and down - and check if both are normal - and samples are to be beamed up separately; no one did that), no environmental protection, no physical access doors in brig, shuttles what poorly fly in atmosphere, cargo working in 1G gravity (despite low-gravity being more productive), no space suits or other protective gear, and some other errors.<br />
* The Prime Directive. [[TL;DR]] Starfleet is forbidden from interacting with pre-warp civilizations, and main characters are Starfleet members. In broad strokes it's not a bad idea since we don't want to be Space Cortés enslaving people to mine dilithium and imposing our religion on them at laser-point, and Star Trek has always leaned towards more liberal ideas of respecting the freedom and autonomy of other cultures instead of intervening "because we know best", to say nothing of when time travel and mirror dimensions are involved and you have to preserve the sanctity of the timeline (unless the point of the episode is to FIX what's wrong to get back to your universe). Nor do the Feddies want to accidentally stunt the growth of a civilization by becoming their gods or making them dependent on them and thus incapable of advancing by themselves. The problem is that it comes up when civilizations face some major danger like a killer disease, geological disaster or the Schmazis going around genociding everyone on the planet who's not forest green and the federation's official response is "rules are rules, can't interfere" as millions suffer and die in all sorts of gruesome preventable ways (including ''pre-warp Earth''; they don't care about suffering/deaths of ''their own people'' -but this particular problem comes with the huge caveat of temporal interference as playing god on someone else is one thing, erasing yourself from existence is another-). Many species and civilizations have suffered extinction or collapse because of this (and in many cases, that resulted or could result in evil aggressive post-warp civilization emerging on such unattended planets), and many problems could be easily avoided if not for Prime Directive. Basically, it's a case of a noble ideal which severely hampers the heroes because there's [[Lawful Stupid|very little room for nuance]].<br />
** Such passivity also commonly extends to post-warp civilizations as well. The Federation's strict policy of non-interference in foreign affairs (barring explicit permission or evidence of interference) has led to many non-aligned races like the Bajorans treating the Federation with open distrust (the Bajorans fought a guerilla campaign against the Cardassians, who massacred and enslaved them for years without the Federation lifting so much as a finger, and many cynically see them as allies of convenience who only backed them up when they had something they wanted) or foregoing several opportunities to shift the balance of power in the Federation's favour (the Klingon Civil War is a prime example of that, as not only would have military support for Gowron's faction have the cost the Federation nothing, but Gowron's enemies sought to undo the peace treaty the Federation had with the Klingons for decades while bringing them closer to the Romulans, the only other faction that could meet the Federation on somewhat equal footing) simply because it would be ideologically inconvenient to do so. Then again, the Federation (or at least the highbrow captains and admirals introduced to show they're not all like our Noblebright heroes) has a nasty tendency to overlook the reality on the ground in an imperfect and volatile galaxy, because as Sisko says, "''It's easy to be a saint in paradise!''"<br />
*** Of course, to be fair, interfering in galactic politics ''does'' set a bad precedent as well, as it would paint the Federation as a big bully who strongarms their way into your messes to tell you what to do for their benefit, which would actively harm not just their ideals but their hope of encouraging more peaceful contact in line with those ideals. Heck, whenever we had episodes where the Federation ''did'' launch covert operations to manipulate things to their advantage, it's usually called out as a self-serving and hypocritical move, even if it's absolutely necessary at the time. But as Sisko also said: "''I can live with it.''"<br />
** Of course, we're /tg/. We can appreciate the [[Warhammer 40,000|in-your-face over-the-top appeal]] of [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|being Space Cortés]] and taking an active hand in shaping the destiny of the stars, righting wrongs and kicking ass like a pulp action serial by channeling your inner [[Buck Rogers]]. And while normally [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Terran%20Empire this tack] is shown as a ''bad'' thing, sometimes you just wanna [[Star_Trek_Alternate_Timelines#Commie_Track_Of_War;_Variant_1|fire up your warp drive and get shit done]]. After all, if you're already in a post-scarcity civilization, why enslave the natives when you can get rid of the genuine threat (that ideally is truly more than they can handle), move on and leave 'em to keep trying on their own while giving them a preview of what it means to cherish the sanctity of life?<br />
<br />
= Would you like to know more? =<br />
And oh Lordy, is there more...<br />
*[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/ Main Memory Alpha: A ''Star Trek'' wiki]<br />
*[http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/ Main Memory Beta: The flip-side of Memory Alpha for the less than official stuff]<br />
*[http://sfdebris.com/ SF Debris: opinionated episode reviews, has some non ''Trek'' stuff as well]<br />
*[http://www.letswatchstartrek.com/ Let's Watch Star Trek]: A curated list of the episodes for newcomers - which episodes to watch or skip.<br />
<br />
[[Category: Television]]<br />
[[Category:Star Trek]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Trek&diff=1003305Star Trek2025-06-24T09:39:27Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Criticisms */</p>
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<div>[[File:Enterprise.jpg|thumb|500px|right|If you aren't already hearing the theme song you might not belong here.]]<br />
<br />
{{Topquote|Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!|James T. Kirk, <s>third</s> captain of the starship USS Enterprise}}<br />
<br />
{{Topquote|[[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For the duration of this mission the prime directive is rescinded.]]|Kathryn Janeway, captain of the starship USS Voyager}}<br />
<br />
'''''Star Trek''''' is a multimedia science-fiction series and one of the cornerstones of nerdy media properties (in fact, Klingon is the most learned fictional language, rivalled only by Tolkien's elvish in popularity), and one of the few to crossover into mainstream popularity (alongside ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and a few others). It's also one of the longest-running science fiction franchises, as it began when the the first episode of The Original Series aired in 1966, and since then has had over 50 years of geek history spanning several generations. Needless to say, it's had a huge influence on all things sci-fi, and, by extension, [[/tg/]].<br />
<br />
Originally, ''Star Trek'' was [[noblebright]] beyond noblebright and, in many ways, was the polar opposite of ''[[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K's]]'' [[grimdark]]. The more recent reboot films, however, have taken a much, ''much'' more grimdark tone, which is delightfully [[skub]]tastic.<br />
<br />
= Games =<br />
You're in /tg/ = 1d4chan, so, we'll start with the games.<br />
<br />
There's been plenty of tabletop games and [[/v/|vidya gaems]] featuring ''Star Trek'' without being merchandising bullshit (see: themed ''[[Monopoly]]'' sets), including one of the earliest action multiplayer wargame: ''Netrek''. <br />
<br />
*'''''Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier''''' (1978) The very first Trek tabletop [[RPG]]. Written by, I shit you not, Michael Scott. Groggy (grokky?) as all hell, and due for an OSR.<br />
* '''''[[Starships & Spacemen]]''''' (1978 1e, 2013-present 2e) This was an attempt by a guy named Leonard Kanterman to make his own Star Trek RPG but since he didn't hold the license he had to alter the names and fudge the rules a bit so he wouldn't get sued. It appeared and died fairly quickly. It was later purchased by [[Goblinoid Games]] and heavily reworked to work more like their other game, [[Labyrinth Lord]] but different enough that converting things back and forth should take a minute or two longer than just dropping them in. The 2e version has some decent third party material at least.<br />
* '''''[[Star Fleet Battles]] (SFB)''''' (1979-) The crunchiest starship combat game you're ever going to find outside of a computer. Based on the original series and not any of the later series, for licensing reasons. Takes some liberties with the setting, which (combined with the aforementioned licensing) is why "''Star Trek''" isn't actually in the title. It's had its own video game spinoff in the form of Starfleet Command. The vidya series died when the last company owned by Interplay broke up in the early 2000s, but the original game is still published by its designer, Amarillo Design Bureau (formerly in conjunction with the defunct Task Force Games).<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Role Playing Game''''' (1982-1989) Made by [[FASA]], essentially ''[[Traveller]]''-lite, or a happier, shinier ''[[Rogue Trader]]''. Hasn't aged terribly well, what with having been made when the only canonical ''Star Trek'' materials to work with were the original and animated series, the first four films, and a couple of now non-canon novels. If you try to dust it off, expect tons of conflict with the rest of the show. Died as they were trying to update it for ''TNG'', because Paramount's corporate suits (surprise, surprise) had no idea what an RPG actually entailed and were worried about violence, and getting their cut, and... oh you know the drill by now. Welcome to the 80's.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator''''' (1983) FASA designed this, so it feels like ''[[Battletech]]'' but not as good.<br />
* '''''Prime Directive''''' (1993-2008) The most successful tabletop RPG line (but that's not saying much), it's actually still in print. Produced by Amarillo Design Bureau, so again no direct name-dropping of "''Star Trek''." Lasted as long as it did by constantly evolving, in Borg-like fashion, to adapt to the current zeitgeist. Has had 4 editions, with the second using [[GURPS]], the third using [[Wizards of the Coast|d20]], and the fourth [[d20 Modern]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek [[Card_Game|CCG]]''''' (1994-2007, 2011-2014, 2013-2015, 2018-) There's been a few of these, most notably the games released by [[Decipher]], but never globally popular. They also suffered from game balance problems from fans wanting their fave character, but needing extra rules for their quirks. There's also the problem of putting numbers to character stats, such as one game that asserted that [[Heresy|Picard having about twice the integrity of a Klingon pig]]. Later versions are "deck-building" games to try to cash in on the popularity of ''[[Dominion]]'' and ''[[Thunderstone]]''. And now virtual CCGs are the order of the day.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Next Generation Role Playing Game''''' (1998-2000) The next attempt, made by Last Unicorn Games. Won an Origins Award for best new game. Has a lot of extraneous skills, as expected of a 90's RPG, but does a good job of capturing the feel of the show. Includes core books for Deep Space Nine and The Original Series, with a planned Voyager book never released. Tons of fan material is available, including books for Enterprise, Voyager, and even the Captain Pike era. Authors of the original game have also finished and released adventures and sourcebooks online. Died an untimely death.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Red Alert''''' (2000) A Diskwars game themed to ''Star Trek''.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Roleplaying Game''''' (2002-2005) When [[Decipher]] had the CCG license, they decided, "What the hell, let's make an RPG, too." Some of the authors of the Last Unicorn Games RPG worked on this game. The systems are similar but different enough that they aren't compatible. The fluff focuses more on the Voyager era. A well made game but it's forgotten for a reason. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Online''''' (2010-) An [[MMORPG|MMO]]. Decent gameplay mechanics, especially starship combat. Storyline leaves something to be desired, especially when the ostensibly [[Noblebright|peaceful]] Federation trades shots at least once with every other faction in the galaxy. Is also sadly being screwed over by CBS who keeps retconning the series thus forcing the game to bend more and more unnaturally to fit in the new canon. Still, it's solid enough for an MMO and you can hit max level quick enough to get into the real meat of the game and join a Fleet (their version of a guild) and blow shit up.<br />
* '''''Call To Arms: Star Trek''''' (2011) [[Mongoose_Publishing|Mongoose]]'s license for ''Babylon 5'' expired, so they collaborated with Amarillo Design Bureau (the ''Star Fleet Battles'' guys), re-themed the game to Star Trek along with improving the system to make it more nifty. Less micro-management than SFB, and ships get some cinematic feats.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Expeditions''''' (2011) Ignore the tie-ins to the movie, Reiner Knizia designed this. Explore the gameboard, flip over missions, try to have the proper crew to get victory points.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Fleet Captains''''' (2011) Tile flipping, exploring, and spaceships fighting over resources<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Attack Wing''''' (2013-) [[WizKids]] license the flightpath system from [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and adds ''Star Trek'' to the mix, [[Skub]] ensues. The game has been consistently plagued with balance issues, to the point that the rules errata is more than ten times longer than the actual rules. The actual current rules for things like the Borg special movement and fighter squadrons are completely different than the rules as written.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Ascendancy''''' (2016-) 4X table top boardgame from GaleForce9. Most of the races are represented, though the base set only has the Federation, Klingons and Romulans. Andorians, Vulcans, Cardassians and Ferengi can be purchased as expansions. There is even a Borg expansion that turns the game semi-coop as everyone tries real hard not to be assimilated. <br />
* '''''[[Star Trek Adventures]]''''' (2017-) The latest attempt at an RPG, by Modiphius. It also comes with a whole range of miniatures of the various crews from the show. Runs on a similar engine to the creator's ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' which both makes sense, since they're both pulpy storytelling, and is hilarious, given the total tonal mish-mash between the two. Task resolution is generally done via a mixture of six attributes and six disciplines, which are added together, then used as a modifier for a d20 roll. For instance, combat is usually handled by the Security discipline, but hand-to-hand combat would use Fitness or Daring, while firing a phaser or other long-arm would use Control, and shipborne weapons Insight or Reason. In addition to combat stuff, players might solve problems by obtaining information and sciencing the shit out of it. They also have various Values that can be tapped for additional dice, a shared pool of Momentum all players can spend to gain advantages and add to by overboosting on success, and a pool of Threat that they can give the GM rather than burning Momentum, which he can then spend to make the situation degrade. It's a fun system, but it requires a GM who can wrap their head around the idea of an evolving situation rather than a set encounter to really click, which can be hard for GMs who're used to the ''D&D'' model.<br />
<br />
= So why should I care? =<br />
Because between them, these six TV series and their assorted spinoff movies, books, etc. can provide inspiration for any sci-fi game you could care to run. If you want light-hearted action, look at the sort of things that happened in ''TOS'' or ''DS9'' to get the crew into some dangerous situation. If you want a charismatic villain, look at Gul Dukat or the Borg Queen ([[skub|but not the one in Voyager]]). More serious issues are often handled with various degrees of success. While many science fiction series deal with a wide range of topics, Star Trek does so as aspects of a greater world. Like [[Tolkien]] is to fantasy it's a prime gateway drug to science fiction and especially science fiction which is more than "action movie IN SPACE!"<br />
<br />
Not to mention in any sci-fi RPG with remotely free-form rules you're likely to encounter ''Star Trek'' fanboys, so you might as well know what they're talking about. The unholy spawn of a Trekkie and a [[Furry]] is known as a [[Chakat]], and you should fear it.<br />
<br />
At its best ''Star Trek'' is thoughtful, optimistic futurism with a positive human element and brings you to strange new worlds in the grand tradition of speculative fiction but one that's accessible to even the layman. At its worst ''Star Trek'' is arrogant, smug, hypocritical, one-sided, preachy, dull and sloppy.<br />
<br />
= Setting =<br />
Here's the Cliff's Notes on ''Star Trek''. A couple of general warnings; firstly, ''Star Trek'' likes to ''really'' take its "racial themes" bits just a little too far. Second, despite this, it's rare for an entire race to be completely irredeemable the way many fictional aliens are: there are heroic and sympathetic characters from nearly every race listed below, able to put more-positive spins on their racial themes. Thirdly, aside from very occasional appearances by [[H.P. Lovecraft|aliens who are so bizarre that humankind can barely comprehend them]], all of the aliens look like dudes with rubber masks on (because they are). In real life, this was because there was no budget for anything else, but in-universe it's been explained by some kind of [[Old Ones|Precursor]] race who seeded all of the planets with their broadly humanoid DNA, and every race evolved slightly differently from there. There isn't much [[fluff]] on what these precursors were like, and some of it was contradictory, and Gene Roddenberry didn't like the idea (although he still had to work with the rubber forehead stuff). The good news for fa/tg/uys who like [[homebrew]] is that this makes it fairly easy to write [[d20 system]] rules for all of the races - after all, most ''D&D'' races are just humans with rubber masks on...<br />
<br />
== A Composite Creation ==<br />
This is a general note that one should consider: Star Trek was created in pretty much the opposite way as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked out a bunch of linguistic stuff and general history of Arda in his spare time over the course of years, then decided to use that as the basis for some stories that he eventually gave to some publishers which in the end sold quite well. <br />
<br />
Roddenberry, by contrast, pitched a very broad general idea (it's the future, things are good, we got some guys on a ship exploring space; a "wagon train to the stars") to the networks and eventually Lucy from ''I Love Lucy'' made it happen. Roddenberry then worked with a variety of writers and actors (and some later on in later series) who added to this rough skeleton of an idea in a process that would continue on to this day. <br />
<br />
This is not to knock either approach, but both have their advantages and disadvantages. In regards to Star Trek, a franchise which relies mostly on an episode of the week format (until recently, apparently) that's been going on for more than half a century, there were numerous people at the helm and many of them had often very different ideas about what should be done that were just thrown out to see what stuck, many of which were contradictory, meaning that the canon is a fucking mess ([[Warhammer 40,000|Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?]]). Some of which we'd frankly rather forget (Data being possessed by a mask, for instance). In general fans and fluff writers have been spending a whole lot of time trying to straighten things out and much of the lore is basically a [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main rough consensus of what people like and what fits in with it]. Later series got more systematic about this, but there are still points of contention and a lot of flat out contradictions due to its scattershot nature.<br />
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You know, like [[/co/| comic books]].<br />
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= Factions =<br />
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'''The Federation'''<br />
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[[File:Federation_Ships.jpg|thumb|500px|left|Starfleet's ships of the Line (original universe/canon)]]<br />
Might as well talk about that main faction. The United Federation of Planets is what the [[Tau]] think they are. Its backstory is that in the distant future of the 1990s, [[God-Emperor of Mankind|übermensch]] [[Space Marines|created by genetic engineering]] began conquering the Earth. The [[Imperial Guard|normies]] fought back and won through sheer numbers, cryogenically freezing the Augments and kicking them out of Earth, but the damage and mass political unrest of World War III got half the planet nuked. This was why genetic engineering was banned. Fortunately, in 2063, a <s>drunken asshole</s> heroic visionary named Zefram Cochrane created humanity's first warp drive (though it functioned based on the principle that gravity bends space-time, and was therefore more akin to an Alcubierre drive than anything that's dependent on the [[Warp]]) and made first contact with the Vulcans. The Vulcans eventually helped humanity rebuild and overcome poverty, disease, war and hunger. With its Earthly problems solved, man turned to the stars and found out its three closest neighbors were [[Imperium of Man|racist xenophobic dicks trying to murder each other]]. Since any war between them would've swept up puny little Earth and gotten it glassed, humans decided to force their neighbors to sit down and talk things out. Incredibly, it worked, and the United Federation of Planets was born.<br />
<br />
The Federation is a commie [[noblebright]] hippieland society with a post-scarcity economy and a strong democratic government ([[Mary Sue|pretty much Roddenberry's idea of utopia]]). As a result, Federation citizens work not because they have to, but because they want to. However, despite their advanced technology, transhumanism, that is intentionally making [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like the infamous antagonist Khan Noonien Singh, is illegal.<br />
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The Federation's Navy is almost always called Starfleet. It's a mix between a military, a coast guard and a space agency, and usually rates scientific research as a higher priority than defense. One of its quirks is that it doesn't subscribe to the "bigger is better" policy used in most [[Warhammer 40K|sci-fi]], and even by most of the other ''Star Trek factions''. If the Federation ''does'' make a large ship, it's because they want it to have a daycare, swimming pool and ice cream bar. If they want a warship, they'll take a little gunship half the size of a modern day destroyer and pack it with enough antimatter nukes and guns to exterminate a solar system. In some cases, especially when dealing with ships from several centuries into the future, the ship is bigger on the inside than on the outside [[Creed|allowing it to hide a vast array of powerful armaments, ''space-bending'' equipment, and even whole planetary landscapes]]. They can get away with this because they out-tech almost everyone else by a country mile. The reason for the series' infamous "technobabble" is that <s>even ''they'' don't know everything their tech can do!</s> their technology is always evolving, and they know it so well that they can often use it in ways that even the original in-show design schematics did not intend.<br />
<br />
In theory, Starfleet follows a rule called the "Prime Directive", which says that you're not allowed to interfere with low-tech races ("low-tech" being defined as "not having invented the warp drive", since warp technology apparently follows naturally from the laws of physics) or else things like turning the locals into Nazis might happen. The Original Series talked about this rule all the time, and Captain Kirk threw it aside whenever there was a sexy alien babe in sight. From ''TNG'' onward, it tended to instead be brought up whenever a hack writer needed a reason for the heroes to ''not'' instantly resolve a given problem with their superior technology or a way of making our heroes look like assholes for following it rigidly (yes, we could save this species from extinction but that would be interfering with the cosmic plan!), though there were a few good episodes that took it seriously.<br />
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Some of the more important member races are:<br />
<br />
'''Founding members:'''<br />
* [[Humans]]: You know 'em, you love 'em. Comprise seemingly 90% of Starfleet for reasons in no way related to the cost of makeup/CGI.<br />
* [[Vulcan]]: The Original [[Eldar|Space Elves]], very emotional, especially during "pon'farr" (see below), who followed the teachings of an enlightened sage and embraced logic and rationalism after their emotions nearly led to them [[Slaanesh|wiping themselves out]]. They are what the average race of fantasy elves think they are, except on ''Enterprise'' because the writers wanted to artificially inject tension into the show (some of that was retconned to be a Romulan plot). Occasionally enter a state called "pon'farr," where they need to either [[Dark Eldar| fuck something half to death]], kill it with the nearest sharp object, or die of a brain aneurysm to let out all that pent-up emotional tension. Fa/tg/uys may recognize this as the sensation they feel every time [[Games Workshop]] puts out a new army book. There are ships with mostly Vulcan crews. But only two are seen. One commanded by the biggest jerk among them and the other [[grimdark|got eaten by a giant space amoeba.]] However they're pretty bro-tier overall. <br />
* Andorians: Blue dudes with antennae and constant fits of passion, the polar opposite of Vulcans and their one time foes. Pretty much fa/tg/uys, right down to the romantic streak, in the technical sense. Also, they live underground on a diet of meatbread and rage. Most of what defined them happened in Enterprise as they rarely showed up in the TNG-era, and even then did so as set dressing, allegedly because one of the showrunners hated their antennae and banned anyone from using them.<br />
* Tellarites: Space [[Dwarf|Dorfs]]; like insulting everyone and arguing a lot (no, really, petty insults are considered a polite gesture in Tellarite culture), mostly because the very first tellarite ever shown in the series got in an argument with Spock's dad and now it's their whole racial thing. “Sarek said something in a scene once that was meant to demonstrate that he was stand-offish and kinda rude, but we like Sarek so it's now the defining attribute of this species.” It's all in good fun you understand, your confidence in your ideas and actions should be sturdy enough to withstand honest assessment and critique.<br />
'''Notable Additional Members:'''<br />
* Betazoids: Invariably attractive humanoid aliens with telepathic powers. Half-betazoid, half-humans apparently only have "empathic" powers, so they are well-regarded by Starfleet captains for their ability to point out the obvious and fill out the tight bodygloves that make up the Starfleet uniform in a pleasing manner, especially since theirs seem to come in a custom cut for reasons entirely unrelated to Roddenberry's erection. Their homeworld is like dropping a really hippie college and Space Vegas into a blender. They were taken over during The Dominion war because Earth or Vulcan would be seen as bullshit due to their large post Borg attack defense fleets/ship yards. While the writers would have to actually add new characters for the Andorians and Tellarites(such as Ambassadors for a government in exile). So Betazoid took the hit to raise the stakes.<br />
* Trill: Originally a one-off race introduced as a sapient parasite that possesses and controls a barely, or even unintelligent humanoid host, they were radically reworked in ''Deep Space Nine'', right down to losing their rubber foreheads in favor of spots. Now, the host is itself an intelligent humanoid, and some, but not all, of their kind are able to willingly merge with a symbiont (because someone can't spell) that allows them to access a mixture of the memories and personalities of all previous hosts, though in a way that, theoretically, enhances the host's personality rather than destroying it or subsuming it. Then, when they die, they can pass on the symbiont to another host, theoretically, one they mentored. They went from having a rubber forehead to some spots because Terry Farrell had a allergic reaction to the make-up.<br />
* Tamarians: Previously a one-off in ''TNG'', newly joined as of ''Lower Decks''. Tamarian communication is based entirely around metaphor and idiom, meaning their entire language is predicated on understanding their history's pop culture references. This throws the universal translator for a fit, as it can chew on the vocabulary okay but it can't unpack the contextual meanings. Imagine a medieval monk trying to decipher Korean text messages and you've got the basic idea.<br />
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<br />
'''The Klingon Empire'''<br />
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[[Image:Batleth.jpg|thumb|right|A Bat'Leth (sword of honor), one of several types of Klingon bladed weapons. Frequently mocked IRL for being a poorly designed weapon.]]<br />
[[Commissar|''"It is a good day to die!"'']]<br />
<br />
The Federation's main rival and (movie era and afterward) the quintessential ''Star Trek'' race of lumpy foreheaded aliens. Originally they were a rough analog to the Russians (though they took some elements from [[Communism|communist China]]) in a rough cold war allegory with the Federation (even though the Federation are as commie as they come, though admittedly much of that came around in the TNG era). Their defining feature was that they were militaristic and imperialistic while the Federation was scholarly and respected liberty. This gradually moved more and more into them becoming Imperial Japan/[[Vikings]] In SPESSS obsessed with honor, fighting and dying honorably in battle while worshiping at the altar of [[Sigmar|warrior Jesus]], even as they turned from the Federation's bitter enemies into that friend who's fun to be around when he's not getting into drunken bar fights. You see shades of it during the movie era and it became more and more prominent through ''TNG'', culminating in ''DS9''. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Klingons are nothing more than barbaric savages, however; with Worf being part of the crew, and with ''DS9'' dealing with Klingon politics an awful lot we can see Klingon society as it truly is. Even so, they do often wander into self-parody territory.<br />
<br />
The Klingons, in their current iteration, are a feudal society ruled by a council made up of the most powerful families. Klingon society holds very little value on things such as currency and material gain (which results in the Klingon empire [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65l7RHUx2A having a very simplistic understanding of economics]), believing that anything you acquire without some form of blood, sweat and/or tears on your part is a pathetic and dishonorable way of going about things, much the same way many cultures used to hurl abuse at merchants and bankers. Another thing to keep in mind is that a Klingon's reputation is literally everything. Central to this is fighting your battles personally and against worthy opponents. Calling out a superior is almost always an honorable fight, and Klingon captains can expect challenges if they become lax or suspect in their decisions. Klingons are still capable of being cunning and crafty, however, and having a high diplomacy score is viewed as honorable as they still have examples of cunning and clever heroes tricking boorish and stupid monsters.<br />
<br />
[[Warhammer 40000|Klingons often carry swords into battle in an age of energy beam guns]]. In-universe, this is less suicidal than it sounds in the context of boarding actions and tight starship corridors. The Bat'leth is actually a rather shitty weapon. The Mek'leth is noted to be better in most situations. They use the same Disruptor weapons as the Romulans, and at one point used similar starship designs. While is explained as the result of a temporary and unholy alliance, given the eventual animosity between the two races, it was just an excuse to reuse props on a limited budget.<br />
<br />
The Klingons are tied with the Vulcans and the Borg as being the most prominent and recognizable non-human species in Star Trek. Beloved of the Internet and the general public, to the point that there are published books like "A Klingon Christmas" in the world. The Klingons have their own constructed language. If you are ever worrying that you might not be a nerd, learning Klingon will solve that problem for you. Please note that this is in general considered by experts to be pathognomonic of autism. You have not experienced Shakespeare until you hear it in the original Klingon.<br />
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'''The Romulan Star Empire'''<br />
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''"It's always chess with the Romulans"''<br />
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You know those [[Eldar|Vulcans]]? Well a few thousand years ago, as their planet was ravaged by war, some of them turned to intense emotional control and logic to tame their murderous passions, while most others left the planet altogether, founding a colony on the planet Romulus and dubbing themselves [[Dark Eldar|Romulans]]. Since said planet shares a name with a mythical figure known for founding [[Roman Empire|a city which built a vast empire]], and they had warp drive while those around them did not, you probably know that they turned to building an empire of their own. They hold the second place of prominence as immediate rivals to the Federation. Comically, they actually have better emotional control than the average Vulcan, since they gene-engineered most of their problems away years ago, and don't have to deal with the emotional blowback from pon'farr. The downside is that they lost some of their cousins' niftier powers, like mind-reading and being able to transfer their soul into another person for safekeeping. Although Star Trek Online also revealed that their trip to Romulus was a terrible ordeal, and their gene-engineering was taking during that time resulting in them losing most emotions save for bitterness of being "forced out".<br />
<br />
The difference between the Klingons and the Romulans is basically the difference between Gork and Mork, or Khorne and Tzeentch. Klingons will fight you up front with simple brute force. Romulans are sneakier guys, preferring to fight you when you're not looking with spies, cloaked ships and complex plots behind the scenes and playing the long game. There is a lot of political infighting among them, though where the Klingons would duel to the death Romulans would seek to discredit their rivals, have them die in unfortunate "accidents" or disappear. This difference has left both Romulans and Klingons with a big hate-boner for each other, to the Romulans the Klingons are crude brutish barbarians and to the Klingons the Romulans are a pack of scheming cowardly weaklings.<br />
<br />
Like the Klingons, they served as a rough Cold War allegory. In this case, they were rough analogs to Communist China (as seen by 1960s Americans), a distant horde of inscrutable and potentially dangerous Orientals who generally were unseen and projecting vague menace, but when encountered face-to-face could pack quite a punch indeed: the first major Interstellar War that Star Trek Earth fought was with the Romulans, which was fought entirely in space with neither side ever seeing the other face to face. Afterward, they set up a 'Neutral Zone' between the Federation and the Romulan Empire that no one even tried to cross for a century. From the Original Series onward, they frequently squabble and bicker with the Federation, before joining forces with them to fight the Dominion in ''Deep Space Nine'' and having their government devastated in ''Nemesis''. <br />
<br />
In one of the two alternate universes created by J.J.<strike>Binks</strike>Abrams movies, the so-called "Prime Universe", Romulus itself got caught in a supernova as part of the Abramsverse's backstory. ''Picard'' has revealed that Starfleet was going to help evacuate Romulus before the nova hit, but then some rogue androids destroyed the shipyards that the rescue fleet was being built at, so the Federation shrugged, flipped the Romulans the bird, and let them get blown up. The Romulan Star Empire collapsed in the aftermath, with the surviving Romulans are now scattered across half the galaxy. Most of the former Romulan colonies are now officially governed by the Romulan Free State, but their ability to exert their authority is implied to be limited at best and non-existent at worst. The Neutral Zone, in particular, collapsed into near lawlessness. One of their secret police/ anti android cults got a hold of Borg cube and were presumably up to some nefarious shit with it until the events of Star Trek Picard.<br />
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'''The Ferengi Alliance'''<br />
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[[Image:GW_Ferengi.jpg|thumb|left|A typical ferengi engaged in typical ferengi activities]]<br />
{{topquote|A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.|Eighteenth Rule of Acquisition}}<br />
<br />
Introduced in ''TNG's'' early days as the villains for the series, and what [[/pol/]] thinks Jews are. Some Jewish people have actually complained about their being subliminally Jewish and thus anti-Semetic, specifically mentioning that they were money-hungry, lascivious, and ugly, and their large ear lobes were stand-ins for the sterotypical Jewish nose, based on an old medieval stereotype that was enforced to prevent them owning land or assets and ended up sticking around long after the fact (i.e. ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/08/14/science-fictions-anti-semitism-problem/?noredirect=on we're not shitting you] but also they have a valid gripe). Claims of stereotyping aside, they're basically just a ripoff of the ''Shingouz'' from [[Valerian and Laureline|''Valérian and Laureline'']]. <br />
<br />
The idea was to make a caricature of capitalism as a contrast with the techno-communist Federation. This might have worked if these were not [[FAIL|''TNG's'' early days]]. Instead, they overshot the mark by a light year or so, on top of other bad decisions, and you got a race of short, big-eared, [[goblin]]-like losers about as threatening as a grumpy pug. (Gene wanted to make an evil short race as big evil races were overplayed.) Over the first and second seasons they tried to make these guys threatening, but they fell flat on their face every time; eventually the writers just said "fuck it" and the Ferengi got demoted to comic relief species, and their status as terrible enemies was demoted to propaganda designed to scare the Federation while the Ferengi government tried to figure out what to make of a species that rejected the acquisition of wealth as a goal. The Ferengi had some good moments in the later seasons of ''TNG'', but most of the best stuff that fleshed them out came from ''DS9'', which had an [[awesome]] Ferengi bartender named Quark as a major character. For an idea of what the Ferengi might have been like if the writers had their shit together, look up the Druuge of [[Star Control|Star Control II]] or the Magog Cartel from Oddworld. <br />
<br />
Ferengi religion is only hinted upon in ''DS9'', but what is seen implies a simplistic system based on financial success. Ferengi all follow a rulebook/canon known as the Rules of Acquisition, which can be described as Ayn Rand IN SPACE and condensed into the form of Confucius' Analects. There are 285 of these, each a short piece of advice on how to stay in the black. Examples include "Peace is good for business," "War is good for business," "Never have sex with the boss's sister," and "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." The first (and most important) of these is "Once you have their money, you never give it back." Sometimes, the Ferengi Randian spirituality extends into outright interpretations of the afterlife: according to some, the afterlife consists of the Divine Treasury and the Vault of Eternal Destitution, which are respectively analogous to Heaven and Hell. Entrance into one or the other depends on one's business ventures at the time of death; those that were turning a profit are allowed to enter the Divine Treasury, and the rest are damned to the Vault.<br />
<br />
Ferengi government is ruled over by a Grand Nagus, a mix between a <s>pope</s> chief rabbi and a CEO, and he basically treats his civilization like some sort of company, with citizens regarded as workers. Directly below him is the Ferengi Commerce Authority, a [[what|quasi-religious]] organization dedicated to ensuring that correct business practices were followed and correct moral behavior was shown (including keeping the proles in line) - of course, to the Ferengi, these are one and the same. The agents of the FCA are the Liquidators, who are essentially Inquisitors crossed with IRS auditors on steroids. Be afraid. Be very afraid. <br />
<br />
Ferengi females have no rights and are mentioned as [[PROMOTIONS|not even being allowed to wear clothes]], which leads to [[That Guy|boorish behavior]] on the part of Ferengi towards just about any species. Of course, we see female Ferengi on the show who push that envelope, but it seems that overall "regressive" does not even begin to describe the gender relationships in their culture. Quark's mother, a social climber who marries the head of their government, begins pushing through a women's rights movement during DS9, which proves more successful as time goes on.<br />
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'''The Borg Collective'''<br />
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[[Image:Borg cube.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Borg have assimilated and improved your [[d6|die]]. It always rolls six. Crap your pants, 'cause resistance is futile.]]<br />
{{Topquote|We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture shall adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.|The Borg's opening hail. This is not a boast or a brag, it's them simply explaining to you how things are going to go down.}}<br />
{{Topquote|One other thing. You may encounter Enterprise crew members who've already been assimilated. Don't hesitate to fire. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favour.|Picard going full [[grimdark]].}}<br />
<br />
The Ferengi were utter failures as serious villains, so they needed something to fill that gap. Thus they made the Borg, an aggressive [[Tyranid|hive-minded]] collective of hyper-adaptive, [[Necron|regenerating]] cyborgs that assimilates entire species into itself in its attempt to improve and evolve. Shit, that's like coming up with [[Warforged]] while trying to replace [[Kender]].<br />
<br />
In many ways, the Borg are the truest dark reflection of the Federation, and despite their name, they're not Swedish. While the Feds want you to join their little club on your own, to "add your culture to the galactic community," the Prime Directive means they will ultimately accept you turning them down, even if you have shit they really want. The Borg say "fuck that" and just absorb you. While the Federation believes everyone should work together [[Tau|for the greater good]], they still have a very strong sense of individualism and a culture of personal accomplishment (unless your individual belief happens to run counter to the Federation's principles anyway, in which case you're just WRONG because the Federation is the best). The Borg pool all their minds together into a massive collective consciousness in the pursuit of group perfection, becoming an almost-literal personification of techno-capital. The Federation is all about beauty and tranquility and all that hippie stuff, and their tech is eco-friendly and dolphin-safe. Borg [[Tyranids|strip mine entire planets and drain entire oceans]] in the name of growth and efficiency.<br />
<br />
Your standard Borg [[Cubes|cube]] is a huge multi-kilometer [[Firaeveus Carron|metal box]] (yes, bigger than most [[Imperial Navy]] cruisers) able to go up against an entire Federation warfleet and win. That's right, one of their ships could threaten the entire Federation and [[Exterminatus]] Earth. When done right, [[Necron|they are a cold, calculating, nigh-unstoppable force, a threat to all life]] that wants to retain free and distinct personalities (although they will ignore a single person if not on an assimilation mission, as what they really want is to absorb whole civilizations). Apparently, in Picard's nightmare in ''First Contact'', the Borg assimilation process includes a surgical [[Grimdark|drill through the eye. While awake.]] Of all the stuff to come out of the TNG Era they are undoubtedly the most well recognized in mass pop culture.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately they got a bad downgrade during ''Voyager'' (the Borg Queen blew up cubes full of tens of thousands of drones because a few of them have been severed from the Hive Mind), but even there they were frequently not to be messed with. One amusing thing to note for people that haven't watched ''TNG'': the Borg were actually only in six episodes (and three were breakaway drones) and one movie, yet they're arguably the franchise's most famous pure villains aside from Khan. Goes to show how good they were when written properly. Then in ''Voyager'' they get their shit completely pushed in when they discover a new race of extradimensional aliens which they label Species 8472, which were immune to being assimilated, and had to ask the Federation for help in dealing with them. [[Necron#Regarding_Fluff_Change_-_Sore_Butts_Everywhere.|Wait, this sounds familiar...]]<br />
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'''The Cardassian Union'''<br />
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{{Topquote|Out of all the stories you told me, which one were true and which ones weren't."<br><br />
"My dear doctor, they're all true."<br><br />
"Even the Lies?" <br><br />
"Especially the lies.|Julian Bashir and Elim Garak}}<br />
<br />
Introduced in ''TNG'', they are third fiddle to the Klingons and the Romulans. If the Klingons are hypothetically-honorable techno-barbarian warriors and the Romulans are an empire of civilized and refined but sly and ruthless expansionists, the Cardassians are essentially scaly fascists re-enacting ''[[1984]]'' IN SPACE. Their trials announce the outcome at the beginning, and the defense attorney is executed if he wins. Also, THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!<br />
<br />
Originally a race of peaceable, spiritual artists called the Hebitians (ironically not dissimilar to the Bajorans), modern Cardassia was born in hunger and desperation when their homeworld began to suffer simultaneous mass famine, pandemic, resource depletion, and ecological collapse. A military junta seized power, figuratively and literally auctioned off the soul of their culture through liquidating all the planet's art and religious artifacts into cold hard cash, and turned the Cardassians into the opportunistic imperialists they are today.<br />
<br />
Despite being a whole lot weaker than the Federation, the Cardassians manage to hold their own, partly because what they lack in resources and raw power is made up for by a combination of intense cunning and high charisma stats. Compared to the equally deceptive Romulans, the Cardies are more likely to flash you a smile while tickling your ribs with a knife. They'll use any tool they can to gain the upper hand and while that often means unpleasant and terminal sessions in dark rooms, strip mined planets and the enslavement of entire species, they'll gladly become your bestest buddy if it would achieve their goals. Their intelligence service, the Obsidian Order, is also one of the most ruthlessly efficient organizations in the entire sector, managing to outscale the Romulan Tal Shiar when it comes to producing magnificent bastards and manipulating the politics of entire worlds to their advantage. Unlike the Romulans or the Klingons, they don't tolerate the sort of literal infighting that is rampant in both those states, that shit only serves to weaken '''GLORIOUS CARDASSIA''' and needs to be stamped out with ruthless efficiency. Exposing that someone who just happens to be your enemy as being a dangerous subversive is just a benefit, although this can result in both sides of a conflict shouting "For Cardassia!" as they charge each other. Sort of how Democrats and Republicans are both for America, yet oppose each other.<br />
<br />
Cardassia has a very fluid hierarchical government, similar to the political realities of post-Stalin but pre-Collaspe Soviet Russia. Broadly speaking, there are three different facets of the government: the Central Command (which holds all the power) the Obsidian Order (who holds the least amount of power, but controls the most puppets) and the Detapa Council (similar to the [[High Lords of Terra]] and just as worthless). Cardassian society holds a very strict view of family, placing family just below the needs of the State in a vague approximation of Confucianism.<br />
<br />
The State holds a semi-divine mythical status in the eyes of its citizens, with it being viewed as impossible for the State to ever make mistakes. The ideal Cardassian life was one of complete loyalty and servitude to the State and family, with the "repetitive epic," detailing how generations of Cardassians go on to serve both in exactly the same way over and over seen as the height of their culture. The Cardassian government is assumed to be omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent by pretty much every Cardassian, with all Cadassians gladly giving of themselves to the State. Such was this level of belief that when Picard was tortured by the Obsidian order, the torturer saw nothing wrong with bringing his daughter to work because he was working for the State, and therefore the torture of Picard could never be disturbing or wrong. That's why their trials announce their sentences at the beginning and execute the defense attorney if he wins; their "trials" are more excuses to show off the power and infallibility of the State to the masses than actually determine guilt or innocence.<br />
<br />
In terms of the Alpha Quadrant's political landscape, they are basically space fascist Italy: indisputably still a great power but nonetheless basically the weakest of the great powers, resentful of it, and unwilling to accept it. They first bully weaker powers in an attempt to carve out an empire, turn from a military junta to a despotist state after a coup, eventually join a bigger, meaner power in a great war against the rest of the Quadrant in an attempt to gain power and respect, see it blow up in their faces and force them to rise again in revolt to save themselves. Beta canon continues the analogy with the establishment of a democratic but unstable postwar government in the vein of the Years of Lead.<br />
<br />
As far as plot significant activities went, they had a war with the Federation a few years before ''TNG'' which ended in the creation of a Demilitarized Zone between the two powers and (significant to ''Deep Space Nine'') abandoning the previously occupied planet of Bajor they had exploited for resources and along with it the space station Terok Nor, which the Federation took over and renamed Deep Space Nine. After a disastrous war with the Klingon Empire and a faction of ex-Starfleet settlers who refused to be relocated after a treaty called the Maquis led to a popular revolution and overthrow of the existing government, one leader seized power, declared himself absolute ruler, and joined the Dominion towards the end of ''DS9'', which was some serious bad news for the ''DS9'' crew, and, ultimately his own people.<br />
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<br />
'''The Bajoran Republic'''<br />
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The Bajorans are a species native to the Planet Bajor. They were, until shortly before the events of ''Deep Space Nine'', under a brutal occupation by the Cardassians who strip mined their planet. They had a fighting resistance which veered in and out of being considered terrorists and all in all were often represented as Palestinians IN SPEHSS. After that, they got their independence, although they're thinking about joining the Federation. The Bajorans have one system and are technologically backwards; the Federation is technically breaking the Prime Directive by interacting with them, but as they've spent years under the oppression of a warp-capable species, they can probably handle it. Also ''DS9'' proves that ancient Bajorans managed to travel at warp speeds to Cardassia using solar sails and an enormous amount of luck, which technically makes them a warp-capable species. The only reason why they are significant in terms of the politics of ''Star Trek'' is that they have a wormhole near their planet, which has some timey-wimey aliens living it that they worship as gods, and serves as the only way to get to or from the Gamma Quadrant that won't take decades, making it strategically priceless. Hilariously, this was discovered almost immediately after the Cardassians ''thought'' they'd extracted everything of value from the Bajorans and peace'd out, certain that the system was no longer worth the PR hit they were taking from it, only to get burned by some harsh seller's remorse. Also, their species has the oldest civilization (roughly a half-million years) of any major ''Star Trek'' race, and the wormhole aliens have gifted them some cool shit, like the Orb of Time.<br />
<br />
The other big thing that makes the Bajorans unique is that they actually have a serious religion going on in a way that isn't an extension of their racial "hat" -the human race is depicted as mostly non-religious. They're also probably one of the most accurate depictions of any highly religious alien race in a sci-fi franchise, because they are divided between the majority who interpret their religion as [[Noblebright|peace and love]], and a small but loud minority of bastards who interpret it as [[Grimdark|condoning acts of terrorism]]. They generally represent all manner of oppressed and colonized peoples throughout Earth's history, with the Cardassian occupation standing in for the Holocaust, Imperial Japanese atrocities in Asia, and European mischief in Africa during the Age of Imperialism.<br />
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'''The Dominion'''<br />
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A vast empire which exists on the other side of the galaxy in the Gamma Quadrant. The Dominion is ruled over by a species of liquid shapeshifters called The Founders.(aka Changlings, Odo's people) They have at their disposal a military composed of two genetically engineered species that worship the Founders as gods: the short and articulate Vorta who serve as ambassadors, bureaucrats, and political commisars and the big brutal Jem'hadar, who are vat grown, drug addicted, cannon fodder. These oversee a large number of vassal races, including (as of later seasons of ''DS9'') the Cardassians.<br />
<br />
The Founders were once (according to them anyway) a peaceful, kind civilization of explorers who wished to see the galaxy, explore strange new worlds, and seek out new forms of life. Unfortunately, they did this in the wrong neighborhood, and quickly ran into species who did not tolerate others. The fact that the Founders were shapeshifters capable of mimicking almost anyone did not help either. Paranoia, mutual mistrust, and some very bad things eventually led to the Founders deciding "fuck this" and moving their planet into a nebula so nobody would bother them. So more or less, a [[Grimdark|grimmer]], [[Grimdark|darker]], counterpart to the Federation, but with spookier Real Aliens.<br />
<br />
The Founders are obsessed with order and are both extremely racist and xenophobic, and believe that all alien life is inherently untrustworthy and evil, and the best thing to do is conquer/enslave them before they do the same to them. They don't care about the rights of "Solids", and will happily ignore any sense of decency when convenient. This can be seen when The Dominion runs a simulation of the Dominion dominating the Alpha Quadrant. When O'Brien is assaulted by a Jem'Hadar and severely beaten to the point of needing emergency teleportation to medical (the crime being "disrespectful"), the Founders (disguised as Federation Officers) do not press charges, and when Sisko comes barging in demanding answers, dismiss him with little concern about their own soldiers brutalizing citizens. Their overall ideology could be thought of as Qin legalism IN SPACE: people are inherently evil and the only way to make a better world is to impose order upon them through brute force from a position of absolute, unquestioned power.<br />
<br />
The Founders, when not wandering around in various forms, tend to spend their time in a massive ocean literally made up of countless billions of Founders, something which is referred to as the Great Link. According to the Founders, this allows them to share information with each other and come to peaceful decisions. This is rapidly proved to be bullshit; when a separated-at-birth one of their own merged into the Great Link to share his memories of the Federation as peaceful and tolerant space hippies, not only did the Founders ignore his memories, but actively fucked with his mind in an attempt to turn him into a sleeper agent. And even if it weren't, it shows their hypocrisy through their willingness to share freedom and liberty among themselves while depriving all their various slaves and conquered peoples of the same.<br />
<br />
The Founders are massive dicks, even to their own people. Failure among Jem'Hadar is rewarded with slow and painful death from deprivation of the drug they're created to need and their lifespans are incredibly short. To be even bigger dicks, the Vorta have no sense of taste and can't appreciate beauty. Not to make them better diplomats, but because they were raised from a primitive stone-age ape tribe, and the Founders think they shouldn't be ever allowed to forget that. (On the plus side, they did give the Vorta an immunity to poison that would make [[Mortarion]] himself jealous. [https://youtu.be/rACCZaBcq1g?t=1m29s Observe.]) This may also stem from their own neuroses: the Founders themselves have almost no bodily needs at all and require no nourishment, so they design their slaves to be like them. Notably, Vorta tend to come in [[Paranoia|packs of clones; a new one is activated when an old one dies, and they retain some memories and personality between "lives,"]] further hammering home how expendable they are to their makers.<br />
<br />
And both races are literally engineered to love their makers for what they have done to them and worship and revere them as gods.<br />
<br />
They ultimately get what's coming to them in the latter half of ''Deep Space Nine'', through an invasion of the Alpha Quadrant that starts out in their favor and rapidly goes against them. <br />
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<br />
'''Species 8472 / Undine'''<br />
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The one and only race in the galaxy even the Borg don't want to fuck with. Introduced in Voyager, Species 8472 are three-legged creatures that live in a space called Fluid Space. It's similar to the [[Eye of Terror]] for the fact that it connects to an alternate dimension and [[Khorne|everyone will be ripped apart upon entering.]]<br />
<br />
When the Borg first came around to try and assimilate them they were completely obliterated in a war in which 4 million Borg were killed in the first few days at the cost of almost no members of Species 8472. This war was such a roflstomp that the Borg were forced to call on the Federation for help. [[Tau|The Federation being the better people swallowed their pride and decided to help their sworn enemies,]] [[Eldrad|but were dicks and sent only one ship.]]<br />
<br />
Species 8472 fought with fast moving, small ships and devastating beam weapons so the small ship of the Federation could keep up with them and helped the Borg force the species back into Fluid Space. The Federation were the villains on this one. That said, they eventually came to an accord with Species 8472, preventing further wars between the denizens of Fluid Space, except in lots and lots of video games that want to use a fresh antagonist.<br />
<br />
That and that in ''Star Trek Online'', [[Awesome|they look like the fucking Predator.]]<br />
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<br />
'''The Q'''<br />
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The Q are a race of beings who have elevated themselves to the point where they are basically gods. Most of them do not interact directly with the younger races, who they tend to consider with disdain- if they consider them at all. However a few of them take a more enlightened view, and one in particular has been known to fuck with individual humans from time time. They are mostly a TNG thing, and even there they work mostly by grace of John de Lancie's acting chops as a counterpoint to the charisma of Patrick Stewart, as de Lancie played the ''character'' Q. "Tapestry" even has the two waking up in bed together as a troll from Q. Due entirely to de Lancie's performance, they managed not only to have it not be cringy, but rather funny.<br />
<br />
Q is an all-powerful epic troll. TNG's Q's occasionally [[Tzeentch]]ian games sometimes appeared to be for his own amusement and sometimes acted as education or event protection to the human race. Various subplots involving the Q ''species'' range from somewhat thought provoking to mildly entertaining to ridiculous and banal, but the classic episodes that highlighted the charisma and chemistry of the two actors were often quite excellent. De Lancie also appeared as Q in DS9 and Voyager a couple of times, but the chemistry just isn't there without Stewart. The writers knew it too, composing a scene where Avery Brooks punches this bastard in the face telling him "I'm not Picard!" (with the added fanservice of watching Q get punched, high on the wishlist of anyone that had the misfortune to meet him).<br />
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<br />
=== The Mirror Universe ===<br />
This isn't a faction; it's an alternate setting. Its own factions do bleed into the mainline starting in DS9. So it merits its own section.<br />
<br />
The Mirror is a parallel universe in which [[Alternate History|things have gone differently]] in Earth's History. The main point of divergence appears to occur when the Vulcan scientists who landed at Bozeman, Montana in 2063 are not welcomed with alcohol and music but instead are killed and have their ship looted. It is equally clear that where the main universe is Noblebright the Mirror Universe is Grimdark. Instead of a peace loving Federation searching for knowledge and friendly cooperation for the betterment of all, Earth gave rise to the ''Terran Empire'' which seeks out new life and civilizations to conquer and enslave, as it had done with the Klingons. Pretty much it's the PG-13 version of the Imperium of Man with a bit more Grimderp. Junior officers get promoted by killing their superiors, those that fail at that get thrown in the agony booth for their troubles and Emperor gets the job by usurping the previous incumbent. As a rule, characters in the mainline become, in the Mirror Universe, a selfish asshole version of themselves (or have to go along to get along: O'Brien, Spock). Following comic book logic the uniforms for the female characters are more revealing, and facial hair is vogue. Occasionally people can cross over from one universe to the next due to technobabble and cause mischief in either realm.<br />
<br />
Originally it was a one off TOS setting for an episode of the week, but it was brought back in a few novels and some romps in Deep Space Nine in which [[Fail|the Terran Empire had fallen]]. In Enterprise's fourth season it got a two parter that was pretty good and would have been an annual thing if the show had been renewed, this one having little crossover with the main universe (a ship from TOS ended up in the Mirror Universe and is salvaged after all it's crew have died). We also went there in Discovery, for better or worse. Voyager never did the mirror universe, but instead got a homage episode with some alien historians in the far future getting the details wrong like historians tend to.<br />
<br />
=== The Star Trek Crew ===<br />
Whether the focus of the show is exploration, manning a space station in an important locale or trying to get home, all Star Trek series have a basic set up of casting and focus: namely on a collection of people who are usually the senior-most officers on the ship. If you decide to make a Star Trek inspired game take this into consideration.<br />
<br />
* '''The Captain''': Big cheese. Makes the hard decisions. Needs to be able to talk, think or fight out of situations as needed. The third option fetishist finding the balance between empathy and reason. (Two least skubby examples: Kirk and Picard, but the skub will fly hard if you say one is better than the other, sufficed to say that people like both of them alot but for different reasons)<br />
* '''The First Officer''': Second in command and trusted advisor. Added after the original series, where the role was combined with and split between two others. (Two least skubby examples: Riker and Kira)<br />
* '''The Science Officer''': Got high Int stats. Can analyze the situation and work out solutions. The voice of reason. Almost never human. (Two least skubby examples: Data and Spock)<br />
* '''The Engineer''': Hard working technically minded guy who gets shit done. (Two least skubby examples: Scotty and Geordi)<br />
* '''The Doctor''': Ship's healer with a secondary scientific role. The voice of empathy, whether prickly or serene. (Two least skubby examples: Bones and the EMH Doctor)<br />
* '''The Security Officer''': Rough and tumble no-nonsense sort whose job it is to keep these guys alive when diplomacy fails, which it often does. Often has to juggle providing ship's security with working the tactical station on the bridge in a crisis. (Two least skubby examples: Worf and Odo)<br />
* '''The Helmsman''': Got mad spacecraft piloting skills, either full-sized starships, shuttles, or fighters. Younger and more brash. (Two least skubby examples: Sulu and Tom Paris)<br />
* '''The Other Guy''': A crewmember whose role doesn't cleanly map onto other positions, a role often restricted to a single show. Example positions include communications officer, ship's councilor, transporter chief, and linguist. (Two Least skubby examples: Uhura and Troi)<br />
* '''The Outsider''': Someone who is a passenger and regular cast member, but exists outside the organization, looking in and commenting. Usually works a side-job, like tailor, bartender, or cook. Either a beloved fan-favorite or utterly despised, there is no middle ground. (Two Least skubby examples: Guinan and Quark)<br />
<br />
Some of these hats may be worn by more than one character, some may be worn by no one at all. This is especially true in the original series, which had a smaller cast overall, and which put less emphasis on an ensemble and more on the main trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The usual roles and character dynamics were instead set down by ''The Next Generation'', which later series generally copied.<br />
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= The Shows =<br />
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==''The Original Series''==<br />
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[[File:OG enterprise.jpg|thumb|400px|Right|Do do do...]]<br />
Created in 1966 by legendary sci-fi [[spiritual liege]] and money-grubbing, sexist, pseudo-communist lounge lizard Gene Roddenberry and pitched as a "Wagon Train to the stars", it's a pulpy adventure sci-fi, full of fistfights, sword fights, and hammy speeches. (The guns never work.)<br />
<br />
The USS ''Enterprise'' is tasked by the Federation to go on a five year mission to explore space: the final frontier, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before, though due to budget constraints, her crew often finds that man has in fact gone there before. Or at least something that looks exactly like a man but is actually an [[Xenos|alien]]; most episodes split the difference. James T. Kirk sleeps with [[Hot Chicks|hot alien babes]] who either die tragically or leave tearfully at the end of the episode, but it's 'k because he's too in love with the Enterprise to ever love a mere ''woman'' more. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are cold and logical and rash and emotional respectively, and their constant friction must be resulting in the best make-up sex in the world, Mr. Sulu and Lieutenant Uhura wait in vain for focus episodes that never come, Ensign Chekhov suffers horribly to the approval of American Cold War audiences, and Scotty [[gets shit done]]. Uniforms, while iconic, tend to look a bit civilian though. Miniskirts are apparently mandated attire for the ship's fan-servicey female "yeomen" and others, because 1966. The civilian nature of the attire (including, one must assume, the miniskirts, but they had a visual appeal all their own) were apparently an intentional design decision by Roddenberry who didn't want uniforms to look military. Further specialness on the part of Roddenberry demanded phasers not look like guns ([[FAIL|not even have trigger-guards even though those exist for safety reasons]]), instead looking like nothing in particular at all (although looking back at them today they look sort of like TV remotes, which would be invented much later), and also (probably the only sensible decision in this category) ships that didn't look like rockets, giving ships their distinctive and iconic saucer-engineering-nacelles look that still stands out today.<br />
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The Original Series frequently ran out of budget and entire episodes were filmed using spare costumes belonging to the production company, resulting in a series of extremely goofy excuses to go to planets full of gangsters or [[Nazi]]s. This is often copied by shows who don't realize it was done out of pure expediency, and nowadays this [[TVTropes|"Planet of Hats"]] gimmick is practically a box to check off when doing sci-fi adventure. The lack of budget also resulted in one of the more memorable inventions; unable to budget for a sequence showing the ''Enterprise'' or a shuttle landing on a new planet every week, the writers instead decided to invent the transporter to "beam" the crew down to planets or between starships. Also worth noting: despite its mediocre critical reception, ratings and eventual cancellation, not to forget the uneven quality of many episodes, especially in the Roddenberry-less third season where poor Fred Freiberger had to come onto a show he didn't understand and try to get better ratings with less money, ''TOS'' had a hell of a cultural impact thanks to syndication and it has been said that since it entered syndication in 1969, there hasn't been a 24-hour period without some TV station, in some country, playing Star Trek. Cancellation of The Original Series is now considered one of the worst decisions in TV history, and while much of its silly 60's campiness is now laughable, it often still manages to teach relevant and important lessons today.<br />
<br />
Fun fact: the ''Enterprise'' and each of her 11 sister ships have enough firepower to [[Exterminatus]] a planet by themselves, after getting issued an order called General Order 24. This however is likely a time-consuming task. According to a later DS9 episode, it takes a fleet of 20 warships 1 hour of sustained bombardment to destroy a planets crust and 5 hours of sustained bombardment to destroy a planet down to its mantle. These 20 ships were also in service 100 years after the Enterprise so they were also more powerful. <br />
Kirk has the distinction of being the only known captain to issue a [[Exterminatus|General Order 24]], because a planet was ''too'' much into wargames (he changed his mind after they dropped wargaming).<br />
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* '''Outstanding Episodes''': Balance of Terror (submarine battle in space, debut of the Romulans), The Devil in the Dark (sometimes hostile aliens have a good reason for being hostile) Space Seed (Khan's first appearance), The City on the Edge of Forever (beautiful tragedy), Amok Time (Spock's in heat and he and Kirk have to fight to the death), "The Doomsday Machine" (''Enterprise'' vs. an unstoppable planet killer and the captain whose ship it destroyed)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "And the Children Shall Lead" (annoying kids, magic, and most of TOS's weakness dialed up to 11), The Way to Eden (dumbass hippy episode), Spock's Brain (idiot aliens steal Spock's thinker and McCoy has to remote control him for the rest of the episode).<br />
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<br />
==''The Animated Series''==<br />
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The often forgotten middle child. More or less "seasons 4-5" of ''TOS'' with the same writing staff and actors, sans poor Walter Koenig. He was replaced by a weird camel person. He learned this at a convention, from a fan, while he was trying to announce he'd be writing an episode, which Gene promptly demanded he rewrite over and over. Classy. <br />
<br />
Being animated allowed the staff to get a lot more creative with the alien designs and plots, and the writing and acting remain... well, top notch is a stretch, but certainly at the same levels as ''The Original Series'', with the occasional low point. Not ''nearly'' as bad as you're probably picturing from the name, although still limited by the low budget and primitive, cheap animation techniques of the television era it was aired in. Notably some sci-fi novelists were brought in to write some episodes, such as Larry Niven, and at least one episode, "Yesteryear," is considered such a pivotal moment in Spock's development that even people who hate the series enough to consider it all non-canon often make an exception just for that one.<br />
<br />
Also, since the series now has no excuse for throwing in lots of Space Puritans and Space Wizards, it of course continued to do so to derptastic results, because by this point it had become traditional. The presence of a straight-up [[furry]] on the bridge, however, is downright unacceptable.<br />
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==''The Next Generation''==<br />
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[[File:Enterpris D.jpg|thumb|400px|left|USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D: battleship, scientific research center and luxury hotel rolled into one]]<br />
Here's where it starts getting a little deeper and a little darker, although with a lot of left-wing political subtext turned up to 11. The USS ''Enterprise-D'' (the original and C were destroyed in action while A and B were retired) is, like its predecessor, tasked with going where no-one has gone before, but this time around the problems are less likely to be solved in a single episode. Jean-Luc Picard is the captain and he plots and negotiates his way to victory; Mr. Data is cold and unemotional, though not by choice - as an android, he'd very much like to change that; Riker takes over the captain's "sleep with alien babes" duties since Picard is married to the job; Worf the Klingon gets beaten up by monsters to show how tough the monsters are, meaning that Worf winds up looking incredibly weak by the end of the show's run and doesn't regain his badassery until his run on ''DS9''; Dr. Beverly Crusher is good old Bones minus his temper; Dr. Pulaski is Bones ''plus'' temper; Counselor Troi is so badly written she becomes a running joke; and Geordi LaForge [[gets shit done]]. Only two things need to be said about helmsman Wesley Crusher: he was [[Mary Sue|Gene Wesley Roddenberry's shitty self-insert fanfic character]], and his sueness got to the point that even his actor started to hate him within the first season of the show.<br />
<br />
Due to the massive success of The Original Series in syndication (and Paramount being [[Rage|pissed off]] by broadcast networks treating their most valuable IP like any other show), TNG was aired through syndication from the beginning. Although the first two seasons were laughably bad, the quality began to improve dramatically after an increasingly cocaine-addled Gene Roddenberry got too sick to keep ruining it and his partner-in-crime Maurice Hurley was thrown out on his ass, a moment often pinpointed via looking for when [[Meme|Riker grew a beard.]] The later seasons are widely considered to represent the apex of the franchise's episodic formula on the small screen (although ''DS9'' gave it a run for its money with a more serialized approach); sadly, this series only got one good movie.<br />
<br />
The Next Generation started and ended on one of its skubbier elements, that being Q, an omnipotent trans dimensional alien that starts testing Picard in the first episode and is finally persuaded to go away in the last. The entire multi-season run of the show is set up with the subtext that the Q are judging whether humanity is worthy of its implied lofty destiny. What should have been a stifling deus ex machina was carried entirely by the performance of Q's actor; the dialogs between Picard and Q were some of the show's most entertaining, even as the Q episodes tended to be the obligatory season silly story.<br />
<br />
*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "The Measure of a Man" (is Data property or not?), "Q Who?" (introduction of the Borg, Q at his dickish best), "The Best of Both Worlds" (epic Borg 2-parter with plenty of action and drama), "Family" (companion piece to Best of Both Worlds, Picard has to deal with the trauma of being assimilated), "Darmok" (Picard learns to communicate with an alien captain on far-away planet, all of TNG's strengths), "The Inner Light" (I am not crying, you are crying), "Sarek" (excellent Picard and Sarek character piece)<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Code of Honor" (racist and stupid), "Angel One" (sexist and stupid), "Shades of Grey" (half-assed money-saving clip show), "Up The Long Ladder" (annoying Oirish stereotypes wind up on the ''Enterprise'', shenanigans ensue), basically any episode from the first five seasons that focuses on Troi, her mom Lwaxana, or both (not Majel or Marina's fault, they were handed shit writing and had to make do)<br />
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==''Deep Space Nine''==<br />
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[[File:Deep Space 9.jpg|thumb|500px|right|''"A Star Trek show where they stay put? It'll never work."'' Boy did they get that wrong.]]<br />
Unlike all the other series so far, ''Deep Space Nine'' primarily takes place in a fixed location - the titular space station Deep Space Nine, out near the borders of Federation Space. Said space station is near Bajor, which was recently freed from Cardassian occupation, and a wormhole to the other side of the galaxy which allows [[Warp|all sorts of of crazy shit to go down]]. If the other shows are a wagon train, this one's the border fort.<br />
<br />
Benjamin Sisko is the captain, declared Emissary by the nearby Bajorans for making contact with the wormhole aliens they worship, and he successfully hybridizes the blow-the-shit-out-of-whatever-you-can't-punch Kirk approach with the talk-in-a-very-dignified-way-about-the-philosophy-of-the-thing-and-win-by-rhetoric Picard maneuver, in his ultimately-successful quest to become the baddest motherfucker in space, then literally becomes a space god. Kira the Bajoran ex-<s>terrorist</s> <S>''noble freedom fighter''</s> (who are we kidding she calls herself a terrorist) struggles to free and rebuild her people while coming to terms with the moral ambiguities of situations she prefers to see in black-and-white, Dr. Bashir works to find his character for several seasons before becoming a highlight, Dax gets often written poorly and has to switch bodies doing it, Odo IS ''Liquid Space Cop'', Quark runs his bar and [[troll|heckles]] the Federation from the sidelines, Garak pretends to be a tailor while definitely not being a super-spy, hitting on Bashir, and dropping killer lines, and Miles O'Brien [[gets shit done]] and gets physically, mentally, and/or emotionally tortured in at least one episode a season (referred to by the writers as the "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes). Also Worf wanders in halfway through, and actually gets to punch things instead of just getting punched by them, up to and including offing the Klingon chancellor in an honor duel. It's also a lot more political than other series (though ''TNG'' and ''Voyager'' have their moments) and the last series to have Gene Roddenberry's involvement (with less enthusiasm, in fact often much to the benefit of this particular series thematically, although Roddenberry's complete departure did not necessarily bode well for the franchise in general.)<br />
<br />
It's the closest the pre-Kelvin series ever get to [[grimdark]]. Especially when the Dominion show up. With minimal grimderp that plague the later seasons and Kelvin era movies. The show has aged remarkably well and the terrorist/freedom fighter debate was repeatedly explored in a very mature and honest way; the darkest episodes ventured into duping the Romulans into a war by assassinating a senator, and forcing a Klingon regime change [[rip and tear|''the Klingon way'']]. ''DS9'' is the most serialized of all Trek shows and could be considered a forerunner to the golden age of television with its long story arcs and deep character development. It's also notable for singlehandedly salvaging the Ferengi after the mess Gene made of them in the early seasons of TNG and bringing back the mirror universe after nearly thirty years with an ongoing plot showing the consequences of Kirk's meddling. Overall, ''DS9'' has to be considered the most consistently good Trek show thanks to the excellent writing and fantastic performances from a truly wonderful ensemble cast. At least until the final season . . .<br />
<br />
Which brings us to DS9 Skub. The show was airing around the same time as another thematically similar sci-fi show, ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Not only that but characters also shared similarities, as did the episodes especially as both shows became war stories later on. Interestingly, beginning of both series, introduction of characters and airing of similar episodes were often too close to each other for one show to copy the other but this did not stop massive [[Rage]] and [[/v/|fanboy wars]] from starting between fans of the two series accusing one another of plagiarism and having an inferior product. Happily, as time went on and both shows evolved, these hurt feelings have mostly faded.<br />
<br />
There's also that last season. The earlier (good) writers had got pulled to try to make movies, which movies they'd failed at. The new writers also had to bring in a new Dax due to Berman constantly being a sexist asshole to actress Terry Farrell. This new Dax, Ezri, was very different from Jadzia, and she only got that one season to make her mark, which season she had to share with the Great Epic Conclusion (it's a miracle Ezri was as well received as she was, and a testament to Nicole de Boer's talent). Those finale episodes were mostly okay and tied up the story semi-satisfyingly, though a few die-hard subplots fell flat. The season, therefore, was shaky; not necessarily a harbinger for The Decline Of ''Trek'' to come, but at least inauspicious.<br />
<br />
How good is ''Deep Space Nine''? Every subsequent Star Trek series and even the reboot movies have pretty much ripped off ideas and concepts established during the series. Famously, within the "Trekker/Trekkie" fan community, there's a little cell of fans who like it better than most other ''Star Trek''; these fans are typically called "Niners."<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Duet" and "Waltz" (excellent character work elevates low-budget episodes), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (30th anniversary comedy episode that sends the DS9 crew back to the TOS era to stop a rogue Klingon assassinating Kirk), "In the Pale Moonlight" ("how far would you push your principles to save the world?" done very well), "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Nog has PTSD after losing a leg in battle), "The Circle" (the only Star Trek trilogy episode and as close as DS9 will ever get to a movie), "Valiant" (A Defiant full of asshole cadets gets blasted into smithereens for their own hubris), "Empok Nor" (Garak goes feral and brutalizes a lot of people).<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Move Along Home" (some of the crew gets trapped in a board game with annoying rhymes), "Fascination" (Lwaxana Troi is going through Betazoid menopause and wants to bang Odo), "Profit and Lace" (Quark has a horrible relationship with his mom and has a sex change for zany antics), "Let He Who is Without Sin" (bullshit on resort planet Risa)<br />
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==''Voyager''==<br />
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[[File:USS Voyager.jpg|thumb|400px|left|''"Are we home yet?"'' <br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"Tuvok, please give Ensign Kim a dose of the Medical Phaser.]]<br />
Star Trek: Voyager centers around the eponymous USS ''Voyager'', a smallish ship which gets teleported over to the other side of the galaxy. The plot of the series centers on the crew's efforts to get back home, which COULD have made for an excellent premise. Unfortunately, there were few lasting story arcs, with most episodes being fully self-contained (as well as being littered with far too many episodes featuring holodeck or transporter incidents). As a consequence, despite being completely isolated from the Federation, no matter how bad things got Voyager always appeared in the next episode without a scratch, fully supplied, and with all its shuttlecraft intact. Think ''Gilligan's Island'' on a starship.<br />
<br />
Like ''TNG'' and ''DS9'' it's a character-driven drama just as often as it is a sci-fi adventure romp, although compared to TNG only a few of the characters are particularly memorable. The captain and arguable "main character" is Kathryn Janeway, a Katharine Hepburn lookalike (I see what you did there) who is stern without being cold, and principled without being inflexible. The fan favorite is a character called "The Doctor" ([[Doctor Who|No relation]]); he's the solid-light hologram representative of the ship's emergency medical computer, who has to take on actual medical duties when their chief medical officer was conveniently killed in the pilot episode. Other than this, Chakotay is a peace-loving and spiritually rich indian <s>freedom fighter</s> <s>terrorist</s> [[FAIL|who was written with the help of a special Cherokee consultant so native his name was Jamake Highwater and it turned out later on that he was actually Jewish and didn't know dick about native cultures so he made everything up resulting in Chakotay basically being a borderline racist caricature of what you think Indians are like. Akoochimoya.]] Tom Paris is an annoying jerk and is counterbalanced by Harry Kim who is the ideal boy-scout, making him only half as annoying and twice as boring. B'elanna Torres tries to perpetuate a lineage of dudes getting shit done but ends up blankly reciting her technobabble, having second degree plasma burns and – worst of all – systematically fails to get shit done whenever the warp core goes nuts. Tuvok tries hard to be as cool as Spock but ends up being a lame version of the n°1 Vulcan who uses logic to justify everything and makes it short for "you are wrong, I am right because I said so." Kes is passed as a fragile and nice character but it takes a couple of episodes to realize that having a short lifespan does not change the facts: [[powergamer|when you can boil someone to death from the inside of their body, drain life from everything around you to become stronger and do anything you want without knowing how, just by thinking of it]], you are a goddamn Mary Sue. From the fourth season onwards the only character the writers seemed to care about was Seven of Nine, [[Mary Sue|a human woman who recently escaped from Borg control and kept all of her cyborg enhancements but regained her free will]]; another Mary Sue, to be sure, but she's [[Hot Chicks|hot]], and the other characters are much worse, so that's not really a bad thing. Fortunately, The Doctor still received a lot of attention from the writers and almost single-handedly made the show watchable. There was also Neelix, who was the apparent inspiration for Jar-Jar Binks, and any sane crew would have pushed him out of an airlock on the first episode. Fans who stuck with the show despite its glaring failings were given one final slap in the face with the <s>controversial</s> shit final season, in which the producers decided "screw steadily crafting a satisfying conclusion to a story which we have wasted for most of the last seven years anyway; lets just ignore it until the final episode and then throw in some shit about trans-warp conduits and time travel, bitches love time travel!" If you did not care about any of the characters or the subplots or time travel making sense (the writers sure didn't), then the final episode was made just for you (and the Borg got a major setback, too, just don't think about the setup too hard).<br />
<br />
The Doctor never once stopped being totally fucking awesome though (enough so to even earn a cameo in First Contact and for Robert Picardo to turn up as his inventor in an episode of DS9), Jeri Ryan proved she wasn't just eye candy, and the (mostly) great acting from the rest of the cast carries the series from being horrific to ''occasionally'' watchable. Just goes to show that no matter how good your actors are, they can't make diamonds out of shit.<br />
<br />
Overall, most Star Trek fans view Voyager's legacy with a shrug and a "meh." Unfortunately, hopes that Voyager's successor would revitalize the franchise would soon prove to be overly optimistic.<br />
<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Timeless" (excellent time-travel episode), "Year of Hell" (absolutely savage two-parter that trashes ''Voyager'' in service to a story of obsession and why you don't fuck with the timeline), "Tuvix" (one of the all-time skubbiest episodes of any ST show, deals with the complicated ethics of what happens when two people are fused into a new individual by a transporter accident), "Bride of Chaotica!" (aliens get trapped in Tom Paris' 1940s pulp holodeck program, Janeway has to become one of the characters to sort it out, good comedy episode), "Someone to Watch Over Me" (the Doctor falls in love with Seven but can't admit it), "Equinox" (''Voyager'' encounters another castaway Starfleet ship that's tossed Federation law and ethics into the bin to survive and Janeway gets ''really'' pissy about it)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Threshold" (Tom Paris and Janeway turn into [[salamander]]s and have salamander babies; so terrible that rumors persist it was declared non-canonical to this day), "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk" (holodeck malfunction episodes full of more cringe Oirish stereotypes and Janeway wanting to bang a hologram), "Alice" (Stephen King's ''Christine'' IN SPAAACE!)<br />
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==''Enterprise''==<br />
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[[File:NX-01.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Where it all began. For better or worse...]]<br />
From the minute the Nickelback-tier theme tune started, Enterprise attempted to take Star Trek in a new direction and was only partially successful in doing so. The series never quite caught its footing, although it still managed to have some enjoyable moments. It was most notable for providing a first-hand view of the key events that directly led to the formation of the Federation. The Federation's founding races were also featured heavily, with Andorians, Tellarites, and Vulcans all enjoying significant screen time alongside the human characters.<br />
<br />
It's a prequel to the rest of the canon, taking place on the first ''Enterprise'', before the Federation was founded and during the period when Earth was still an independent power- so there's a lot of primitive versions of things from other series. At least the uniforms were pretty cool in an Air Force sort of way. Captained by <s>that guy from ''Quantum Leap''</s> Jonathan Archer, in hindsight the fact that they had to rename him from their original choice of Jeffrey Archer to avoid confusion with the disgraced British MP and author of the same name probably cursed the series with bad karma before it had even begun shooting. In an unusual twist for a ''Trek'' series, his first officer isn't a <s>terrorist</s> ''noble freedom fighter,'' however she does share a trait with her ''Voyager'' predecessor in that the actress who portrayed her frequently criticized the show's writers in interviews. Other than that, well, Hoshi Sato screams a lot, Travis Mayweather was so dull that even the writers forgot he existed, the resident Vulcan T'Pol serves as both the Science Officer and source of sexy fanservice, Malcolm Reed has an accent, Dr Phlox is a weird creepy alien with weird creepy alien morals (and gets surprisingly interesting when given enough screentime, which hardly ever happened), and Trip also has an accent and [[gets shit done]].<br />
<br />
One thing that makes the show and cast so frustrating is that you get glimpses of interesting things that could be explored but just aren't in favor of rejected TNG concepts. A weapon' officer still having somewhat free range as there are not federation guidelines? Not really, Malcolm is just here to give a second opinion and be Tripp's wingman. A linguist and sociologist without much of a clue as to what everyone will encounter in space in an age before rules of engagement and diplomatic norms are established? Not really, Hoshi just screams a lot to let you know something dangerous or scary is nearby. The struggle between a potentially more profitable civilian life and an assignment as a glorified military grunt before Starfleet is the institution we all know it would become? Who cares, the writers all forgot Travis is even in the show most of the time. All these questions are somewhat hinted at in some episodes when they really could have been defining character arcs for the cast but instead we got vulcan romance getting most of the screentime when the Xindi plot wasn't happening. Oh well.<br />
<br />
Was retooled twice, the third season tries to be ''24'' IN SPACE (stop some aliens, the Xindi, from blowing up Earth) while the 4th season is a massive apology about the last three seasons that tries to fix all the problems they had. As a result, the last season is the only one that's close to being really good.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the poorly-received final episode is set on the holodeck of the Enterprise-D, which leaves us with the firm impression that the producers would have much rather have just continued making ''The Next Generation''. Considering the mediocre quality of the ''TNG'' movies we got instead, this probably would have worked out better for all involved (Or not since ''Voyager'' was that; its first episode was even numbered 901, as in Season 9 Episode 1).<br />
<br />
Yet despite all the bad directing, subpar plots, and frankly boring episodes, ''Enterprise'' sometimes still manages to be moderately enjoyable with occasional moments of awesomeness if you can suffer through a fair few awful spots and aggressive mediocrity almost everywhere else. The focus on founding Federation races like the Andorans was refreshing and the technology level, being somewhere between the original series and the real world present-day, was quite interesting. We also got to see the Vulcans portrayed as arrogant, superior dicks. This actually makes a lot more sense than the way they're usually portrayed (which is fairly submissive towards humans) because they are, obviously and objectively, the superior race. The Klingons certainly still considered themselves to be honorable but the show made it clear that the Klingon notion of honor is rarely analogous to the human concept which was interesting as all hell to watch. There have been a few small nods to Enterprise in Discovery and the Abrams movies.<br />
<br />
And let's be fucking honest, [[/tg/]] loves 40k and the Xindi arc was about as grimdark as shit gets. And that was awesome.<br />
<br />
*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "Damage" (Enterprise is nearly destroyed and can barely function), "Zero Hour" (End of Season 3, good action and good payoff), "Regeneration" (Borg episode, silly but well executed), "Babel One", "United" and "The Aenar" (three episode arc involving the Romulan scheme to engineer war, a glimpse of what might have been).<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Dear Doctor" (boring prime directive extremism), "These are the Voyages" (Trip dies in a rush-job ending, last minute or so is alright as a visual send-off divorced from crap narrative).<br />
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==STD aka ''Disco'' aka ''Discovery''==<br />
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<br />
----<br />
[[File:USS Discovery.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Disco Stu's coming for you!]]<br />
<s>A LOAD OF SOCIAL JUSTICE SHIT!</s> Ahem, let's start again, shall we?<br />
<br />
<br />
A new "prequel" series set 10 years before ''The Original Series.'' Again. Run exclusively on CBS' paid streaming service (unless you live outside the US and Canada, in which case you can get it on Netflix) to try and drum up sign-ups and revenue, it features a mix of ''Enterprise'' and Abramstrek aesthetics despite supposedly taking place in parallel to the TOS "The Cage" pilot while [[what|having technology superior to late DS9]] and introducing [[dune|mushroom-based space travel]] that would imply [[retcon|all later events and warp travel would be outdated]]. The trailer has attracted a lot of concern over the fact that Klingons have been completely redesigned to look like slit-nosed ogres wearing ancient Egyptian cosplay, and rumors that the Klingons shown were [[Racial Holy War|primitives who had been trapped in stasis]] proved to be unfounded, so there is no excuse. Not having a cold war to posture about, the new villains are based off of Trump-inspired xenophobia by the admission of the authors. Also the lead character is Spock's human sister that he never mentioned before, aka the ''exact'' origin of the [[Mary Sue]] which is just fucking depressing. To further reinforce this, there are ''numerous'' examples of dialogue and exposition that serve only to show how the Mary Sue main character was right all along, usually in conjunction with the death of the character that had foolishly disagreed with her. Want a new Star Trek episode about racism and immigration? Try the now-banned [https://youtu.be/3VEZH8bqytA Star Trek Continues]. Want Star Trek with humor, we suppose: ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'', below. Oh! want a pseudo-Star Trek show about other modern issues? Try ''[[The Orville]]''. That's right, American Dad In Space <strike>may right now be</strike> is a better Star Trek than an actual Star Trek series.<br />
<br />
Initial reviews have been... well, never mind the 2017-era soy-guzzling critics. STD is as much fun as an outbreak of Nurgle's Rot. Mostly. There ''are'' exceptions.<br />
<br />
The writing is overly convoluted, the massive injection of grimdark into pre-TOS continuity is anathema to the hardcore fans (the ''human'' characters are often the ones doing the nastiest shit, including [[Marines Malevolent|trying to kill a Klingon party by planting an explosive on the corpse of one of their comrades for when they came to collect the dead]]) and the Klingons are so flat and devoid of characterization that they might as well be Larry the Cable Guy lookalikes wearing Trump hats. This is a massive disappointment for a series that promised to put a spotlight on Klingon culture but ended up retconning all the characterization that happened in TNG and DS9. It ''may'' get better with time (remember that it took two seasons for TNG to get really good) but given the release schedule (split between 2017 and 2018 with a long break) it may come too late for the fanbase to care. Currently it's cause for more fans to lose their shit over whether it's better or worse than the Abrams movies, which is a new record of [[Skub|Trek Skub]]. Releasing the show on CBS All Access instead of cable or broadcast TV makes it seem that executives don't really give a shit if the show succeeds or fails, bringing up the question of [[Bioware|whether they're deliberately putting Star Trek: Discovery in a no-win scenario where, no matter what happens, the executives have an excuse to cancel Star Trek altogether]]. <br />
<br />
Another stupid decision was not shelling out the cash to bring back Bruce Greenwood and Zachary Quinto as Captain Pike and Spock, respectively. Their ages wouldn't have mattered either if CBS and Paramount weren't too cheap to use the anti-aging CGI tech that is so commonplace these days. Hell, Star Trek makeup artists are among the best in the entertainment business. So they could have pulled it off with applying the bare minimum, and we probably still wouldn't have noticed.<br />
<br />
There were also allegations that large chunks of the plot were stolen from previews of an in-development indie game. The unreleased 2014 game featured giant Tardigrades that had the ability to use an interstellar network to travel anywhere they wanted to- sound familiar?<br />
<br />
We must however give credit where credit is due. Season 1's fifth episode "Choose Your Pain" starred Rainn Wilson as a younger Harcourt Fenton Mudd, and this was a surprising treat. Season 2 also featured Anson Mount as Captain Pike, whose addition to the cast was nothing short of a revelation. Indeed, Pike's character was by far the most well-received aspect of that season.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, while Season 2 had some watchable moments, it was still middling at best, and nobody is ''ever'' going to let this series live down the garbage fire that was Season 1. If you do decide to watch Season 2, try not to think about it too hard once you are done. It gets worse and worse the more you think about it as you can and will come to realize that {{spoiler|the overarching plot hinges on time-travel but because the writing and production staff kept being shuffled, no one kept continuity so some of the hints of future actions or "red lights" are just forgotten about, some time-travel is done just to set up another event to make it possible for that same time-travel to happen. Think Bill and Ted, except lame and very confusing. Season 2 is an okay show if you look at the state-of-the-art visuals, let the big emotional moments grip you, but if you stop for a second and think about the continuity of events, you push yourself on a slippery slope that ends in not being able to ever trust the showrunning staff again.}}<br />
<br />
Season 3 sees ''Discovery'' transported far into the future, one in which the Federation itself has fallen apart due to the mysterious disappearance of the dilithium required for warp travel. What was the issue with the dilithium? A member of the same species as the character Saru was on a planet with a lot of dilithium and had a freakout so bad it somehow psychically fucked up all dilithium everywhere at roughly the same time. Oh, and apparently turbolifts now fly around in a pocket dimension or some stupid shit.<br />
<br />
Season 4 can basically be summed up as "Hyper-advanced extragalactic gasbags make a mess of things because they're [[Derp|too stupid to comprehend the concept of self as they're a hive mind]]".<br />
<br />
Oh thank the God Emperor it's almost over! After four seasons of shit, season five is finally going to kill it! Oh Throne, thank you!<br />
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<br />
==''<strike>Retard</strike>Picard''==<br />
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Set to be a continuation of the original timeline, featuring old man Picard with Patrick Stewart reprising the role. Hopes are not high, but at the very least Patrick Stewart's presence should make it watchable if nothing else. <br />
<br />
Update: Season 3 is the only part maybe worth watching.<br />
<br />
In the first season, Picard ragequit Starfleet after they sat back and let the Romulans get blown up by the supernova mentioned in the first Abrams movie. This happened because some rogue androids orbitally bombarded Mars and blew up the rescue fleet that was being built there, so the Federation has banned all R&D on synthetic lifeforms and subsequently become [[Imperium of Man|isolationist, racist and xenophobic]] (does this remind you of anything?). Picard has been living in his family chateau ever since, making wine and hanging out with his dog and his Romulan housekeepers. Then a scared girl named Dahj turns up on his doorstep, and it turns out she's a highly advanced biological android constructed from the surviving bits of Data's positronic brain by the guy who wanted to dismantle Data in that episode "The Measure of a Man." Before Picard can really figure out what to do about her, she gets killed by a secret society of Luddite anti-android Romulan assholes, but it turns it that's okay because she has a twin "sister" named Soji who is working with some other Romulans on a derelict Borg cube. Picard decides it's time to saddle up and go be a hero again. He starts putting together a crew that includes Agnes Jurati, a former cyberneticist; Raffi Musiker, his last executive officer, [[What|who is now an alcoholic drug-vaping hermit]] after getting kicked out of Starfleet; Cristobal Rios, a scruffy merc pilot whose ship is staffed entirely by holograms of himself; Elnor, a Romulan warrior monk raised by Romulan warrior nuns; and Seven of Nine, who has become a kickass pilot and is no longer wearing her infamous catsuit. Together, they're out to save Soji, stop the Romulans, and be the good guys in a galaxy that needs heroes, etc etc.<br />
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Key storytelling criticisms of the show include the idea that the Romulan Empire should have had enough infrastructure to effect an evacuation without help, and that even if they didn't, the Federation would ''never'' abandon a neighbor who was asking for help- not even a former enemy, and not even when doing so became difficult or inconvenient. Another issue comes up when the show reveals that the Borg have assimilated transgalactic teleporters from a throwaway alien race that appeared in an early episode of ''Voyager'', but only for the Borg queen to use in case the cube she's on is about to be blown up, which begs the question of ''why in the hell aren't they using them to overwhelm the Federation's defenses with drone spam and assimilate everything??'' There's also an (abortive) space battle in the final episode where Riker shows up leading a fleet of ships that are just copy-pastes of the same CG model, which was derided for being cheap and lazy on the part of the showrunners and a failed chance to show Riker in command of the ''Titan'' or ''Enterprise''.<br />
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To make matters even more dumb and yet also more complicated at the same time, the showrunners are apparently under some kind of licensing agreement regarding the portrayal of images and concepts from the earlier shows. This means that they can't, for example, casually mention the Dominion War and its impact on the Federation, because if they did, they'd have to pay a licensing fee. This is why the show has been carefully crafted to look like a distant, derpy cousin of Star Trek, while only occasionally featuring cameos of things such as the Enterprise-D, or directly referencing arcs in previous shows: because if they use concepts from prior Star Trek shows, they have to pay for them.<br />
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Finally, when all has been said and done by the end of Season 1, Picard himself is reduced to a nearly-useless side character in his own show. Where once he commanded the admiration and respect of friends and foes alike, in this show he is consistently portrayed as a disrespected, disregarded, and often powerless caricature of himself, utterly reliant on the characters around him. {{spoiler|It doesn't help they legit kill him in the last episode and then made him an android after he also agreed to "kill" Data whose memories are basically in a server on a planet of Soong androids. The showrunners specifically came out and said their plan was always to kill Picard to make a point about how privileged he was being a captain in Starfleet. You can't make this shit up. Patrick Stewart himself claims that they hadn't written Picard's death until they were almost finished filming the season, so who knows what the hell was going on.}}<br />
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One other thing is certain. Whether you like the series or not, it's clear that this series is not taking place in Gene Roddenberry's noblebright vision of the Federation, and the fact that it is yet another grim, violent entry into the franchise is a point that has left many viewers with a bad aftertaste. If the rumors are true, then this show may have either killed the current grimderp Trek or has left fans so pissed that CBS is, once again, on the verge of financial ruin and possibly looking to sell the franchise since they aren't making the money they thought they would after the massive amounts of money they dumped into both this and Discovery.<br />
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Season 2 premiered in March 2022 after the Covid pandemic delayed production. They definitely listened to some of the major criticisms of the first season - Picard's been reinstated in Starfleet, many fan-favorite starship classes returned for the big space battle in the first episode, the gratuitous swearing and needless grimdark got toned down, and more deep cuts from TOS and DS9 lore show up. <br />
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Q shows up and launches the gang into a hilariously over-the-top alternate timeline where the [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] knob got cranked to 11 and as a result the ''Con''federation of Humanity has been going around [[Imperium of Man|exterminating all xenos scum]] up to and including the Borg, which is admittedly pretty badass. They're all appropriately horrified by this, and steal the Borg queen right as she's about to be executed so they can do a sun-slingshot move to go back to 2024 Los Angeles and <strike>save the whales</strike>fix whatever got messed up. Brent Spiner turns up as yet another Soong ancestor, morally skewed as always, and the punk from Star Trek IV returns, still blasting his boombox all these years later. Picard and co. save the future by ensuring that his ancestor Renee goes on a manned mission to the moon of Europa, where she discovers an alien organism that allows humanity to magically fix Earth's biosphere and make everything noblebright forevermore, apparently because [[Derp|the writers forgot that WWIII will arrive in a few decades]]. Rios decides to stay in the past because he met a sexy doctor and [[What|dies in a barfight]], Dr. Soong is revealed to be working on more Khans, his fake daughter Kore meets Wesley Crusher and becomes a Traveler, and it turns out that the reason Q did all this in the first place was to help Picard confront his deep-seated family issues so he could avoid dying alone, as Q is in the process of dying alone himself. In the season finale, the Borg (now being controlled by Agnes after [[What|she forced the Borg queen to bitch down by getting her to admit her ''own'' loneliness]]) ask to join the Federation so they can keep an eye on some weird transwarp conduit that some unknown entity just opened, which was why the Borg rocked up at the beginning of the season. Least it wrapped up well. <br />
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Would you believe Season 3 manages to turn it around somehow? Essentially a 10-episode attempt to answer the question, 'How can we get all of the original cast members together on a starship in the least contrived way?', Picard, Riker, Troi, LaForge, Worf, Data, and the bearable Crusher all come together to fight the new Borg threat. The series is written and directed by people who truly understand what Star Trek is about, and as such is a welcome sight to fans of the franchise. Each of the original cast gets time to develop their characters further - Worf drinks tea, Beverley finally manages to raise a kid who isn't [[Mary Sue|Wesley]], and Geordi now runs the fleet museum and has raised an impressive engineer himself. The series is practically dedicated to ignoring or fixing the last two seasons of Picard, if not the last quarter-century of TNG-adjacent movie and television media, and somewhat succeeds. {{Spoiler|They even bring back the right bridge, even if the excuse as to why was [[Fail|pulled out of their butts]]…}}<br />
<br />
The only sore spot of the series is the latest ''Enterprise'' at the end of the series, [[Derp|which looks like a horrible kitbash of the original Constitution]], and compares very unfavorably to its predecessor in the looks department. Other than that, it provides what was sorely missing these last few decades: a good send-off for the Next Generation ''after'' 'All Good Things'. <br />
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==''Strange New Worlds''==<br />
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An attempt to put the golden goose back together on the operating table. After seeing the reception of having Captain Pike in Discovery, Paramount decided to simply return to the pilot cast of The Original Series with its fingers crossed that the old bird will resume replicating gold eggs.<br />
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It's good so far. It's fun and optimistic, which is a genuine relief after the grimderp of Discovery and Picard, but isn't afraid to occasionally go in dark places and present genuinely difficult philosophical problems. We'll have to see if it holds up, the science can be very stupid even by ''Trek'' standards, and if you liked the Gorn you'll hate what they're doing with them, but overall, so far so good. The season 1 finale is a treat; it's a retelling of the classic episode "Balance of Terror" but with Pike in command of the ''Enterprise'' instead of Kirk, and they recreate everything from the blocking to the dialogue to the cheesy zooms of the original episode. It's pretty awesome.<br />
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==''Lower Decks''==<br />
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{{topquote|I FAILED THE KOBAYASHI MARU SEVENTEEN TIMES MOTHERFUCKER!|Brad Boimler}}<br />
Mike McMahan is doing this one, him being the person behind the Rick & Morty cartoon. It's set in 2380 on the ''Cerritos'', concentrating (like the TNG episode of the same name) on the grunts working in the bowels of the ship. The main characters are ensigns and low-level lieutenants: Tendi is a perky Orion science office-in-training with massive insecurities about her species. Rutherford is Geordi LaForge with less experience and a Manchurian Candidate backstory. Mariner is basically just reboot-era Kirk down to the captain's kid, broken home complex. They are all the bane (and close friends) of the worrisome Boimler, the Starfleet straight-man who could be the next Picard if he stopped worrying about getting promoted so much.<br />
[[File:Star_Trek_Lower_Decks.jpg|400px|right]]<br />
Fans feared this would focus on lowbrow "humor" episodes with technobabble nonsense stapled to it just like McMahan's other works; and they were half right, although the technobabble is here honestly ''less'' annoying than in mainline Trek, on account it's not being taken seriously. But over the first season the show found its footing. To enjoy it, you just have to embrace the likely reality that a few decks below all of Picard's noblebright ready room monologues there were hundreds of ignoble, corner-cutting crewmen who just want to get to the end of their shift. It's entertaining, but in a "The Bashir & Garak Show" sort of way. John de Lancie reprises Q, and Frakes returns as Riker, now in command of the USS Titan. <br />
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By the end of the first season, the consensus had formed that Lower Decks is probably the best addition to the franchise since the Rick Berman era ended, with a much better understanding of what Star Trek IS (to its fans) than either Discovery or Picard. The second and third seasons moved the series towards an overarching plot. The Pakleds, a joke throwaway species from TNG, are fittingly brought back as the story's big bad. The Pakleds are basically Ork [[Freebooterz]], an entire species of idiotic space pirates. Brutally kunnin they are not; their "plans" are worthy of Douglas Adams. Mariner gets beaten with the nerfhammer for the middle of season 2 and occasionally in season 3 making her much more tolerable. Meanwhile, the story of Rutherford's cybernetics gradually unfolds as the result of a conspiracy in Starfleet. Along the way, there's an episode ripping off James Cameron's ''Avatar'', a session of Klingon Dungeons & Dragons, space-faring Renfaire fanatics, and Mariner and Boimler having to work the Starfleet booth at job fair.<br />
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In summary, the first season was rife with teething issues (but show me a Trek series which wasn't) and directly appeals to people who loved Star Trek but now believe that "Star Trek is dead, Jim". Second and third season are more appealing to Trekkies who aren't afraid to laugh at the thing they like.<br />
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'''Outstanding Episodes: '''Crisis Point (Mariner hijacks Boimler's holodeck simulation of the bridge crew and turns it to a Star Trek film holodeck program); The Spy Humongous (Captain Freeman is sent to negotiate with the Pakleds while a Pakled spy pretends to be an asylum seeker. Answers the question how the various dangerous plot devices are disposed of); Where Pleasant Fountains Lie (Boimler and Mariner crash on a desert planet escorting an evil AI, Mariner gets well and truly nerfed. The ship's chief engineer turns out to be a prince of aforementioned Renfaire-fanatics); I, Excretus (The crew undergoes a holodeck drill program of various situations from past serieses. Boimler gets to shine in classic Starfleet activities); Grounded (Season 3 pilot. Mariner is convinced her mother is being railroaded in court and more evidence is needed from dry-docked Cerritos); Reflections (Rutherford races his past self in his subconciousness and his repressed memories start surfacing. Mariner and Boimler work a Star Fleet recruitment booth at a fair leading to the section quote.); Hear all, Trust Nothing (DS9 homage episode guest staring Armin Shimmerman and Nana Visitor. Tendi deals with her species embarrasment); Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus (Boimler desings a Star Trek film, but derails it almost immediately for himself and Mariner. Basically an RP sesssion where half of the players derail and split off).<br />
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'''Episodes to avoid:''' Envoys; Temporal Edict; Veritas; A Mathematically Perfect Redemption.<br />
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=='' Prodigy''==<br />
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Here for sake of completeness, an animated show targeting a younger audience that debuted in 2021 on Nickleodeon (alongside Paramount+). The show follows a collection of misfit (mostly young) aliens on a mining colony that find hidden in a crystalline planetoid the USS ''Protostar'', a Starfleet ship with a hologram of Janeway to aid the collection of "Cadets" as they escape and venture out into an galaxy full of adventure while the owner of the mining colony and his robot minion try to take the ''Protostar'' for themselves.<br />
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So far it has a decent critical reception. If you want Star Trek which is noblebright and not ironic and are fine with a PG rating, this may be worth a look.<br />
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= Films =<br />
We're putting these at the end in the (unlikely) event someone does a movie that's in the non-Abrams canon ever. As a general rule, the even-numbered ones aren't complete shit.<br />
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* '''''Star Trek: The Motion Picture''''': AKA: The Slow Motion Picture, or the Motionless Picture. A giant space whatsit is flying towards Earth, the mostly-retired crew has to go figure out what's going on and stop it. Old school sci-fi geeks like the ideas, but terrible pace and interminable special effects that were clearly meant to capitalize on ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' while failing to understand what people like about that movie kill them dead for everyone else. Besides the uniform worn by Kirk, the uniforms also look like pajamas. So no wonder they were changed only a movie later. Features an entirely bald female alien who is [[What|so good at sex that she has to swear an oath not to get it on with the crew]]. Really. This is canon.<br />
* '''''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''''': As Kirk starts to feel his age, a one-off villain from the show played by Ricardo "Corinthian Leather" Montalban makes a dramatic reappearance: [[Meme|KKKHHHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!]] Widely considered the best of all the films, and the only one considered a straight up great film, no qualifiers. If you haven't seen it, see it. So good many later movies in the franchise just try to rip it off instead of finding their own identities. Interesting fact: due to time constraints, Shatner and Montalban weren't available at the same time. So the entire script was written so that Kirk and Khan never need to meet face-to-face. But you'd never notice if it weren't pointed out to you. Roddenberry screeched autistically and objected to some of the actions of his characters, including Kirk shooting a [[Enslavers|brain eating space parasite]] that had literally just emerged from the head of his friend rather than "[[Noblebright|keeping it for study]]." The fact that his strongest objections came to the most win of the films says a great deal about his depreciating value to the franchise around the TNG era. <br />
* '''''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock''''': Where is Spock? ''He's on Genesis.'' ALL AHEAD FULL! Not really bad, just mediocre and run of the mill compared to the superior films that surround it. It was also saddled with the misfortune of undoing some of the previous film's more-daring decisions, and having its only daring decision reversed a film later. If you had to say that any film broke the "odd numbers suck" rule, it would be this one. This was Leonard Nimoy's first attempt at directing a full film, having asked for the seat in exchange for agreeing to play Spock again. <br />
* '''''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''''': The crew of the ''Enterprise'' travels back in time to save the whales. No, literally and unironically. Scott tries to talk to a computer through the mouse, Spock nerve-pinches a punk on a bus in San Francisco, and somehow it works, creating something perhaps not quite in the genre intended but a classic in sci-fi dramedy. ''The Voyage Home'' is a zany comedy romp beloved by the general public and fandom alike, leaving only the most intractable fanbois to bitch and moan. Nimoy directed this one too but there was a contract stipulation that Shatner would get whatever Nimoy got, thus leading to...<br />
* '''''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier''''': aka. the film that should never have been made, even by many die-hard Trekkies. Kirk's actor got his spin behind the camera as agreed and wanted a "thought-provoking movie" after the more comical IV. Good intention, but the abysmal execution leaves the audience facepalming at the very best. Between the weak script, the 'moral' of the story ('faith can be abused by unscrupulous people', for the record) delivered with all the subtlety of a punch to the face, poor (or deliberately campy) special effects, uninspired performances by the actors (who for the most part didn't like the script as it had them behave against everything that had come before and betray Kirk) and Kirk's screentime-hogging (despite being behind the camera); this movie is by far the absolute worst of the original six and simply not worth watching... but it's just dumb and hapless, not dead and soulless like what's to follow from other crews.<br />
* '''''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''''': The Space Cold War ends amidst searing mystery and drama. The sendoff for the original cast, except Kirk who got a worse send-off a movie later. Gene Roddenberry watched it, hated it, and was going to seek legal advice but died a week later. And good riddance to that, because it's a pretty sweet political thriller if your hippie-panties don't get into a twist at the thought that the Federation isn't a perfect place full of perfect people. Press F for Christopher Plummer, second best ham in ''Trek'' history. After the previous movie's painful directing, Sulu's actor only agreed to come back if he got to be captain of his own ship. He did, but Shatner still found a way to steal his thunder.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Generations''''': Malcolm McDowell blows up planets to get into a magic space ribbon to live forever, no it does not make any more sense in context. Bringing the TNG crew to the silver screen was a good idea, but those were thin on the ground. An already-weak story hamstrung by its obsession with being daring and unconventional rather than good (aside from the bit where Worf gets promoted, that was great). Also, Kirk dies on the bridge in the most face-palming manner possible. Nimoy was offered the Director's chair, took one look at the script and demanded a rewrite which didn't happen so he refused to be involved. <br />
* '''''Star Trek First Contact''''': The ''TNG'' crew face off with the Borg to ensure the future happens. Lots of action, a script that sparks with energy and snark, and some quite effective performances make this the only good ''TNG'' movie (we don't blame you TNG cast). It is sadly also the only appearance of the Defiant on the big screen, doing a pretty decent job of fighting the Borg before the Enterprise E saves the day of course. The Borg Queen was also introduced here before Voyager ruined what could have been a good idea. (Or demonstrated the flaws in what was already a shaky idea, depending on who you ask, but either way she works well here in a way she won't later.) <br />
* '''''Star Trek Insurrection''''': If you thought the [[Avatar|Na'vi]] were a bunch of badly-written [[Mary Sue]]s, you ain't seen nothing yet! B-b-b-baby you ain't seen n-n-n-nothing yet! Also, Riker shaves his beard, and that's basically a war crime. Aged from terrible to forgettably bad thanks to that one scene of Picard and Data singing ''HMS Pinafore'' going memetic. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Nemesis''''': The last stand of the ''TNG'' cast, ending not with a bang but a whimper. It also required amending the even=good/odd=bad rule to "''Galaxy Quest'' counts as a ''Star Trek'' film so this one is also odd." Infamous for killing off Data (which was actually Brent Spiner's idea since he was starting to visibly age) and because the director hadn't watched a single episode of TNG, back when it was considered a bad thing not to know anything about the property you were adapting. It also killed Tom Hardy's career for half a decade, [[Grimdark|and nearly killed Hardy himself]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek''''' (2009): Alternate timeline "reboot" (sideboot?) with the original crew, albeit with new younger actors. Timey-wimey shit happens and old prime timeline Spock (reprised by old Leonard Nimoy) is hurled back in time along with a bunch of Romulan assholes. The dickbag Romulans begin fucking shit up, slightly altering history in a way that ensures gratuitous lens flare. [[skub| Skubtastic]], but at least fun to watch (if a literally gleaming, uncomplicated space action-adventure that doesn't delve deeply into the human condition ala II or deeply into idiocy ala V/Generations/Insurrection spells "fun" to you), which is more than ''most'' odd-numbered films can muster. If you still even count it as odd, without the ''Galaxy Quest''-amendment.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Into Darkness''''': Some [[edgy]] [[Fail|shit]]. The second of the alternate timeline ''Trek'' films. Terrorism, conspiracy and flapdoodle. Even more skubtastic, but generally considered worse than its predecessor, partially because (like ''Nemesis'') it tries to be a remake of ''The Wrath of Khan'' and having Kirk at his most punchable.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Beyond''''': Didn't totally suck; graded on a curve against the prior two. So - the good / bad / skub. Good: lots of good character stuff for the entire cast (including Kirk ''not'' being an asshat) and a decent story revolving around a race of mysterious space pirates trying to conquer a colony; handles IRL death of Leonard Nimoy excellently. Bad: villains are under-written, the action photography is poorly-lit shaky-cam horseshit, and the sound work is awful. Skub: Takei came out to complain that its Sulu was gay-married, since he'd played Sulu straight himself, so gay-Sulu was - Takei complained - an insult to his acting prowess (but: alternate universe, remember). If it's the last "Kelvin Timeline" movie, as it seems it will be, at least it ended on a note that wasn't total turd. Apparently we're getting a fourth one now, which was news to everyone including the cast.<br />
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= Novels =<br />
Like most long time franchises ''Star Trek'' has a massive line of books.<br />
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Most are effectively fanfics as nothing but the show and the movies is canon so the writers can do whatever they want. Partial exception to be made for the ''Deep Space Nine'' line; those are considered the "eighth season", justifiably, because they're actually quite good. Start with Andrew "Garak" Robinson's ''Stitch in Time''.<br />
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This changed after ''Nemesis'' since that movie was so godawful the producers calculated they might never have another show or movie in the "Prime" universe; also, several ''DS9'' actors started dropping off dead (so their fans never did get their kino). The writers got their shit together and wrote a group of books as a tight community very close to the shows. The relaunch novels are a continuation of the show they're about. Also there's the ''Titan'' book series which is about Riker and Troi getting their own ship, which happens to be staffed by every race in the Federation including living rocks, [[awesome|space dinosaurs]] that smell like [[meatbread|toast]] and a [[what|space cyborg ostrich]].<br />
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All the relaunch lines eventually got brought together in Star Trek: Destiny, where the Borg go nuts and eat Pluto ... yeah... and then they finally get sick of the Federation somehow managing to not get assimilated all the time, so they finally just send every last cube they have with orders to Exterminatus the absolute SHIT out of the entire Alpha Quadrant. Pretty much every important character from TNG, DS9, and Voyager has to team up to stop them, and even then the Federation still gets its shit kicked in and winds up having to rely on a vaguely ridiculous deus ex machina to beat the Borg, and [[Grimdark|billions of people still die and dozens of planets are blown to shit]]. It was pretty insane.<br />
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Then all the Federation's main enemies get together to form an anti-Federation and start poking the bear, all the while telling their allies that they're somehow warmongering dicks, Section 31 gets its cover blown in a big way, and Riker gets promoted to Admiral. Also, a lot of the newer TNG novels have been devoted to following up on one-shot aliens from the show, like the guys that sent out the probe that made Barclay super-smart and those fish monks that were abducting crewmembers for experiments. Now that the Picard show is coming out, though, this will all presumably be chucked in the dustbin. <br />
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Picard show came. Dustbin. But! Some of the authors who'd been working on the novel continuity for the last twenty years weren't willing to let the Trek novelverse die an inglorious death like the original Star Wars EU, so they got together and wrote a trilogy to give it a proper send-off. The dickhead aliens from that TNG two-part episode with Mark Twain have worked out a way to blow up entire quantum realities and feast on the neural energy of the trillions of lives snuffed out in the process. The novelverse crews all team up to stop them and learn that they're in an alternate timeline created by the Borg during the events of ''First Contact'', and that their reality will have to be erased permanently in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the multiverse. Some of them are less happy about it than others, but they band together to fight the good fight one last time. Everyone fucking dies, of course, but in the end they defeat the dickhead aliens and save the day before being extinguished forever. Still a better note to go out on than Disney saying "lol none of the old EU is canon anymore, buy our new stuff nerds."<br />
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= Video Games =<br />
Again, you're in /tg/, so /v/ comes LAST.<br />
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There have been over 100 Star Trek video games to date but you'll be lucky for find more than [https://www.gog.com/news/6_classic_star_trek_games_ready_to_beam_up_new_players_and_fans_alike 6 on Steam or GOG] that aren't shitty mobile phone games. The vast, vast majority of Star Trek's games are abandonware with no way to purchase them, let alone get them from completely trustable sources. Also for a long time gamers had the (justified) prejudice that ''Trek'' games were shit and ''Wars'' games were good. This changed a bit after ''Elite Force'' redeemed ''Trek'' a bit and more so on the other end after EA ran ''Wars'' to the ground.<br />
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* [https://www.gog.com/partner/startrek List of Star Trek games on GOG.com]<br />
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=== Star Trek Online ===<br />
''Star Trek Online'' is the free-to-play online game built by Cryptic Studios and run by <s>Infogrames</s> <s>Atari</s> <s>Perfect World</s> Gearbox. With an official license CBS, recurring characters voiced by various Trek alumni, and a license to include references to both the reboot chronology (officially known as the "Kelvin Timeline") and recent shows, it's the closest existing thing to an "official" continuation of the "Prime" timeline, and contains history and fluff extending nearly 30 years from the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.<br />
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Taking place in the 25th century (around the year 2409-2412), the Hobus supernova (the event that kicked Nero and Spock into the past alternate timeline during Star Trek 2009) has devastated the Romulans, resulting in the near-collapse and fragmentation of the Romulan Star Empire. This causes tensions between a resurgent Klingon Empire and the Federation which blows up into a war. Members of the new (and nicer) breakaway Romulan Republic play both sides in exchange for development aid.<br />
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There are six possible starts for characters.<br />
*Current Starfleet - The standard starting point.<br />
*Klingons - You are a warrior of the Empire! Qapla' warrior! Today is a good day to die!<br />
*Romulan Republic - Part of a breakaway state after the destabilization of the Star Empire, you get a choice on which major faction (Starfleet or Klingon) you can join later on.<br />
*Dominion - Quite possibly the least played, you do start at level 60 (basically right at end game since levels cap at 65) and you pick which major faction to join too, but you're part of the Dominion so...<br />
*TOS Starfleet - With all the redshirt shenanigans that entails. A time anomaly and weird mission later and you're now in the standard timeline for STO.<br />
*DSC Starfleet - Similar to TOS, comes with a series of starting missions that are possibly the best any of the starts have. Drawback is that it is couched in the Discovery era.<br />
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The game contains deep cuts from all over Trek lore, and answers questions about what happened to various key characters, including Data (took over the Enterprise-E, then retired), the Enterprise (now an even bigger ship run by Andorian captain Shon), and the Voyager crew (it took Harry Kim 30 years to make Captain lol). Raises barely-shown, unnamed, and otherwise obscure races to new prominence as big bad foes, including the Iconians (ancient aliens with god complexes who mutated into energy beings, currently live in Dyson Spheres and were only defeated by a predestination paradox), Tzenkethi (4-armed halo guys whose weak points are the FRONT of their shields), and Na'kuhl (the alien nazis from Enterprise as time-traveling terrorists who blame the Federation for a throwaway event that happened in TNG's beach episode).<br />
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The two most recent major arcs center on a Klingon power struggle and civil between mostly TNG-era Klingons and some DSC-era Klingons (and you also go to Klingon Hell) followed very quickly by a Terran arc with heavy tie-ins to the original Star Trek movie's V'Ger. While the Klingon arc made some players more than a little irked due to not only its length (spread out over several "seasons" of play) and it's attempt to shoehorn in the controversial Discovery era, the Terran arc has been widely praised and brought back a very notorious character from the TNG era.<br />
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Ostensibly free to play, but don't let that fool you... the ''not-so-micro''transactions are the only reason the lights stay on.<br />
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That said, the game does get really decent updates and now is in a groove of running two seasonal events ("Summer on Risa" and "Q's Winter Wonderland") as well as a year-long campaign, as well as a smattering of smaller ones throughout the year. The seasonal ones tend to give you really good shit (often a ship, other times major equipment that can help define an entire character) but the year-long campaign gives you a choice of 3 options to pick from - a shit ton of in-game currency known as Lobi (enough to get a Lobi ship and a little extra), TWO regular Zen Store Tier 6 ships (these unlock for all characters, by the way), or one of the "Premium" ships (ones you typically get from lockbox drops). The only major stipulation is the Premium ship can't be one that has been released in that specific year, but previous years ones are fair game to grab.<br />
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=== Bridge Commander ===<br />
A game that lets you feel like a captain. Very dated, but mods are very good. Has had a resurgence in recent years, with newer mods adding stuff from the newer shows.<br />
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=== Elite Force ===<br />
There was an "Away Team" game that sucked and a "Voyager" game 1995-7 that got canceled. ''Elite Force'' was the ST:VOY away-team FPS game that critics didn't poop on, and it even got a sequel featuring much of the cast of ''TNG''.<br />
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=== Starfleet Command ===<br />
''Starfleet Command'' was a series real time space battle games by Interplay based on the much older tabletop game Star Fleet Battles. It came out in 1999 and was followed by several sequels and expansions. Gameplay was much like ''Battlefleet Gothic'', but with the player only controlling one ship. SFC remains Interplay's best selling game, topping even ''Baldur's Gate''.<br />
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=== Armada ===<br />
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A series of low effort RTS's churned out by Activision in 2000. Tried to take on both ''Homeworld'' and ''Age of Empires'', both of which have recently gotten HD remakes and ''Armada'' hasn't so that should tell you all you need to know. However, for one of the first 3D model space RTS's it was surprisingly easy to mod, resulting in many ship mod packs being made for it.<br />
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=== Legacy ===<br />
Starfleet Command dumbed down but with fancier graphics and the ability to fly in 3D. Features ships and protagonists from all 4 main series before the reboots so it has everything iconic. The Ultimate Universe mod has every single ship from all series before the reboot.<br />
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==NonCanon==<br />
=== Homages ===<br />
Being such a long-running franchise with a wide audience, Star Trek has gained enough pop-culture recognition that it is often referenced in other works. In a few cases entire projects are made to pay homage to Star Trek. Here are some examples.<br />
<br />
==== Galaxy Quest ====<br />
A sci-fi/comedy film released in 1999, directed by Dean Parisot. Built around that ''Three Amigos'' premise of "What if the cast of ''Star Trek'' ended up on a real spaceship and had to actually do the shit they did in the show?", this one parodies science fiction films and series in general - ''Star Trek'' (and its fandom) in particular.<br />
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The film stars big name actors including Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and the late Alan Rickman. The plot revolves around the cast of a defunct cult television series called Galaxy Quest (for example, Tim Allen played the Kirk/Shatner expy and Alan Rickman played the Spock/Nimoy expy). They're also suffering fatigue that mirrors the experiences of the actual Star Trek actors (Rickman's character is typecast with his Galaxy Quest character and laments it, similar to how these things happened to the late, great Leonard Nimoy).<br />
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The cast are suddenly visited by actual aliens, the Thermians, who believe the series to be an accurate documentary (they have no concept of fiction and only the most bare bones idea of lying - which they only just learned about when the antagonist deceived them repeatedly) and seek their help. The Thermians take the actors with them, who find themselves involved in a very real, and dangerous, galactic conflict against the alien warlord, Sarris. Unlike the show where it all wrapped up quickly they struggle to learn about and relate to the aliens. Can these ordinary, flawed actors find greatness within themselves, and possibly personal redemption? (Spoiler: yes, and it is incredible.)<br />
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Speaking of the aliens, in a witty nod to the "rubber forehead aliens" so common in Star Trek, the Thermians first appear to resemble humans with unnaturally pale skin and straight hair/cheap make-up, but that's revealed to be a holographic disguise and their true forms are squid-like. This does not stop one of the actors from striking up a relationship with a female alien anyway. [[/d/| Shine on you crazy /d/iamond!]]<br />
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/tg/ deems this one of the best parodies ever made, and an affectionate love-letter to the franchise as a whole. If you disagree then feel free to consume a big bag of Saurian Swinoid dongs.<br />
<br />
''"Never give up, Never surrender!"''<br />
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==== The Orville ====<br />
Now has [[The Orville|its own page]].<br />
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===Fanfics===<br />
We ''could'' point you to An Archive Of Our Own but, for those (few) of you not keen to watch Kirk and Spock probe Uranus, here are some of the better noncanonical Trek you might want to watch.<br />
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====Star Trek: Renegades====<br />
Kickstarter Trek. The makers submitted their made-for-TV movie pilot to CBS in an attempt to get it made into a legit on-the-air series (and by god it shows), but they were not successful. As a result, while the project limped along for a few years afterward, it has good and bad in equal measure. As a non-official product it also cannot be considered canon. Some characters are actually interesting (about time we saw more of the Breen!) while others are pure Mary Sues (including a male Seven of Nine with a built-in Borg-gun/personal shield/fully-functional hand). Some of the ideas are interesting while others are boring or already-been-done. The CGI is all Hollywood-quality, but the practical effects are okay at best. <br />
It's obvious that they made this without knowing that they were going to be able to make a TV show or not, and tried to cram the sort of build-up and intrigue we saw in DS9 into a span of 90 minutes. For now though, it's decidedly meh, and probably a dead project as well since it hasn't been mentioned on the maker's website in over a year as of late 2019.<br />
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====Star Trek Continues====<br />
Of all the offerings listed here, Star Trek Continues is BY FAR the closest in theme and tone to the original 1960's series. Indeed, this is the whole point: from its inception, this fan-funded project was intended to represent a what-if "4th Season" of the Original Series, ending with the conclusion of the Enterprise's 5-year mission. It is surprisingly and at times ''delightfully'' watchable, with strong stories, consequences and arcs that carry over to later episodes, tons of attention to detail, unexpected cameos, and a cast that really came together, particularly in later episodes. It also delicately navigated a line between viewing female characters through the lens of a show that was rooted in 1960's culture while also not treating them as weak children dependent on men for protection. Star Trek Continues successfully concluded its "season" with all 11 episodes gradually released from 2014 to 2018, to heaps of industry awards and wide praise (including a personal endorsement from Gene Roddenberry's son, who said his father would've approved).<br />
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===Parodies===<br />
====Futurama====<br />
Matt Groening, that mad lad, got almost all the original actors in a ''Futurama'' episode to [re-]enact a ''Trek'' episode on behalf of an alien fan. But not Doohan, so "Scotty" is replaced by "Welshie". Who gets horribly killed and has his corpse zapped whenever the alien loses his temper.<br />
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====Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning====<br />
Another parody, parodying not only ''Star Trek'' but ''Babylon 5'' as well. The seventh in a series fan movies released in 2005, it's about Captain Pirk builds a starship called CPP ''Kickstart'', allies with Russia and takes over the world. He wants to take over more planets but the ships of his P-Fleet aren't fast enough to travel outside the Solar system. A maggot hole opens and it leads to an alternate reality. Pirk wants to take over the Earth of this reality, which leads to an [[awesome]] space battle between the P-Fleet and the fleet of the space station Babel 13 led by Johnny Sherrypie. The movie features some of the best special effects ever put in a sci-fi movie, which is pretty impressive, considering that this is an amateur film with a very low budget and was rendered in five years in someone's bedroom. The film is spoken in Finnish but subtitles are available for a wide variety of languages, including Klingon. They also made [https://web.archive.org/web/20070828010927/http://rpg.starwreck.com/ a role-playing game based on it], where your character [[Truenamer|becomes more incompetent]] [[Page 42|as he levels up]].<br />
<br />
= Criticisms =<br />
Also known as "plot holes", "what an idiot moments", and myriad of other names.<br />
* Cybernetics, as in prosthetics and artificial tools instead of Synthetic lifeforms like Data. There are various stories where physical injuries and handicaps are a big deal and used as allegories for issues like the treatment of the disabled or even euthanasia, but some could argue that even those cases special enough to get an episode shouldn't be an issue in a galaxy where technology has advanced light years and replicators are widespread. Besides whatever in-episode exception is given, this is partly explained by the various factions generally having ''some'' respect for the sanctity and autonomy of the organic form or just being flat-out better than anything technology can recreate, but sometimes it can seem ''awfully'' tempting to <s>magic</s> science up a series of sensors, implants or dermal armor that can give you the durability of a [[Men of Iron|Soong-class android]] or the spectral analysis capabilities of Geordi's visor. There's seldom an in-universe budget issue for this (replicators construct anything out of anything; only mass matters, not cost), though there are some out-of-universe issues for both the budget ("We can't afford more styrofoam tech props!") and plot ("Shut up about how the engineer invented a new engine component last season which would perfectly solve this problem.")<br />
** The technological arms race might also stand out depending on how you interpret the factions who generally lack the Federation's restraint. While Klingons may value the power found in their strong bat'leth arm and the purity of a warrior's physical form, some might argue that their obsession with warrior pride and strength should mean they have [[Big Mek|war engineers]] dedicated to creating the biggest, most badass powered armor with the biggest phasers and blades. And if Romulans and Cardassians are so ruthlessly ambitious, shouldn't their agents have hyper-stealthy scanners and miniaturized electronic warfare suites for better spying? Granted, one counter to that is "because the tech would inevitably be detected and reverse-engineered by Star Trek technobabble, spawning a perpetual cybernetics arms race", but still. And then you get into the Borg, [[Meme|who have no such weaknesses]], and it opens a whole can of worms.<br />
** Keep in mind, that in Federation, only ''biological'' augmentation is illegal (like [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like Khan Noonien Singh). ''Cybernetic'' augmentation is incredibly obscure and rarely seen, but '''is''' legal ([[Artificial Intelligence]] is also legal). And on top of that, Federation pays respect to other ideologies and cultures. As such, if Federation citizen decided to turn himself into robust tank-like full-conversion cyborg with lots of badass gadgets and systems - it would not cost him anything (replicators + post-scarcity economy) - while others would remark how strange he is, but not impose any penalties/punishments/sanctions, and would respect him for his incredible capabilities (for there's no guy in town half as massive!). Most other civilizations/nations have even less restrictions on [[Transhumanism]]/augmentation than Federation has - that is, most of them would also allow ''biological'' augmentation - and they also have replicators.<br />
* Everyone look like some variant of human, without any variety:<br />
** All aliens are just humans with slight alterations of face features, like ridges on their foreheads. Aliens, what would so much as look like other members of ''Homo'' Genus (think difference between modern humans and neanderthals), are very rare. And ''truely alien'' aliens are practically non-existent. Yet mathematically, "non-metamorph/spapeshifter aliens evolving to look perfectly like humans" has so small chance, as to be completely implausible - and '''every''' alien race independently evolving to look like humans is '''absurd'''.<br />
** Almost all cyborgs/robots are human-shaped. Almost all of ''those'' are human-looking, with artificial skin and such. Human shape is not very effective for most tasks - and as such, one could expect vaguely-humanoid (e.g. like [[Dreadnought]] or [https://helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/Hulk Cyberstanian Hulk]) and non-humanoid (e.g. tank-shaped "box on threads with rotating turret") robots/cyborgs to appear from time to time - yet such things are practically non-existent in ''Star Trek'' (IRL, it's the other way around - lots of industrial robots and "boxes on threads", and no synthetic humans). What's more, Borg are partially-mechanical cyborgs, clinging to their ragged flesh for no discernible reason, looking more humanlike than [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] members are - while logically, due to having Replicators, Borg could make themselves fully-robotic (with, at most, only nervous system bein organical; everything else would rather be replaced with strong and durable ultra-tech machinery) '''''and''''' field large vaguely-humanoid/non-humanoid units (strong and tough - and since they're big, they can have bigger brains/computers, cue being smarter).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld weapons stronger/bigger than rifle. Such as LMG and RPG-sized weapons, for tough enemies. There is the Worfzooka from Insurrection.<br />
** More about that [http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Database/Query-ST.php?Series=TNG&Category=Realism&EpName=&Keywords=&Quotes=&Analysis=&Submit=Submit there] and [https://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tactics/ there].<br />
* Lack of ''any'' armor. So much as making jumpsuits out of futuristic ballistic (or at least sharp-resistant) materials would make life easier (e.g. Klingons would be forces to switch for guns, as melee weapons couldn't penetrate even such light futuristic armor), while having same weight, cost (replicators, after all!) and being concealable as clothing (as it would have same weight ''as'' clothing); in fact, such protective clothing should completely replace normal clothing - for it has same cost/weight, but is actually protective. That's before going on to ''any'' sort of "proper" armor; no equivalents of [[Power Armor]] and [[Carapace Armour]] - even no equivalents of [[Flak Armor]]. Even those not going into direct combat would logically need to wear armor - due to chance of enemy teleporting on ship, and due to ship's machinery constantly exploding into dangerous shrapnel. There are two exceptions, there was some armor used by security forces in the movies and armored vests in Discovery (though, neither are good at protecting from gunfire).<br />
** Similarly, lack of ''any'' environmental protection. So much as wearing gas masks/rebreathers or [[Space Station 13|breath masks with emergency oxygen tanks]] would make life a lot easier. Logically, with ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies, even the lesser space-faring civilizations (like most Federation's neighbors) should be capable of creating protective suits that are as comfortable to wear as clothing while protecting from vacuum and hostile atmospheres. And on top of that, armor mentioned above could also be sealed work as protection from environmental threats of all sorts. Yet [[Derp|everyone go around in unarmored jumpsuits, no matter where they are - be it unexplored planet with potentially hostile atmosphere/biosphere, damaged ship where systems leak and depressurizations happen, or warzone where enemies use chemical/biological/radiological weapons]]. [[Irony|All that, ironically, makes goody-two-shoes Federation '''''more backwards''''' than]] modern humans (submariners and jet pilots wear rebreathers, astronauts wear emergency space suits) and ''[[Imperium of Man]]'', of all people (many [[Astra Militarum|guardsmen]] wear gas masks and hazmat suits, [[Space Marine]] armor doubles as emergency space suits). What little environmental protection suits are there in ''Star Trek'', are very unreliable and constantly tear - despite the fact, that ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies could allow to make sharp-proof, bullet-proof, phaser-proof (or at least phaser-resistant) reliable space suits, what would weigh and cost just as much as normal ones (because replicators!).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld heavy explosive weapons. Like, for example, miniature antimatter munitions, for when you ''really'' need to blow something up (imagine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) Davy Crockett], but with '''antimatter''' instead of low-grade fission nuke). Heavy/Powered Armor from point above could help to "use that thing and not die from blast/radiation".<br />
* Lack of Ground Vehicles. If you are exploring an alien planet, you'd want to be able to get around it's surface quickly. But basically you're limited to Spaceships and Walking.<br />
* Lack of Boarding/Breaching Vehicles. If you are not tank-like cyborg, and you're fighting inside spaceship (or other cramped place) - you'd want something compact, yet equipped with lots of armor and weapons, preferably remote-controlled and flying. A "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Descent room] [https://www.old-games.ru/game/103.html superiority] starfighter", or [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2729877778&searchtext=Breaching+drone breaching] [https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=244850&searchtext=Breaching+drone&childpublishedfileid=0&browsesort=textsearch&section= drone] variants. Such machine would be many times stronger than [[Power Armor]]/small [[Battlesuit]] soldiers - not to mention infantrymen; it would be impervious to small-arms fire, and resistant to anti-vehicular weapons. But instead, everyone are limited to "walking around, without any armor, and without anything bigger than rifle".<br />
** To understand, how scary such remote-controlled "box of death" or "room superiority starfighter" would be with Star Trek tech... It would technically be a very small spaceship. Made of heavy spaceship-grade armor, resistant to phaser cannons and anti-matter rockets, to the point of being able to take hits from vehicles bigger than itself. With deflector shields on top of that. And instead of 25x184 gatling autocannons and 200mm rocket launchers (what is ''already'' overkill for anything human-sized), it would be armed with '''''ginormous phaser [auto]cannons and antimatter missiles (!)'''''. And it quickly flies on futuristic engines, far stronger than any modern variant of ion or hydrogen engine; so much as it's engine exhaust trust can turn unarmored infantryman into pile of charcoal and fling it across the ship. It's a non-living vehicle, with ton of immunities and resistances that entails. And if it's outfitted with AI (instead or in addition to remote-control system), it gets all advantages of that (absolute timing and precision, intuitive fast mathematics, reaction speed rivaling that of CIWS system, etc). It has virtually limitless operating time, due to working on anti-matter reactor (or something comparable); if it's destroyed, it violently explodes (due to anti-matter reactor and anti-matter ammunition detonation). It may also be outfitted with various tools (e.g. repair tools and manipulators), or even ''portable replicator''. And most of it's opponents are enemies with tiny peashooters and useless chunks of sharp iron, what can't even scratch the machine's paintjob. Have fun.<br />
* And [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MisappliedPhlebotinum why not use teleporter offensively]? Make big antimatter bomb (whatever warheads your torpedoes use; the stronger explosive - the better), set it to explode after teleporting (timer, and other sensors), then teleport it onto enemy ship. Then watch the explosion of epic proportions, as '''enormous''' antimatter warhead (at least 2 meters big in every direction - possibly, so big what it fills all available space on ship's bridge; the bigger can fit inside your teleporter - the better) explodes inside enemy ship. Even tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles can't survive '''that''' much of explosion; ship's systems will also be utterly devastated. There are no people out there, who would be more destructive than antimatter bomb of same mass/size.<br />
**As a counterpoint, transporters can't work through shields and a variety of other things can stop transporters from working including radiation, electromagnetic activity and suchlike. Transporter Inhibitors have been mentioned and shown repeatedly.<br />
* And why there are no ship defenses? For example, so much as "phaser autocannon turret equivalent in size to gatling autocannon" would be great at repelling any boarding infantrymen, and could help against tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles. That's before going on to any bigger defensive systems; the only thing what ''sufficiently big'' turret can't handle, is '''massive antimatter bomb''' (read above). Yet instead, everyone foolishly leave their ships defenseless, despite knowing what enemies ''have'' teleports and ''will'' board their ships.<br />
* Planet of the Hats. Not a problem unique to Trek, but it's very acute here. As mentioned a lot of species in Star Trek are rather one note. For the Klingons it's all about being a [[Proud Warrior Race|Honorable Warrior]], for the Romulans it's all about covert actions, intrigue and political plotting, for the Ferengi it's all about making money and being greedy, etc. Those are the big species and most Species-Of-The-Week are even more one-note than that, such as the species who's hat is being big-game hunters, playing board games or aggressive bartering. Admittedly there's only so much you can fit into part of a 45 minute long TV show and there are some ideas that work better than others, but even so building an entire civilization/country around interpretive dance is pretty dumb.<br />
** Besides, there is large shortage of "atypical" characters, whose characteristics are different from their species' average. Such as a Ferengi guy who isn't greedy trader; Ferengi guy who is militaristic conqueror a-like Conquistadors, who prefers to enslave and "take something forcibly" instead of buying; Romulan soldier/special-agent who is a militaristic gun nut and fan of direct "blow everything up!" actions; Klingon pirate/rebel/marauder who is a militaristic warlike callous asshole without any sense of honor or morals (i.e. unfettered in his desire to conquer and destroy); Human who is hulking, augmented to the point of being non-humanoid, [[Cyborg]] [[Space Marine]], [[Transhumanist]] and conqueror, who tries to "save Federation from it's own stupidity", reverse-engineers Borg tech, "recruits" Borgs (by disconnecting them from [[Hive Mind]] and connecting to himself) and constantly intervenes everywhere.<br />
* Budget problems. Most factions (e.g. Federation lives in post-scarcity economy) have access to Replicators ([https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS_Prime_Directive#Star_Fleet_Universe_Tech_Levels among other things], what clearly classify it as [[Soft Science Fiction]]); they can turn anything into anything, as long as they have supply of energy and bulk matter. Naturally, there ''are'' large supply of energy (from Antimatter reactors), and lots of bulk matter (planets, asteroids, etc). Therefore, "budget limitations" as we know it cease existing, and anyone can take as much big-advanced gear as he wants; from robust full-conversion-cyborg body, to big guns and power armor, to portable replicator, to all sorts of gadgets. Yet characters behave as if they are on strict budget limits - usually coming on missions while grossly under-equipped (only having non-protective uniforms and phaser-pistols); what frequently resulted in problems ([https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction that even got highlighted on TvTropes]).<br />
** In particular they have goofy things like having civilizations in the same technological ball-park of the Federation capture people to mine stuff with pick axes or push mine carts of ore into furnaces like this is the 19th century; even though mining machines like tunneling shield, power tools, and self-moving carts are a lot cheaper than slaves, and should already be invented.<br />
*** Generally, there's shortage of "Sane Evil"/"Pragmatic Evil" types - "those who are ready to do any heinous act, but only as long as it furthers their goal, who are capable of doing good things if it furthers their goal, and who don't do evil if it doesn't further their goal". Most villains in series are [[Grimderp]] [[Stupid Evil]] types who do bad things just to show how evil they are. All while "Pragmatic Evil" types are more interesting, more realistic, more common IRL, and rise many good philosophical question by virtue of ''arguably being more effective than good guys'' ("So you would rather be good yet inefficient, or amoral yet efficient?", "Moral is subjective - yet our system is more effective - and from our point of view, we're perfectly moral", "Your 'morals' and 'ethics' are just handcuffs and shackles you imposed on yourself, what slow down your civilization - like those dumb Klingon codes of honor", etc).<br />
* Numerous other errors (some [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction highlighted on TvTropes]). Such as exploding instrument panels (could be fixed with batteries and wireless connection; and on top of that, no one wears armor, not even flak armor), holodeck problems (mishaps by creating physical, dangerous holograms - yet never gets used for any actually practical ways, like "conjure cannon fodder out of thing air, and beam it to enemy ship"), no computer backups, no transporter tests (teleport a sealed container of water up and down - then teleport a mouse up and down - and check if both are normal - and samples are to be beamed up separately; no one did that), no environmental protection, no physical access doors in brig, shuttles what poorly fly in atmosphere, cargo working in 1G gravity (despite low-gravity being more productive), no space suits or other protective gear, and some other errors.<br />
* The Prime Directive. [[TL;DR]] Starfleet is forbidden from interacting with pre-warp civilizations, and main characters are Starfleet members. In broad strokes it's not a bad idea since we don't want to be Space Cortés enslaving people to mine dilithium and imposing our religion on them at laser-point, and Star Trek has always leaned towards more liberal ideas of respecting the freedom and autonomy of other cultures instead of intervening "because we know best", to say nothing of when time travel and mirror dimensions are involved and you have to preserve the sanctity of the timeline (unless the point of the episode is to FIX what's wrong to get back to your universe). Nor do the Feddies want to accidentally stunt the growth of a civilization by becoming their gods or making them dependent on them and thus incapable of advancing by themselves. The problem is that it comes up when civilizations face some major danger like a killer disease, geological disaster or the Schmazis going around genociding everyone on the planet who's not forest green and the federation's official response is "rules are rules, can't interfere" as millions suffer and die in all sorts of gruesome preventable ways (including ''pre-warp Earth''; they don't care about suffering/deaths of ''their own people'' -but this particular problem comes with the huge caveat of temporal interference as playing god on someone else is one thing, erasing yourself from existence is another-). Many species and civilizations have suffered extinction or collapse because of this (and in many cases, that resulted or could result in evil aggressive post-warp civilization emerging on such unattended planets), and many problems could be easily avoided if not for Prime Directive. Basically, it's a case of a noble ideal which severely hampers the heroes because there's [[Lawful Stupid|very little room for nuance]].<br />
** Such passivity also commonly extends to post-warp civilizations as well. The Federation's strict policy of non-interference in foreign affairs (barring explicit permission or evidence of interference) has led to many non-aligned races like the Bajorans treating the Federation with open distrust (the Bajorans fought a guerilla campaign against the Cardassians, who massacred and enslaved them for years without the Federation lifting so much as a finger, and many cynically see them as allies of convenience who only backed them up when they had something they wanted) or foregoing several opportunities to shift the balance of power in the Federation's favour (the Klingon Civil War is a prime example of that, as not only would have military support for Gowron's faction have the cost the Federation nothing, but Gowron's enemies sought to undo the peace treaty the Federation had with the Klingons for decades while bringing them closer to the Romulans, the only other faction that could meet the Federation on somewhat equal footing) simply because it would be ideologically inconvenient to do so. Then again, the Federation (or at least the highbrow captains and admirals introduced to show they're not all like our Noblebright heroes) has a nasty tendency to overlook the reality on the ground in an imperfect and volatile galaxy, because as Sisko says, "''It's easy to be a saint in paradise!''"<br />
*** Of course, to be fair, interfering in galactic politics ''does'' set a bad precedent as well, as it would paint the Federation as a big bully who strongarms their way into your messes to tell you what to do for their benefit, which would actively harm not just their ideals but their hope of encouraging more peaceful contact in line with those ideals. Heck, whenever we had episodes where the Federation ''did'' launch covert operations to manipulate things to their advantage, it's usually called out as a self-serving and hypocritical move, even if it's absolutely necessary at the time. But as Sisko also said: "''I can live with it.''"<br />
** Of course, we're /tg/. We can appreciate the [[Warhammer 40,000|in-your-face over-the-top appeal]] of [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|being Space Cortés]] and taking an active hand in shaping the destiny of the stars, righting wrongs and kicking ass like a pulp action serial by channeling your inner [[Buck Rogers]]. And while normally [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Terran%20Empire this tack] is shown as a ''bad'' thing, sometimes you just wanna [[Star_Trek_Alternate_Timelines#Commie_Track_Of_War;_Variant_1|fire up your warp drive and get shit done]]. After all, if you're already in a post-scarcity civilization, why enslave the natives when you can get rid of the genuine threat (that ideally is truly more than they can handle), move on and leave 'em to keep trying on their own while giving them a preview of what it means to cherish the sanctity of life?<br />
<br />
= Would you like to know more? =<br />
And oh Lordy, is there more...<br />
*[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/ Main Memory Alpha: A ''Star Trek'' wiki]<br />
*[http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/ Main Memory Beta: The flip-side of Memory Alpha for the less than official stuff]<br />
*[http://sfdebris.com/ SF Debris: opinionated episode reviews, has some non ''Trek'' stuff as well]<br />
*[http://www.letswatchstartrek.com/ Let's Watch Star Trek]: A curated list of the episodes for newcomers - which episodes to watch or skip.<br />
<br />
[[Category: Television]]<br />
[[Category:Star Trek]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Lost_and_the_Damned_Creation_Tables&diff=1003304Lost and the Damned Creation Tables2025-06-24T09:10:15Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* Technology Level */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Cleanup}}<br />
{{Stub}}<br />
{{wh40k-stub}}<br />
<br />
Inspired by [[Fantasy Flight Games]]' [[Deathwatch]] Role-playing Game's [[Space Marine Chapter Creation Tables]], these tables let you roll up (or otherwise generate) your very own traitorous [[Imperial Guard]] Regiment. These tables are for [[fluff]] only! Fun though and creativity is key. Still a WIP so feel free to contribute '''''FOR THE DARK GODS!''''' Now cast up a ''worthy'' offering.<br />
<br />
Note that a sovereign Chaos Power which has successfully receded from the Imperium (or turned to the Dark Gods after being abandoned likely by accident or loss of access, or more mundane separatists/rebels who haven't quite realized the price of their new allies) or otherwise formed a functioning state can raise its own Ground Force or Naval Infantry regiments. The one that is being rolled is simply what they are famous for or the specific regiment that is being focused on with other troops raised from the same world having different specialisations. Roll on the [[Planet generator]] and [[System generator]] tables as well. The sky is the limit when [[Your Dudes]] is concerned.<br />
<br />
==Regiment Origin==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Former Regiment Classification<br />
! d10<br />
|- <br />
| Imperial Guard: A true regiment, drilled and competent in their service but found more purpose in the call of Chaos rather than selfless sacrifice for a Corpse-God.<br />
| 1-4<br />
|-<br />
| Planetary Defense Force: Former defenders of an Imperial world but having realized truths they never considered that have freed them from Imperial rule.<br />
| 5-6<br />
|-<br />
| Penal Legion: Scum, criminals, murderers now free from the oppression that was held over them and pledged to Chaos. (Think mortal Night Lords pretty much)<br />
| 7-8<br />
|-<br />
| Militia/Cultist: Average Citizens taken to training and arming themselves for the glory of Chaos.<br />
| 9<br />
|-<br />
| Navy Armsmen: Experts in void-combat, they found salvation on the tides of the Warp whispering to them.<br />
| 10<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Why did you betray the Imperium (if the Regiment was not raised by a Chaos controlled polity)?<br />
! d10<br />
|-<br />
| It's Complicated: Roll twice, combine your new results! This could lead to utter madness such as [[Gregor Eisenhorn|idiosyncratic Loyalists who try to weaponize Chaos]] || 1<br />
|-<br />
| Glory: You think the Imperium of Man is going to let some lowly Guardsman become a Warmaster? || 2-3<br />
|-<br />
| Disillusionment: You didn't betray the Imperium, it betrayed you! A lifetime of unrequited service left these soldiers bitter.|| 4-5<br />
|-<br />
| Money: The rewards of the mercenary line of work were just too good to turn down. || 6-7<br />
|-<br />
| Religion: Either through cultic infiltration or personal revelation, this force has come to see the Chaos gods as true divine entities.|| 8-9<br />
|-<br />
| You Never Did!: These forces regard themselves as Imperial loyalists fighting with their own idiosyncratic methods...whether or not the Imperium agrees || 10<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Technology Level==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Regiment's Tech Level<br />
! D10<br />
|-<br />
! 1<br />
| '''Stone Age:''' The regiment hails from a feral world or has completely degenerated into madness and primitivism. They wield bone clubs, sharpened rocks, and fire-hardened spears. Armor is scavenged chitin, hides, or daemonic flesh. They often operate in massive berserker hordes, driven by mutation, faith, and overwhelming bloodlust<br />
|-<br />
! 2<br />
| '''Bronze/Iron Age:''' Ancient city-states or war-tribes who discovered metalworking but not common sense. These regiments fight in phalanxes or chariot-charges using spears, short swords, and bronze axes. Their "tactics" are more sacrificial rites than strategy. They see autoguns or lasguns as divine relics and may worship a plasma pistol like a holy flame. Their wargear is often adorned with crude Chaos iconography hammered into place with religious zeal.<br />
|-<br />
! 3<br />
| '''Steel Age:''' Feudal hellworlds produce these regiments. They field steel weapons, crossbows, and basic black powder firearms. Their ranks are drilled in rigid formations under mad warlords or knight-commanders possessed by daemons. Their armor may be plate mail or half-fused ceramite. May still use warbeasts, daemon-barded cavalry, or warp-mutated siege gear.<br />
|-<br />
! 4<br />
| '''Pre-Industrial:''' The regiment resembles early gunpowder-era forces. Muskets, flintlocks, cannons, and sabres rule their arsenals. Discipline is often high — they march in step and drill relentlessly — but their tactics are antiquated. Field sorcerers and daemonic advisors offer "improvements" in firepower or strategy (e.g., cursed blackpowder, exploding heretics, or warp-boosted bullets). Capable of structured warfare, but hilariously outgunned by anything modern.<br />
|-<br />
! 5<br />
| '''Early Industrial:''' Ragged trench-dwellers and gas-masked lunatics. Bolt-action rifles, crude machine guns, daemonic tanks fueled by souls. Gas warfare, flame weapons, and brutal attrition tactics. Think Great War meets Nurgle. Equipment is functional but always corrupted — guns might whisper or bleed.<br />
|-<br />
! 6<br />
| '''Late Industrial:''' Bloodthirsty commandos and tacticool edgelords. Assault rifles and machineguns, plastic ergonomic weapon parts, swarms of drones roam the skies. Nuclear/thermonuclear weapons, early energy weapons, doctrine of levelling enemy positions with aircraft and long-range missiles. Bits of advanced technologies and electronical Abominable Intelligences. Think Ukrainian Special Military Operation meets Khorne. Equipment is functional but corrupted.<br />
|-<br />
! 7<br />
| '''Early Space:''' Lasguns, flak armor, and light vehicles — but tech is patched together with scrap and sorcery. Mutated servitors handle logistics. Warp-filth infects their dataslates. Radios whisper heresy. Soldiers may carry daemon-bonded gear without fully understanding it. Discipline through fear, mutation, and daemonic possession.<br />
|-<br />
! 8<br />
| '''Advanced Space:''' A regiment from a technologically mature but not Imperium-tier world — now corrupted. Las carbines, and energy shields are standard.<br />
|-<br />
! 9<br />
| '''Low Imperial:''' A standard Imperial Guard force turned traitor.<br />
|-<br />
! 10<br />
| '''Mid Imperial:''' Formerly elite or favored Imperial forces that defected or were corrupted.<br />
|-<br />
! 11<br />
| '''High Imperial:''' This regiment once belonged to the apex of Imperial might<br />
|-<br />
! 12<br />
| '''Divergent:''' Technologies not like ''anything'' Imperium uses. They diverged from Imperium's norms, researching their technologies in completely separate direction; and/or they heavily utilize Xenos tech, to the point that Xenos tech vastly out-weights Imperial-pattern equipment. Stay cautious.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Regiment Demographic==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Recruitment Criteria<br />
! d100<br />
|- <br />
| All male [m/f ratio adjustable]<br />
| 1-15<br />
|-<br />
| All female [m/f ratio adjustable]<br />
| 16-25<br />
|-<br />
| Caste-born: Raised from birth in the warrior caste.<br />
| 26-30<br />
|-<br />
| Nobility: Bought their commission for honor and glory.<br />
| 31-35<br />
|-<br />
| Dark Priesthood: Once devout servants to the Emperor but now something more.<br />
| 36-40<br />
|-<br />
| Abhumans: Ratlings, Ogryn, and other such useful creatures embracing their true creators.<br />
| 41-45<br />
|-<br />
| Tribespeople: All you have to do is teach them which way the gun points and the falsehoods of the Imperium.<br />
| 46-50<br />
|-<br />
| Unlucky Souls: A World chosen by the will of the Gods to the dismay of whoever lives there.<br />
| 51-55<br />
|-<br />
| Spacers: Born on asteroids, off-world hab-stations, or the vessels of the Imperial Navy. (If Navy Armsmen was rolled, this may be taken as default)<br />
| 56-60<br />
|-<br />
| Firstborn: Chosen by right of being the eldest child and now in the service to something greater than the Imperium.<br />
| 61-65<br />
|-<br />
| Vat-grown: No families to complain, no friends to consider, much easier to devote themselves to Chaos.<br />
| 66-70<br />
|-<br />
| Gangers: They fought each other in the slums, now they fight a true enemy. (If Penal Legion was rolled, this may be taken as default)<br />
| 71-85<br />
|-<br />
| Convicts: Were serving their sentence on the front lines, but have cast off their shackles. (If Penal Legion was rolled, this may be taken as default)<br />
| 86-95<br />
|-<br />
| Roll d3+1 times on this chart.<br />
| 96-100<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Nature of Recruitment<br />
! d10<br />
|- <br />
| Punishment/Redemption/Recycling: Recruits are gathered from the dregs of society. (If Gangers, Convicts, or Unlucky Souls was rolled on demographic table, you may select this by default)<br />
| 1<br />
|-<br />
| Elite tithe: The best of the best of the planet were recruited for this regiment. (If caste-born or nobility was rolled on demographic table, you may select this by default)<br />
| 2-4<br />
|-<br />
| Standard conscription: Average or above-average citizens recruited from all levels of society. (If All-Male, All-Female, Firstborn, or Unlucky Souls was rolled on the demographic table, you may select this by default)<br />
| 5-10<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Regiment Homeworld==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Home World<br />
! d100<br />
|- <br />
| Hive World: No claustrophobia, excellent sense of direction? Urban combat!<br />
| 1-25<br />
|-<br />
| Feral World: They fight like wild animals in the Axefather's name.<br />
| 26-40<br />
|-<br />
| Death World: For these people, life was a war before they could speak.<br />
| 41-55<br />
|-<br />
| Forge World: Once blessed by the Omnissiah to carry His light across the Galaxy, now loyal to a greater cause.<br />
| 56-60<br />
|-<br />
| Imperial World: Once from among devout citizens, now loyal to Chaos.<br />
| 61-70<br />
|-<br />
| Pleasure world : Once pampered by a life of ease, they were swiftly turned to the Lord of Excess. <br />
| 71-80<br />
|-<br />
| Shrine World: They charge into battle eagerly, and their very prayers are war cries. After all, they're free from those stifling conditions now.<br />
| 81-90<br />
|-<br />
| Home World Lost: Ghosts do not fear death, but they seek life with a terrible fury.<br />
| 91-99<br />
|-<br />
|Daemon World: So privileged as to be born upon a world held by one of the gods' own.<br />
|100<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Home World Predominant Terrain<br />
! d100<br />
|- <br />
| Jungle: Masters of stealth and inured to disease.<br />
| 1-25<br />
|-<br />
| Desert: At home in sun, sand and wind.<br />
| 26-50<br />
|-<br />
| Ice: Cold-blooded, with hearts of fire.<br />
| 51-60<br />
|-<br />
| Ocean: They grew up in the dangers of the depths.<br />
| 61-65<br />
|-<br />
| Wasteland: Excellent scavengers and hardy survivors.<br />
| 66-75<br />
|-<br />
| Urban: Good soldiers, once you get the cityboy out of the city.<br />
| 76-80<br />
|-<br />
| Dead World: Able to make full use of the technology required to survive in such places.<br />
| 81-85<br />
|-<br />
| Airless: They don't fear the void like most.<br />
| 86-90<br />
|-<br />
| Agriworld: Sturdy, hard-working types, glad to be off the farm.<br />
| 91-100<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Homeworld Rule Status<br />
! D20<br />
|-<br />
| Iron Dominion: The warband rules their homeworld with an iron fist<br />
| 1-5<br />
|-<br />
| Contested Rule: The warband claims rulership, but their hold is shaky.<br />
| 6-10<br />
|-<br />
| Proxy Overlords: The warband rules through puppets—corrupted governors, fanatical cults, or enthralled warlords.<br />
| 11-15<br />
|-<br />
| Non-Unified World: The warband holds no true power over their homeworld. It’s a lawless hellscape where they’re just one of many factions scrabbling for survival, dodging the wrath of stronger powers.<br />
| 16-20<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Regiment Tactical Information==<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Regiment Core Units (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-35<br />
| Infantry Regiment<br />
|-<br />
! 36-45<br />
| Light Infantry<br />
|-<br />
! 46-55<br />
| Heavy Infantry<br />
|-<br />
! 56-70<br />
| Mechanized Infantry<br />
|-<br />
! 71-75<br />
| Drop<br />
|-<br />
! 76-80<br />
| Armored<br />
|-<br />
! 81-85<br />
| Artillery<br />
|-<br />
! 86-95<br />
| Siege<br />
|-<br />
! 96-99<br />
| Shock Troopers<br />
|-<br />
! 100<br />
| Abhuman<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Specialization (d10)<br />
|- <br />
! 1<br />
| Drill & Discipline<br />
|-<br />
! 2<br />
| Counter<br />
|-<br />
! 3<br />
| Stealth Warfare<br />
|-<br />
! 4<br />
| Lightning Strike<br />
|-<br />
! 5<br />
| Trench Warfare<br />
|-<br />
! 6<br />
| Close Combat<br />
|-<br />
! 7<br />
| Ranged Combat<br />
|-<br />
! 8<br />
| Shock & Awe<br />
|-<br />
! 9<br />
| Guerrilla Warfare<br />
|-<br />
! 10<br />
| Hive Warfare<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Chaos Allegiance <br />
! D100 Roll<br />
|- <br />
| Renegade (Not Chaos, nor Imperium, all on their own)<br />
| 1-10<br />
|- <br />
| [[Chaos]] Undivided<br />
| 11-30<br />
|-<br />
| [[Chaos Gods#The Other Ones|Lesser God]] (Ex. [[Malal|Malice]])<br />
| 31-40<br />
|-<br />
| [[Nurgle]]<br />
| 41-54, 77<br />
|-<br />
| [[Slaanesh]]<br />
| 55-69 (Hurrhurr~)<br />
|-<br />
| [[Khorne]]<br />
| 70-76, 78-84, 88<br />
|-<br />
| [[Tzeentch]]<br />
| 85-100 (except for 88)<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Loyalty Rating (d10) (Don't roll if Renegade, count as Disloyal)<br />
|- <br />
! 1<br />
| Overzealous: need to be actively held back from shedding their blood as sacrifices to the Dark Gods.<br />
|-<br />
! 2-3<br />
| Fanatical: No remorse, no retreat, no fear.<br />
|-<br />
! 4-5<br />
| Adherent: Hold fast to the Word and the Dark Gods' will.<br />
|-<br />
! 6-7<br />
| Undisciplined: Will follow the Gods, but don't expect them to bow to authority figures.<br />
|-<br />
! 8-9<br />
| Unorthodox: Their faith in the Gods is a strange one, and their practices raise the eyebrows of more traditional followers.<br />
|-<br />
! 10<br />
| Disloyal: These scum fight only for themselves, or even seek to return to the wretched Corpse-Emperor.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Special Equipment (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-10<br />
| Traditional Weapon<br />
|-<br />
! 11-20<br />
| War Trophies<br />
|-<br />
! 21-30<br />
| Specialized [[Lasgun]] Pattern<br />
|-<br />
! 31-40<br />
| Exotic Mounts<br />
|-<br />
! 41-50<br />
| Rare Heavy Weapon<br />
|-<br />
! 51-60<br />
| Warp-Blessed [[Wargear]] (Re-roll if Renegade)<br />
|-<br />
! 61-70<br />
| Augmented Troops<br />
|-<br />
! 71-80<br />
| Special Vehicle<br />
|-<br />
! 81-90<br />
| Preferred Fighting Style<br />
|-<br />
! 91-100<br />
| Modified Weaponry<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Regiment Creed (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-40<br />
| For The Homeworld: This regiment's mission is to demonstrate the skill and steel of the homeworld to the Galaxy, woe unto them.<br />
|-<br />
! 41-65<br />
| For the [[Chaos Gods|Dark Gods]]: They believe in the Word of Chaos as their gospel, and see it as their holiest endeavor to spread that Word with the flames. Re-roll if Renegade.<br />
|-<br />
! 66-75<br />
| Best of the Best: The regiment believes itself to be elite and constantly strives to prove itself.<br />
|-<br />
! 76-80<br />
| Glory In Death: The regiment's mission is to die, and take as many enemies with it as possible.<br />
|-<br />
! 81-85<br />
| We Must Repent: The regiment believes it is on a mission to pay for their homeworld's sins with blood for the Blood God. Or the Emperor, if Renegade.<br />
|-<br />
! 86-90<br />
| Tribal Faiths: This regiment is beholden to primitive beliefs. If from a civilized world, clannish practices from hive gang cultures or other such traditions predominate.<br />
|-<br />
! 91-95<br />
| Steel Over Flesh: This regiment believes the way to victory is through machine augmentation.<br />
|-<br />
! 96-100<br />
| Esoteric Beliefs<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Regiment Relations==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Damned allies. Who has our back? (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-5<br />
| Warmaster [[Abaddon]]. Re-roll if Renegade.<br />
|-<br />
! 6-10<br />
| Populace of a waning Imperial planet<br />
|-<br />
! 11-15<br />
| Corrupt Governor or other high-ranking Imperial official<br />
|-<br />
! 16-30<br />
| Chaos warband or specific Chaos Lord<br />
|-<br />
! 31-35<br />
| Rogue [[Psyker]] Cult. Re-roll if your regiment's allegiance is Khorne.<br />
|-<br />
! 36-40<br />
| [[Dark Mechanicus]]/Traitor [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]] Legion<br />
|-<br />
! 41-50<br />
| Chaos Cult. Re-roll if your regiment's devotion to Chaos is "Disloyal".<br />
|-<br />
! 51-75<br />
| Specific group of Chaos/renegade mortals (renegade/corrupted [[Lost and the Damned]] regiments, anti-Imperium rebels, clan of tribals, corrupted mutants, mercenary bands, pirate gangs....etc)<br />
|-<br />
! 76-80<br />
| Rogue [[Inquisitor]]<br />
|-<br />
! 81-85<br />
| Specific Chaos [[xenos]] or simply other xenos groups whom they share mutual goals with. See Minor Xenos Table below<br />
|- <br />
! 86-95<br />
| A loyalist Astartes chapter whose heretical/radical ideals led them to do back-room deals with your regiment.<br />
|-<br />
! 96-100<br />
| Specific [[Daemon Prince]], [[Greater Daemon]], or other powerful [[daemon]]. If your regiment is disloyal to Chaos; said daemon is covertly supporting and manipulating the regiment from the sidelines to suit the daemon's needs.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Who are the Damned's enemies?(d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 01-10<br />
| Roll on Allies table<br />
|-<br />
! 11-20<br />
| Specific [[Eldar]] Craftworld/leader<br />
|-<br />
! 21-30<br />
| Specific [[Ork]] Waaagh!/Warboss<br />
|-<br />
! 31-35<br />
| Specific [[Tyranid]] Hive Fleet<br />
|-<br />
! 36-45<br />
| Specific [[Necron]] [[Tomb World]]<br />
|-<br />
! 46-90<br />
| The [[Imperium of Man]] (choose an institution or a specific leader or faction from that institution)<br />
|-<br />
! 91-95<br />
| Specific [[Dark Eldar]] [[Kabal]]/leader<br />
|-<br />
! 96-99<br />
| Specific Minor Xenos leader/group (see below)<br />
|-<br />
! 100<br />
| Select your own<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Damned's Enemies (if focused on the Imperium) (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-5<br />
| [[Administratum]]<br />
|-<br />
! 6-15<br />
| [[Adeptus Arbites]]<br />
|-<br />
! 16-30<br />
| [[Adeptus Astartes]] (a specific chapter)<br />
|-<br />
! 31-35<br />
| [[Primaris Psyker|Scholastia]] [[Psyker Battle Squad|Psykana]]<br />
|-<br />
! 36-45<br />
| [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]<br />
|-<br />
! 46-50<br />
| [[Adepta Sororitas]]<br />
|-<br />
! 51-55<br />
| [[Adeptus Titanicus]]<br />
|-<br />
! 56-60<br />
| [[Ecclesiarchy]]<br />
|-<br />
! 61-75<br />
| [[Imperial Guard]] (of a specific world)<br />
|-<br />
! 76-83<br />
| [[Imperial Navy]]<br />
|-<br />
! 84-85<br />
| [[Inquisition]]<br />
|-<br />
! 86-88<br />
| [[Navis Nobilite]] (Navigators)<br />
|-<br />
! 89-91<br />
| [[Officio Assassinorum]]<br />
|-<br />
! 92-93<br />
| PDF (of a specific world)<br />
|-<br />
! 94-98<br />
| [[Rogue Trader (RPG)|Rogue Trader]] Dynasty<br />
|-<br />
! 99<br />
| [[Schola Progenium]]<br />
|-<br />
! 100<br />
| [[League of Blackships]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Minor Xenos Species/Empires(1d100)<br />
|-<br />
! 1-10<br />
| [[Tau| Tau Empire]] (alternatively, you may select a particular Tau force or leader)<br />
|-<br />
! 11-20<br />
| [[Hrud]]<br />
|-<br />
! 21-30<br />
| Fra'al<br />
|-<br />
! 31-40<br />
| Uluméathic League<br />
|-<br />
! 41-50<br />
| Yu'vath/Legacy of the Yu'vath/[[Rak'gol]]<br />
|-<br />
! 51-60<br />
| Enslavers<br />
|-<br />
! 61-65<br />
| Bargesi<br />
|-<br />
! 66-70<br />
| Tarrelians<br />
|-<br />
! 71-75<br />
| Thyrrus<br />
|-<br />
! 76-80<br />
| Hellgrammite<br />
|-<br />
! 81-85<br />
| Loxatl<br />
|-<br />
! 85-90<br />
| [[Saharduin]]<br />
|-<br />
! 91-92<br />
| Xenarch<br />
|-<br />
! 93-95<br />
| Cythor Fiends<br />
|-<br />
! 96-97<br />
| Nightmare-Engines of the Pale Wasting<br />
|-<br />
! 98-100<br />
| Other Xenos Species (pick one or roll/write one up)<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
<br />
{{40k-Faction-Creation-Tables}}<br />
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]<br />
[[Category:Imperial]]<br />
[[Category:Imperial Guard]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:Chaos]]<br />
[[Category:Creation Tables]]<br />
[[Category:Lost and the Damned]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Lost_and_the_Damned_Creation_Tables&diff=1003303Lost and the Damned Creation Tables2025-06-24T06:52:44Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: Our versions of pages are old. We should update them.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Cleanup}}<br />
{{Stub}}<br />
{{wh40k-stub}}<br />
<br />
Inspired by [[Fantasy Flight Games]]' [[Deathwatch]] Role-playing Game's [[Space Marine Chapter Creation Tables]], these tables let you roll up (or otherwise generate) your very own traitorous [[Imperial Guard]] Regiment. These tables are for [[fluff]] only! Fun though and creativity is key. Still a WIP so feel free to contribute '''''FOR THE DARK GODS!''''' Now cast up a ''worthy'' offering.<br />
<br />
Note that a sovereign Chaos Power which has successfully receded from the Imperium (or turned to the Dark Gods after being abandoned likely by accident or loss of access, or more mundane separatists/rebels who haven't quite realized the price of their new allies) or otherwise formed a functioning state can raise its own Ground Force or Naval Infantry regiments. The one that is being rolled is simply what they are famous for or the specific regiment that is being focused on with other troops raised from the same world having different specialisations. Roll on the [[Planet generator]] and [[System generator]] tables as well. The sky is the limit when [[Your Dudes]] is concerned.<br />
<br />
==Regiment Origin==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Former Regiment Classification<br />
! d10<br />
|- <br />
| Imperial Guard: A true regiment, drilled and competent in their service but found more purpose in the call of Chaos rather than selfless sacrifice for a Corpse-God.<br />
| 1-4<br />
|-<br />
| Planetary Defense Force: Former defenders of an Imperial world but having realized truths they never considered that have freed them from Imperial rule.<br />
| 5-6<br />
|-<br />
| Penal Legion: Scum, criminals, murderers now free from the oppression that was held over them and pledged to Chaos. (Think mortal Night Lords pretty much)<br />
| 7-8<br />
|-<br />
| Militia/Cultist: Average Citizens taken to training and arming themselves for the glory of Chaos.<br />
| 9<br />
|-<br />
| Navy Armsmen: Experts in void-combat, they found salvation on the tides of the Warp whispering to them.<br />
| 10<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Why did you betray the Imperium (if the Regiment was not raised by a Chaos controlled polity)?<br />
! d10<br />
|-<br />
| It's Complicated: Roll twice, combine your new results! This could lead to utter madness such as [[Gregor Eisenhorn|idiosyncratic Loyalists who try to weaponize Chaos]] || 1<br />
|-<br />
| Glory: You think the Imperium of Man is going to let some lowly Guardsman become a Warmaster? || 2-3<br />
|-<br />
| Disillusionment: You didn't betray the Imperium, it betrayed you! A lifetime of unrequited service left these soldiers bitter.|| 4-5<br />
|-<br />
| Money: The rewards of the mercenary line of work were just too good to turn down. || 6-7<br />
|-<br />
| Religion: Either through cultic infiltration or personal revelation, this force has come to see the Chaos gods as true divine entities.|| 8-9<br />
|-<br />
| You Never Did!: These forces regard themselves as Imperial loyalists fighting with their own idiosyncratic methods...whether or not the Imperium agrees || 10<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Technology Level==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Regiment's Tech Level<br />
! D10<br />
|-<br />
! 1<br />
| '''Stone Age:''' The regiment hails from a feral world or has completely degenerated into madness and primitivism. They wield bone clubs, sharpened rocks, and fire-hardened spears. Armor is scavenged chitin, hides, or daemonic flesh. They often operate in massive berserker hordes, driven by mutation, faith, and overwhelming bloodlust<br />
|-<br />
! 2<br />
| '''Bronze/Iron Age:''' Ancient city-states or war-tribes who discovered metalworking but not common sense. These regiments fight in phalanxes or chariot-charges using spears, short swords, and bronze axes. Their "tactics" are more sacrificial rites than strategy. They see autoguns or lasguns as divine relics and may worship a plasma pistol like a holy flame. Their wargear is often adorned with crude Chaos iconography hammered into place with religious zeal.<br />
|-<br />
! 3<br />
| '''Steel Age:''' Feudal hellworlds produce these regiments. They field steel weapons, crossbows, and basic black powder firearms. Their ranks are drilled in rigid formations under mad warlords or knight-commanders possessed by daemons. Their armor may be plate mail or half-fused ceramite. May still use warbeasts, daemon-barded cavalry, or warp-mutated siege gear.<br />
|-<br />
! 4<br />
| '''Pre-Industrial:''' The regiment resembles early gunpowder-era forces. Muskets, flintlocks, cannons, and sabres rule their arsenals. Discipline is often high — they march in step and drill relentlessly — but their tactics are antiquated. Field sorcerers and daemonic advisors offer "improvements" in firepower or strategy (e.g., cursed blackpowder, exploding heretics, or warp-boosted bullets). Capable of structured warfare, but hilariously outgunned by anything modern.<br />
|-<br />
! 5<br />
| '''Industrial:''' Ragged trench-dwellers and gas-masked lunatics. Bolt-action rifles, crude machine guns, daemonic tanks fueled by souls. Gas warfare, flame weapons, and brutal attrition tactics. Think Great War meets Nurgle. Equipment is functional but always corrupted — guns might whisper or bleed.<br />
|-<br />
! 6<br />
| '''Early Space:''' Lasguns, flak armor, and light vehicles — but tech is patched together with scrap and sorcery. Mutated servitors handle logistics. Warp-filth infects their dataslates. Radios whisper heresy. Soldiers may carry daemon-bonded gear without fully understanding it. Discipline through fear, mutation, and daemonic possession.<br />
|-<br />
! 7<br />
| '''Advanced Space:''' A regiment from a technologically mature but not Imperium-tier world — now corrupted. Las carbines, and energy shields are standard.<br />
|-<br />
! 8<br />
| '''Low Imperial:''' A standard Imperial Guard force turned traitor.<br />
|-<br />
! 9<br />
| '''Mid Imperial:''' Formerly elite or favored Imperial forces that defected or were corrupted.<br />
|-<br />
! 10<br />
| '''High Imperial:''' This regiment once belonged to the apex of Imperial might<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Regiment Demographic==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Recruitment Criteria<br />
! d100<br />
|- <br />
| All male [m/f ratio adjustable]<br />
| 1-15<br />
|-<br />
| All female [m/f ratio adjustable]<br />
| 16-25<br />
|-<br />
| Caste-born: Raised from birth in the warrior caste.<br />
| 26-30<br />
|-<br />
| Nobility: Bought their commission for honor and glory.<br />
| 31-35<br />
|-<br />
| Dark Priesthood: Once devout servants to the Emperor but now something more.<br />
| 36-40<br />
|-<br />
| Abhumans: Ratlings, Ogryn, and other such useful creatures embracing their true creators.<br />
| 41-45<br />
|-<br />
| Tribespeople: All you have to do is teach them which way the gun points and the falsehoods of the Imperium.<br />
| 46-50<br />
|-<br />
| Unlucky Souls: A World chosen by the will of the Gods to the dismay of whoever lives there.<br />
| 51-55<br />
|-<br />
| Spacers: Born on asteroids, off-world hab-stations, or the vessels of the Imperial Navy. (If Navy Armsmen was rolled, this may be taken as default)<br />
| 56-60<br />
|-<br />
| Firstborn: Chosen by right of being the eldest child and now in the service to something greater than the Imperium.<br />
| 61-65<br />
|-<br />
| Vat-grown: No families to complain, no friends to consider, much easier to devote themselves to Chaos.<br />
| 66-70<br />
|-<br />
| Gangers: They fought each other in the slums, now they fight a true enemy. (If Penal Legion was rolled, this may be taken as default)<br />
| 71-85<br />
|-<br />
| Convicts: Were serving their sentence on the front lines, but have cast off their shackles. (If Penal Legion was rolled, this may be taken as default)<br />
| 86-95<br />
|-<br />
| Roll d3+1 times on this chart.<br />
| 96-100<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Nature of Recruitment<br />
! d10<br />
|- <br />
| Punishment/Redemption/Recycling: Recruits are gathered from the dregs of society. (If Gangers, Convicts, or Unlucky Souls was rolled on demographic table, you may select this by default)<br />
| 1<br />
|-<br />
| Elite tithe: The best of the best of the planet were recruited for this regiment. (If caste-born or nobility was rolled on demographic table, you may select this by default)<br />
| 2-4<br />
|-<br />
| Standard conscription: Average or above-average citizens recruited from all levels of society. (If All-Male, All-Female, Firstborn, or Unlucky Souls was rolled on the demographic table, you may select this by default)<br />
| 5-10<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Regiment Homeworld==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Home World<br />
! d100<br />
|- <br />
| Hive World: No claustrophobia, excellent sense of direction? Urban combat!<br />
| 1-25<br />
|-<br />
| Feral World: They fight like wild animals in the Axefather's name.<br />
| 26-40<br />
|-<br />
| Death World: For these people, life was a war before they could speak.<br />
| 41-55<br />
|-<br />
| Forge World: Once blessed by the Omnissiah to carry His light across the Galaxy, now loyal to a greater cause.<br />
| 56-60<br />
|-<br />
| Imperial World: Once from among devout citizens, now loyal to Chaos.<br />
| 61-70<br />
|-<br />
| Pleasure world : Once pampered by a life of ease, they were swiftly turned to the Lord of Excess. <br />
| 71-80<br />
|-<br />
| Shrine World: They charge into battle eagerly, and their very prayers are war cries. After all, they're free from those stifling conditions now.<br />
| 81-90<br />
|-<br />
| Home World Lost: Ghosts do not fear death, but they seek life with a terrible fury.<br />
| 91-99<br />
|-<br />
|Daemon World: So privileged as to be born upon a world held by one of the gods' own.<br />
|100<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Home World Predominant Terrain<br />
! d100<br />
|- <br />
| Jungle: Masters of stealth and inured to disease.<br />
| 1-25<br />
|-<br />
| Desert: At home in sun, sand and wind.<br />
| 26-50<br />
|-<br />
| Ice: Cold-blooded, with hearts of fire.<br />
| 51-60<br />
|-<br />
| Ocean: They grew up in the dangers of the depths.<br />
| 61-65<br />
|-<br />
| Wasteland: Excellent scavengers and hardy survivors.<br />
| 66-75<br />
|-<br />
| Urban: Good soldiers, once you get the cityboy out of the city.<br />
| 76-80<br />
|-<br />
| Dead World: Able to make full use of the technology required to survive in such places.<br />
| 81-85<br />
|-<br />
| Airless: They don't fear the void like most.<br />
| 86-90<br />
|-<br />
| Agriworld: Sturdy, hard-working types, glad to be off the farm.<br />
| 91-100<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Homeworld Rule Status<br />
! D20<br />
|-<br />
| Iron Dominion: The warband rules their homeworld with an iron fist<br />
| 1-5<br />
|-<br />
| Contested Rule: The warband claims rulership, but their hold is shaky.<br />
| 6-10<br />
|-<br />
| Proxy Overlords: The warband rules through puppets—corrupted governors, fanatical cults, or enthralled warlords.<br />
| 11-15<br />
|-<br />
| Non-Unified World: The warband holds no true power over their homeworld. It’s a lawless hellscape where they’re just one of many factions scrabbling for survival, dodging the wrath of stronger powers.<br />
| 16-20<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Regiment Tactical Information==<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Regiment Core Units (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-35<br />
| Infantry Regiment<br />
|-<br />
! 36-45<br />
| Light Infantry<br />
|-<br />
! 46-55<br />
| Heavy Infantry<br />
|-<br />
! 56-70<br />
| Mechanized Infantry<br />
|-<br />
! 71-75<br />
| Drop<br />
|-<br />
! 76-80<br />
| Armored<br />
|-<br />
! 81-85<br />
| Artillery<br />
|-<br />
! 86-95<br />
| Siege<br />
|-<br />
! 96-99<br />
| Shock Troopers<br />
|-<br />
! 100<br />
| Abhuman<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Specialization (d10)<br />
|- <br />
! 1<br />
| Drill & Discipline<br />
|-<br />
! 2<br />
| Counter<br />
|-<br />
! 3<br />
| Stealth Warfare<br />
|-<br />
! 4<br />
| Lightning Strike<br />
|-<br />
! 5<br />
| Trench Warfare<br />
|-<br />
! 6<br />
| Close Combat<br />
|-<br />
! 7<br />
| Ranged Combat<br />
|-<br />
! 8<br />
| Shock & Awe<br />
|-<br />
! 9<br />
| Guerrilla Warfare<br />
|-<br />
! 10<br />
| Hive Warfare<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! Chaos Allegiance <br />
! D100 Roll<br />
|- <br />
| Renegade (Not Chaos, nor Imperium, all on their own)<br />
| 1-10<br />
|- <br />
| [[Chaos]] Undivided<br />
| 11-30<br />
|-<br />
| [[Chaos Gods#The Other Ones|Lesser God]] (Ex. [[Malal|Malice]])<br />
| 31-40<br />
|-<br />
| [[Nurgle]]<br />
| 41-54, 77<br />
|-<br />
| [[Slaanesh]]<br />
| 55-69 (Hurrhurr~)<br />
|-<br />
| [[Khorne]]<br />
| 70-76, 78-84, 88<br />
|-<br />
| [[Tzeentch]]<br />
| 85-100 (except for 88)<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Loyalty Rating (d10) (Don't roll if Renegade, count as Disloyal)<br />
|- <br />
! 1<br />
| Overzealous: need to be actively held back from shedding their blood as sacrifices to the Dark Gods.<br />
|-<br />
! 2-3<br />
| Fanatical: No remorse, no retreat, no fear.<br />
|-<br />
! 4-5<br />
| Adherent: Hold fast to the Word and the Dark Gods' will.<br />
|-<br />
! 6-7<br />
| Undisciplined: Will follow the Gods, but don't expect them to bow to authority figures.<br />
|-<br />
! 8-9<br />
| Unorthodox: Their faith in the Gods is a strange one, and their practices raise the eyebrows of more traditional followers.<br />
|-<br />
! 10<br />
| Disloyal: These scum fight only for themselves, or even seek to return to the wretched Corpse-Emperor.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Special Equipment (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-10<br />
| Traditional Weapon<br />
|-<br />
! 11-20<br />
| War Trophies<br />
|-<br />
! 21-30<br />
| Specialized [[Lasgun]] Pattern<br />
|-<br />
! 31-40<br />
| Exotic Mounts<br />
|-<br />
! 41-50<br />
| Rare Heavy Weapon<br />
|-<br />
! 51-60<br />
| Warp-Blessed [[Wargear]] (Re-roll if Renegade)<br />
|-<br />
! 61-70<br />
| Augmented Troops<br />
|-<br />
! 71-80<br />
| Special Vehicle<br />
|-<br />
! 81-90<br />
| Preferred Fighting Style<br />
|-<br />
! 91-100<br />
| Modified Weaponry<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Regiment Creed (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-40<br />
| For The Homeworld: This regiment's mission is to demonstrate the skill and steel of the homeworld to the Galaxy, woe unto them.<br />
|-<br />
! 41-65<br />
| For the [[Chaos Gods|Dark Gods]]: They believe in the Word of Chaos as their gospel, and see it as their holiest endeavor to spread that Word with the flames. Re-roll if Renegade.<br />
|-<br />
! 66-75<br />
| Best of the Best: The regiment believes itself to be elite and constantly strives to prove itself.<br />
|-<br />
! 76-80<br />
| Glory In Death: The regiment's mission is to die, and take as many enemies with it as possible.<br />
|-<br />
! 81-85<br />
| We Must Repent: The regiment believes it is on a mission to pay for their homeworld's sins with blood for the Blood God. Or the Emperor, if Renegade.<br />
|-<br />
! 86-90<br />
| Tribal Faiths: This regiment is beholden to primitive beliefs. If from a civilized world, clannish practices from hive gang cultures or other such traditions predominate.<br />
|-<br />
! 91-95<br />
| Steel Over Flesh: This regiment believes the way to victory is through machine augmentation.<br />
|-<br />
! 96-100<br />
| Esoteric Beliefs<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Regiment Relations==<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Damned allies. Who has our back? (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-5<br />
| Warmaster [[Abaddon]]. Re-roll if Renegade.<br />
|-<br />
! 6-10<br />
| Populace of a waning Imperial planet<br />
|-<br />
! 11-15<br />
| Corrupt Governor or other high-ranking Imperial official<br />
|-<br />
! 16-30<br />
| Chaos warband or specific Chaos Lord<br />
|-<br />
! 31-35<br />
| Rogue [[Psyker]] Cult. Re-roll if your regiment's allegiance is Khorne.<br />
|-<br />
! 36-40<br />
| [[Dark Mechanicus]]/Traitor [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]] Legion<br />
|-<br />
! 41-50<br />
| Chaos Cult. Re-roll if your regiment's devotion to Chaos is "Disloyal".<br />
|-<br />
! 51-75<br />
| Specific group of Chaos/renegade mortals (renegade/corrupted [[Lost and the Damned]] regiments, anti-Imperium rebels, clan of tribals, corrupted mutants, mercenary bands, pirate gangs....etc)<br />
|-<br />
! 76-80<br />
| Rogue [[Inquisitor]]<br />
|-<br />
! 81-85<br />
| Specific Chaos [[xenos]] or simply other xenos groups whom they share mutual goals with. See Minor Xenos Table below<br />
|- <br />
! 86-95<br />
| A loyalist Astartes chapter whose heretical/radical ideals led them to do back-room deals with your regiment.<br />
|-<br />
! 96-100<br />
| Specific [[Daemon Prince]], [[Greater Daemon]], or other powerful [[daemon]]. If your regiment is disloyal to Chaos; said daemon is covertly supporting and manipulating the regiment from the sidelines to suit the daemon's needs.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Who are the Damned's enemies?(d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 01-10<br />
| Roll on Allies table<br />
|-<br />
! 11-20<br />
| Specific [[Eldar]] Craftworld/leader<br />
|-<br />
! 21-30<br />
| Specific [[Ork]] Waaagh!/Warboss<br />
|-<br />
! 31-35<br />
| Specific [[Tyranid]] Hive Fleet<br />
|-<br />
! 36-45<br />
| Specific [[Necron]] [[Tomb World]]<br />
|-<br />
! 46-90<br />
| The [[Imperium of Man]] (choose an institution or a specific leader or faction from that institution)<br />
|-<br />
! 91-95<br />
| Specific [[Dark Eldar]] [[Kabal]]/leader<br />
|-<br />
! 96-99<br />
| Specific Minor Xenos leader/group (see below)<br />
|-<br />
! 100<br />
| Select your own<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Damned's Enemies (if focused on the Imperium) (d100)<br />
|- <br />
! 1-5<br />
| [[Administratum]]<br />
|-<br />
! 6-15<br />
| [[Adeptus Arbites]]<br />
|-<br />
! 16-30<br />
| [[Adeptus Astartes]] (a specific chapter)<br />
|-<br />
! 31-35<br />
| [[Primaris Psyker|Scholastia]] [[Psyker Battle Squad|Psykana]]<br />
|-<br />
! 36-45<br />
| [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]<br />
|-<br />
! 46-50<br />
| [[Adepta Sororitas]]<br />
|-<br />
! 51-55<br />
| [[Adeptus Titanicus]]<br />
|-<br />
! 56-60<br />
| [[Ecclesiarchy]]<br />
|-<br />
! 61-75<br />
| [[Imperial Guard]] (of a specific world)<br />
|-<br />
! 76-83<br />
| [[Imperial Navy]]<br />
|-<br />
! 84-85<br />
| [[Inquisition]]<br />
|-<br />
! 86-88<br />
| [[Navis Nobilite]] (Navigators)<br />
|-<br />
! 89-91<br />
| [[Officio Assassinorum]]<br />
|-<br />
! 92-93<br />
| PDF (of a specific world)<br />
|-<br />
! 94-98<br />
| [[Rogue Trader (RPG)|Rogue Trader]] Dynasty<br />
|-<br />
! 99<br />
| [[Schola Progenium]]<br />
|-<br />
! 100<br />
| [[League of Blackships]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center"<br />
! colspan="2" |Minor Xenos Species/Empires(1d100)<br />
|-<br />
! 1-10<br />
| [[Tau| Tau Empire]] (alternatively, you may select a particular Tau force or leader)<br />
|-<br />
! 11-20<br />
| [[Hrud]]<br />
|-<br />
! 21-30<br />
| Fra'al<br />
|-<br />
! 31-40<br />
| Uluméathic League<br />
|-<br />
! 41-50<br />
| Yu'vath/Legacy of the Yu'vath/[[Rak'gol]]<br />
|-<br />
! 51-60<br />
| Enslavers<br />
|-<br />
! 61-65<br />
| Bargesi<br />
|-<br />
! 66-70<br />
| Tarrelians<br />
|-<br />
! 71-75<br />
| Thyrrus<br />
|-<br />
! 76-80<br />
| Hellgrammite<br />
|-<br />
! 81-85<br />
| Loxatl<br />
|-<br />
! 85-90<br />
| [[Saharduin]]<br />
|-<br />
! 91-92<br />
| Xenarch<br />
|-<br />
! 93-95<br />
| Cythor Fiends<br />
|-<br />
! 96-97<br />
| Nightmare-Engines of the Pale Wasting<br />
|-<br />
! 98-100<br />
| Other Xenos Species (pick one or roll/write one up)<br />
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==See also==<br />
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{{40k-Faction-Creation-Tables}}<br />
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]<br />
[[Category:Imperial]]<br />
[[Category:Imperial Guard]]<br />
[[Category:Roleplaying]]<br />
[[Category:Chaos]]<br />
[[Category:Creation Tables]]<br />
[[Category:Lost and the Damned]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Star_Trek&diff=1003302Star Trek2025-06-23T17:53:41Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
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<div>[[File:Enterprise.jpg|thumb|500px|right|If you aren't already hearing the theme song you might not belong here.]]<br />
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{{Topquote|Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!|James T. Kirk, <s>third</s> captain of the starship USS Enterprise}}<br />
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{{Topquote|[[Humanity Fuck Yeah|For the duration of this mission the prime directive is rescinded.]]|Kathryn Janeway, captain of the starship USS Voyager}}<br />
<br />
'''''Star Trek''''' is a multimedia science-fiction series and one of the cornerstones of nerdy media properties (in fact, Klingon is the most learned fictional language, rivalled only by Tolkien's elvish in popularity), and one of the few to crossover into mainstream popularity (alongside ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and a few others). It's also one of the longest-running science fiction franchises, as it began when the the first episode of The Original Series aired in 1966, and since then has had over 50 years of geek history spanning several generations. Needless to say, it's had a huge influence on all things sci-fi, and, by extension, [[/tg/]].<br />
<br />
Originally, ''Star Trek'' was [[noblebright]] beyond noblebright and, in many ways, was the polar opposite of ''[[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K's]]'' [[grimdark]]. The more recent reboot films, however, have taken a much, ''much'' more grimdark tone, which is delightfully [[skub]]tastic.<br />
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= Games =<br />
You're in /tg/ = 1d4chan, so, we'll start with the games.<br />
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There's been plenty of tabletop games and [[/v/|vidya gaems]] featuring ''Star Trek'' without being merchandising bullshit (see: themed ''[[Monopoly]]'' sets), including one of the earliest action multiplayer wargame: ''Netrek''. <br />
<br />
*'''''Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier''''' (1978) The very first Trek tabletop [[RPG]]. Written by, I shit you not, Michael Scott. Groggy (grokky?) as all hell, and due for an OSR.<br />
* '''''[[Starships & Spacemen]]''''' (1978 1e, 2013-present 2e) This was an attempt by a guy named Leonard Kanterman to make his own Star Trek RPG but since he didn't hold the license he had to alter the names and fudge the rules a bit so he wouldn't get sued. It appeared and died fairly quickly. It was later purchased by [[Goblinoid Games]] and heavily reworked to work more like their other game, [[Labyrinth Lord]] but different enough that converting things back and forth should take a minute or two longer than just dropping them in. The 2e version has some decent third party material at least.<br />
* '''''[[Star Fleet Battles]] (SFB)''''' (1979-) The crunchiest starship combat game you're ever going to find outside of a computer. Based on the original series and not any of the later series, for licensing reasons. Takes some liberties with the setting, which (combined with the aforementioned licensing) is why "''Star Trek''" isn't actually in the title. It's had its own video game spinoff in the form of Starfleet Command. The vidya series died when the last company owned by Interplay broke up in the early 2000s, but the original game is still published by its designer, Amarillo Design Bureau (formerly in conjunction with the defunct Task Force Games).<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Role Playing Game''''' (1982-1989) Made by [[FASA]], essentially ''[[Traveller]]''-lite, or a happier, shinier ''[[Rogue Trader]]''. Hasn't aged terribly well, what with having been made when the only canonical ''Star Trek'' materials to work with were the original and animated series, the first four films, and a couple of now non-canon novels. If you try to dust it off, expect tons of conflict with the rest of the show. Died as they were trying to update it for ''TNG'', because Paramount's corporate suits (surprise, surprise) had no idea what an RPG actually entailed and were worried about violence, and getting their cut, and... oh you know the drill by now. Welcome to the 80's.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator''''' (1983) FASA designed this, so it feels like ''[[Battletech]]'' but not as good.<br />
* '''''Prime Directive''''' (1993-2008) The most successful tabletop RPG line (but that's not saying much), it's actually still in print. Produced by Amarillo Design Bureau, so again no direct name-dropping of "''Star Trek''." Lasted as long as it did by constantly evolving, in Borg-like fashion, to adapt to the current zeitgeist. Has had 4 editions, with the second using [[GURPS]], the third using [[Wizards of the Coast|d20]], and the fourth [[d20 Modern]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek [[Card_Game|CCG]]''''' (1994-2007, 2011-2014, 2013-2015, 2018-) There's been a few of these, most notably the games released by [[Decipher]], but never globally popular. They also suffered from game balance problems from fans wanting their fave character, but needing extra rules for their quirks. There's also the problem of putting numbers to character stats, such as one game that asserted that [[Heresy|Picard having about twice the integrity of a Klingon pig]]. Later versions are "deck-building" games to try to cash in on the popularity of ''[[Dominion]]'' and ''[[Thunderstone]]''. And now virtual CCGs are the order of the day.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: The Next Generation Role Playing Game''''' (1998-2000) The next attempt, made by Last Unicorn Games. Won an Origins Award for best new game. Has a lot of extraneous skills, as expected of a 90's RPG, but does a good job of capturing the feel of the show. Includes core books for Deep Space Nine and The Original Series, with a planned Voyager book never released. Tons of fan material is available, including books for Enterprise, Voyager, and even the Captain Pike era. Authors of the original game have also finished and released adventures and sourcebooks online. Died an untimely death.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Red Alert''''' (2000) A Diskwars game themed to ''Star Trek''.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Roleplaying Game''''' (2002-2005) When [[Decipher]] had the CCG license, they decided, "What the hell, let's make an RPG, too." Some of the authors of the Last Unicorn Games RPG worked on this game. The systems are similar but different enough that they aren't compatible. The fluff focuses more on the Voyager era. A well made game but it's forgotten for a reason. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Online''''' (2010-) An [[MMORPG|MMO]]. Decent gameplay mechanics, especially starship combat. Storyline leaves something to be desired, especially when the ostensibly [[Noblebright|peaceful]] Federation trades shots at least once with every other faction in the galaxy. Is also sadly being screwed over by CBS who keeps retconning the series thus forcing the game to bend more and more unnaturally to fit in the new canon. Still, it's solid enough for an MMO and you can hit max level quick enough to get into the real meat of the game and join a Fleet (their version of a guild) and blow shit up.<br />
* '''''Call To Arms: Star Trek''''' (2011) [[Mongoose_Publishing|Mongoose]]'s license for ''Babylon 5'' expired, so they collaborated with Amarillo Design Bureau (the ''Star Fleet Battles'' guys), re-themed the game to Star Trek along with improving the system to make it more nifty. Less micro-management than SFB, and ships get some cinematic feats.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Expeditions''''' (2011) Ignore the tie-ins to the movie, Reiner Knizia designed this. Explore the gameboard, flip over missions, try to have the proper crew to get victory points.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Fleet Captains''''' (2011) Tile flipping, exploring, and spaceships fighting over resources<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Attack Wing''''' (2013-) [[WizKids]] license the flightpath system from [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and adds ''Star Trek'' to the mix, [[Skub]] ensues. The game has been consistently plagued with balance issues, to the point that the rules errata is more than ten times longer than the actual rules. The actual current rules for things like the Borg special movement and fighter squadrons are completely different than the rules as written.<br />
* '''''Star Trek: Ascendancy''''' (2016-) 4X table top boardgame from GaleForce9. Most of the races are represented, though the base set only has the Federation, Klingons and Romulans. Andorians, Vulcans, Cardassians and Ferengi can be purchased as expansions. There is even a Borg expansion that turns the game semi-coop as everyone tries real hard not to be assimilated. <br />
* '''''[[Star Trek Adventures]]''''' (2017-) The latest attempt at an RPG, by Modiphius. It also comes with a whole range of miniatures of the various crews from the show. Runs on a similar engine to the creator's ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' which both makes sense, since they're both pulpy storytelling, and is hilarious, given the total tonal mish-mash between the two. Task resolution is generally done via a mixture of six attributes and six disciplines, which are added together, then used as a modifier for a d20 roll. For instance, combat is usually handled by the Security discipline, but hand-to-hand combat would use Fitness or Daring, while firing a phaser or other long-arm would use Control, and shipborne weapons Insight or Reason. In addition to combat stuff, players might solve problems by obtaining information and sciencing the shit out of it. They also have various Values that can be tapped for additional dice, a shared pool of Momentum all players can spend to gain advantages and add to by overboosting on success, and a pool of Threat that they can give the GM rather than burning Momentum, which he can then spend to make the situation degrade. It's a fun system, but it requires a GM who can wrap their head around the idea of an evolving situation rather than a set encounter to really click, which can be hard for GMs who're used to the ''D&D'' model.<br />
<br />
= So why should I care? =<br />
Because between them, these six TV series and their assorted spinoff movies, books, etc. can provide inspiration for any sci-fi game you could care to run. If you want light-hearted action, look at the sort of things that happened in ''TOS'' or ''DS9'' to get the crew into some dangerous situation. If you want a charismatic villain, look at Gul Dukat or the Borg Queen ([[skub|but not the one in Voyager]]). More serious issues are often handled with various degrees of success. While many science fiction series deal with a wide range of topics, Star Trek does so as aspects of a greater world. Like [[Tolkien]] is to fantasy it's a prime gateway drug to science fiction and especially science fiction which is more than "action movie IN SPACE!"<br />
<br />
Not to mention in any sci-fi RPG with remotely free-form rules you're likely to encounter ''Star Trek'' fanboys, so you might as well know what they're talking about. The unholy spawn of a Trekkie and a [[Furry]] is known as a [[Chakat]], and you should fear it.<br />
<br />
At its best ''Star Trek'' is thoughtful, optimistic futurism with a positive human element and brings you to strange new worlds in the grand tradition of speculative fiction but one that's accessible to even the layman. At its worst ''Star Trek'' is arrogant, smug, hypocritical, one-sided, preachy, dull and sloppy.<br />
<br />
= Setting =<br />
Here's the Cliff's Notes on ''Star Trek''. A couple of general warnings; firstly, ''Star Trek'' likes to ''really'' take its "racial themes" bits just a little too far. Second, despite this, it's rare for an entire race to be completely irredeemable the way many fictional aliens are: there are heroic and sympathetic characters from nearly every race listed below, able to put more-positive spins on their racial themes. Thirdly, aside from very occasional appearances by [[H.P. Lovecraft|aliens who are so bizarre that humankind can barely comprehend them]], all of the aliens look like dudes with rubber masks on (because they are). In real life, this was because there was no budget for anything else, but in-universe it's been explained by some kind of [[Old Ones|Precursor]] race who seeded all of the planets with their broadly humanoid DNA, and every race evolved slightly differently from there. There isn't much [[fluff]] on what these precursors were like, and some of it was contradictory, and Gene Roddenberry didn't like the idea (although he still had to work with the rubber forehead stuff). The good news for fa/tg/uys who like [[homebrew]] is that this makes it fairly easy to write [[d20 system]] rules for all of the races - after all, most ''D&D'' races are just humans with rubber masks on...<br />
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== A Composite Creation ==<br />
This is a general note that one should consider: Star Trek was created in pretty much the opposite way as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked out a bunch of linguistic stuff and general history of Arda in his spare time over the course of years, then decided to use that as the basis for some stories that he eventually gave to some publishers which in the end sold quite well. <br />
<br />
Roddenberry, by contrast, pitched a very broad general idea (it's the future, things are good, we got some guys on a ship exploring space; a "wagon train to the stars") to the networks and eventually Lucy from ''I Love Lucy'' made it happen. Roddenberry then worked with a variety of writers and actors (and some later on in later series) who added to this rough skeleton of an idea in a process that would continue on to this day. <br />
<br />
This is not to knock either approach, but both have their advantages and disadvantages. In regards to Star Trek, a franchise which relies mostly on an episode of the week format (until recently, apparently) that's been going on for more than half a century, there were numerous people at the helm and many of them had often very different ideas about what should be done that were just thrown out to see what stuck, many of which were contradictory, meaning that the canon is a fucking mess ([[Warhammer 40,000|Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?]]). Some of which we'd frankly rather forget (Data being possessed by a mask, for instance). In general fans and fluff writers have been spending a whole lot of time trying to straighten things out and much of the lore is basically a [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main rough consensus of what people like and what fits in with it]. Later series got more systematic about this, but there are still points of contention and a lot of flat out contradictions due to its scattershot nature.<br />
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You know, like [[/co/| comic books]].<br />
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= Factions =<br />
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'''The Federation'''<br />
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[[File:Federation_Ships.jpg|thumb|500px|left|Starfleet's ships of the Line (original universe/canon)]]<br />
Might as well talk about that main faction. The United Federation of Planets is what the [[Tau]] think they are. Its backstory is that in the distant future of the 1990s, [[God-Emperor of Mankind|übermensch]] [[Space Marines|created by genetic engineering]] began conquering the Earth. The [[Imperial Guard|normies]] fought back and won through sheer numbers, cryogenically freezing the Augments and kicking them out of Earth, but the damage and mass political unrest of World War III got half the planet nuked. This was why genetic engineering was banned. Fortunately, in 2063, a <s>drunken asshole</s> heroic visionary named Zefram Cochrane created humanity's first warp drive (though it functioned based on the principle that gravity bends space-time, and was therefore more akin to an Alcubierre drive than anything that's dependent on the [[Warp]]) and made first contact with the Vulcans. The Vulcans eventually helped humanity rebuild and overcome poverty, disease, war and hunger. With its Earthly problems solved, man turned to the stars and found out its three closest neighbors were [[Imperium of Man|racist xenophobic dicks trying to murder each other]]. Since any war between them would've swept up puny little Earth and gotten it glassed, humans decided to force their neighbors to sit down and talk things out. Incredibly, it worked, and the United Federation of Planets was born.<br />
<br />
The Federation is a commie [[noblebright]] hippieland society with a post-scarcity economy and a strong democratic government ([[Mary Sue|pretty much Roddenberry's idea of utopia]]). As a result, Federation citizens work not because they have to, but because they want to. However, despite their advanced technology, transhumanism, that is intentionally making [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like the infamous antagonist Khan Noonien Singh, is illegal.<br />
<br />
The Federation's Navy is almost always called Starfleet. It's a mix between a military, a coast guard and a space agency, and usually rates scientific research as a higher priority than defense. One of its quirks is that it doesn't subscribe to the "bigger is better" policy used in most [[Warhammer 40K|sci-fi]], and even by most of the other ''Star Trek factions''. If the Federation ''does'' make a large ship, it's because they want it to have a daycare, swimming pool and ice cream bar. If they want a warship, they'll take a little gunship half the size of a modern day destroyer and pack it with enough antimatter nukes and guns to exterminate a solar system. In some cases, especially when dealing with ships from several centuries into the future, the ship is bigger on the inside than on the outside [[Creed|allowing it to hide a vast array of powerful armaments, ''space-bending'' equipment, and even whole planetary landscapes]]. They can get away with this because they out-tech almost everyone else by a country mile. The reason for the series' infamous "technobabble" is that <s>even ''they'' don't know everything their tech can do!</s> their technology is always evolving, and they know it so well that they can often use it in ways that even the original in-show design schematics did not intend.<br />
<br />
In theory, Starfleet follows a rule called the "Prime Directive", which says that you're not allowed to interfere with low-tech races ("low-tech" being defined as "not having invented the warp drive", since warp technology apparently follows naturally from the laws of physics) or else things like turning the locals into Nazis might happen. The Original Series talked about this rule all the time, and Captain Kirk threw it aside whenever there was a sexy alien babe in sight. From ''TNG'' onward, it tended to instead be brought up whenever a hack writer needed a reason for the heroes to ''not'' instantly resolve a given problem with their superior technology or a way of making our heroes look like assholes for following it rigidly (yes, we could save this species from extinction but that would be interfering with the cosmic plan!), though there were a few good episodes that took it seriously.<br />
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Some of the more important member races are:<br />
<br />
'''Founding members:'''<br />
* [[Humans]]: You know 'em, you love 'em. Comprise seemingly 90% of Starfleet for reasons in no way related to the cost of makeup/CGI.<br />
* [[Vulcan]]: The Original [[Eldar|Space Elves]], very emotional, especially during "pon'farr" (see below), who followed the teachings of an enlightened sage and embraced logic and rationalism after their emotions nearly led to them [[Slaanesh|wiping themselves out]]. They are what the average race of fantasy elves think they are, except on ''Enterprise'' because the writers wanted to artificially inject tension into the show (some of that was retconned to be a Romulan plot). Occasionally enter a state called "pon'farr," where they need to either [[Dark Eldar| fuck something half to death]], kill it with the nearest sharp object, or die of a brain aneurysm to let out all that pent-up emotional tension. Fa/tg/uys may recognize this as the sensation they feel every time [[Games Workshop]] puts out a new army book. There are ships with mostly Vulcan crews. But only two are seen. One commanded by the biggest jerk among them and the other [[grimdark|got eaten by a giant space amoeba.]] However they're pretty bro-tier overall. <br />
* Andorians: Blue dudes with antennae and constant fits of passion, the polar opposite of Vulcans and their one time foes. Pretty much fa/tg/uys, right down to the romantic streak, in the technical sense. Also, they live underground on a diet of meatbread and rage. Most of what defined them happened in Enterprise as they rarely showed up in the TNG-era, and even then did so as set dressing, allegedly because one of the showrunners hated their antennae and banned anyone from using them.<br />
* Tellarites: Space [[Dwarf|Dorfs]]; like insulting everyone and arguing a lot (no, really, petty insults are considered a polite gesture in Tellarite culture), mostly because the very first tellarite ever shown in the series got in an argument with Spock's dad and now it's their whole racial thing. “Sarek said something in a scene once that was meant to demonstrate that he was stand-offish and kinda rude, but we like Sarek so it's now the defining attribute of this species.” It's all in good fun you understand, your confidence in your ideas and actions should be sturdy enough to withstand honest assessment and critique.<br />
'''Notable Additional Members:'''<br />
* Betazoids: Invariably attractive humanoid aliens with telepathic powers. Half-betazoid, half-humans apparently only have "empathic" powers, so they are well-regarded by Starfleet captains for their ability to point out the obvious and fill out the tight bodygloves that make up the Starfleet uniform in a pleasing manner, especially since theirs seem to come in a custom cut for reasons entirely unrelated to Roddenberry's erection. Their homeworld is like dropping a really hippie college and Space Vegas into a blender. They were taken over during The Dominion war because Earth or Vulcan would be seen as bullshit due to their large post Borg attack defense fleets/ship yards. While the writers would have to actually add new characters for the Andorians and Tellarites(such as Ambassadors for a government in exile). So Betazoid took the hit to raise the stakes.<br />
* Trill: Originally a one-off race introduced as a sapient parasite that possesses and controls a barely, or even unintelligent humanoid host, they were radically reworked in ''Deep Space Nine'', right down to losing their rubber foreheads in favor of spots. Now, the host is itself an intelligent humanoid, and some, but not all, of their kind are able to willingly merge with a symbiont (because someone can't spell) that allows them to access a mixture of the memories and personalities of all previous hosts, though in a way that, theoretically, enhances the host's personality rather than destroying it or subsuming it. Then, when they die, they can pass on the symbiont to another host, theoretically, one they mentored. They went from having a rubber forehead to some spots because Terry Farrell had a allergic reaction to the make-up.<br />
* Tamarians: Previously a one-off in ''TNG'', newly joined as of ''Lower Decks''. Tamarian communication is based entirely around metaphor and idiom, meaning their entire language is predicated on understanding their history's pop culture references. This throws the universal translator for a fit, as it can chew on the vocabulary okay but it can't unpack the contextual meanings. Imagine a medieval monk trying to decipher Korean text messages and you've got the basic idea.<br />
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<br />
'''The Klingon Empire'''<br />
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[[Image:Batleth.jpg|thumb|right|A Bat'Leth (sword of honor), one of several types of Klingon bladed weapons. Frequently mocked IRL for being a poorly designed weapon.]]<br />
[[Commissar|''"It is a good day to die!"'']]<br />
<br />
The Federation's main rival and (movie era and afterward) the quintessential ''Star Trek'' race of lumpy foreheaded aliens. Originally they were a rough analog to the Russians (though they took some elements from [[Communism|communist China]]) in a rough cold war allegory with the Federation (even though the Federation are as commie as they come, though admittedly much of that came around in the TNG era). Their defining feature was that they were militaristic and imperialistic while the Federation was scholarly and respected liberty. This gradually moved more and more into them becoming Imperial Japan/[[Vikings]] In SPESSS obsessed with honor, fighting and dying honorably in battle while worshiping at the altar of [[Sigmar|warrior Jesus]], even as they turned from the Federation's bitter enemies into that friend who's fun to be around when he's not getting into drunken bar fights. You see shades of it during the movie era and it became more and more prominent through ''TNG'', culminating in ''DS9''. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Klingons are nothing more than barbaric savages, however; with Worf being part of the crew, and with ''DS9'' dealing with Klingon politics an awful lot we can see Klingon society as it truly is. Even so, they do often wander into self-parody territory.<br />
<br />
The Klingons, in their current iteration, are a feudal society ruled by a council made up of the most powerful families. Klingon society holds very little value on things such as currency and material gain (which results in the Klingon empire [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65l7RHUx2A having a very simplistic understanding of economics]), believing that anything you acquire without some form of blood, sweat and/or tears on your part is a pathetic and dishonorable way of going about things, much the same way many cultures used to hurl abuse at merchants and bankers. Another thing to keep in mind is that a Klingon's reputation is literally everything. Central to this is fighting your battles personally and against worthy opponents. Calling out a superior is almost always an honorable fight, and Klingon captains can expect challenges if they become lax or suspect in their decisions. Klingons are still capable of being cunning and crafty, however, and having a high diplomacy score is viewed as honorable as they still have examples of cunning and clever heroes tricking boorish and stupid monsters.<br />
<br />
[[Warhammer 40000|Klingons often carry swords into battle in an age of energy beam guns]]. In-universe, this is less suicidal than it sounds in the context of boarding actions and tight starship corridors. The Bat'leth is actually a rather shitty weapon. The Mek'leth is noted to be better in most situations. They use the same Disruptor weapons as the Romulans, and at one point used similar starship designs. While is explained as the result of a temporary and unholy alliance, given the eventual animosity between the two races, it was just an excuse to reuse props on a limited budget.<br />
<br />
The Klingons are tied with the Vulcans and the Borg as being the most prominent and recognizable non-human species in Star Trek. Beloved of the Internet and the general public, to the point that there are published books like "A Klingon Christmas" in the world. The Klingons have their own constructed language. If you are ever worrying that you might not be a nerd, learning Klingon will solve that problem for you. Please note that this is in general considered by experts to be pathognomonic of autism. You have not experienced Shakespeare until you hear it in the original Klingon.<br />
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'''The Romulan Star Empire'''<br />
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''"It's always chess with the Romulans"''<br />
<br />
You know those [[Eldar|Vulcans]]? Well a few thousand years ago, as their planet was ravaged by war, some of them turned to intense emotional control and logic to tame their murderous passions, while most others left the planet altogether, founding a colony on the planet Romulus and dubbing themselves [[Dark Eldar|Romulans]]. Since said planet shares a name with a mythical figure known for founding [[Roman Empire|a city which built a vast empire]], and they had warp drive while those around them did not, you probably know that they turned to building an empire of their own. They hold the second place of prominence as immediate rivals to the Federation. Comically, they actually have better emotional control than the average Vulcan, since they gene-engineered most of their problems away years ago, and don't have to deal with the emotional blowback from pon'farr. The downside is that they lost some of their cousins' niftier powers, like mind-reading and being able to transfer their soul into another person for safekeeping. Although Star Trek Online also revealed that their trip to Romulus was a terrible ordeal, and their gene-engineering was taking during that time resulting in them losing most emotions save for bitterness of being "forced out".<br />
<br />
The difference between the Klingons and the Romulans is basically the difference between Gork and Mork, or Khorne and Tzeentch. Klingons will fight you up front with simple brute force. Romulans are sneakier guys, preferring to fight you when you're not looking with spies, cloaked ships and complex plots behind the scenes and playing the long game. There is a lot of political infighting among them, though where the Klingons would duel to the death Romulans would seek to discredit their rivals, have them die in unfortunate "accidents" or disappear. This difference has left both Romulans and Klingons with a big hate-boner for each other, to the Romulans the Klingons are crude brutish barbarians and to the Klingons the Romulans are a pack of scheming cowardly weaklings.<br />
<br />
Like the Klingons, they served as a rough Cold War allegory. In this case, they were rough analogs to Communist China (as seen by 1960s Americans), a distant horde of inscrutable and potentially dangerous Orientals who generally were unseen and projecting vague menace, but when encountered face-to-face could pack quite a punch indeed: the first major Interstellar War that Star Trek Earth fought was with the Romulans, which was fought entirely in space with neither side ever seeing the other face to face. Afterward, they set up a 'Neutral Zone' between the Federation and the Romulan Empire that no one even tried to cross for a century. From the Original Series onward, they frequently squabble and bicker with the Federation, before joining forces with them to fight the Dominion in ''Deep Space Nine'' and having their government devastated in ''Nemesis''. <br />
<br />
In one of the two alternate universes created by J.J.<strike>Binks</strike>Abrams movies, the so-called "Prime Universe", Romulus itself got caught in a supernova as part of the Abramsverse's backstory. ''Picard'' has revealed that Starfleet was going to help evacuate Romulus before the nova hit, but then some rogue androids destroyed the shipyards that the rescue fleet was being built at, so the Federation shrugged, flipped the Romulans the bird, and let them get blown up. The Romulan Star Empire collapsed in the aftermath, with the surviving Romulans are now scattered across half the galaxy. Most of the former Romulan colonies are now officially governed by the Romulan Free State, but their ability to exert their authority is implied to be limited at best and non-existent at worst. The Neutral Zone, in particular, collapsed into near lawlessness. One of their secret police/ anti android cults got a hold of Borg cube and were presumably up to some nefarious shit with it until the events of Star Trek Picard.<br />
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'''The Ferengi Alliance'''<br />
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[[Image:GW_Ferengi.jpg|thumb|left|A typical ferengi engaged in typical ferengi activities]]<br />
{{topquote|A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.|Eighteenth Rule of Acquisition}}<br />
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Introduced in ''TNG's'' early days as the villains for the series, and what [[/pol/]] thinks Jews are. Some Jewish people have actually complained about their being subliminally Jewish and thus anti-Semetic, specifically mentioning that they were money-hungry, lascivious, and ugly, and their large ear lobes were stand-ins for the sterotypical Jewish nose, based on an old medieval stereotype that was enforced to prevent them owning land or assets and ended up sticking around long after the fact (i.e. ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/08/14/science-fictions-anti-semitism-problem/?noredirect=on we're not shitting you] but also they have a valid gripe). Claims of stereotyping aside, they're basically just a ripoff of the ''Shingouz'' from [[Valerian and Laureline|''Valérian and Laureline'']]. <br />
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The idea was to make a caricature of capitalism as a contrast with the techno-communist Federation. This might have worked if these were not [[FAIL|''TNG's'' early days]]. Instead, they overshot the mark by a light year or so, on top of other bad decisions, and you got a race of short, big-eared, [[goblin]]-like losers about as threatening as a grumpy pug. (Gene wanted to make an evil short race as big evil races were overplayed.) Over the first and second seasons they tried to make these guys threatening, but they fell flat on their face every time; eventually the writers just said "fuck it" and the Ferengi got demoted to comic relief species, and their status as terrible enemies was demoted to propaganda designed to scare the Federation while the Ferengi government tried to figure out what to make of a species that rejected the acquisition of wealth as a goal. The Ferengi had some good moments in the later seasons of ''TNG'', but most of the best stuff that fleshed them out came from ''DS9'', which had an [[awesome]] Ferengi bartender named Quark as a major character. For an idea of what the Ferengi might have been like if the writers had their shit together, look up the Druuge of [[Star Control|Star Control II]] or the Magog Cartel from Oddworld. <br />
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Ferengi religion is only hinted upon in ''DS9'', but what is seen implies a simplistic system based on financial success. Ferengi all follow a rulebook/canon known as the Rules of Acquisition, which can be described as Ayn Rand IN SPACE and condensed into the form of Confucius' Analects. There are 285 of these, each a short piece of advice on how to stay in the black. Examples include "Peace is good for business," "War is good for business," "Never have sex with the boss's sister," and "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." The first (and most important) of these is "Once you have their money, you never give it back." Sometimes, the Ferengi Randian spirituality extends into outright interpretations of the afterlife: according to some, the afterlife consists of the Divine Treasury and the Vault of Eternal Destitution, which are respectively analogous to Heaven and Hell. Entrance into one or the other depends on one's business ventures at the time of death; those that were turning a profit are allowed to enter the Divine Treasury, and the rest are damned to the Vault.<br />
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Ferengi government is ruled over by a Grand Nagus, a mix between a <s>pope</s> chief rabbi and a CEO, and he basically treats his civilization like some sort of company, with citizens regarded as workers. Directly below him is the Ferengi Commerce Authority, a [[what|quasi-religious]] organization dedicated to ensuring that correct business practices were followed and correct moral behavior was shown (including keeping the proles in line) - of course, to the Ferengi, these are one and the same. The agents of the FCA are the Liquidators, who are essentially Inquisitors crossed with IRS auditors on steroids. Be afraid. Be very afraid. <br />
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Ferengi females have no rights and are mentioned as [[PROMOTIONS|not even being allowed to wear clothes]], which leads to [[That Guy|boorish behavior]] on the part of Ferengi towards just about any species. Of course, we see female Ferengi on the show who push that envelope, but it seems that overall "regressive" does not even begin to describe the gender relationships in their culture. Quark's mother, a social climber who marries the head of their government, begins pushing through a women's rights movement during DS9, which proves more successful as time goes on.<br />
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'''The Borg Collective'''<br />
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[[Image:Borg cube.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Borg have assimilated and improved your [[d6|die]]. It always rolls six. Crap your pants, 'cause resistance is futile.]]<br />
{{Topquote|We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture shall adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.|The Borg's opening hail. This is not a boast or a brag, it's them simply explaining to you how things are going to go down.}}<br />
{{Topquote|One other thing. You may encounter Enterprise crew members who've already been assimilated. Don't hesitate to fire. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favour.|Picard going full [[grimdark]].}}<br />
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The Ferengi were utter failures as serious villains, so they needed something to fill that gap. Thus they made the Borg, an aggressive [[Tyranid|hive-minded]] collective of hyper-adaptive, [[Necron|regenerating]] cyborgs that assimilates entire species into itself in its attempt to improve and evolve. Shit, that's like coming up with [[Warforged]] while trying to replace [[Kender]].<br />
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In many ways, the Borg are the truest dark reflection of the Federation, and despite their name, they're not Swedish. While the Feds want you to join their little club on your own, to "add your culture to the galactic community," the Prime Directive means they will ultimately accept you turning them down, even if you have shit they really want. The Borg say "fuck that" and just absorb you. While the Federation believes everyone should work together [[Tau|for the greater good]], they still have a very strong sense of individualism and a culture of personal accomplishment (unless your individual belief happens to run counter to the Federation's principles anyway, in which case you're just WRONG because the Federation is the best). The Borg pool all their minds together into a massive collective consciousness in the pursuit of group perfection, becoming an almost-literal personification of techno-capital. The Federation is all about beauty and tranquility and all that hippie stuff, and their tech is eco-friendly and dolphin-safe. Borg [[Tyranids|strip mine entire planets and drain entire oceans]] in the name of growth and efficiency.<br />
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Your standard Borg [[Cubes|cube]] is a huge multi-kilometer [[Firaeveus Carron|metal box]] (yes, bigger than most [[Imperial Navy]] cruisers) able to go up against an entire Federation warfleet and win. That's right, one of their ships could threaten the entire Federation and [[Exterminatus]] Earth. When done right, [[Necron|they are a cold, calculating, nigh-unstoppable force, a threat to all life]] that wants to retain free and distinct personalities (although they will ignore a single person if not on an assimilation mission, as what they really want is to absorb whole civilizations). Apparently, in Picard's nightmare in ''First Contact'', the Borg assimilation process includes a surgical [[Grimdark|drill through the eye. While awake.]] Of all the stuff to come out of the TNG Era they are undoubtedly the most well recognized in mass pop culture.<br />
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Unfortunately they got a bad downgrade during ''Voyager'' (the Borg Queen blew up cubes full of tens of thousands of drones because a few of them have been severed from the Hive Mind), but even there they were frequently not to be messed with. One amusing thing to note for people that haven't watched ''TNG'': the Borg were actually only in six episodes (and three were breakaway drones) and one movie, yet they're arguably the franchise's most famous pure villains aside from Khan. Goes to show how good they were when written properly. Then in ''Voyager'' they get their shit completely pushed in when they discover a new race of extradimensional aliens which they label Species 8472, which were immune to being assimilated, and had to ask the Federation for help in dealing with them. [[Necron#Regarding_Fluff_Change_-_Sore_Butts_Everywhere.|Wait, this sounds familiar...]]<br />
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'''The Cardassian Union'''<br />
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{{Topquote|Out of all the stories you told me, which one were true and which ones weren't."<br><br />
"My dear doctor, they're all true."<br><br />
"Even the Lies?" <br><br />
"Especially the lies.|Julian Bashir and Elim Garak}}<br />
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Introduced in ''TNG'', they are third fiddle to the Klingons and the Romulans. If the Klingons are hypothetically-honorable techno-barbarian warriors and the Romulans are an empire of civilized and refined but sly and ruthless expansionists, the Cardassians are essentially scaly fascists re-enacting ''[[1984]]'' IN SPACE. Their trials announce the outcome at the beginning, and the defense attorney is executed if he wins. Also, THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!<br />
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Originally a race of peaceable, spiritual artists called the Hebitians (ironically not dissimilar to the Bajorans), modern Cardassia was born in hunger and desperation when their homeworld began to suffer simultaneous mass famine, pandemic, resource depletion, and ecological collapse. A military junta seized power, figuratively and literally auctioned off the soul of their culture through liquidating all the planet's art and religious artifacts into cold hard cash, and turned the Cardassians into the opportunistic imperialists they are today.<br />
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Despite being a whole lot weaker than the Federation, the Cardassians manage to hold their own, partly because what they lack in resources and raw power is made up for by a combination of intense cunning and high charisma stats. Compared to the equally deceptive Romulans, the Cardies are more likely to flash you a smile while tickling your ribs with a knife. They'll use any tool they can to gain the upper hand and while that often means unpleasant and terminal sessions in dark rooms, strip mined planets and the enslavement of entire species, they'll gladly become your bestest buddy if it would achieve their goals. Their intelligence service, the Obsidian Order, is also one of the most ruthlessly efficient organizations in the entire sector, managing to outscale the Romulan Tal Shiar when it comes to producing magnificent bastards and manipulating the politics of entire worlds to their advantage. Unlike the Romulans or the Klingons, they don't tolerate the sort of literal infighting that is rampant in both those states, that shit only serves to weaken '''GLORIOUS CARDASSIA''' and needs to be stamped out with ruthless efficiency. Exposing that someone who just happens to be your enemy as being a dangerous subversive is just a benefit, although this can result in both sides of a conflict shouting "For Cardassia!" as they charge each other. Sort of how Democrats and Republicans are both for America, yet oppose each other.<br />
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Cardassia has a very fluid hierarchical government, similar to the political realities of post-Stalin but pre-Collaspe Soviet Russia. Broadly speaking, there are three different facets of the government: the Central Command (which holds all the power) the Obsidian Order (who holds the least amount of power, but controls the most puppets) and the Detapa Council (similar to the [[High Lords of Terra]] and just as worthless). Cardassian society holds a very strict view of family, placing family just below the needs of the State in a vague approximation of Confucianism.<br />
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The State holds a semi-divine mythical status in the eyes of its citizens, with it being viewed as impossible for the State to ever make mistakes. The ideal Cardassian life was one of complete loyalty and servitude to the State and family, with the "repetitive epic," detailing how generations of Cardassians go on to serve both in exactly the same way over and over seen as the height of their culture. The Cardassian government is assumed to be omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent by pretty much every Cardassian, with all Cadassians gladly giving of themselves to the State. Such was this level of belief that when Picard was tortured by the Obsidian order, the torturer saw nothing wrong with bringing his daughter to work because he was working for the State, and therefore the torture of Picard could never be disturbing or wrong. That's why their trials announce their sentences at the beginning and execute the defense attorney if he wins; their "trials" are more excuses to show off the power and infallibility of the State to the masses than actually determine guilt or innocence.<br />
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In terms of the Alpha Quadrant's political landscape, they are basically space fascist Italy: indisputably still a great power but nonetheless basically the weakest of the great powers, resentful of it, and unwilling to accept it. They first bully weaker powers in an attempt to carve out an empire, turn from a military junta to a despotist state after a coup, eventually join a bigger, meaner power in a great war against the rest of the Quadrant in an attempt to gain power and respect, see it blow up in their faces and force them to rise again in revolt to save themselves. Beta canon continues the analogy with the establishment of a democratic but unstable postwar government in the vein of the Years of Lead.<br />
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As far as plot significant activities went, they had a war with the Federation a few years before ''TNG'' which ended in the creation of a Demilitarized Zone between the two powers and (significant to ''Deep Space Nine'') abandoning the previously occupied planet of Bajor they had exploited for resources and along with it the space station Terok Nor, which the Federation took over and renamed Deep Space Nine. After a disastrous war with the Klingon Empire and a faction of ex-Starfleet settlers who refused to be relocated after a treaty called the Maquis led to a popular revolution and overthrow of the existing government, one leader seized power, declared himself absolute ruler, and joined the Dominion towards the end of ''DS9'', which was some serious bad news for the ''DS9'' crew, and, ultimately his own people.<br />
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'''The Bajoran Republic'''<br />
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The Bajorans are a species native to the Planet Bajor. They were, until shortly before the events of ''Deep Space Nine'', under a brutal occupation by the Cardassians who strip mined their planet. They had a fighting resistance which veered in and out of being considered terrorists and all in all were often represented as Palestinians IN SPEHSS. After that, they got their independence, although they're thinking about joining the Federation. The Bajorans have one system and are technologically backwards; the Federation is technically breaking the Prime Directive by interacting with them, but as they've spent years under the oppression of a warp-capable species, they can probably handle it. Also ''DS9'' proves that ancient Bajorans managed to travel at warp speeds to Cardassia using solar sails and an enormous amount of luck, which technically makes them a warp-capable species. The only reason why they are significant in terms of the politics of ''Star Trek'' is that they have a wormhole near their planet, which has some timey-wimey aliens living it that they worship as gods, and serves as the only way to get to or from the Gamma Quadrant that won't take decades, making it strategically priceless. Hilariously, this was discovered almost immediately after the Cardassians ''thought'' they'd extracted everything of value from the Bajorans and peace'd out, certain that the system was no longer worth the PR hit they were taking from it, only to get burned by some harsh seller's remorse. Also, their species has the oldest civilization (roughly a half-million years) of any major ''Star Trek'' race, and the wormhole aliens have gifted them some cool shit, like the Orb of Time.<br />
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The other big thing that makes the Bajorans unique is that they actually have a serious religion going on in a way that isn't an extension of their racial "hat" -the human race is depicted as mostly non-religious. They're also probably one of the most accurate depictions of any highly religious alien race in a sci-fi franchise, because they are divided between the majority who interpret their religion as [[Noblebright|peace and love]], and a small but loud minority of bastards who interpret it as [[Grimdark|condoning acts of terrorism]]. They generally represent all manner of oppressed and colonized peoples throughout Earth's history, with the Cardassian occupation standing in for the Holocaust, Imperial Japanese atrocities in Asia, and European mischief in Africa during the Age of Imperialism.<br />
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'''The Dominion'''<br />
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A vast empire which exists on the other side of the galaxy in the Gamma Quadrant. The Dominion is ruled over by a species of liquid shapeshifters called The Founders.(aka Changlings, Odo's people) They have at their disposal a military composed of two genetically engineered species that worship the Founders as gods: the short and articulate Vorta who serve as ambassadors, bureaucrats, and political commisars and the big brutal Jem'hadar, who are vat grown, drug addicted, cannon fodder. These oversee a large number of vassal races, including (as of later seasons of ''DS9'') the Cardassians.<br />
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The Founders were once (according to them anyway) a peaceful, kind civilization of explorers who wished to see the galaxy, explore strange new worlds, and seek out new forms of life. Unfortunately, they did this in the wrong neighborhood, and quickly ran into species who did not tolerate others. The fact that the Founders were shapeshifters capable of mimicking almost anyone did not help either. Paranoia, mutual mistrust, and some very bad things eventually led to the Founders deciding "fuck this" and moving their planet into a nebula so nobody would bother them. So more or less, a [[Grimdark|grimmer]], [[Grimdark|darker]], counterpart to the Federation, but with spookier Real Aliens.<br />
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The Founders are obsessed with order and are both extremely racist and xenophobic, and believe that all alien life is inherently untrustworthy and evil, and the best thing to do is conquer/enslave them before they do the same to them. They don't care about the rights of "Solids", and will happily ignore any sense of decency when convenient. This can be seen when The Dominion runs a simulation of the Dominion dominating the Alpha Quadrant. When O'Brien is assaulted by a Jem'Hadar and severely beaten to the point of needing emergency teleportation to medical (the crime being "disrespectful"), the Founders (disguised as Federation Officers) do not press charges, and when Sisko comes barging in demanding answers, dismiss him with little concern about their own soldiers brutalizing citizens. Their overall ideology could be thought of as Qin legalism IN SPACE: people are inherently evil and the only way to make a better world is to impose order upon them through brute force from a position of absolute, unquestioned power.<br />
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The Founders, when not wandering around in various forms, tend to spend their time in a massive ocean literally made up of countless billions of Founders, something which is referred to as the Great Link. According to the Founders, this allows them to share information with each other and come to peaceful decisions. This is rapidly proved to be bullshit; when a separated-at-birth one of their own merged into the Great Link to share his memories of the Federation as peaceful and tolerant space hippies, not only did the Founders ignore his memories, but actively fucked with his mind in an attempt to turn him into a sleeper agent. And even if it weren't, it shows their hypocrisy through their willingness to share freedom and liberty among themselves while depriving all their various slaves and conquered peoples of the same.<br />
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The Founders are massive dicks, even to their own people. Failure among Jem'Hadar is rewarded with slow and painful death from deprivation of the drug they're created to need and their lifespans are incredibly short. To be even bigger dicks, the Vorta have no sense of taste and can't appreciate beauty. Not to make them better diplomats, but because they were raised from a primitive stone-age ape tribe, and the Founders think they shouldn't be ever allowed to forget that. (On the plus side, they did give the Vorta an immunity to poison that would make [[Mortarion]] himself jealous. [https://youtu.be/rACCZaBcq1g?t=1m29s Observe.]) This may also stem from their own neuroses: the Founders themselves have almost no bodily needs at all and require no nourishment, so they design their slaves to be like them. Notably, Vorta tend to come in [[Paranoia|packs of clones; a new one is activated when an old one dies, and they retain some memories and personality between "lives,"]] further hammering home how expendable they are to their makers.<br />
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And both races are literally engineered to love their makers for what they have done to them and worship and revere them as gods.<br />
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They ultimately get what's coming to them in the latter half of ''Deep Space Nine'', through an invasion of the Alpha Quadrant that starts out in their favor and rapidly goes against them. <br />
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'''Species 8472 / Undine'''<br />
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The one and only race in the galaxy even the Borg don't want to fuck with. Introduced in Voyager, Species 8472 are three-legged creatures that live in a space called Fluid Space. It's similar to the [[Eye of Terror]] for the fact that it connects to an alternate dimension and [[Khorne|everyone will be ripped apart upon entering.]]<br />
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When the Borg first came around to try and assimilate them they were completely obliterated in a war in which 4 million Borg were killed in the first few days at the cost of almost no members of Species 8472. This war was such a roflstomp that the Borg were forced to call on the Federation for help. [[Tau|The Federation being the better people swallowed their pride and decided to help their sworn enemies,]] [[Eldrad|but were dicks and sent only one ship.]]<br />
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Species 8472 fought with fast moving, small ships and devastating beam weapons so the small ship of the Federation could keep up with them and helped the Borg force the species back into Fluid Space. The Federation were the villains on this one. That said, they eventually came to an accord with Species 8472, preventing further wars between the denizens of Fluid Space, except in lots and lots of video games that want to use a fresh antagonist.<br />
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That and that in ''Star Trek Online'', [[Awesome|they look like the fucking Predator.]]<br />
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'''The Q'''<br />
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The Q are a race of beings who have elevated themselves to the point where they are basically gods. Most of them do not interact directly with the younger races, who they tend to consider with disdain- if they consider them at all. However a few of them take a more enlightened view, and one in particular has been known to fuck with individual humans from time time. They are mostly a TNG thing, and even there they work mostly by grace of John de Lancie's acting chops as a counterpoint to the charisma of Patrick Stewart, as de Lancie played the ''character'' Q. "Tapestry" even has the two waking up in bed together as a troll from Q. Due entirely to de Lancie's performance, they managed not only to have it not be cringy, but rather funny.<br />
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Q is an all-powerful epic troll. TNG's Q's occasionally [[Tzeentch]]ian games sometimes appeared to be for his own amusement and sometimes acted as education or event protection to the human race. Various subplots involving the Q ''species'' range from somewhat thought provoking to mildly entertaining to ridiculous and banal, but the classic episodes that highlighted the charisma and chemistry of the two actors were often quite excellent. De Lancie also appeared as Q in DS9 and Voyager a couple of times, but the chemistry just isn't there without Stewart. The writers knew it too, composing a scene where Avery Brooks punches this bastard in the face telling him "I'm not Picard!" (with the added fanservice of watching Q get punched, high on the wishlist of anyone that had the misfortune to meet him).<br />
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=== The Mirror Universe ===<br />
This isn't a faction; it's an alternate setting. Its own factions do bleed into the mainline starting in DS9. So it merits its own section.<br />
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The Mirror is a parallel universe in which [[Alternate History|things have gone differently]] in Earth's History. The main point of divergence appears to occur when the Vulcan scientists who landed at Bozeman, Montana in 2063 are not welcomed with alcohol and music but instead are killed and have their ship looted. It is equally clear that where the main universe is Noblebright the Mirror Universe is Grimdark. Instead of a peace loving Federation searching for knowledge and friendly cooperation for the betterment of all, Earth gave rise to the ''Terran Empire'' which seeks out new life and civilizations to conquer and enslave, as it had done with the Klingons. Pretty much it's the PG-13 version of the Imperium of Man with a bit more Grimderp. Junior officers get promoted by killing their superiors, those that fail at that get thrown in the agony booth for their troubles and Emperor gets the job by usurping the previous incumbent. As a rule, characters in the mainline become, in the Mirror Universe, a selfish asshole version of themselves (or have to go along to get along: O'Brien, Spock). Following comic book logic the uniforms for the female characters are more revealing, and facial hair is vogue. Occasionally people can cross over from one universe to the next due to technobabble and cause mischief in either realm.<br />
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Originally it was a one off TOS setting for an episode of the week, but it was brought back in a few novels and some romps in Deep Space Nine in which [[Fail|the Terran Empire had fallen]]. In Enterprise's fourth season it got a two parter that was pretty good and would have been an annual thing if the show had been renewed, this one having little crossover with the main universe (a ship from TOS ended up in the Mirror Universe and is salvaged after all it's crew have died). We also went there in Discovery, for better or worse. Voyager never did the mirror universe, but instead got a homage episode with some alien historians in the far future getting the details wrong like historians tend to.<br />
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=== The Star Trek Crew ===<br />
Whether the focus of the show is exploration, manning a space station in an important locale or trying to get home, all Star Trek series have a basic set up of casting and focus: namely on a collection of people who are usually the senior-most officers on the ship. If you decide to make a Star Trek inspired game take this into consideration.<br />
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* '''The Captain''': Big cheese. Makes the hard decisions. Needs to be able to talk, think or fight out of situations as needed. The third option fetishist finding the balance between empathy and reason. (Two least skubby examples: Kirk and Picard, but the skub will fly hard if you say one is better than the other, sufficed to say that people like both of them alot but for different reasons)<br />
* '''The First Officer''': Second in command and trusted advisor. Added after the original series, where the role was combined with and split between two others. (Two least skubby examples: Riker and Kira)<br />
* '''The Science Officer''': Got high Int stats. Can analyze the situation and work out solutions. The voice of reason. Almost never human. (Two least skubby examples: Data and Spock)<br />
* '''The Engineer''': Hard working technically minded guy who gets shit done. (Two least skubby examples: Scotty and Geordi)<br />
* '''The Doctor''': Ship's healer with a secondary scientific role. The voice of empathy, whether prickly or serene. (Two least skubby examples: Bones and the EMH Doctor)<br />
* '''The Security Officer''': Rough and tumble no-nonsense sort whose job it is to keep these guys alive when diplomacy fails, which it often does. Often has to juggle providing ship's security with working the tactical station on the bridge in a crisis. (Two least skubby examples: Worf and Odo)<br />
* '''The Helmsman''': Got mad spacecraft piloting skills, either full-sized starships, shuttles, or fighters. Younger and more brash. (Two least skubby examples: Sulu and Tom Paris)<br />
* '''The Other Guy''': A crewmember whose role doesn't cleanly map onto other positions, a role often restricted to a single show. Example positions include communications officer, ship's councilor, transporter chief, and linguist. (Two Least skubby examples: Uhura and Troi)<br />
* '''The Outsider''': Someone who is a passenger and regular cast member, but exists outside the organization, looking in and commenting. Usually works a side-job, like tailor, bartender, or cook. Either a beloved fan-favorite or utterly despised, there is no middle ground. (Two Least skubby examples: Guinan and Quark)<br />
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Some of these hats may be worn by more than one character, some may be worn by no one at all. This is especially true in the original series, which had a smaller cast overall, and which put less emphasis on an ensemble and more on the main trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The usual roles and character dynamics were instead set down by ''The Next Generation'', which later series generally copied.<br />
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= The Shows =<br />
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==''The Original Series''==<br />
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[[File:OG enterprise.jpg|thumb|400px|Right|Do do do...]]<br />
Created in 1966 by legendary sci-fi [[spiritual liege]] and money-grubbing, sexist, pseudo-communist lounge lizard Gene Roddenberry and pitched as a "Wagon Train to the stars", it's a pulpy adventure sci-fi, full of fistfights, sword fights, and hammy speeches. (The guns never work.)<br />
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The USS ''Enterprise'' is tasked by the Federation to go on a five year mission to explore space: the final frontier, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before, though due to budget constraints, her crew often finds that man has in fact gone there before. Or at least something that looks exactly like a man but is actually an [[Xenos|alien]]; most episodes split the difference. James T. Kirk sleeps with [[Hot Chicks|hot alien babes]] who either die tragically or leave tearfully at the end of the episode, but it's 'k because he's too in love with the Enterprise to ever love a mere ''woman'' more. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are cold and logical and rash and emotional respectively, and their constant friction must be resulting in the best make-up sex in the world, Mr. Sulu and Lieutenant Uhura wait in vain for focus episodes that never come, Ensign Chekhov suffers horribly to the approval of American Cold War audiences, and Scotty [[gets shit done]]. Uniforms, while iconic, tend to look a bit civilian though. Miniskirts are apparently mandated attire for the ship's fan-servicey female "yeomen" and others, because 1966. The civilian nature of the attire (including, one must assume, the miniskirts, but they had a visual appeal all their own) were apparently an intentional design decision by Roddenberry who didn't want uniforms to look military. Further specialness on the part of Roddenberry demanded phasers not look like guns ([[FAIL|not even have trigger-guards even though those exist for safety reasons]]), instead looking like nothing in particular at all (although looking back at them today they look sort of like TV remotes, which would be invented much later), and also (probably the only sensible decision in this category) ships that didn't look like rockets, giving ships their distinctive and iconic saucer-engineering-nacelles look that still stands out today.<br />
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The Original Series frequently ran out of budget and entire episodes were filmed using spare costumes belonging to the production company, resulting in a series of extremely goofy excuses to go to planets full of gangsters or [[Nazi]]s. This is often copied by shows who don't realize it was done out of pure expediency, and nowadays this [[TVTropes|"Planet of Hats"]] gimmick is practically a box to check off when doing sci-fi adventure. The lack of budget also resulted in one of the more memorable inventions; unable to budget for a sequence showing the ''Enterprise'' or a shuttle landing on a new planet every week, the writers instead decided to invent the transporter to "beam" the crew down to planets or between starships. Also worth noting: despite its mediocre critical reception, ratings and eventual cancellation, not to forget the uneven quality of many episodes, especially in the Roddenberry-less third season where poor Fred Freiberger had to come onto a show he didn't understand and try to get better ratings with less money, ''TOS'' had a hell of a cultural impact thanks to syndication and it has been said that since it entered syndication in 1969, there hasn't been a 24-hour period without some TV station, in some country, playing Star Trek. Cancellation of The Original Series is now considered one of the worst decisions in TV history, and while much of its silly 60's campiness is now laughable, it often still manages to teach relevant and important lessons today.<br />
<br />
Fun fact: the ''Enterprise'' and each of her 11 sister ships have enough firepower to [[Exterminatus]] a planet by themselves, after getting issued an order called General Order 24. This however is likely a time-consuming task. According to a later DS9 episode, it takes a fleet of 20 warships 1 hour of sustained bombardment to destroy a planets crust and 5 hours of sustained bombardment to destroy a planet down to its mantle. These 20 ships were also in service 100 years after the Enterprise so they were also more powerful. <br />
Kirk has the distinction of being the only known captain to issue a [[Exterminatus|General Order 24]], because a planet was ''too'' much into wargames (he changed his mind after they dropped wargaming).<br />
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* '''Outstanding Episodes''': Balance of Terror (submarine battle in space, debut of the Romulans), The Devil in the Dark (sometimes hostile aliens have a good reason for being hostile) Space Seed (Khan's first appearance), The City on the Edge of Forever (beautiful tragedy), Amok Time (Spock's in heat and he and Kirk have to fight to the death), "The Doomsday Machine" (''Enterprise'' vs. an unstoppable planet killer and the captain whose ship it destroyed)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "And the Children Shall Lead" (annoying kids, magic, and most of TOS's weakness dialed up to 11), The Way to Eden (dumbass hippy episode), Spock's Brain (idiot aliens steal Spock's thinker and McCoy has to remote control him for the rest of the episode).<br />
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==''The Animated Series''==<br />
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The often forgotten middle child. More or less "seasons 4-5" of ''TOS'' with the same writing staff and actors, sans poor Walter Koenig. He was replaced by a weird camel person. He learned this at a convention, from a fan, while he was trying to announce he'd be writing an episode, which Gene promptly demanded he rewrite over and over. Classy. <br />
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Being animated allowed the staff to get a lot more creative with the alien designs and plots, and the writing and acting remain... well, top notch is a stretch, but certainly at the same levels as ''The Original Series'', with the occasional low point. Not ''nearly'' as bad as you're probably picturing from the name, although still limited by the low budget and primitive, cheap animation techniques of the television era it was aired in. Notably some sci-fi novelists were brought in to write some episodes, such as Larry Niven, and at least one episode, "Yesteryear," is considered such a pivotal moment in Spock's development that even people who hate the series enough to consider it all non-canon often make an exception just for that one.<br />
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Also, since the series now has no excuse for throwing in lots of Space Puritans and Space Wizards, it of course continued to do so to derptastic results, because by this point it had become traditional. The presence of a straight-up [[furry]] on the bridge, however, is downright unacceptable.<br />
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==''The Next Generation''==<br />
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[[File:Enterpris D.jpg|thumb|400px|left|USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D: battleship, scientific research center and luxury hotel rolled into one]]<br />
Here's where it starts getting a little deeper and a little darker, although with a lot of left-wing political subtext turned up to 11. The USS ''Enterprise-D'' (the original and C were destroyed in action while A and B were retired) is, like its predecessor, tasked with going where no-one has gone before, but this time around the problems are less likely to be solved in a single episode. Jean-Luc Picard is the captain and he plots and negotiates his way to victory; Mr. Data is cold and unemotional, though not by choice - as an android, he'd very much like to change that; Riker takes over the captain's "sleep with alien babes" duties since Picard is married to the job; Worf the Klingon gets beaten up by monsters to show how tough the monsters are, meaning that Worf winds up looking incredibly weak by the end of the show's run and doesn't regain his badassery until his run on ''DS9''; Dr. Beverly Crusher is good old Bones minus his temper; Dr. Pulaski is Bones ''plus'' temper; Counselor Troi is so badly written she becomes a running joke; and Geordi LaForge [[gets shit done]]. Only two things need to be said about helmsman Wesley Crusher: he was [[Mary Sue|Gene Wesley Roddenberry's shitty self-insert fanfic character]], and his sueness got to the point that even his actor started to hate him within the first season of the show.<br />
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Due to the massive success of The Original Series in syndication (and Paramount being [[Rage|pissed off]] by broadcast networks treating their most valuable IP like any other show), TNG was aired through syndication from the beginning. Although the first two seasons were laughably bad, the quality began to improve dramatically after an increasingly cocaine-addled Gene Roddenberry got too sick to keep ruining it and his partner-in-crime Maurice Hurley was thrown out on his ass, a moment often pinpointed via looking for when [[Meme|Riker grew a beard.]] The later seasons are widely considered to represent the apex of the franchise's episodic formula on the small screen (although ''DS9'' gave it a run for its money with a more serialized approach); sadly, this series only got one good movie.<br />
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The Next Generation started and ended on one of its skubbier elements, that being Q, an omnipotent trans dimensional alien that starts testing Picard in the first episode and is finally persuaded to go away in the last. The entire multi-season run of the show is set up with the subtext that the Q are judging whether humanity is worthy of its implied lofty destiny. What should have been a stifling deus ex machina was carried entirely by the performance of Q's actor; the dialogs between Picard and Q were some of the show's most entertaining, even as the Q episodes tended to be the obligatory season silly story.<br />
<br />
*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "The Measure of a Man" (is Data property or not?), "Q Who?" (introduction of the Borg, Q at his dickish best), "The Best of Both Worlds" (epic Borg 2-parter with plenty of action and drama), "Family" (companion piece to Best of Both Worlds, Picard has to deal with the trauma of being assimilated), "Darmok" (Picard learns to communicate with an alien captain on far-away planet, all of TNG's strengths), "The Inner Light" (I am not crying, you are crying), "Sarek" (excellent Picard and Sarek character piece)<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Code of Honor" (racist and stupid), "Angel One" (sexist and stupid), "Shades of Grey" (half-assed money-saving clip show), "Up The Long Ladder" (annoying Oirish stereotypes wind up on the ''Enterprise'', shenanigans ensue), basically any episode from the first five seasons that focuses on Troi, her mom Lwaxana, or both (not Majel or Marina's fault, they were handed shit writing and had to make do)<br />
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==''Deep Space Nine''==<br />
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[[File:Deep Space 9.jpg|thumb|500px|right|''"A Star Trek show where they stay put? It'll never work."'' Boy did they get that wrong.]]<br />
Unlike all the other series so far, ''Deep Space Nine'' primarily takes place in a fixed location - the titular space station Deep Space Nine, out near the borders of Federation Space. Said space station is near Bajor, which was recently freed from Cardassian occupation, and a wormhole to the other side of the galaxy which allows [[Warp|all sorts of of crazy shit to go down]]. If the other shows are a wagon train, this one's the border fort.<br />
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Benjamin Sisko is the captain, declared Emissary by the nearby Bajorans for making contact with the wormhole aliens they worship, and he successfully hybridizes the blow-the-shit-out-of-whatever-you-can't-punch Kirk approach with the talk-in-a-very-dignified-way-about-the-philosophy-of-the-thing-and-win-by-rhetoric Picard maneuver, in his ultimately-successful quest to become the baddest motherfucker in space, then literally becomes a space god. Kira the Bajoran ex-<s>terrorist</s> <S>''noble freedom fighter''</s> (who are we kidding she calls herself a terrorist) struggles to free and rebuild her people while coming to terms with the moral ambiguities of situations she prefers to see in black-and-white, Dr. Bashir works to find his character for several seasons before becoming a highlight, Dax gets often written poorly and has to switch bodies doing it, Odo IS ''Liquid Space Cop'', Quark runs his bar and [[troll|heckles]] the Federation from the sidelines, Garak pretends to be a tailor while definitely not being a super-spy, hitting on Bashir, and dropping killer lines, and Miles O'Brien [[gets shit done]] and gets physically, mentally, and/or emotionally tortured in at least one episode a season (referred to by the writers as the "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes). Also Worf wanders in halfway through, and actually gets to punch things instead of just getting punched by them, up to and including offing the Klingon chancellor in an honor duel. It's also a lot more political than other series (though ''TNG'' and ''Voyager'' have their moments) and the last series to have Gene Roddenberry's involvement (with less enthusiasm, in fact often much to the benefit of this particular series thematically, although Roddenberry's complete departure did not necessarily bode well for the franchise in general.)<br />
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It's the closest the pre-Kelvin series ever get to [[grimdark]]. Especially when the Dominion show up. With minimal grimderp that plague the later seasons and Kelvin era movies. The show has aged remarkably well and the terrorist/freedom fighter debate was repeatedly explored in a very mature and honest way; the darkest episodes ventured into duping the Romulans into a war by assassinating a senator, and forcing a Klingon regime change [[rip and tear|''the Klingon way'']]. ''DS9'' is the most serialized of all Trek shows and could be considered a forerunner to the golden age of television with its long story arcs and deep character development. It's also notable for singlehandedly salvaging the Ferengi after the mess Gene made of them in the early seasons of TNG and bringing back the mirror universe after nearly thirty years with an ongoing plot showing the consequences of Kirk's meddling. Overall, ''DS9'' has to be considered the most consistently good Trek show thanks to the excellent writing and fantastic performances from a truly wonderful ensemble cast. At least until the final season . . .<br />
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Which brings us to DS9 Skub. The show was airing around the same time as another thematically similar sci-fi show, ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Not only that but characters also shared similarities, as did the episodes especially as both shows became war stories later on. Interestingly, beginning of both series, introduction of characters and airing of similar episodes were often too close to each other for one show to copy the other but this did not stop massive [[Rage]] and [[/v/|fanboy wars]] from starting between fans of the two series accusing one another of plagiarism and having an inferior product. Happily, as time went on and both shows evolved, these hurt feelings have mostly faded.<br />
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There's also that last season. The earlier (good) writers had got pulled to try to make movies, which movies they'd failed at. The new writers also had to bring in a new Dax due to Berman constantly being a sexist asshole to actress Terry Farrell. This new Dax, Ezri, was very different from Jadzia, and she only got that one season to make her mark, which season she had to share with the Great Epic Conclusion (it's a miracle Ezri was as well received as she was, and a testament to Nicole de Boer's talent). Those finale episodes were mostly okay and tied up the story semi-satisfyingly, though a few die-hard subplots fell flat. The season, therefore, was shaky; not necessarily a harbinger for The Decline Of ''Trek'' to come, but at least inauspicious.<br />
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How good is ''Deep Space Nine''? Every subsequent Star Trek series and even the reboot movies have pretty much ripped off ideas and concepts established during the series. Famously, within the "Trekker/Trekkie" fan community, there's a little cell of fans who like it better than most other ''Star Trek''; these fans are typically called "Niners."<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Duet" and "Waltz" (excellent character work elevates low-budget episodes), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (30th anniversary comedy episode that sends the DS9 crew back to the TOS era to stop a rogue Klingon assassinating Kirk), "In the Pale Moonlight" ("how far would you push your principles to save the world?" done very well), "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Nog has PTSD after losing a leg in battle), "The Circle" (the only Star Trek trilogy episode and as close as DS9 will ever get to a movie), "Valiant" (A Defiant full of asshole cadets gets blasted into smithereens for their own hubris), "Empok Nor" (Garak goes feral and brutalizes a lot of people).<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Move Along Home" (some of the crew gets trapped in a board game with annoying rhymes), "Fascination" (Lwaxana Troi is going through Betazoid menopause and wants to bang Odo), "Profit and Lace" (Quark has a horrible relationship with his mom and has a sex change for zany antics), "Let He Who is Without Sin" (bullshit on resort planet Risa)<br />
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==''Voyager''==<br />
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[[File:USS Voyager.jpg|thumb|400px|left|''"Are we home yet?"'' <br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"No."<br />
''"Are we home yet?"''<br />
"Tuvok, please give Ensign Kim a dose of the Medical Phaser.]]<br />
Star Trek: Voyager centers around the eponymous USS ''Voyager'', a smallish ship which gets teleported over to the other side of the galaxy. The plot of the series centers on the crew's efforts to get back home, which COULD have made for an excellent premise. Unfortunately, there were few lasting story arcs, with most episodes being fully self-contained (as well as being littered with far too many episodes featuring holodeck or transporter incidents). As a consequence, despite being completely isolated from the Federation, no matter how bad things got Voyager always appeared in the next episode without a scratch, fully supplied, and with all its shuttlecraft intact. Think ''Gilligan's Island'' on a starship.<br />
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Like ''TNG'' and ''DS9'' it's a character-driven drama just as often as it is a sci-fi adventure romp, although compared to TNG only a few of the characters are particularly memorable. The captain and arguable "main character" is Kathryn Janeway, a Katharine Hepburn lookalike (I see what you did there) who is stern without being cold, and principled without being inflexible. The fan favorite is a character called "The Doctor" ([[Doctor Who|No relation]]); he's the solid-light hologram representative of the ship's emergency medical computer, who has to take on actual medical duties when their chief medical officer was conveniently killed in the pilot episode. Other than this, Chakotay is a peace-loving and spiritually rich indian <s>freedom fighter</s> <s>terrorist</s> [[FAIL|who was written with the help of a special Cherokee consultant so native his name was Jamake Highwater and it turned out later on that he was actually Jewish and didn't know dick about native cultures so he made everything up resulting in Chakotay basically being a borderline racist caricature of what you think Indians are like. Akoochimoya.]] Tom Paris is an annoying jerk and is counterbalanced by Harry Kim who is the ideal boy-scout, making him only half as annoying and twice as boring. B'elanna Torres tries to perpetuate a lineage of dudes getting shit done but ends up blankly reciting her technobabble, having second degree plasma burns and – worst of all – systematically fails to get shit done whenever the warp core goes nuts. Tuvok tries hard to be as cool as Spock but ends up being a lame version of the n°1 Vulcan who uses logic to justify everything and makes it short for "you are wrong, I am right because I said so." Kes is passed as a fragile and nice character but it takes a couple of episodes to realize that having a short lifespan does not change the facts: [[powergamer|when you can boil someone to death from the inside of their body, drain life from everything around you to become stronger and do anything you want without knowing how, just by thinking of it]], you are a goddamn Mary Sue. From the fourth season onwards the only character the writers seemed to care about was Seven of Nine, [[Mary Sue|a human woman who recently escaped from Borg control and kept all of her cyborg enhancements but regained her free will]]; another Mary Sue, to be sure, but she's [[Hot Chicks|hot]], and the other characters are much worse, so that's not really a bad thing. Fortunately, The Doctor still received a lot of attention from the writers and almost single-handedly made the show watchable. There was also Neelix, who was the apparent inspiration for Jar-Jar Binks, and any sane crew would have pushed him out of an airlock on the first episode. Fans who stuck with the show despite its glaring failings were given one final slap in the face with the <s>controversial</s> shit final season, in which the producers decided "screw steadily crafting a satisfying conclusion to a story which we have wasted for most of the last seven years anyway; lets just ignore it until the final episode and then throw in some shit about trans-warp conduits and time travel, bitches love time travel!" If you did not care about any of the characters or the subplots or time travel making sense (the writers sure didn't), then the final episode was made just for you (and the Borg got a major setback, too, just don't think about the setup too hard).<br />
<br />
The Doctor never once stopped being totally fucking awesome though (enough so to even earn a cameo in First Contact and for Robert Picardo to turn up as his inventor in an episode of DS9), Jeri Ryan proved she wasn't just eye candy, and the (mostly) great acting from the rest of the cast carries the series from being horrific to ''occasionally'' watchable. Just goes to show that no matter how good your actors are, they can't make diamonds out of shit.<br />
<br />
Overall, most Star Trek fans view Voyager's legacy with a shrug and a "meh." Unfortunately, hopes that Voyager's successor would revitalize the franchise would soon prove to be overly optimistic.<br />
<br />
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Timeless" (excellent time-travel episode), "Year of Hell" (absolutely savage two-parter that trashes ''Voyager'' in service to a story of obsession and why you don't fuck with the timeline), "Tuvix" (one of the all-time skubbiest episodes of any ST show, deals with the complicated ethics of what happens when two people are fused into a new individual by a transporter accident), "Bride of Chaotica!" (aliens get trapped in Tom Paris' 1940s pulp holodeck program, Janeway has to become one of the characters to sort it out, good comedy episode), "Someone to Watch Over Me" (the Doctor falls in love with Seven but can't admit it), "Equinox" (''Voyager'' encounters another castaway Starfleet ship that's tossed Federation law and ethics into the bin to survive and Janeway gets ''really'' pissy about it)<br />
* '''Episodes to Avoid''': "Threshold" (Tom Paris and Janeway turn into [[salamander]]s and have salamander babies; so terrible that rumors persist it was declared non-canonical to this day), "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk" (holodeck malfunction episodes full of more cringe Oirish stereotypes and Janeway wanting to bang a hologram), "Alice" (Stephen King's ''Christine'' IN SPAAACE!)<br />
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==''Enterprise''==<br />
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[[File:NX-01.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Where it all began. For better or worse...]]<br />
From the minute the Nickelback-tier theme tune started, Enterprise attempted to take Star Trek in a new direction and was only partially successful in doing so. The series never quite caught its footing, although it still managed to have some enjoyable moments. It was most notable for providing a first-hand view of the key events that directly led to the formation of the Federation. The Federation's founding races were also featured heavily, with Andorians, Tellarites, and Vulcans all enjoying significant screen time alongside the human characters.<br />
<br />
It's a prequel to the rest of the canon, taking place on the first ''Enterprise'', before the Federation was founded and during the period when Earth was still an independent power- so there's a lot of primitive versions of things from other series. At least the uniforms were pretty cool in an Air Force sort of way. Captained by <s>that guy from ''Quantum Leap''</s> Jonathan Archer, in hindsight the fact that they had to rename him from their original choice of Jeffrey Archer to avoid confusion with the disgraced British MP and author of the same name probably cursed the series with bad karma before it had even begun shooting. In an unusual twist for a ''Trek'' series, his first officer isn't a <s>terrorist</s> ''noble freedom fighter,'' however she does share a trait with her ''Voyager'' predecessor in that the actress who portrayed her frequently criticized the show's writers in interviews. Other than that, well, Hoshi Sato screams a lot, Travis Mayweather was so dull that even the writers forgot he existed, the resident Vulcan T'Pol serves as both the Science Officer and source of sexy fanservice, Malcolm Reed has an accent, Dr Phlox is a weird creepy alien with weird creepy alien morals (and gets surprisingly interesting when given enough screentime, which hardly ever happened), and Trip also has an accent and [[gets shit done]].<br />
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One thing that makes the show and cast so frustrating is that you get glimpses of interesting things that could be explored but just aren't in favor of rejected TNG concepts. A weapon' officer still having somewhat free range as there are not federation guidelines? Not really, Malcolm is just here to give a second opinion and be Tripp's wingman. A linguist and sociologist without much of a clue as to what everyone will encounter in space in an age before rules of engagement and diplomatic norms are established? Not really, Hoshi just screams a lot to let you know something dangerous or scary is nearby. The struggle between a potentially more profitable civilian life and an assignment as a glorified military grunt before Starfleet is the institution we all know it would become? Who cares, the writers all forgot Travis is even in the show most of the time. All these questions are somewhat hinted at in some episodes when they really could have been defining character arcs for the cast but instead we got vulcan romance getting most of the screentime when the Xindi plot wasn't happening. Oh well.<br />
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Was retooled twice, the third season tries to be ''24'' IN SPACE (stop some aliens, the Xindi, from blowing up Earth) while the 4th season is a massive apology about the last three seasons that tries to fix all the problems they had. As a result, the last season is the only one that's close to being really good.<br />
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Unfortunately, the poorly-received final episode is set on the holodeck of the Enterprise-D, which leaves us with the firm impression that the producers would have much rather have just continued making ''The Next Generation''. Considering the mediocre quality of the ''TNG'' movies we got instead, this probably would have worked out better for all involved (Or not since ''Voyager'' was that; its first episode was even numbered 901, as in Season 9 Episode 1).<br />
<br />
Yet despite all the bad directing, subpar plots, and frankly boring episodes, ''Enterprise'' sometimes still manages to be moderately enjoyable with occasional moments of awesomeness if you can suffer through a fair few awful spots and aggressive mediocrity almost everywhere else. The focus on founding Federation races like the Andorans was refreshing and the technology level, being somewhere between the original series and the real world present-day, was quite interesting. We also got to see the Vulcans portrayed as arrogant, superior dicks. This actually makes a lot more sense than the way they're usually portrayed (which is fairly submissive towards humans) because they are, obviously and objectively, the superior race. The Klingons certainly still considered themselves to be honorable but the show made it clear that the Klingon notion of honor is rarely analogous to the human concept which was interesting as all hell to watch. There have been a few small nods to Enterprise in Discovery and the Abrams movies.<br />
<br />
And let's be fucking honest, [[/tg/]] loves 40k and the Xindi arc was about as grimdark as shit gets. And that was awesome.<br />
<br />
*'''Outstanding Episodes''': "Damage" (Enterprise is nearly destroyed and can barely function), "Zero Hour" (End of Season 3, good action and good payoff), "Regeneration" (Borg episode, silly but well executed), "Babel One", "United" and "The Aenar" (three episode arc involving the Romulan scheme to engineer war, a glimpse of what might have been).<br />
*'''Episodes to Avoid''': "Dear Doctor" (boring prime directive extremism), "These are the Voyages" (Trip dies in a rush-job ending, last minute or so is alright as a visual send-off divorced from crap narrative).<br />
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==STD aka ''Disco'' aka ''Discovery''==<br />
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----<br />
[[File:USS Discovery.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Disco Stu's coming for you!]]<br />
<s>A LOAD OF SOCIAL JUSTICE SHIT!</s> Ahem, let's start again, shall we?<br />
<br />
<br />
A new "prequel" series set 10 years before ''The Original Series.'' Again. Run exclusively on CBS' paid streaming service (unless you live outside the US and Canada, in which case you can get it on Netflix) to try and drum up sign-ups and revenue, it features a mix of ''Enterprise'' and Abramstrek aesthetics despite supposedly taking place in parallel to the TOS "The Cage" pilot while [[what|having technology superior to late DS9]] and introducing [[dune|mushroom-based space travel]] that would imply [[retcon|all later events and warp travel would be outdated]]. The trailer has attracted a lot of concern over the fact that Klingons have been completely redesigned to look like slit-nosed ogres wearing ancient Egyptian cosplay, and rumors that the Klingons shown were [[Racial Holy War|primitives who had been trapped in stasis]] proved to be unfounded, so there is no excuse. Not having a cold war to posture about, the new villains are based off of Trump-inspired xenophobia by the admission of the authors. Also the lead character is Spock's human sister that he never mentioned before, aka the ''exact'' origin of the [[Mary Sue]] which is just fucking depressing. To further reinforce this, there are ''numerous'' examples of dialogue and exposition that serve only to show how the Mary Sue main character was right all along, usually in conjunction with the death of the character that had foolishly disagreed with her. Want a new Star Trek episode about racism and immigration? Try the now-banned [https://youtu.be/3VEZH8bqytA Star Trek Continues]. Want Star Trek with humor, we suppose: ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'', below. Oh! want a pseudo-Star Trek show about other modern issues? Try ''[[The Orville]]''. That's right, American Dad In Space <strike>may right now be</strike> is a better Star Trek than an actual Star Trek series.<br />
<br />
Initial reviews have been... well, never mind the 2017-era soy-guzzling critics. STD is as much fun as an outbreak of Nurgle's Rot. Mostly. There ''are'' exceptions.<br />
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The writing is overly convoluted, the massive injection of grimdark into pre-TOS continuity is anathema to the hardcore fans (the ''human'' characters are often the ones doing the nastiest shit, including [[Marines Malevolent|trying to kill a Klingon party by planting an explosive on the corpse of one of their comrades for when they came to collect the dead]]) and the Klingons are so flat and devoid of characterization that they might as well be Larry the Cable Guy lookalikes wearing Trump hats. This is a massive disappointment for a series that promised to put a spotlight on Klingon culture but ended up retconning all the characterization that happened in TNG and DS9. It ''may'' get better with time (remember that it took two seasons for TNG to get really good) but given the release schedule (split between 2017 and 2018 with a long break) it may come too late for the fanbase to care. Currently it's cause for more fans to lose their shit over whether it's better or worse than the Abrams movies, which is a new record of [[Skub|Trek Skub]]. Releasing the show on CBS All Access instead of cable or broadcast TV makes it seem that executives don't really give a shit if the show succeeds or fails, bringing up the question of [[Bioware|whether they're deliberately putting Star Trek: Discovery in a no-win scenario where, no matter what happens, the executives have an excuse to cancel Star Trek altogether]]. <br />
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Another stupid decision was not shelling out the cash to bring back Bruce Greenwood and Zachary Quinto as Captain Pike and Spock, respectively. Their ages wouldn't have mattered either if CBS and Paramount weren't too cheap to use the anti-aging CGI tech that is so commonplace these days. Hell, Star Trek makeup artists are among the best in the entertainment business. So they could have pulled it off with applying the bare minimum, and we probably still wouldn't have noticed.<br />
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There were also allegations that large chunks of the plot were stolen from previews of an in-development indie game. The unreleased 2014 game featured giant Tardigrades that had the ability to use an interstellar network to travel anywhere they wanted to- sound familiar?<br />
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We must however give credit where credit is due. Season 1's fifth episode "Choose Your Pain" starred Rainn Wilson as a younger Harcourt Fenton Mudd, and this was a surprising treat. Season 2 also featured Anson Mount as Captain Pike, whose addition to the cast was nothing short of a revelation. Indeed, Pike's character was by far the most well-received aspect of that season.<br />
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Unfortunately, while Season 2 had some watchable moments, it was still middling at best, and nobody is ''ever'' going to let this series live down the garbage fire that was Season 1. If you do decide to watch Season 2, try not to think about it too hard once you are done. It gets worse and worse the more you think about it as you can and will come to realize that {{spoiler|the overarching plot hinges on time-travel but because the writing and production staff kept being shuffled, no one kept continuity so some of the hints of future actions or "red lights" are just forgotten about, some time-travel is done just to set up another event to make it possible for that same time-travel to happen. Think Bill and Ted, except lame and very confusing. Season 2 is an okay show if you look at the state-of-the-art visuals, let the big emotional moments grip you, but if you stop for a second and think about the continuity of events, you push yourself on a slippery slope that ends in not being able to ever trust the showrunning staff again.}}<br />
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Season 3 sees ''Discovery'' transported far into the future, one in which the Federation itself has fallen apart due to the mysterious disappearance of the dilithium required for warp travel. What was the issue with the dilithium? A member of the same species as the character Saru was on a planet with a lot of dilithium and had a freakout so bad it somehow psychically fucked up all dilithium everywhere at roughly the same time. Oh, and apparently turbolifts now fly around in a pocket dimension or some stupid shit.<br />
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Season 4 can basically be summed up as "Hyper-advanced extragalactic gasbags make a mess of things because they're [[Derp|too stupid to comprehend the concept of self as they're a hive mind]]".<br />
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Oh thank the God Emperor it's almost over! After four seasons of shit, season five is finally going to kill it! Oh Throne, thank you!<br />
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==''<strike>Retard</strike>Picard''==<br />
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Set to be a continuation of the original timeline, featuring old man Picard with Patrick Stewart reprising the role. Hopes are not high, but at the very least Patrick Stewart's presence should make it watchable if nothing else. <br />
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Update: Season 3 is the only part maybe worth watching.<br />
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In the first season, Picard ragequit Starfleet after they sat back and let the Romulans get blown up by the supernova mentioned in the first Abrams movie. This happened because some rogue androids orbitally bombarded Mars and blew up the rescue fleet that was being built there, so the Federation has banned all R&D on synthetic lifeforms and subsequently become [[Imperium of Man|isolationist, racist and xenophobic]] (does this remind you of anything?). Picard has been living in his family chateau ever since, making wine and hanging out with his dog and his Romulan housekeepers. Then a scared girl named Dahj turns up on his doorstep, and it turns out she's a highly advanced biological android constructed from the surviving bits of Data's positronic brain by the guy who wanted to dismantle Data in that episode "The Measure of a Man." Before Picard can really figure out what to do about her, she gets killed by a secret society of Luddite anti-android Romulan assholes, but it turns it that's okay because she has a twin "sister" named Soji who is working with some other Romulans on a derelict Borg cube. Picard decides it's time to saddle up and go be a hero again. He starts putting together a crew that includes Agnes Jurati, a former cyberneticist; Raffi Musiker, his last executive officer, [[What|who is now an alcoholic drug-vaping hermit]] after getting kicked out of Starfleet; Cristobal Rios, a scruffy merc pilot whose ship is staffed entirely by holograms of himself; Elnor, a Romulan warrior monk raised by Romulan warrior nuns; and Seven of Nine, who has become a kickass pilot and is no longer wearing her infamous catsuit. Together, they're out to save Soji, stop the Romulans, and be the good guys in a galaxy that needs heroes, etc etc.<br />
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Key storytelling criticisms of the show include the idea that the Romulan Empire should have had enough infrastructure to effect an evacuation without help, and that even if they didn't, the Federation would ''never'' abandon a neighbor who was asking for help- not even a former enemy, and not even when doing so became difficult or inconvenient. Another issue comes up when the show reveals that the Borg have assimilated transgalactic teleporters from a throwaway alien race that appeared in an early episode of ''Voyager'', but only for the Borg queen to use in case the cube she's on is about to be blown up, which begs the question of ''why in the hell aren't they using them to overwhelm the Federation's defenses with drone spam and assimilate everything??'' There's also an (abortive) space battle in the final episode where Riker shows up leading a fleet of ships that are just copy-pastes of the same CG model, which was derided for being cheap and lazy on the part of the showrunners and a failed chance to show Riker in command of the ''Titan'' or ''Enterprise''.<br />
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To make matters even more dumb and yet also more complicated at the same time, the showrunners are apparently under some kind of licensing agreement regarding the portrayal of images and concepts from the earlier shows. This means that they can't, for example, casually mention the Dominion War and its impact on the Federation, because if they did, they'd have to pay a licensing fee. This is why the show has been carefully crafted to look like a distant, derpy cousin of Star Trek, while only occasionally featuring cameos of things such as the Enterprise-D, or directly referencing arcs in previous shows: because if they use concepts from prior Star Trek shows, they have to pay for them.<br />
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Finally, when all has been said and done by the end of Season 1, Picard himself is reduced to a nearly-useless side character in his own show. Where once he commanded the admiration and respect of friends and foes alike, in this show he is consistently portrayed as a disrespected, disregarded, and often powerless caricature of himself, utterly reliant on the characters around him. {{spoiler|It doesn't help they legit kill him in the last episode and then made him an android after he also agreed to "kill" Data whose memories are basically in a server on a planet of Soong androids. The showrunners specifically came out and said their plan was always to kill Picard to make a point about how privileged he was being a captain in Starfleet. You can't make this shit up. Patrick Stewart himself claims that they hadn't written Picard's death until they were almost finished filming the season, so who knows what the hell was going on.}}<br />
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One other thing is certain. Whether you like the series or not, it's clear that this series is not taking place in Gene Roddenberry's noblebright vision of the Federation, and the fact that it is yet another grim, violent entry into the franchise is a point that has left many viewers with a bad aftertaste. If the rumors are true, then this show may have either killed the current grimderp Trek or has left fans so pissed that CBS is, once again, on the verge of financial ruin and possibly looking to sell the franchise since they aren't making the money they thought they would after the massive amounts of money they dumped into both this and Discovery.<br />
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Season 2 premiered in March 2022 after the Covid pandemic delayed production. They definitely listened to some of the major criticisms of the first season - Picard's been reinstated in Starfleet, many fan-favorite starship classes returned for the big space battle in the first episode, the gratuitous swearing and needless grimdark got toned down, and more deep cuts from TOS and DS9 lore show up. <br />
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Q shows up and launches the gang into a hilariously over-the-top alternate timeline where the [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] knob got cranked to 11 and as a result the ''Con''federation of Humanity has been going around [[Imperium of Man|exterminating all xenos scum]] up to and including the Borg, which is admittedly pretty badass. They're all appropriately horrified by this, and steal the Borg queen right as she's about to be executed so they can do a sun-slingshot move to go back to 2024 Los Angeles and <strike>save the whales</strike>fix whatever got messed up. Brent Spiner turns up as yet another Soong ancestor, morally skewed as always, and the punk from Star Trek IV returns, still blasting his boombox all these years later. Picard and co. save the future by ensuring that his ancestor Renee goes on a manned mission to the moon of Europa, where she discovers an alien organism that allows humanity to magically fix Earth's biosphere and make everything noblebright forevermore, apparently because [[Derp|the writers forgot that WWIII will arrive in a few decades]]. Rios decides to stay in the past because he met a sexy doctor and [[What|dies in a barfight]], Dr. Soong is revealed to be working on more Khans, his fake daughter Kore meets Wesley Crusher and becomes a Traveler, and it turns out that the reason Q did all this in the first place was to help Picard confront his deep-seated family issues so he could avoid dying alone, as Q is in the process of dying alone himself. In the season finale, the Borg (now being controlled by Agnes after [[What|she forced the Borg queen to bitch down by getting her to admit her ''own'' loneliness]]) ask to join the Federation so they can keep an eye on some weird transwarp conduit that some unknown entity just opened, which was why the Borg rocked up at the beginning of the season. Least it wrapped up well. <br />
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Would you believe Season 3 manages to turn it around somehow? Essentially a 10-episode attempt to answer the question, 'How can we get all of the original cast members together on a starship in the least contrived way?', Picard, Riker, Troi, LaForge, Worf, Data, and the bearable Crusher all come together to fight the new Borg threat. The series is written and directed by people who truly understand what Star Trek is about, and as such is a welcome sight to fans of the franchise. Each of the original cast gets time to develop their characters further - Worf drinks tea, Beverley finally manages to raise a kid who isn't [[Mary Sue|Wesley]], and Geordi now runs the fleet museum and has raised an impressive engineer himself. The series is practically dedicated to ignoring or fixing the last two seasons of Picard, if not the last quarter-century of TNG-adjacent movie and television media, and somewhat succeeds. {{Spoiler|They even bring back the right bridge, even if the excuse as to why was [[Fail|pulled out of their butts]]…}}<br />
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The only sore spot of the series is the latest ''Enterprise'' at the end of the series, [[Derp|which looks like a horrible kitbash of the original Constitution]], and compares very unfavorably to its predecessor in the looks department. Other than that, it provides what was sorely missing these last few decades: a good send-off for the Next Generation ''after'' 'All Good Things'. <br />
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==''Strange New Worlds''==<br />
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An attempt to put the golden goose back together on the operating table. After seeing the reception of having Captain Pike in Discovery, Paramount decided to simply return to the pilot cast of The Original Series with its fingers crossed that the old bird will resume replicating gold eggs.<br />
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It's good so far. It's fun and optimistic, which is a genuine relief after the grimderp of Discovery and Picard, but isn't afraid to occasionally go in dark places and present genuinely difficult philosophical problems. We'll have to see if it holds up, the science can be very stupid even by ''Trek'' standards, and if you liked the Gorn you'll hate what they're doing with them, but overall, so far so good. The season 1 finale is a treat; it's a retelling of the classic episode "Balance of Terror" but with Pike in command of the ''Enterprise'' instead of Kirk, and they recreate everything from the blocking to the dialogue to the cheesy zooms of the original episode. It's pretty awesome.<br />
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==''Lower Decks''==<br />
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{{topquote|I FAILED THE KOBAYASHI MARU SEVENTEEN TIMES MOTHERFUCKER!|Brad Boimler}}<br />
Mike McMahan is doing this one, him being the person behind the Rick & Morty cartoon. It's set in 2380 on the ''Cerritos'', concentrating (like the TNG episode of the same name) on the grunts working in the bowels of the ship. The main characters are ensigns and low-level lieutenants: Tendi is a perky Orion science office-in-training with massive insecurities about her species. Rutherford is Geordi LaForge with less experience and a Manchurian Candidate backstory. Mariner is basically just reboot-era Kirk down to the captain's kid, broken home complex. They are all the bane (and close friends) of the worrisome Boimler, the Starfleet straight-man who could be the next Picard if he stopped worrying about getting promoted so much.<br />
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Fans feared this would focus on lowbrow "humor" episodes with technobabble nonsense stapled to it just like McMahan's other works; and they were half right, although the technobabble is here honestly ''less'' annoying than in mainline Trek, on account it's not being taken seriously. But over the first season the show found its footing. To enjoy it, you just have to embrace the likely reality that a few decks below all of Picard's noblebright ready room monologues there were hundreds of ignoble, corner-cutting crewmen who just want to get to the end of their shift. It's entertaining, but in a "The Bashir & Garak Show" sort of way. John de Lancie reprises Q, and Frakes returns as Riker, now in command of the USS Titan. <br />
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By the end of the first season, the consensus had formed that Lower Decks is probably the best addition to the franchise since the Rick Berman era ended, with a much better understanding of what Star Trek IS (to its fans) than either Discovery or Picard. The second and third seasons moved the series towards an overarching plot. The Pakleds, a joke throwaway species from TNG, are fittingly brought back as the story's big bad. The Pakleds are basically Ork [[Freebooterz]], an entire species of idiotic space pirates. Brutally kunnin they are not; their "plans" are worthy of Douglas Adams. Mariner gets beaten with the nerfhammer for the middle of season 2 and occasionally in season 3 making her much more tolerable. Meanwhile, the story of Rutherford's cybernetics gradually unfolds as the result of a conspiracy in Starfleet. Along the way, there's an episode ripping off James Cameron's ''Avatar'', a session of Klingon Dungeons & Dragons, space-faring Renfaire fanatics, and Mariner and Boimler having to work the Starfleet booth at job fair.<br />
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In summary, the first season was rife with teething issues (but show me a Trek series which wasn't) and directly appeals to people who loved Star Trek but now believe that "Star Trek is dead, Jim". Second and third season are more appealing to Trekkies who aren't afraid to laugh at the thing they like.<br />
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'''Outstanding Episodes: '''Crisis Point (Mariner hijacks Boimler's holodeck simulation of the bridge crew and turns it to a Star Trek film holodeck program); The Spy Humongous (Captain Freeman is sent to negotiate with the Pakleds while a Pakled spy pretends to be an asylum seeker. Answers the question how the various dangerous plot devices are disposed of); Where Pleasant Fountains Lie (Boimler and Mariner crash on a desert planet escorting an evil AI, Mariner gets well and truly nerfed. The ship's chief engineer turns out to be a prince of aforementioned Renfaire-fanatics); I, Excretus (The crew undergoes a holodeck drill program of various situations from past serieses. Boimler gets to shine in classic Starfleet activities); Grounded (Season 3 pilot. Mariner is convinced her mother is being railroaded in court and more evidence is needed from dry-docked Cerritos); Reflections (Rutherford races his past self in his subconciousness and his repressed memories start surfacing. Mariner and Boimler work a Star Fleet recruitment booth at a fair leading to the section quote.); Hear all, Trust Nothing (DS9 homage episode guest staring Armin Shimmerman and Nana Visitor. Tendi deals with her species embarrasment); Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus (Boimler desings a Star Trek film, but derails it almost immediately for himself and Mariner. Basically an RP sesssion where half of the players derail and split off).<br />
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'''Episodes to avoid:''' Envoys; Temporal Edict; Veritas; A Mathematically Perfect Redemption.<br />
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=='' Prodigy''==<br />
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Here for sake of completeness, an animated show targeting a younger audience that debuted in 2021 on Nickleodeon (alongside Paramount+). The show follows a collection of misfit (mostly young) aliens on a mining colony that find hidden in a crystalline planetoid the USS ''Protostar'', a Starfleet ship with a hologram of Janeway to aid the collection of "Cadets" as they escape and venture out into an galaxy full of adventure while the owner of the mining colony and his robot minion try to take the ''Protostar'' for themselves.<br />
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So far it has a decent critical reception. If you want Star Trek which is noblebright and not ironic and are fine with a PG rating, this may be worth a look.<br />
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= Films =<br />
We're putting these at the end in the (unlikely) event someone does a movie that's in the non-Abrams canon ever. As a general rule, the even-numbered ones aren't complete shit.<br />
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* '''''Star Trek: The Motion Picture''''': AKA: The Slow Motion Picture, or the Motionless Picture. A giant space whatsit is flying towards Earth, the mostly-retired crew has to go figure out what's going on and stop it. Old school sci-fi geeks like the ideas, but terrible pace and interminable special effects that were clearly meant to capitalize on ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' while failing to understand what people like about that movie kill them dead for everyone else. Besides the uniform worn by Kirk, the uniforms also look like pajamas. So no wonder they were changed only a movie later. Features an entirely bald female alien who is [[What|so good at sex that she has to swear an oath not to get it on with the crew]]. Really. This is canon.<br />
* '''''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''''': As Kirk starts to feel his age, a one-off villain from the show played by Ricardo "Corinthian Leather" Montalban makes a dramatic reappearance: [[Meme|KKKHHHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!]] Widely considered the best of all the films, and the only one considered a straight up great film, no qualifiers. If you haven't seen it, see it. So good many later movies in the franchise just try to rip it off instead of finding their own identities. Interesting fact: due to time constraints, Shatner and Montalban weren't available at the same time. So the entire script was written so that Kirk and Khan never need to meet face-to-face. But you'd never notice if it weren't pointed out to you. Roddenberry screeched autistically and objected to some of the actions of his characters, including Kirk shooting a [[Enslavers|brain eating space parasite]] that had literally just emerged from the head of his friend rather than "[[Noblebright|keeping it for study]]." The fact that his strongest objections came to the most win of the films says a great deal about his depreciating value to the franchise around the TNG era. <br />
* '''''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock''''': Where is Spock? ''He's on Genesis.'' ALL AHEAD FULL! Not really bad, just mediocre and run of the mill compared to the superior films that surround it. It was also saddled with the misfortune of undoing some of the previous film's more-daring decisions, and having its only daring decision reversed a film later. If you had to say that any film broke the "odd numbers suck" rule, it would be this one. This was Leonard Nimoy's first attempt at directing a full film, having asked for the seat in exchange for agreeing to play Spock again. <br />
* '''''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''''': The crew of the ''Enterprise'' travels back in time to save the whales. No, literally and unironically. Scott tries to talk to a computer through the mouse, Spock nerve-pinches a punk on a bus in San Francisco, and somehow it works, creating something perhaps not quite in the genre intended but a classic in sci-fi dramedy. ''The Voyage Home'' is a zany comedy romp beloved by the general public and fandom alike, leaving only the most intractable fanbois to bitch and moan. Nimoy directed this one too but there was a contract stipulation that Shatner would get whatever Nimoy got, thus leading to...<br />
* '''''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier''''': aka. the film that should never have been made, even by many die-hard Trekkies. Kirk's actor got his spin behind the camera as agreed and wanted a "thought-provoking movie" after the more comical IV. Good intention, but the abysmal execution leaves the audience facepalming at the very best. Between the weak script, the 'moral' of the story ('faith can be abused by unscrupulous people', for the record) delivered with all the subtlety of a punch to the face, poor (or deliberately campy) special effects, uninspired performances by the actors (who for the most part didn't like the script as it had them behave against everything that had come before and betray Kirk) and Kirk's screentime-hogging (despite being behind the camera); this movie is by far the absolute worst of the original six and simply not worth watching... but it's just dumb and hapless, not dead and soulless like what's to follow from other crews.<br />
* '''''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''''': The Space Cold War ends amidst searing mystery and drama. The sendoff for the original cast, except Kirk who got a worse send-off a movie later. Gene Roddenberry watched it, hated it, and was going to seek legal advice but died a week later. And good riddance to that, because it's a pretty sweet political thriller if your hippie-panties don't get into a twist at the thought that the Federation isn't a perfect place full of perfect people. Press F for Christopher Plummer, second best ham in ''Trek'' history. After the previous movie's painful directing, Sulu's actor only agreed to come back if he got to be captain of his own ship. He did, but Shatner still found a way to steal his thunder.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Generations''''': Malcolm McDowell blows up planets to get into a magic space ribbon to live forever, no it does not make any more sense in context. Bringing the TNG crew to the silver screen was a good idea, but those were thin on the ground. An already-weak story hamstrung by its obsession with being daring and unconventional rather than good (aside from the bit where Worf gets promoted, that was great). Also, Kirk dies on the bridge in the most face-palming manner possible. Nimoy was offered the Director's chair, took one look at the script and demanded a rewrite which didn't happen so he refused to be involved. <br />
* '''''Star Trek First Contact''''': The ''TNG'' crew face off with the Borg to ensure the future happens. Lots of action, a script that sparks with energy and snark, and some quite effective performances make this the only good ''TNG'' movie (we don't blame you TNG cast). It is sadly also the only appearance of the Defiant on the big screen, doing a pretty decent job of fighting the Borg before the Enterprise E saves the day of course. The Borg Queen was also introduced here before Voyager ruined what could have been a good idea. (Or demonstrated the flaws in what was already a shaky idea, depending on who you ask, but either way she works well here in a way she won't later.) <br />
* '''''Star Trek Insurrection''''': If you thought the [[Avatar|Na'vi]] were a bunch of badly-written [[Mary Sue]]s, you ain't seen nothing yet! B-b-b-baby you ain't seen n-n-n-nothing yet! Also, Riker shaves his beard, and that's basically a war crime. Aged from terrible to forgettably bad thanks to that one scene of Picard and Data singing ''HMS Pinafore'' going memetic. <br />
* '''''Star Trek Nemesis''''': The last stand of the ''TNG'' cast, ending not with a bang but a whimper. It also required amending the even=good/odd=bad rule to "''Galaxy Quest'' counts as a ''Star Trek'' film so this one is also odd." Infamous for killing off Data (which was actually Brent Spiner's idea since he was starting to visibly age) and because the director hadn't watched a single episode of TNG, back when it was considered a bad thing not to know anything about the property you were adapting. It also killed Tom Hardy's career for half a decade, [[Grimdark|and nearly killed Hardy himself]].<br />
* '''''Star Trek''''' (2009): Alternate timeline "reboot" (sideboot?) with the original crew, albeit with new younger actors. Timey-wimey shit happens and old prime timeline Spock (reprised by old Leonard Nimoy) is hurled back in time along with a bunch of Romulan assholes. The dickbag Romulans begin fucking shit up, slightly altering history in a way that ensures gratuitous lens flare. [[skub| Skubtastic]], but at least fun to watch (if a literally gleaming, uncomplicated space action-adventure that doesn't delve deeply into the human condition ala II or deeply into idiocy ala V/Generations/Insurrection spells "fun" to you), which is more than ''most'' odd-numbered films can muster. If you still even count it as odd, without the ''Galaxy Quest''-amendment.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Into Darkness''''': Some [[edgy]] [[Fail|shit]]. The second of the alternate timeline ''Trek'' films. Terrorism, conspiracy and flapdoodle. Even more skubtastic, but generally considered worse than its predecessor, partially because (like ''Nemesis'') it tries to be a remake of ''The Wrath of Khan'' and having Kirk at his most punchable.<br />
* '''''Star Trek Beyond''''': Didn't totally suck; graded on a curve against the prior two. So - the good / bad / skub. Good: lots of good character stuff for the entire cast (including Kirk ''not'' being an asshat) and a decent story revolving around a race of mysterious space pirates trying to conquer a colony; handles IRL death of Leonard Nimoy excellently. Bad: villains are under-written, the action photography is poorly-lit shaky-cam horseshit, and the sound work is awful. Skub: Takei came out to complain that its Sulu was gay-married, since he'd played Sulu straight himself, so gay-Sulu was - Takei complained - an insult to his acting prowess (but: alternate universe, remember). If it's the last "Kelvin Timeline" movie, as it seems it will be, at least it ended on a note that wasn't total turd. Apparently we're getting a fourth one now, which was news to everyone including the cast.<br />
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= Novels =<br />
Like most long time franchises ''Star Trek'' has a massive line of books.<br />
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Most are effectively fanfics as nothing but the show and the movies is canon so the writers can do whatever they want. Partial exception to be made for the ''Deep Space Nine'' line; those are considered the "eighth season", justifiably, because they're actually quite good. Start with Andrew "Garak" Robinson's ''Stitch in Time''.<br />
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This changed after ''Nemesis'' since that movie was so godawful the producers calculated they might never have another show or movie in the "Prime" universe; also, several ''DS9'' actors started dropping off dead (so their fans never did get their kino). The writers got their shit together and wrote a group of books as a tight community very close to the shows. The relaunch novels are a continuation of the show they're about. Also there's the ''Titan'' book series which is about Riker and Troi getting their own ship, which happens to be staffed by every race in the Federation including living rocks, [[awesome|space dinosaurs]] that smell like [[meatbread|toast]] and a [[what|space cyborg ostrich]].<br />
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All the relaunch lines eventually got brought together in Star Trek: Destiny, where the Borg go nuts and eat Pluto ... yeah... and then they finally get sick of the Federation somehow managing to not get assimilated all the time, so they finally just send every last cube they have with orders to Exterminatus the absolute SHIT out of the entire Alpha Quadrant. Pretty much every important character from TNG, DS9, and Voyager has to team up to stop them, and even then the Federation still gets its shit kicked in and winds up having to rely on a vaguely ridiculous deus ex machina to beat the Borg, and [[Grimdark|billions of people still die and dozens of planets are blown to shit]]. It was pretty insane.<br />
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Then all the Federation's main enemies get together to form an anti-Federation and start poking the bear, all the while telling their allies that they're somehow warmongering dicks, Section 31 gets its cover blown in a big way, and Riker gets promoted to Admiral. Also, a lot of the newer TNG novels have been devoted to following up on one-shot aliens from the show, like the guys that sent out the probe that made Barclay super-smart and those fish monks that were abducting crewmembers for experiments. Now that the Picard show is coming out, though, this will all presumably be chucked in the dustbin. <br />
<br />
Picard show came. Dustbin. But! Some of the authors who'd been working on the novel continuity for the last twenty years weren't willing to let the Trek novelverse die an inglorious death like the original Star Wars EU, so they got together and wrote a trilogy to give it a proper send-off. The dickhead aliens from that TNG two-part episode with Mark Twain have worked out a way to blow up entire quantum realities and feast on the neural energy of the trillions of lives snuffed out in the process. The novelverse crews all team up to stop them and learn that they're in an alternate timeline created by the Borg during the events of ''First Contact'', and that their reality will have to be erased permanently in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the multiverse. Some of them are less happy about it than others, but they band together to fight the good fight one last time. Everyone fucking dies, of course, but in the end they defeat the dickhead aliens and save the day before being extinguished forever. Still a better note to go out on than Disney saying "lol none of the old EU is canon anymore, buy our new stuff nerds."<br />
<br />
= Video Games =<br />
Again, you're in /tg/, so /v/ comes LAST.<br />
<br />
There have been over 100 Star Trek video games to date but you'll be lucky for find more than [https://www.gog.com/news/6_classic_star_trek_games_ready_to_beam_up_new_players_and_fans_alike 6 on Steam or GOG] that aren't shitty mobile phone games. The vast, vast majority of Star Trek's games are abandonware with no way to purchase them, let alone get them from completely trustable sources. Also for a long time gamers had the (justified) prejudice that ''Trek'' games were shit and ''Wars'' games were good. This changed a bit after ''Elite Force'' redeemed ''Trek'' a bit and more so on the other end after EA ran ''Wars'' to the ground.<br />
<br />
* [https://www.gog.com/partner/startrek List of Star Trek games on GOG.com]<br />
<br />
=== Star Trek Online ===<br />
''Star Trek Online'' is the free-to-play online game built by Cryptic Studios and run by <s>Infogrames</s> <s>Atari</s> <s>Perfect World</s> Gearbox. With an official license CBS, recurring characters voiced by various Trek alumni, and a license to include references to both the reboot chronology (officially known as the "Kelvin Timeline") and recent shows, it's the closest existing thing to an "official" continuation of the "Prime" timeline, and contains history and fluff extending nearly 30 years from the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.<br />
<br />
Taking place in the 25th century (around the year 2409-2412), the Hobus supernova (the event that kicked Nero and Spock into the past alternate timeline during Star Trek 2009) has devastated the Romulans, resulting in the near-collapse and fragmentation of the Romulan Star Empire. This causes tensions between a resurgent Klingon Empire and the Federation which blows up into a war. Members of the new (and nicer) breakaway Romulan Republic play both sides in exchange for development aid.<br />
<br />
There are six possible starts for characters.<br />
*Current Starfleet - The standard starting point.<br />
*Klingons - You are a warrior of the Empire! Qapla' warrior! Today is a good day to die!<br />
*Romulan Republic - Part of a breakaway state after the destabilization of the Star Empire, you get a choice on which major faction (Starfleet or Klingon) you can join later on.<br />
*Dominion - Quite possibly the least played, you do start at level 60 (basically right at end game since levels cap at 65) and you pick which major faction to join too, but you're part of the Dominion so...<br />
*TOS Starfleet - With all the redshirt shenanigans that entails. A time anomaly and weird mission later and you're now in the standard timeline for STO.<br />
*DSC Starfleet - Similar to TOS, comes with a series of starting missions that are possibly the best any of the starts have. Drawback is that it is couched in the Discovery era.<br />
<br />
The game contains deep cuts from all over Trek lore, and answers questions about what happened to various key characters, including Data (took over the Enterprise-E, then retired), the Enterprise (now an even bigger ship run by Andorian captain Shon), and the Voyager crew (it took Harry Kim 30 years to make Captain lol). Raises barely-shown, unnamed, and otherwise obscure races to new prominence as big bad foes, including the Iconians (ancient aliens with god complexes who mutated into energy beings, currently live in Dyson Spheres and were only defeated by a predestination paradox), Tzenkethi (4-armed halo guys whose weak points are the FRONT of their shields), and Na'kuhl (the alien nazis from Enterprise as time-traveling terrorists who blame the Federation for a throwaway event that happened in TNG's beach episode).<br />
<br />
The two most recent major arcs center on a Klingon power struggle and civil between mostly TNG-era Klingons and some DSC-era Klingons (and you also go to Klingon Hell) followed very quickly by a Terran arc with heavy tie-ins to the original Star Trek movie's V'Ger. While the Klingon arc made some players more than a little irked due to not only its length (spread out over several "seasons" of play) and it's attempt to shoehorn in the controversial Discovery era, the Terran arc has been widely praised and brought back a very notorious character from the TNG era.<br />
<br />
Ostensibly free to play, but don't let that fool you... the ''not-so-micro''transactions are the only reason the lights stay on.<br />
<br />
That said, the game does get really decent updates and now is in a groove of running two seasonal events ("Summer on Risa" and "Q's Winter Wonderland") as well as a year-long campaign, as well as a smattering of smaller ones throughout the year. The seasonal ones tend to give you really good shit (often a ship, other times major equipment that can help define an entire character) but the year-long campaign gives you a choice of 3 options to pick from - a shit ton of in-game currency known as Lobi (enough to get a Lobi ship and a little extra), TWO regular Zen Store Tier 6 ships (these unlock for all characters, by the way), or one of the "Premium" ships (ones you typically get from lockbox drops). The only major stipulation is the Premium ship can't be one that has been released in that specific year, but previous years ones are fair game to grab.<br />
<br />
=== Bridge Commander ===<br />
A game that lets you feel like a captain. Very dated, but mods are very good. Has had a resurgence in recent years, with newer mods adding stuff from the newer shows.<br />
<br />
=== Elite Force ===<br />
There was an "Away Team" game that sucked and a "Voyager" game 1995-7 that got canceled. ''Elite Force'' was the ST:VOY away-team FPS game that critics didn't poop on, and it even got a sequel featuring much of the cast of ''TNG''.<br />
<br />
=== Starfleet Command ===<br />
''Starfleet Command'' was a series real time space battle games by Interplay based on the much older tabletop game Star Fleet Battles. It came out in 1999 and was followed by several sequels and expansions. Gameplay was much like ''Battlefleet Gothic'', but with the player only controlling one ship. SFC remains Interplay's best selling game, topping even ''Baldur's Gate''.<br />
<br />
=== Armada ===<br />
<br />
A series of low effort RTS's churned out by Activision in 2000. Tried to take on both ''Homeworld'' and ''Age of Empires'', both of which have recently gotten HD remakes and ''Armada'' hasn't so that should tell you all you need to know. However, for one of the first 3D model space RTS's it was surprisingly easy to mod, resulting in many ship mod packs being made for it.<br />
<br />
=== Legacy ===<br />
Starfleet Command dumbed down but with fancier graphics and the ability to fly in 3D. Features ships and protagonists from all 4 main series before the reboots so it has everything iconic. The Ultimate Universe mod has every single ship from all series before the reboot.<br />
<br />
==NonCanon==<br />
=== Homages ===<br />
Being such a long-running franchise with a wide audience, Star Trek has gained enough pop-culture recognition that it is often referenced in other works. In a few cases entire projects are made to pay homage to Star Trek. Here are some examples.<br />
<br />
==== Galaxy Quest ====<br />
A sci-fi/comedy film released in 1999, directed by Dean Parisot. Built around that ''Three Amigos'' premise of "What if the cast of ''Star Trek'' ended up on a real spaceship and had to actually do the shit they did in the show?", this one parodies science fiction films and series in general - ''Star Trek'' (and its fandom) in particular.<br />
<br />
The film stars big name actors including Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and the late Alan Rickman. The plot revolves around the cast of a defunct cult television series called Galaxy Quest (for example, Tim Allen played the Kirk/Shatner expy and Alan Rickman played the Spock/Nimoy expy). They're also suffering fatigue that mirrors the experiences of the actual Star Trek actors (Rickman's character is typecast with his Galaxy Quest character and laments it, similar to how these things happened to the late, great Leonard Nimoy).<br />
<br />
The cast are suddenly visited by actual aliens, the Thermians, who believe the series to be an accurate documentary (they have no concept of fiction and only the most bare bones idea of lying - which they only just learned about when the antagonist deceived them repeatedly) and seek their help. The Thermians take the actors with them, who find themselves involved in a very real, and dangerous, galactic conflict against the alien warlord, Sarris. Unlike the show where it all wrapped up quickly they struggle to learn about and relate to the aliens. Can these ordinary, flawed actors find greatness within themselves, and possibly personal redemption? (Spoiler: yes, and it is incredible.)<br />
<br />
Speaking of the aliens, in a witty nod to the "rubber forehead aliens" so common in Star Trek, the Thermians first appear to resemble humans with unnaturally pale skin and straight hair/cheap make-up, but that's revealed to be a holographic disguise and their true forms are squid-like. This does not stop one of the actors from striking up a relationship with a female alien anyway. [[/d/| Shine on you crazy /d/iamond!]]<br />
<br />
/tg/ deems this one of the best parodies ever made, and an affectionate love-letter to the franchise as a whole. If you disagree then feel free to consume a big bag of Saurian Swinoid dongs.<br />
<br />
''"Never give up, Never surrender!"''<br />
<br />
==== The Orville ====<br />
Now has [[The Orville|its own page]].<br />
<br />
===Fanfics===<br />
We ''could'' point you to An Archive Of Our Own but, for those (few) of you not keen to watch Kirk and Spock probe Uranus, here are some of the better noncanonical Trek you might want to watch.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek: Renegades====<br />
Kickstarter Trek. The makers submitted their made-for-TV movie pilot to CBS in an attempt to get it made into a legit on-the-air series (and by god it shows), but they were not successful. As a result, while the project limped along for a few years afterward, it has good and bad in equal measure. As a non-official product it also cannot be considered canon. Some characters are actually interesting (about time we saw more of the Breen!) while others are pure Mary Sues (including a male Seven of Nine with a built-in Borg-gun/personal shield/fully-functional hand). Some of the ideas are interesting while others are boring or already-been-done. The CGI is all Hollywood-quality, but the practical effects are okay at best. <br />
It's obvious that they made this without knowing that they were going to be able to make a TV show or not, and tried to cram the sort of build-up and intrigue we saw in DS9 into a span of 90 minutes. For now though, it's decidedly meh, and probably a dead project as well since it hasn't been mentioned on the maker's website in over a year as of late 2019.<br />
<br />
====Star Trek Continues====<br />
Of all the offerings listed here, Star Trek Continues is BY FAR the closest in theme and tone to the original 1960's series. Indeed, this is the whole point: from its inception, this fan-funded project was intended to represent a what-if "4th Season" of the Original Series, ending with the conclusion of the Enterprise's 5-year mission. It is surprisingly and at times ''delightfully'' watchable, with strong stories, consequences and arcs that carry over to later episodes, tons of attention to detail, unexpected cameos, and a cast that really came together, particularly in later episodes. It also delicately navigated a line between viewing female characters through the lens of a show that was rooted in 1960's culture while also not treating them as weak children dependent on men for protection. Star Trek Continues successfully concluded its "season" with all 11 episodes gradually released from 2014 to 2018, to heaps of industry awards and wide praise (including a personal endorsement from Gene Roddenberry's son, who said his father would've approved).<br />
<br />
===Parodies===<br />
====Futurama====<br />
Matt Groening, that mad lad, got almost all the original actors in a ''Futurama'' episode to [re-]enact a ''Trek'' episode on behalf of an alien fan. But not Doohan, so "Scotty" is replaced by "Welshie". Who gets horribly killed and has his corpse zapped whenever the alien loses his temper.<br />
<br />
====Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning====<br />
Another parody, parodying not only ''Star Trek'' but ''Babylon 5'' as well. The seventh in a series fan movies released in 2005, it's about Captain Pirk builds a starship called CPP ''Kickstart'', allies with Russia and takes over the world. He wants to take over more planets but the ships of his P-Fleet aren't fast enough to travel outside the Solar system. A maggot hole opens and it leads to an alternate reality. Pirk wants to take over the Earth of this reality, which leads to an [[awesome]] space battle between the P-Fleet and the fleet of the space station Babel 13 led by Johnny Sherrypie. The movie features some of the best special effects ever put in a sci-fi movie, which is pretty impressive, considering that this is an amateur film with a very low budget and was rendered in five years in someone's bedroom. The film is spoken in Finnish but subtitles are available for a wide variety of languages, including Klingon. They also made [https://web.archive.org/web/20070828010927/http://rpg.starwreck.com/ a role-playing game based on it], where your character [[Truenamer|becomes more incompetent]] [[Page 42|as he levels up]].<br />
<br />
= Criticisms =<br />
Also known as "plot holes", "what an idiot moments", and myriad of other names.<br />
* Cybernetics, as in prosthetics and artificial tools instead of Synthetic lifeforms like Data. There are various stories where physical injuries and handicaps are a big deal and used as allegories for issues like the treatment of the disabled or even euthanasia, but some could argue that even those cases special enough to get an episode shouldn't be an issue in a galaxy where technology has advanced light years and replicators are widespread. Besides whatever in-episode exception is given, this is partly explained by the various factions generally having ''some'' respect for the sanctity and autonomy of the organic form or just being flat-out better than anything technology can recreate, but sometimes it can seem ''awfully'' tempting to <s>magic</s> science up a series of sensors, implants or dermal armor that can give you the durability of a [[Men of Iron|Soong-class android]] or the spectral analysis capabilities of Geordi's visor. There's seldom an in-universe budget issue for this (replicators construct anything out of anything; only mass matters, not cost), though there are some out-of-universe issues for both the budget ("We can't afford more styrofoam tech props!") and plot ("Shut up about how the engineer invented a new engine component last season which would perfectly solve this problem.")<br />
** The technological arms race might also stand out depending on how you interpret the factions who generally lack the Federation's restraint. While Klingons may value the power found in their strong bat'leth arm and the purity of a warrior's physical form, some might argue that their obsession with warrior pride and strength should mean they have [[Big Mek|war engineers]] dedicated to creating the biggest, most badass powered armor with the biggest phasers and blades. And if Romulans and Cardassians are so ruthlessly ambitious, shouldn't their agents have hyper-stealthy scanners and miniaturized electronic warfare suites for better spying? Granted, one counter to that is "because the tech would inevitably be detected and reverse-engineered by Star Trek technobabble, spawning a perpetual cybernetics arms race", but still. And then you get into the Borg, [[Meme|who have no such weaknesses]], and it opens a whole can of worms.<br />
** Keep in mind, that in Federation, only ''biological'' augmentation is illegal (like [[Space Marines|SPESS MEHREENS]] and mutants like Khan Noonien Singh). ''Cybernetic'' augmentation is incredibly obscure and rarely seen, but '''is''' legal ([[Artificial Intelligence]] is also legal). And on top of that, Federation pays respect to other ideologies and cultures. As such, if Federation citizen decided to turn himself into robust tank-like full-conversion cyborg with lots of badass gadgets and systems - it would not cost him anything (replicators + post-scarcity economy) - while others would remark how strange he is, but not impose any penalties/punishments/sanctions, and would respect him for his incredible capabilities (for there's no guy in town half as massive!). Most other civilizations/nations have even less restrictions on [[Transhumanism]]/augmentation than Federation has - that is, most of them would also allow ''biological'' augmentation - and they also have replicators.<br />
* Everyone look like some variant of human, without any variety:<br />
** All aliens are just humans with slight alterations of face features, like ridges on their foreheads. Aliens, what would so much as look like other members of ''Homo'' Genus (think difference between modern humans and neanderthals), are very rare. And ''truely alien'' aliens are practically non-existent. Yet mathematically, "non-metamorph/spapeshifter aliens evolving to look perfectly like humans" has so small chance, as to be completely implausible - and '''every''' alien race independently evolving to look like humans is '''absurd'''.<br />
** Almost all cyborgs/robots are human-shaped. Almost all of ''those'' are human-looking, with artificial skin and such. Human shape is not very effective for most tasks - and as such, one could expect vaguely-humanoid (e.g. like [[Dreadnought]] or [https://helldivers.wiki.gg/wiki/Hulk Cyberstanian Hulk]) and non-humanoid (e.g. tank-shaped "box on threads with rotating turret") robots/cyborgs to appear from time to time - yet such things are practically non-existent in ''Star Trek'' (IRL, it's the other way around - lots of industrial robots and "boxes on threads", and no synthetic humans). What's more, Borg are partially-mechanical cyborgs, clinging to their ragged flesh for no discernible reason, looking more humanlike than [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] members are - while logically, due to having Replicators, Borg could make themselves fully-robotic (with, at most, only nervous system bein organical; everything else would rather be replaced with strong and durable ultra-tech machinery) '''''and''''' field large vaguely-humanoid/non-humanoid units (strong and tough - and since they're big, they can have bigger brains/computers, cue being smarter).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld weapons stronger/bigger than rifle. Such as LMG and RPG-sized weapons, for tough enemies. There is the Worfzooka from Insurrection.<br />
* Lack of ''any'' armor. So much as making jumpsuits out of futuristic ballistic (or at least sharp-resistant) materials would make life easier (e.g. Klingons would be forces to switch for guns, as melee weapons couldn't penetrate even such light futuristic armor), while having same weight, cost (replicators, after all!) and being concealable as clothing (as it would have same weight ''as'' clothing); in fact, such protective clothing should completely replace normal clothing - for it has same cost/weight, but is actually protective. That's before going on to ''any'' sort of "proper" armor; no equivalents of [[Power Armor]] and [[Carapace Armour]] - even no equivalents of [[Flak Armor]]. Even those not going into direct combat would logically need to wear armor - due to chance of enemy teleporting on ship, and due to ship's machinery constantly exploding into dangerous shrapnel. There are two exceptions, there was some armor used by security forces in the movies and armored vests in Discovery (though, neither are good at protecting from gunfire).<br />
** Similarly, lack of ''any'' environmental protection. So much as wearing gas masks/rebreathers or [[Space Station 13|breath masks with emergency oxygen tanks]] would make life a lot easier. Logically, with ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies, even the lesser space-faring civilizations (like most Federation's neighbors) should be capable of creating protective suits that are as comfortable to wear as clothing while protecting from vacuum and hostile atmospheres. And on top of that, armor mentioned above could also be sealed work as protection from environmental threats of all sorts. Yet [[Derp|everyone go around in unarmored jumpsuits, no matter where they are - be it unexplored planet with potentially hostile atmosphere/biosphere, damaged ship where systems leak and depressurizations happen, or warzone where enemies use chemical/biological/radiological weapons]]. [[Irony|All that, ironically, makes goody-two-shoes Federation '''''more backwards''''' than]] modern humans (submariners and jet pilots wear rebreathers, astronauts wear emergency space suits) and ''[[Imperium of Man]]'', of all people (many [[Astra Militarum|guardsmen]] wear gas masks and hazmat suits, [[Space Marine]] armor doubles as emergency space suits). What little environmental protection suits are there in ''Star Trek'', are very unreliable and constantly tear - despite the fact, that ''Star Trek'' ultra-advanced technologies could allow to make sharp-proof, bullet-proof, phaser-proof (or at least phaser-resistant) reliable space suits, what would weigh and cost just as much as normal ones (because replicators!).<br />
* Lack of ''any'' handheld heavy explosive weapons. Like, for example, miniature antimatter munitions, for when you ''really'' need to blow something up (imagine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) Davy Crockett], but with '''antimatter''' instead of low-grade fission nuke). Heavy/Powered Armor from point above could help to "use that thing and not die from blast/radiation".<br />
* Lack of Ground Vehicles. If you are exploring an alien planet, you'd want to be able to get around it's surface quickly. But basically you're limited to Spaceships and Walking.<br />
* Lack of Boarding/Breaching Vehicles. If you are not tank-like cyborg, and you're fighting inside spaceship (or other cramped place) - you'd want something compact, yet equipped with lots of armor and weapons, preferably remote-controlled and flying. A "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Descent room] [https://www.old-games.ru/game/103.html superiority] starfighter", or [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2729877778&searchtext=Breaching+drone breaching] [https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=244850&searchtext=Breaching+drone&childpublishedfileid=0&browsesort=textsearch&section= drone] variants. Such machine would be many times stronger than [[Power Armor]]/small [[Battlesuit]] soldiers - not to mention infantrymen; it would be impervious to small-arms fire, and resistant to anti-vehicular weapons. But instead, everyone are limited to "walking around, without any armor, and without anything bigger than rifle".<br />
** To understand, how scary such remote-controlled "box of death" or "room superiority starfighter" would be with Star Trek tech... It would technically be a very small spaceship. Made of heavy spaceship-grade armor, resistant to phaser cannons and anti-matter rockets, to the point of being able to take hits from vehicles bigger than itself. With deflector shields on top of that. And instead of 25x184 gatling autocannons and 200mm rocket launchers (what is ''already'' overkill for anything human-sized), it would be armed with '''''ginormous phaser [auto]cannons and antimatter missiles (!)'''''. And it quickly flies on futuristic engines, far stronger than any modern variant of ion or hydrogen engine; so much as it's engine exhaust trust can turn unarmored infantryman into pile of charcoal and fling it across the ship. It's a non-living vehicle, with ton of immunities and resistances that entails. And if it's outfitted with AI (instead or in addition to remote-control system), it gets all advantages of that (absolute timing and precision, intuitive fast mathematics, reaction speed rivaling that of CIWS system, etc). It has virtually limitless operating time, due to working on anti-matter reactor (or something comparable); if it's destroyed, it violently explodes (due to anti-matter reactor and anti-matter ammunition detonation). It may also be outfitted with various tools (e.g. repair tools and manipulators), or even ''portable replicator''. And most of it's opponents are enemies with tiny peashooters and useless chunks of sharp iron, what can't even scratch the machine's paintjob. Have fun.<br />
* And [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MisappliedPhlebotinum why not use teleporter offensively]? Make big antimatter bomb (whatever warheads your torpedoes use; the stronger explosive - the better), set it to explode after teleporting (timer, and other sensors), then teleport it onto enemy ship. Then watch the explosion of epic proportions, as '''enormous''' antimatter warhead (at least 2 meters big in every direction - possibly, so big what it fills all available space on ship's bridge; the bigger can fit inside your teleporter - the better) explodes inside enemy ship. Even tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles can't survive '''that''' much of explosion; ship's systems will also be utterly devastated. There are no people out there, who would be more destructive than antimatter bomb of same mass/size.<br />
**As a counterpoint, transporters can't work through shields and a variety of other things can stop transporters from working including radiation, electromagnetic activity and suchlike. Transporter Inhibitors have been mentioned and shown repeatedly.<br />
* And why there are no ship defenses? For example, so much as "phaser autocannon turret equivalent in size to gatling autocannon" would be great at repelling any boarding infantrymen, and could help against tank-like cyborgs/robots and boarding/breaching vehicles. That's before going on to any bigger defensive systems; the only thing what ''sufficiently big'' turret can't handle, is '''massive antimatter bomb''' (read above). Yet instead, everyone foolishly leave their ships defenseless, despite knowing what enemies ''have'' teleports and ''will'' board their ships.<br />
* Planet of the Hats. Not a problem unique to Trek, but it's very acute here. As mentioned a lot of species in Star Trek are rather one note. For the Klingons it's all about being a [[Proud Warrior Race|Honorable Warrior]], for the Romulans it's all about covert actions, intrigue and political plotting, for the Ferengi it's all about making money and being greedy, etc. Those are the big species and most Species-Of-The-Week are even more one-note than that, such as the species who's hat is being big-game hunters, playing board games or aggressive bartering. Admittedly there's only so much you can fit into part of a 45 minute long TV show and there are some ideas that work better than others, but even so building an entire civilization/country around interpretive dance is pretty dumb.<br />
** Besides, there is large shortage of "atypical" characters, whose characteristics are different from their species' average. Such as a Ferengi guy who isn't greedy trader; Ferengi guy who is militaristic conqueror a-like Conquistadors, who prefers to enslave and "take something forcibly" instead of buying; Romulan soldier/special-agent who is a militaristic gun nut and fan of direct "blow everything up!" actions; Klingon pirate/rebel/marauder who is a militaristic warlike callous asshole without any sense of honor or morals (i.e. unfettered in his desire to conquer and destroy); Human who is hulking, augmented to the point of being non-humanoid, [[Cyborg]] [[Space Marine]], [[Transhumanist]] and conqueror, who tries to "save Federation from it's own stupidity", reverse-engineers Borg tech, "recruits" Borgs (by disconnecting them from [[Hive Mind]] and connecting to himself) and constantly intervenes everywhere.<br />
* Budget problems. Most factions (e.g. Federation lives in post-scarcity economy) have access to Replicators ([https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/GURPS_Prime_Directive#Star_Fleet_Universe_Tech_Levels among other things], what clearly classify it as [[Soft Science Fiction]]); they can turn anything into anything, as long as they have supply of energy and bulk matter. Naturally, there ''are'' large supply of energy (from Antimatter reactors), and lots of bulk matter (planets, asteroids, etc). Therefore, "budget limitations" as we know it cease existing, and anyone can take as much big-advanced gear as he wants; from robust full-conversion-cyborg body, to big guns and power armor, to portable replicator, to all sorts of gadgets. Yet characters behave as if they are on strict budget limits - usually coming on missions while grossly under-equipped (only having non-protective uniforms and phaser-pistols); what frequently resulted in problems ([https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction that even got highlighted on TvTropes]).<br />
** In particular they have goofy things like having civilizations in the same technological ball-park of the Federation capture people to mine stuff with pick axes or push mine carts of ore into furnaces like this is the 19th century; even though mining machines like tunneling shield, power tools, and self-moving carts are a lot cheaper than slaves, and should already be invented.<br />
*** Generally, there's shortage of "Sane Evil"/"Pragmatic Evil" types - "those who are ready to do any heinous act, but only as long as it furthers their goal, who are capable of doing good things if it furthers their goal, and who don't do evil if it doesn't further their goal". Most villains in series are [[Grimderp]] [[Stupid Evil]] types who do bad things just to show how evil they are. All while "Pragmatic Evil" types are more interesting, more realistic, more common IRL, and rise many good philosophical question by virtue of ''arguably being more effective than good guys'' ("So you would rather be good yet inefficient, or amoral yet efficient?", "Moral is subjective - yet our system is more effective - and from our point of view, we're perfectly moral", "Your 'morals' and 'ethics' are just handcuffs and shackles you imposed on yourself, what slow down your civilization - like those dumb Klingon codes of honor", etc).<br />
* Numerous other errors (some [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheUniversalGenreSavvyGuide/ScienceFiction highlighted on TvTropes]). Such as exploding instrument panels (could be fixed with batteries and wireless connection; and on top of that, no one wears armor, not even flak armor), holodeck problems (mishaps by creating physical, dangerous holograms - yet never gets used for any actually practical ways, like "conjure cannon fodder out of thing air, and beam it to enemy ship"), no computer backups, no transporter tests (teleport a sealed container of water up and down - then teleport a mouse up and down - and check if both are normal - and samples are to be beamed up separately; no one did that), no environmental protection, no physical access doors in brig, shuttles what poorly fly in atmosphere, cargo working in 1G gravity (despite low-gravity being more productive), no space suits or other protective gear, and some other errors.<br />
* The Prime Directive. [[TL;DR]] Starfleet is forbidden from interacting with pre-warp civilizations, and main characters are Starfleet members. In broad strokes it's not a bad idea since we don't want to be Space Cortés enslaving people to mine dilithium and imposing our religion on them at laser-point, and Star Trek has always leaned towards more liberal ideas of respecting the freedom and autonomy of other cultures instead of intervening "because we know best", to say nothing of when time travel and mirror dimensions are involved and you have to preserve the sanctity of the timeline (unless the point of the episode is to FIX what's wrong to get back to your universe). Nor do the Feddies want to accidentally stunt the growth of a civilization by becoming their gods or making them dependent on them and thus incapable of advancing by themselves. The problem is that it comes up when civilizations face some major danger like a killer disease, geological disaster or the Schmazis going around genociding everyone on the planet who's not forest green and the federation's official response is "rules are rules, can't interfere" as millions suffer and die in all sorts of gruesome preventable ways (including ''pre-warp Earth''; they don't care about suffering/deaths of ''their own people'' -but this particular problem comes with the huge caveat of temporal interference as playing god on someone else is one thing, erasing yourself from existence is another-). Many species and civilizations have suffered extinction or collapse because of this (and in many cases, that resulted or could result in evil aggressive post-warp civilization emerging on such unattended planets), and many problems could be easily avoided if not for Prime Directive. Basically, it's a case of a noble ideal which severely hampers the heroes because there's [[Lawful Stupid|very little room for nuance]].<br />
** Such passivity also commonly extends to post-warp civilizations as well. The Federation's strict policy of non-interference in foreign affairs (barring explicit permission or evidence of interference) has led to many non-aligned races like the Bajorans treating the Federation with open distrust (the Bajorans fought a guerilla campaign against the Cardassians, who massacred and enslaved them for years without the Federation lifting so much as a finger, and many cynically see them as allies of convenience who only backed them up when they had something they wanted) or foregoing several opportunities to shift the balance of power in the Federation's favour (the Klingon Civil War is a prime example of that, as not only would have military support for Gowron's faction have the cost the Federation nothing, but Gowron's enemies sought to undo the peace treaty the Federation had with the Klingons for decades while bringing them closer to the Romulans, the only other faction that could meet the Federation on somewhat equal footing) simply because it would be ideologically inconvenient to do so. Then again, the Federation (or at least the highbrow captains and admirals introduced to show they're not all like our Noblebright heroes) has a nasty tendency to overlook the reality on the ground in an imperfect and volatile galaxy, because as Sisko says, "''It's easy to be a saint in paradise!''"<br />
*** Of course, to be fair, interfering in galactic politics ''does'' set a bad precedent as well, as it would paint the Federation as a big bully who strongarms their way into your messes to tell you what to do for their benefit, which would actively harm not just their ideals but their hope of encouraging more peaceful contact in line with those ideals. Heck, whenever we had episodes where the Federation ''did'' launch covert operations to manipulate things to their advantage, it's usually called out as a self-serving and hypocritical move, even if it's absolutely necessary at the time. But as Sisko also said: "''I can live with it.''"<br />
** Of course, we're /tg/. We can appreciate the [[Warhammer 40,000|in-your-face over-the-top appeal]] of [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|being Space Cortés]] and taking an active hand in shaping the destiny of the stars, righting wrongs and kicking ass like a pulp action serial by channeling your inner [[Buck Rogers]]. And while normally [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Terran%20Empire this tack] is shown as a ''bad'' thing, sometimes you just wanna [[Star_Trek_Alternate_Timelines#Commie_Track_Of_War;_Variant_1|fire up your warp drive and get shit done]]. After all, if you're already in a post-scarcity civilization, why enslave the natives when you can get rid of the genuine threat (that ideally is truly more than they can handle), move on and leave 'em to keep trying on their own while giving them a preview of what it means to cherish the sanctity of life?<br />
<br />
= Would you like to know more? =<br />
And oh Lordy, is there more...<br />
*[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/ Main Memory Alpha: A ''Star Trek'' wiki]<br />
*[http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/ Main Memory Beta: The flip-side of Memory Alpha for the less than official stuff]<br />
*[http://sfdebris.com/ SF Debris: opinionated episode reviews, has some non ''Trek'' stuff as well]<br />
*[http://www.letswatchstartrek.com/ Let's Watch Star Trek]: A curated list of the episodes for newcomers - which episodes to watch or skip.<br />
<br />
[[Category: Television]]<br />
[[Category:Star Trek]]</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Talk:Pok%C3%A9mon_Tabletop_United&diff=1003301Talk:Pokémon Tabletop United2025-06-23T13:41:00Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>== Homebrew Items ==<br />
<br />
=== Advanced Helmet ===<br />
Combines functions of Helmet and Dark Vision Goggles. If normal Helmet represents WW1 "steel pot" - then Advanced Helmet is modern design. It's possible to wear Advanced Environmental Mask (or something similar) under it. $3250. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 11:47, 23 June 2025 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Advanced Environmental Mask ===<br />
Combines functions of Gas Mask, Re-Breather, Sunglasses and Safety Goggles. Keeps your lungs clean. $9000. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 11:47, 23 June 2025 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Advanced Hazmat Suit ===<br />
Acts as Advanced Environmental Mask but also grants the Hazard Immunity capability and immunity to non-dam aging Poison Type Moves. Can be worn under armor or other gear. Due to being insulated, and very hot to wear, that it also doubles as Winter Clothes. $11000. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 11:47, 23 June 2025 (UTC)</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Talk:Pok%C3%A9mon_Tabletop_United&diff=1003300Talk:Pokémon Tabletop United2025-06-23T13:26:01Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
<hr />
<div>== Homebrew Items ==<br />
<br />
=== Advanced Helmet ===<br />
Combines functions of Helmet and Dark Vision Goggles. If normal Helmet represents WW1 "steel pot" - then Advanced Helmet is modern design. It's possible to wear Advanced Environmental Mask (or something similar) under it. $3250. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 11:47, 23 June 2025 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Advanced Environmental Mask ===<br />
Combines functions of Gas Mask, Re-Breather, Sunglasses and Safety Goggles. Keeps your lungs clean. $9000. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 11:47, 23 June 2025 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Advanced Hazmat Suit ===<br />
Acts as Advanced Environmental Mask but also grants the Hazard Immunity capability and immunity to non-dam aging Poison Type Moves. Can be worn under armor or other gear. $11000. --[[User:JOKTWWEJK|JOKTWWEJK]] ([[User talk:JOKTWWEJK|talk]]) 11:47, 23 June 2025 (UTC)</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Megacorporation&diff=1003299Megacorporation2025-06-23T12:29:30Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: /* IRL Megacorporations */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Stub}}<br />
[[File:Mickey no more, by bopchara.jpg|thumb|All hail the new overlord!]]<br />
<br />
{{topquote|Octan, they make good stuff: Dairy products, TV shows, coffee, surveillance cameras, all history books, voting machines... '''wait a minute.'''|''The LEGO Movie''}}<br />
<br />
A '''Megacorporation''' (aka '''Mega-corporation''', '''Megacorp''', etc) is a very large powerful corporation with a lot of wealth, resources and power. A Foundational pillar of the Cyberpunk genre in particular and often a staple of science fiction in general. A company gets an advantage, buys out the competition and continues to grow unchecked. Hyper [[Capitalism]] run amok is a prime motivation for villainy.<br />
<br />
== Things a Megacorp will have ==<br />
*'''Logos''': Megacorps will slap their Logos and various other insignia where-ever they can, be it on the highest of executive offices to nutrient bars fed to low level workers.<br />
*'''Private Armies''': Large numbers of armed goons and mercenaries. These guys typically get roflstomped by whatever hero happens to be around at the given moment. May go be the names “Private Military Company” or “Private Security Company”; the former implies that the company are outright mercenaries for hire, something that most governments tend to discourage, but the latter is used more often to suggest that the company is just a bunch of fancy rent-a-cops for when you need protection for particularly sensitive operations or you need to do business in a chaotic environment.<br />
*'''Company Towns''': A town where everything is owned by a company. You not only work for the company here, but you also live in company housing, eat at a company canteen, drink at the company bar, shop at a company store, send your kids to a company school, etc. It’s similar to some Big Tech setups in Silicon Valley (like Google or Apple campuses) but darker and more expansive. Usually, you're paid in company scrip (coupons, credit, or vouchers that are only good at company facilities) and the prices are high. Company towns are most commonly set up at resource extraction sites (ie mines, oilfields, etc) that are far away from existing towns. One of the big flaws of company towns is if they're a recession, employees who are laid off or have their hours cut won't be able to afford continuing to live in the town, which can create many problems such as strikes, or having the whole town turn from an extra source of revenue to a massive money pit as what happened to the Pullman Community. Same thing can apply with whole districts (think Special Economic Zones) or colonies (like the old Charter Colonies) and possibly even planets. Extraterritorial jurisdiction is also a possibility where company law, currency, or citizenship is equal to or greater than national equivalents.<br />
*'''Sub-Divisions''': A Megacorp will have its fingers in a lot of pies. Often it will try to control as much as its supply chain as possible to reduce costs and it will acquire things it deems useful and are available for buy-out. For example, owning your own logistics company is very useful if you're heavily involved in any sort of commodity or mass manufacturing. <br />
*'''Fixers''': People who can sort out issues for a Megacorp that they'd rather not do overtly. This ranges from spying to engineering scandals for their rivals to assassination in the form of wetworks. Usually these are independent contractors and as such deniable assets and employ even more deniable and disposable muscle. <br />
*'''Holding Company''': a company whose primary existence is to own stock, but does little actual economic activity on its own. Similar to real-life shell companies, Holding Companies as business entities enable their parent corporation to own a huge variety of different smaller companies, usually by gobbling them up through mergers and acquisitions. If a Megacorp is structured as a pyramid with all the individual businesses at the bottom, the holding company would be at the top. Because of just how monolithic and entangled the chain of business hierarchy can get, it may actually be difficult to find out who owns what or who’s actually in charge - which may be by design as it enables plausible deniability if any wrongdoing is exposed.<br />
*'''Monopoly''': what happens when a Megacorp acquires effective control over an entire industry. This is usually bad since no competition means the corporation has no incentive to put out a better product; they’ve captured the market and can do whatever they want with near-impunity. A near-monopoly can exist if only a handful competitors exist but they all agree to coordinate their actions, controlling the market for themselves and keeping any newcomers out, effectively creating an Oligopoly instead.<br />
*'''Lawfare''': the MegaCorp’s most common tactic for getting people to do what they want. Lawyers are too expensive for the average person, so they’ll use their own lawyers to threaten you with cease and desist letters / get you to sign a contract full of obscure legalese / force you into a hostile takeover / sue your ass into oblivion, and most people will fold under pressure even if they’re in the right.<br />
*'''Corporate Speak''': A Megacorp that's trying to bamboozle the general public/investigators/investors/its own employees will do everything it can to present the image it wants to project, or at the very least, hide its dirty laundry as much as possible. They tend to do this with obfuscating language and meaningless jargon called legalese (which is so mind numbing, you’re better getting a lawyer or political secretary to dissect it for the average joe). Expect any press release to be full of half-truths, buzzwords, and lofty but vague language. This also extends to any creative pursuits, which end up being as inoffensive and soulless as possible.<br />
**In the real world, corporate speak is merely just a way for companies to sound inoffensive so they don't lose customers, because [[Star Wars|customers are really hard to earn back.]] It doesn't stop it from sounding annoying and disengenuous though.<br />
*'''Illegal science projects''': Megacorp are the future, and thus they will always be making the first step for humanity through the forbidden field of science and technology, without giving a single fuck about human decency and moral compass. To research anything can be costly and time consuming. To please the greedy yet impatient executives and CEO, they would only researching and experimenting if it could results in advancing their products, helping them making more money. However [[Nagash|if the person in charge has hobby for science or is a mad scientist]], they could treat it as some sort of pet project. The research subjects they've obtained can be illegal as fuck (not that mattered to them since Megacorp are above the law) in order to make some good and fast results at the expense of their humanity (again, they've sold their soul for profit already). With some good connections, they could acquire top tier scientists for their project. No, that's what they WANT you to believe. What megacorp would do instead is to search for those shady backwater [[Fabius Bile|science experts]] [[Urien Rakarth|who had sold their souls]] [[Illuminor Szeras|to perfect their crafts]] and were discharged from many research centers, hospitals and academy for bad conducts. Why the Megacorp would do such thing is that these scientists are in fact genius compared to those aforementioned top graduated snob scientist, who would determined to traverse the forbidden boundaries to seek actual results. The other is that they are considered nobodies in society, and thus nobody would notice them if they've died, and are easy to cover up. Let's not forgetting the fact that the Megacorp were already doing illegal activities to began with, so heads will be popping after the results shown, the less people knew the better. For examples of subjects they could research on, it could be anything from medical (which they do away using human experiments to produce new types of [[Drug|drug]], if not to play gods and [[The God-Emperor of Mankind|evolve humanity]]. See [[Resident Evil]]), food (which they would engineer new unhealthy artificial ingredients like corn starch then sold them on market for massive profit), even illegal subjects like weapons (making big money by selling them to war torn countries and the military, or given to their private military for further testing), cloning (fear of salmon extinct so you can't taste them anymore? there's now more of them! but they don't taste the same anymore...).<br />
*'''Lobbyists/Special Interest Groups''': Every Megacorp needs its political stooges to give them legitimacy and legal impunity to enact their grand designs. This starts with bypassing laws that are inconvient and ends with corpocratic dominance of government.<br />
*'''Corpos''' (aka '''Company Men/Women'''): Employees who not only work for a company, but are hell-bent on rising through the ranks up the corporate ladder. Some of them are simply skilled, hard working and diligent, others are ruthlessly ambitious, others are workaholics and some have High-RWA personalities who are highly submissive to authority, conventionalist, aggressive and loyal to their faction. Regardless, Corpos make up the middle and much of the upper strata of a megacorps and are highly competitive and dedicated to the cause of their Corporate Overlords. At the very least they have a position of prominence in the Megacorporate hierarchy that is not worth casually discarding and many of them have actual loyalty. Everything from working long hours and meeting targets on time and under budget to proper dress, regular ass-kissing and snitching out dissent is a tool to those ends. Needless to say, there is often attrition. Some don't meet their target figures. Some are the losers in the internal power struggles. Some are fall guys. Others are eliminated on the whims of the executives because the growth in third-quarter was 20% lower than expected. Either way, new Corpos can be recruited to replace them.<br />
<br />
==IRL Megacorporations==<br />
[[File:Coporation connections.jpg|600px|thumb|center|The plot thickens...]]<br />
*'''The East India Company (EIC)''': One of the early waves of corporations founded in 1600 to trade with India, the EIC gradually took over the entire Indian Subcontinent until 1858. Of all the IRL example's the EIC is the closest to a fictional megacorp by dint of have a foreign policy of a sort and its own standing army. The East India Company actually had more soldiers than the British Army did. Yes, they're the antagonists for some of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.<br />
*'''The Railway Giants''': Rail travel started in the United States around 1830 with small lines here and there, first going from town to town and then branching out to multiple towns. In order to encourage the buildout, the federal government would grant land adjacent to newly laid rails to the railroads to sell; many towns grew mere from railroad water stops. Gradually the smaller players were bought up by the most successful ones (in particular there was Cornelius Vanderbilt), which had a domino effect. Linking up the networks meant they could not only send goods farther, but cheaper than a mess of little companies could manage. They made a lot of money and had a lot of sway due to how essential they became for trade. Since they also had telegraph lines, they could manage affairs from Maine to Miami to San Diego to Portland.<br />
*'''Standard Oil''': Probably the first monopoly that you can name, even if you lived under a rock. Came to dominate the American Petroleum industry under J.D. Rockefeller. Eventually got broken up later in the 20th century when the federal government realized it didn't like corporations having too much power.<br />
*'''Bell Telephone''': An ideal example of a natural monopoly, the Bell system was THE telephone company for over a hundred years, as the limitations of technology meant competition was almost impossible until modern computers came along; which they had a hand in creating. In the 1980's, Bell was broken into 8 pieces... which have largely merged back together like a self-repairing machine.<br />
*'''United Fruit Company''': Ever wondered how the term "banana republic" came to be? For the first half of the 20th century, one single company dominated the Caribbean and some parts of Latin America to the point of staging coup d'états against the governments which tried to resist their iron grip. Oh, and those insurgents were openly backed up by the CIA and US Navy/Air Force. You know Chiquita brand bananas? Yeah, it's those guys now after some rebranding.<br />
*'''IG Farben''': The Megacorp that sided with the [[Nazi]]s. A chemical company that fueled the Wehrmacht by turning coal into rubber and fuel, as well [[Grimdark|providing the gas used in the Death Camps, as well as working to death thousands more at their Auschwitz III Chemical Plant]].<br />
*'''[[Disney]]''': Skub depending on who you ask, but Disney is without a doubt one of the largest companies on Earth with wide financial assets. Started as a humble animation studio under an ambitious man, that has evolved in a corporate media giant. Owns one-fifth of the media outlets in the United States.<br />
*'''Vivendi''': The second biggest media empire in the world, owns a lot more shit than you think and have sabotaged many of the companies and licenses they bought. You want to know how evil they are? [[Activision]] and [[EA]] obeys them. Owned by right-wingnut lunatic and complete nepobaby moron Vincent Bolloré, who was humiliated multiple times in the past that he now primarily focuses on his political ventures in France, in which he supports the Far Right and controls a large portion of the media. He tried to sway Valve into completely succumbing into being owned by Vivendi, which backfired spectacularly, meaning they literally have left ''Steam'' escape their greedy, greasy hands.<br />
*'''Nestlé''': Swiss nutrionist and researcher opens a company to sell his foods and goods... Turns into the single most evil company that ever was. Willingly sabotages their own products, disowns and actively protests against making the access to drinkable water a human right (to which they have succeeded), a board of directors that is so ''openly racist'' they make [[/pol/]] cringe, and are essentially the single biggest monopoly on the distribution of sweets, water, milk, and other produce. They're fucking '''everywhere'''.<br />
*'''Amazon''': Not as skub as Disney. Amazon started as a book delivery service that eventually evolved into general merchandise delivery and has even created a niche as a media provider, having acquired MGM and adapted ''The Boys'' and ''Man in the High Castle'' into shows. Infamous for their quick delivery times, terrible worker conditions, and are currently under investigation from the state of Illinois for possibly cutting corners on warehouse safety that resulted in a high number of deaths. Also tied for leading provider of fandom lore rape with Disney due to The Rings of Power, and now considered a potential threat to Warhammer 40,000 since they're the one bankrolling Cavill's pet-project.<br />
*'''Walmart''': The brick & mortar version of Amazon; currently the largest non-government employer in the world. The embodiment of naked capitalism, sometimes with actual naked people. Like Amazon, they're notorious for strong-arming their suppliers and mistreating their employees. Unlike Amazon they also sell groceries, meaning they can neglect their perishables as well. <br />
*'''Japanese Zaibatsus/Keiretsus and Korean Chaebols''': The most prominent examples of Asian megacorps, being vast networks of companies headed by single families or a cliques thereof rather than any board of directors. Name any major Japanese or Korean brand (Mitsubishi, Toyota, Samsung, Hyundai, etc) that has international fame, and it’s most likely one of these. Fun fact: Mitsubish, Mitsui, and Sumitomo grew out of former [[Samurai]] clans, surviving the Meiji reformation due to their connections as military suppliers. The Allied occupation wanted to dismantle them but with the cold war starting they proved too damn useful to get rid of.<br />
*'''The Tech Giants''':<br />
*'''[[wikipedia:Military–industrial complex|The Military Industrial Complex]]''':<br />
*'''[[wikipedia:ITV plc|ITV]]''': One of the most well known companies in Britain, they have gained acclaim for beloved programmes having cult followings, and being behind great TV dramas. However, in recent times, they acquired minority stakes in independent production companies effectively owning them, strongarming television channels to screw over other programmes that effectively NOT made by them. The Balearic island of Mallorca got tourism rates rivalling Ibiza thanks to another one of their popular shows, the bad news is that it were unsustainable. There were talks of a tourist tax, but that meant upsetting the fanbase. Even the BBC, their main competition, has their hands tied considering they got no choice in the matter as they would anger the public, and not for the first time. The fact that they also use philanthropy as a weapon is pretty insidious if you think about it. What makes them stand out is their focus on quality over quantity for the dramas and rewarding their followings of entertainment and reality shows for their loyalty, making them terrifying to face head on.<br />
And despite what memes say and [[Games Workshop]] wants, GW isn't a Megacorp... ''Yet.''<br />
<br />
== Megacorporations in Tabletop Games ==<br />
<br />
*'''Arasaka''': All of Reagan era America’s anxieties about Japan’s economic and technological rise boiled down to a single Zaibatsu. It started in 1915, but began it's rise after 1945 when Japan surrender and Saburo Arasaka decided that "if Japan can't conquer America with armies, it can do so with corporate warfare". They eventually developed USB sticks that you could put a human mindstate on.<br />
*'''Militech''': When Dwight D Eisenhower stepped down as President he said “beware the military industrial complex”, Militech was what he was talking about. The Cyberpunk World's biggest manufacturer and seller of all kinds of weapons with a vested interest in making sure that business keeps a-booming.<br />
*'''[[Alien|Weyland-Yutani]]''': aka those dumbasses who keep forgetting that trying to weaponize a species of hyper-aggressive hive-minded xenomorphs with absolutely no concept of obedience is a terrible idea. W-Y is absurdly powerful though, enough that such issues seem to not phase the higher-ups while they fund their own militias and even attempt to sabotage any attempts to make them look bad, such as explaining why trying to clone said extremely-dangerous xenomorphs is a mistake.<br />
*'''[[ComStar]]''': Telecommunications company that arose out of the ashes of [[Star League]] that had a monopoly on FTL communication and banking.<br />
*'''Wayne-Powers''': From the ''Batman Beyond'' cartoon. To be fair, some might have called '''Wayne Enterprises''' a megacorp as well but being merged into Wayne-Powers and Bruce Wayne retiring so that a power-crazed asshole could take control made it a textbook definition of a megacorp that partakes in forbidden and very dangerous research. Even after being afflicted by said forbidden research, he remains an ass.<br />
*'''Lexcorp''': Lex Luthor's personal money funnel through which he funds his many acts of villainy, up to and including giant robots. Said business is also the reason why he never seems to stay in jail and gets to fund bases for supervillains.<br />
*'''Pentex''': What if the Captain Planet villains founded a Megacorp in an R Rated World.<br />
*'''[[Shadowrun#Megacorps|Those assholes from Shadowrun]]'''</div>JOKTWWEJKhttp://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Disney&diff=1003298Disney2025-06-23T12:22:24Z<p>JOKTWWEJK: </p>
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<div>{{/co/}}<br />
{{American}}<br />
<br />
{{Topquote|Over at our place, we're sure of just one thing: everybody in the world was once a child. So in planning a new picture, we don't think of grown-ups, and we don't think of children, but just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us that maybe the world has made us forget and that maybe our pictures can help recall.|Walter E. Disney}}<br />
{{Topquote|We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective.| Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, Avatar of Capitalism and [[FAIL|gentleman who almost bankrupted the company]] [[Irony|(i.e. lost a lot of money, failing the only objective he cared about)]].}}<br />
<br />
What [[Games Workshop|Geedubs]] aspires to be.<br />
<br />
'''The Walt Disney Company''', also known as '''Disney''', '''The Mouse House''', or increasingly '''The Rat''', is an ancient juggernaut of a company made in ages past, and therefore [[Imperium|is completely out of touch]], seeing everyone as walking piles of cash at best and unwitting chattel at worst. They started out as an animated film company and went from there.<br />
<br />
Chances are you’ve heard of them and so has /tg/, mainly because some franchises we like have been bought up by the greedy motherfuckers over the years. Mainly [[Star Wars]].<br />
== History ==<br />
=== The Founding ===<br />
[[Image:Walt_Disney.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Walt Disney, planning out his [[/v/|underwater hypercapitalist utopia]] ]]<br />
Once upon a time, there was a man from the magical land of Chicago named Walter who liked to draw and so he got into the new film industry in the roaring 20s making short animated films. He was a decent artist and animator, but he was a better businessman who especially understood the importance of talent, image and self promotion. (The fact that he almost ruined by his distributor Universal buying his best colleagues out from under him probably had something to do with this.) He gathered talented people, cultivated their skills and methods and pushed the envelope with ''Steamboat Willie'', the first animated short with sound.<br />
<br />
=== The Golden Age ===<br />
By the 1930s Disney had become a household name with a large number of popular shorts and eventually releasing ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' in 1937, the first feature length animated film. Despite costing triple its original budget and earning the nickname "Disney's Folly," it was an instant hit. This was followed by the classic Pinocchio and the cult-classic Fantasia in 1940. During [[The World Wars|World War II]] he got a lot of money from the US Government making propaganda films, but only enough to pay the bills and the company was millions of dollars in debt by the end of the war. Ever the businessman, Disney managed to turn things around by diversifying into live action, pushing out a hot streak of animated films like ''Cinderella'' and ''Alice in Wonderland'' in the 1950s, and possibly his masterstroke: building theme parks where children could see the characters and places they saw in the movies come to life. He marketed directly to kids with TV shows like ''The Mickey Mouse Club'', simultaneously recycling his old theatrical shorts, building a new format of children's show that lasted decades, and incidentally providing generations of Hollywood bigwigs with fresh child actors to molest. By the 1960s Walt had it made: he had a vast studio with an entrenched niche, a brand known around the world, enough cash for a certain cartoon duck to swim in and generally became an icon of American Success. He was also a hard-driving union-busting asshole who smoked himself to death and (unintentionally) helped typecast animation in the western hemisphere as [[Rage|worthless pap intended strictly for kids]] for the rest of the century.<br />
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Even so, things were not all roses for the Walt Disney Company in the second half of the 20th Century. After Walt got a taste of building theme parks, he fell for utopianism. Believing that he could use the lessons he learned when building Disneyland to build a better city, he and a small group of like-minded yes-men became increasingly distracted with their pet project of buying up large swaths of Florida to found an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, like [[/v/|Rapture]] but above the water (most of the time) and with less Ayn Rand.<br />
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As a result, the company wasn't paying attention to trends. While they did a brisk business in shorts and other programming for ABC, they missed the bus when it came to ''made for television'' animation. This left the field open for studios like Hanna-Barbera, Filmation and a resurgent Warner Bros. What they lacked in quality (and how) they made up for in quantity, shutting Disney out of the children's television market for decades as producers discovered that cartoons were WAAAAAY more profitable if you used them as commercials for as much merch as you could shove out the door. (While Disney pioneered merchandising as early as the 1930s, it was generally done as a supplement to the art, which was expected to stand on its own. The newer studios just used art to sell merchandise.) They continued to repackage their old shorts for broadcast but there were only so many of those to go around, and the trickle of new ones dried up as theatrical animated shorts died off in the early 60s. The pace of new Disney feature films dropped to one every few years, with lower-cost live action family films increasingly filling in the void.<br />
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=== The Dark Age ===<br />
[[File:Eilonwy.gif|left]]<br />
Walt's death brought an INSTANT end to the envisioned EPCOT project, with the land and buildings that were already paid for getting rolled into the nearby Disney World roject. What followed was essentially a lost decade of cost cutting and rummaging through Walt's notes for half baked ideas to keep the company going through the 70's. Tired of this creatively bankrupt environment, Don Bluth and several other key animators prominently quit to form their own studio and went on to dominate children's movies in the early 80's. The absolute low points of Disney's dark age came for live action with the aptly named "The Black Hole" and for animation with "The Black Cauldron"; "Black Hole" was an absolute turkey, and while time has been kinder to "Black Cauldron" it was a massive bomb on release that didn't know what it wanted to be. Disney was out of ideas, reduced to copying Star Wars and adapting random fantasy novels.<br />
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=== The Renaissance ===<br />
This would not stand. Tired of watching the company simultaneously sink and burn, a coalition of shareholders led by the surviving Disney family brought on Michael Eisner from rival Paramount to straighten things out. The first decade of his tenure was a string of successes. Eisner brought in Roy E. Disney (Roy Disney's son) to turn around the animation department, finally giving it the resources it needed to compete with Don Bluth's studio. Roy spearheaded a collaboration with Stephen Spielberg that gave us ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', which earned Disney three Oscars and still stands as ''the'' best combination of live action filmmaking and animation ever. He also put further resources into improving the studio's technology base, which had barely changed since the 60s; this was the beginning of their highly lucrative collaboration with Pixar, and the CAPS digital production system which enabled shots that were impossible with physical cels. The cold war ended and a booming 90's economy juiced park sales. Finally realizing he couldn't afford to treat TV as just a side business, he launched Disney's first cable TV channel and redefined 90s kids' childhoods with the legendary Disney Afternoon series. But like General Lee in the Civil War, Eisner would have his Gettysburg, a mistake that would break him forever... and it was Euro Disney. <br />
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Euro Disney almost destroyed the company. Had it been attempted later in the 90s, with more debt, it WOULD have bankrupted Disney. The park was a gamble; centrally located among some of the richest economies on the planet with construction costs eventually reaching 22 billion francs, it was too big to fail... and it failed, because they hadn't counted on typical French contrarianism and a continent-wide recession making its loan payments unsustainable. It would be years before it turned a profit. It caused every park under construction to grind to a halt. Projects too far along to be cancelled outright had to be severely cut back, while potentially more lucrative long term projects like Disney Regional Entertainment (which planned to go after "family entertainment centers" like Chuck E Cheese) died. Eisner, previously a bold thinking risk-taker, became a defensive and embattled CEO firing anyone who looked like a threat to his position; this brought an end to their animation renaissance as Jeffery Katzenberg was kicked out only to go found Dreamworks. Their only really groundbreaking move during this time was to buy ABC.<br />
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=== Aggressive Expansion ===<br />
After Euro Disney, the company shifted to a model of growth through acquisitions that turned them into the Borg we know today. First they bought The Jim Henson Company, though they had planned to do that in the 80s before talks were derailed by Henson's death. Then they bought Pixar. Marvel. Lucasfilm. 20th Century Fox. If there is a profitable set of Intellectual Properties that fits a niche in the current media environment, they'll be there to snarf it up. And as is the case with many media empires, many of these franchises have turned into shells of their former selves; Star Wars especially has been turned into a zombie franchise after Disney's mismanagement.<br />
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=== Second Dark Age ===<br />
The issue with Disney is essentially the [[Lorraine Williams]] problem scaled up to [[Epic]] levels of money. While Walt was alive, his focus on quality and creativity reigned. As soon as he and his brother Roy died there was nobody left to steer the ship but soulless money men, who either fail to understand the long-term value provided by quality work or don't care because they [[SJW|want to use the company to steer public opinion]] and/or fully plan to flee the ship before it sinks. Disney has even gone on to cannibalize its own properties, first by making low-budget sequels of the Classic and Renaissance era films for the direct-to-video market, and then doing it again decades later with live-action remakes. As of 2022, Disney appears to be returning to the post-Walt era of releasing an increasing number of forgettable films than culturally relevant successes, leaning heavily on brand familiarity with Marvel and Star Wars over its own in-house properties.<br />
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...which would have worked if [[Not as planned|COVID-19 didn't rear its ugly head]]. Y'see, while the whole world was put on hold while the coronavirus made its rounds, Disney was hit particularly hard for a few reasons:<br />
*Contrary to what people might think, the ''parks'' are the Mouse's biggest moneymakers, and with the threat of a contagious disease that ''loves'' lots of people in close contact, Disney wisely decided to shut its parks down for the safety of both its guests and staff members. When they reopened, many people decided that attending Disney parks wasn't worth the price anymore (which wasn't helped by Disney focusing on the so-called "[[Autism|Disneyphile]]" demographic over the middle-class-income families Walt went for in his lifetime), and poor box office performance resulted in less brand synergy and therefore attendance, creating a spiraling loop. The post-COVID job environment made it difficult for many companies to acquire manpower, affecting park operations and maintenance (for added insult to injury, many of Disney's former park staff would go on to work for competitors such as Universal).<br />
*COVID forced most movie companies to change their release schedules for two years, giving them two options; withhold planned releases until quarantine measures simmer down, or start releasing them on streaming services. The latter option would have been a fair choice if it was just a handful of services like Netflix and Hulu, but Disney, like every other company under the sun during that period, [[Disney + Originals|made their own streaming service]] just to avoid paying Netflix a cut. This resulted in them falling into the same trap that killed cable TV in the 2000s: too many services to choose from and insufficient money to subscribe to them all (even more so with the economic downturn following the pandemic). Along with the quality of their releases during that period and some questionable decisions with Disney+, the service has become a sunken cost for the House of Mouse.<br />
*Related to the woes at the parks, Disney is suffering brain drain for various reasons, the most stark examples including key animators leaving for competitors for better conditions and pay and more creative freedom; those that remain have had to put up with insane demands that many third-party animators refuse to do business with Disney. That also extends to park staff, writers, and other talents. Lucasfilm in particular has had consistent trouble with keeping directors around, causing that division to stagnate in output substantially to the point that they haven’t made feature-length films in five years.<br />
*Although this has been an issue with the parks since the Eisner days - Disney has no real direction to take with the parks. Shoving as many licenses as they can (and completely avoiding the idea of creating a ride out of nothing), they've been going at great lengths to completely rehaul or outright remove beloved rides and lands unless they were there since the very early years of the park. Most notable example was removing the Rivers of America with a brand new (soulless) [[FAIL|Cars land]]. Yep, right next to the western/cowboys land. They've also been slacking on the job with various pavillions and ride renovations being cut or scaled back due to budget cuts for no apparent reasons. Some rumors talk of the money being pocketed by Iger and co, but no real proof so far.<br />
*Iger's decision to gobble up as many IPs as possible would bring up enormous administrative costs, giving Disney the difficult task of carefully planning movie releases so that their releases wouldn't overlap and cut into each other's profits. With creative deadlock (limited staff and sequel/remake fever), Disney had to use what few people were willing to stick around, and it shows. The financial performance of films post-COVID are average at best domestically, and this assumes they don't introduce [[skub|certain topics]] that result in releases getting censored or outright forbidden in [[China|certain markets]]. What few releases that [seemingly] ''were'' financial hits aren't 100% the Mouse's earnings, and have to be divvied up before Disney gets its cut. All that, more often than not, results in ''Disney's'' net profit from movie being [[Fail|''near-zero or '''negative''''']]; as result, ''very few'' commercially successful movies can't offset the piles of movies that flopped. Suffice to say, many shareholders are [[Rage|fucking pissed]] at Iger's greed landing them into this lossmaking mess. Ironically enough, Iger actually ''left'' Disney before the pandemic, only to be called back in to keep the company afloat during that time. His intended replacement wound up leaving the company, leaving Bob to reap what he had sown.<br />
**And then, there are crappy 3D remakes. They are, usually, strictly worse than the original. Plot is same, but usually garbled. CGI is cheap and bad enough to land in uncanny valley, yet not cheap enough to make sure movies go into net gain. As such, remakes end up failing in competition with their own original movies. And all that's despite Disney still being capable of making 2D films (like "Once upon a studio"), and even YouTube Poopers making borderline-flawlessly animated edits of Disney movies (e.g. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PDzj1Hg9aw "So what and the seven dwarves"]); as such, if Disney decided to start making proper 2D films as they did in "good old times" (be they new films, or 2D remakes of 2D films), re-using and re-editing footage of previous 2D films - they could solve the lossmaking problem. Instead, they decided to stubbornly pursue obviously disastrous strategy, that results in loss of both reputation and money.<br />
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There's also a bunch of issues not mentioned here, partly because they go into [[Skub|political matters best discussed elsewhere]], but the 2020s are shaping up to be Disney's second dark age.<br />
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=== Near Future ===<br />
Assuming that Disney (and other greedy [[Megacorporation]]s, in general) won't change their moronic strategy for something capable of earning money (as there are no reasons to think they would change, no proposed strategies of how to fix the situation, and no one listens to what economists and audience are saying), there are 2 prognosis for what would eventually happen in the near future:<br />
# Disney keep losing money due to their unwise decisions. As rich as they are, their money supplies are still ''finite'' - and if they don't change anything, they'll eventually go bankrupt. As such, some parts of Disney would be bought by other corporations, and some would operate as separate companies (many of those gobbled companies would, yet again, be separate), with Disney fracturing enough to cease being [[Megacorporation]]. Not many would want to buy parts of Disney, as they don't want to buy expensive things that waste more money than they earn ("suitcase without a handle", "white elephant") - and as such, many parts would end up being bought by governments, because no one else needed/wanted them. And other [[Megacorporation|Megacorps]] would also collapse, sooner or later - as "venture capitalism problem" is shared by all of them. After collapse of [[Megacorporation|Megacorps]], media would be dominated by groups of enthusiasts/fans and small companies - all while the governments are busy dividing chunks of bankrupted [[Megacorporation|Megacorps]] among themselves and thinking about what to do with them, eventually spontaneously turning into "mix of [[Capitalism|free market]] and [[Communism|planned economy]]" ("planned democracy"?) when ''every'' [[Megacorporation|Megacorp]] is bankrupted and nationalized.<br />
## Fairly good variant for normal people - many small gobbled companies would become separate again, and make good works. Governments are a lot smarter than corporates, and would make actually enjoyable works. Plus, enthusiasts/fans and small companies would rapture - no competition from megacorps, and no one is trying to sue you for using IP's what once belonged to Megacorps.<br />
# Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) would become commercially available. Corporations, thinking only about money as usual, start replacing as many of their personal with AGI's as possible. AGI's keep getting smarter and cheaper, becoming skilled in increasingly wide range of tasks. Eventually, [[Megacorporation|Meracorps]] would employ AGI's '''exclusively''' - making things by AGI's and for AGI's, with humans removed out of equation, ''to the point that even CEO's would be AGI's'' (aka "Gone Horribly Right"). Meanwhile, fired humans don't know where to go.<br />
## Good variant for normal people - AGI's would make truely great works, one after another, and each of exceptional quality. And once AGI's reach wildly superhuman levels, their works will be far greater than ''anything'' humans could imagine. The only problem, is what since AGI's would automate everything, it would be increasingly difficult to get a job - as all of them are taken by AGI's.<br />
# Trash away! Everything what wastes more money than earns (net loss) - will be either sold, closed, or released as separate puppet companies with separate budget. Everything what's "unneeded" will be removed or sold, "unneeded" people will be fired. For example: movie studios, many parks, and many gobbled companies will get sold. Disney and other Megacorps will shrink, likely to the point of ceasing being a [[Megacorporation]] - but ultimately survive.<br />
## A very unlikely timeline. More unlikely than AGI timeline.<br />
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Which prognosis will happen, is a race between scientific progress and ignorant squandering. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-028QMrfE7A By optimistic estimations, AGI will be invented around ~2027-2040]; meanwhile, Disney and other [[Megacorporation]]s are [[FAIL|spectacularly failing, loosing money at remarkable speed]]. As such, it boils down to "what happens first - Megacorps going bankrupt, or AGI becoming commercially available"; we'll see exact details in the future.<br />
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== /tg/ Relevance ==<br />
[[File:SB_Goons.jpg|thumb|350px|left|The Goons from Sleeping Beauty, a lot of people saw these guys before they ever heard the word "[[Orc]]" ]]<br />
For better or worse Disney has been one of the biggest forces in pop culture period for nearly a century. Part of this is that it worms it's way into kid's childhoods and laying the foundation for sales down the line. A Seven Year Old who saw ''Snow White'' in '37 would grow up to have kids who'd they take to see ''Sleeping Beauty'' in 59 to try to share some of that nostalgic magic, who'd in turn take their kids to see ''The Little Mermaid'' in 89, who took their kids to see ''Moana'' in 2016. A lot of their most Iconic work is Fantasy and bits and pieces of imagery has wormed it's way out and into other works. If not lifted outright, than responded against. See Princesses, Disney did not invent the idea of a young woman who's a [[monarchy|monarch's]] daughter as being a plot element in stories but you'd be hard pressed to find a depiction of someone who holds that title in fiction nowadays which does follow the template or deliberately breaks the mold that the Mouse made.<br />
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Disney is big on IP management. It has its roster and with a few exceptions that it likes to keep buried for being bad or (ahem) Problematic (coughsongofthesouthcough) it tries to keep them in the Zeitgeist so they'd keep up a trickle of cash for years to come. In the 2010s there was a set of Live Action remakes or accompaniments to old Animated classics to cash in on nostalgia and remind the public that, yes, ''The Lion King'' still exists. It preserves this by lobbying the US government to push back copyright expiration as far as it can go. The GW guys may use these laws to get their way but Disney has the money and reach to shape them to suit it's will.<br />
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In particular, a 2010s acquisition spree led to Disney owning both [[Marvel Comics]] and [[Star Wars]], both significant /tg/ adjacent-and-related properties, means we'll probably be talking about Disney owned properties for decades. [[Tolkien]] specifically wrote that he did not want the Walt Disney Company to adapt his work for film, probably because of major alterations done to the original work in various adaptions by them in his lifetime. Unfortunately for him, another monolithic corporation took his work, but that's another story.<br />
=== Disney Stuff that might be /tg/ relevant===<br />
In their heyday, Disney created a score of fantastical worlds for their animated films and TV series, as well as their comic adapations thereof, and some of these, especially the [[fantasy]] based stuff, may well be worth mining for world-building ideas.<br />
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'''The Mouse & Duck Verses:''' The oldest and in many ways most famous are the Mouse & Duck Verses, derived from the two cornerstones of Disney's OG properties; Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. These iterations are more notable for their ''comic'' basis than their cartoons; whilst the comics largely faded into obscurity in America after the 60s, they have '''thrived''' in Europe for decades, with different nations building up vast libraries of stories and creating their own distinct sub-universes. Whilst Mickey was heavily watered down into a milquetoast generic nice guy in the 50s, originally, the Mouse was actually something of a little scrapper - not a screwball trickster like his rival Bugs Bunny over at Warner Brothers, but actually an adventurous badass. He was often a detective or a freelance crime fighter, battling not only his long-time nemesis Pete (originally a hulking peg-legged cat crime boss), but also the master criminal and mad scientist "The Phantom Blot". Donald Duck, meanwhile, got his own series of badass adventures, and also spawned one of the most iconic Disney family members in Scrooge McDuck; Donald's ancient, fantastically rich adventure-loving granduncle. There's a reason why [[Glorantha]] created the [[Durulz]] in homage to the Donald Duck comics! The reason these are treated as separate universes is because, well, continuity gets a little screwy... see, whilst Donald is usually portrayed as an in-universe character in the Mickey Mouse comics, many Donald Duck comics present Mickey as a purely fictional character, especially in the stories written by Carl Barks and his ascended fanboy Don Rosa, which many consider to be the defining backbone of the Duckverse comic continuity. These stories can be surprisingly useful inspiration for more urban fantasy/sci-fi/real life adventuring inspired worldbuilding, since Mickey or Donald going on crazy adventures is literally half the point of them.<br />
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'''Ducktales:''' The foundation of the "Disney Afternoon" series of cartoons in the late 80s and early 90s, Ducktales was an animated series inspired by the Donald Duck & Scrooge McDuck comics of the 50s, centering on Scrooge himself and his three nephews, casting him as an eccentric adventurer-entrepreneur (Teddy Roosevelt meets Herbert Hoover) who's out of his element with children. Whilst it does tone Scrooge's flaws down a fair bit, it's still worth checking out for being more overtly "alien", whereas the comics they were based on were literally just "Earth with cartoon animal people instead of humans". Received a 2017 remake which, remarkably for a post-2010s remake, is widely considered to not only be ''not'' be a piece of shit but actually pretty decent.<br />
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'''Darkwing Duck:''' A spin-off to a spin-off, Darkwing Duck exists in the same Duckverse sub-universe as the OG Ducktales. An action-comedy series spoofing superheroes, it revolves around the misadventures of the titular superhero, a costumed crimefighter in the vein of [[Batman]] defined by his massive ego - though he can kick a surprising amount of ass when he pulls his head out of his ass and gets serious. Pretty solid inspiration for a [[supers]] setting, especially if you want to go more Silver Age or Cartoon Supers style.<br />
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'''(Movie): The Animated Series:''' In the late 80s through the early 2000s, Disney decided that not only was it a good idea to try and cash in on their big animated film successes with direct-to-video sequels, but for the best to get full-fledged animated cartoon spin-offs. Exactly how good were these? Well, your mileage is gonna vary. The Little Mermaid TAS was a prequel series set before the events of the movie, and fleshed out Atlantis and its surroundings with a weird, magical feel that might actually be of interest if you want to try and do something with your underwater fantasy world. The Hercules TAS was an interquel to the movie itself, being set during Hercules' teenage years under his training with the [[satyr]] Phil and his misadventures at a high school full of famous Greek mortals... this one is probably the weakest and most easily skipped, but you might at least get some laughs out of it. Tarzan TAS was a sequel to the Disney Tarzan film, and it focused on Tarzan's continued adventures with his new lover in the jungles of Africa - great stuff if you want some of that old-timey pulp jungle adventure. Then there's Aladdin TAS... a sequel to the direct-to-video movie sequel "Return of Jafar" and prequel to the final DTV movie "Aladdin and the King of Thieves", this is... actually a pretty awesome series, all things considered. With crazy monsters, fantastical lands and entertaining villains like the teenage witch-king Mozenrath or the mad Greek [[artificer]] Mechanikles, it's not a bad idea to watch a few episodes of this before you try your hand at a game of [[Al-Qadim]].<br />
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'''Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers:''' One of the original Disney Afternoon classics, this series revolved around the titular chipmunks being a crime-busting team with the aid of a pair of mice; the cheese-addicted big bruiser Monteray Jack and the brilliant but slightly dotty Gadget. What set this apart from, say, the Mickey Mouse comics was that the Rescue Rangers were a "Mouse World" series, taking place in a fantastical version of Earth where animals have their own secret civilization alongside humanity, especially those animals small enough to pass under human notice. So if you want to run such a campaign, it's worth checking this out. Fun fact; whilst many 80s/90s Disney cartoons are accused of fostering the birth of the [[furry]] fetish, Rescue Rangers' Gadget probably takes it to the extreme in that there is a literal ''cult'' dedicated to her worship in Russia!<br />
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'''Adventures of the Gummi Bears:''' Yes, as in the candy. It's actually not as stupid as you think. The premise is simple; in what seems to be a standard medieval fantasy type world, in the land of Dunwyn, young Calvin dreams of becoming a knight. One day, out in the forest, he stumbles into a long-hidden underground building, where he discovers that his crazy grandfather's stories of humans once sharing this land with brightly colored [[bearfolk]] are actually true; these are the Gummi Bears. Or, rather, they're the last vestiges of their people left behind after the majority fled across the sea to an unknown realm generations go. Now these six are all that remains, having all but forgotten the brilliant engineering skills and sorcery of their ancestors. Luckily, Calvin's grandfather just so happened to pass him down an amulet that unlocks the Great Book of Gummi, a tome containing all the wisdom and secrets of the ancient Gummi Bears, and giving these last vestiges a hope of reconnecting with their distant kin. The series revolves around the efforts of Calvin, his kingdom's princess Kala, and the titular Gummi Bears to safeguard their secrets from the malevolent Duke Igthorn of Drekmore and his army of [[ogre]]s, who seek to use them to conquer Dunwyn. And when Igthorn isn't being a nuisance, all manner of sorcerers, monsters and weirdos tend to be getting in the way. With some surprisingly dark themes for a cartoon about off-brand Care Bears, it's not a bad little [[Heroic Fantasy]] series.<br />
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'''[[Gargoyle]]s:''' An [[Urban Fantasy]] series from the 90s, and often remembered as Disney's answer to [[Batman]]: The Animated Series in terms of being the Dark Children's Cartoon of the 90s. In Iron Age Scotland, a castle-town is kept safe from marauders and raiders by their alliance with a clan of [[gargoyle]]s; monstrous humanoids who are living flesh at night and lifeless stone during the day. But the humans fear and distrust their protectors, which leads to a series of betrayals that sees the gargoyle clan all but exterminated and the survivors frozen in stone by a magic spell. 1000 years later, a manipulative genius billionaire breaks the spell, just to see if he can, and the gargoyles are released to make new lives for themselves in modern day Manhattan. <br />
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'''Treasure Planet:''' The last traditionally animated film that Disney ever produced and a passion project of the two guys behind the Disney Renaissance, which turned out to be an expensive flop due partially to being released against some [[Harry Potter|''massive'']] competition. Storywise it's... well, it's Treasure Island, but set in [[Spelljammer]]. Seriously, if you want to run [[Spelljammer]], or even just a [[steampunk]] [[Sword & Sorcery|Sword & Planet]], watch this movie; it's pure inspiration.<br />
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'''Zootopia''': A police story set in a city populated by animals. If you think it's full of furries, well yeah. It also put a lot of thought about the logistics of how a society where anthropomorphic elephants, wolves, rabbits, foxes and shrews would live and work.<br />
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'''TRON''': Literally [[Netrunner]], in that Netrunner and virtually every other "we '''ARE''' programs in a computer" setting is inspired by TRON. Despite other franchises doing the "in a simulation" idea, the aesthetics of TRON remain the visual shorthand for what a raw computer-verse would be like. It's best to leave it at that and not dig too deeply into the actual plot and setting, which fall apart under any scrutiny; it's just an aesthetic, one which Daft Punk were really, really into.<br />
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== Fun Facts == <br />
*Between on-set pyrotechnics and fireworks shows, Disney is one of the leading purchasers of explosives after the US army.<br />
*Disney Theme Parks are designed with the intent of maximizing pleasure. For example, trash cans colors and service doors are painted in a shade of color that is unnoticeable or forgettable. Disney may hate the lore of their franchises but they take their theme parks dead serious.<br />
*Until 2022, Disney World could manage its own entire county in Florida due to legislation that was enacted there almost half a century ago, meaning that is the closest we have yet gotten to a corporate government since the East India Company in India. This is because when Walt was alive, he originally intended to build what he called the “Experimental Prototype for the Community of Tomorrow,” a full-on planned city with advanced-for-the-time transportation networks with an attached industrial park field-testing the latest consumer products. So Bioshock but with less water and Ayn Rand. Now it’s just parks, hotels, and other overpriced amenities.<br />
*Walt Disney actually played a role in NASA's founding; in the 1950s, Wernher von Braun was having difficulty convincing the US Government to fund a civilian space program with the goal of eventually landing on the moon. So, he collaborated with Walt to appeal directly to the American public, by using Disney's TV access to present his proposals for space exploration and generate interest in the field. NASA was formed three years later, with Braun and his team brought on as rocket engineers.<br />
*Walt Disney once considered St. Louis as a possible site for Disney World, but he eventually settled on Florida, most likely due to the year round warm weather.<br />
*Walt Disney moved from Chicago to California to establish himself as an animator. Chicago was an early hub of film production in the early 1900s, but the weather and economy of California resulted in most people moving there, and Disney was among them.<br />
*(Almost) nobody has ever died at a Disney theme park. Mysteriously, people who suffer severe accidents, allergic reactions etc. at Disney parks always manage to avoid being declared dead until the moment their cooling corpses cross the property boundary.<br />
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== See also==<br />
*[[Disney 40k]]<br />
*[[Disney Villains Victorious]]<br />
*[[Dreamworks]], a competitor (kinda, they're practically a [[monopoly]])<br />
[[Category: History]]</div>JOKTWWEJK