Species: Xahean

THE ORIGINAL SERIES AND NEXT GENERATION ERAS ONLY

The Planet Xahea is relatively new to galactic travel, having successfully developed warp drive in 2257. Warp travel actually caused some upheaval in Xahean society, resulting in the death of one of their nation’s kings.The Xaheans are an intelligent and spiritual people, and many believe their species was formed at the same time as their world, Xahea. Though Federation scholars generally dismiss the idea, there are some who’ve proposed that the dilithium rich world might have been terraformed, and the Xaheans themselves seeded there by an unknown forerunner.

Reconciling Starship Scale in a Discovery Game

The powers that be at CBS have determined that, for whatever reason the starships in ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ are somewhat larger than ships of that era of Trek were previously.

Specifically the familiar, and much beloved Constitution-class -- including the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 herself -- has been scaled up. Whereas the accepted length of that ship was previously 281 m for the iteration seen in TOS, and 290 m for the “refit” introduced in ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’, the best information at the time of this writing based on the lengths of models puts the ‘Discovery’ iteration of the Constitution-class ships at 442 m.

With that significant a change in size, the question than needs to be asked, what happens to its Scale? In the Core Rulebook, Constitution-class spaceframes are Scale 4, and while it can be difficult to pin down exact sizes for most ships in Star Trek, scaled up to 442 m the DSC Constitution is more in line with ships listed as being Scale 5 in both the Core Rulebook, and the Command Division supplement. Obviously size isn’t the only factor in determining Scale, but generally within the fiction of the series larger ships mean larger drives, and larger drives mean more power for the shields and weapons, and Star Trek Adventures uses Scale as means of representing that.

Though the Constitution-class is the only ship class we’ve seen in both ‘Discovery’ and the previous Star Trek installments, I’m going to assume that if other familiar starships do make an appearance on the show, or any of the other shows CBS intends to produce, they’ll be similarly scaled to maintain relative sizes; it wouldn’t make much sense for McCoy to exclaim how large the USS Excelsior was if the Enterprise was of comparable size.

So then, does the Constitution-class class remain Scale 4, and what that means changes, or does it become Scale 5, and does that change ripple along the entire line, bumping all other ships up in Scale to accommodate the change? Granted, it probably doesn’t matter at this time for most people playing in a ‘Discovery’ era game just how relatively powerful a Galaxy or Sovereign-class ship is, but the Star Trek universe is lousy with time-travel, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that the issue might come up.

My proposal would be to have the Constitution-class and all the subsequently produced starships increase in Scale one step, with all the accompanying changes. Everything that entered service prior the Constitution-class should remain at the established scale from the official rules. So while the ‘Enterprise’ era NX-class would still be a Scale 3, the Defiant-class introduced in the TNG era would not be a Scale 4. Obviously this wouldn’t apply to the Scale 1 and 2 small craft, which would remain the same regardless of the service date.

Spaceframe: Crossfield Class

ENTERED SERVICE: 2256

OVERVIEW: Conceived of as a technical testbed to refine the displacement-activated spore hub drive invented by Federation scientists Stamets and Straal, the Crossfield class was developed with science and experimentation at the top of mind. That mission became even more critical when war with the Klingon Empire erupted the same year the first prototypes (the USS Glenn NCC-1030 and USS Discovery NCC-1031) entered service, and Starfleet became desperate for any possible advantage.

Starhip Talent: DASH Drive

REQUIREMENT: 2256 or later, Science 3+

The vessel is equipped with displacement-activated spore hub drive, an organic propulsion system enabling a starship to travel to any point in the cosmos spanning mycelial network, virtually instantaneously.

Equipment: Field Vest

Starfleet personnel entering potentially hostile situations are outfitted with field vests. Made from lightweight materials, and designed to allow for freedom of movement the vests are not as sturdy as the bulkier armor sometimes worn by security teams, but still offer a measure of protection, possibly preventing lethal injuries.

Equipment: Holographic Targeting Helmet

(Opportunity 2)

A device only rarely seen aboard the bridge of Federation starships due to the specialised training required to properly operate, the holographic targeting helmet creates a virtual reality representation of the local space surrounding a vessel. The user can interact with this VR environment to monitor the theatre of operations.

Weapon: Bayonet

A short blade designed to be affixed to the barrel of a rifle or similar weapon for use during close combat, bayonets allow ranged weapons to be used effectively in melee as well.

Species: Kelpien

THE ORIGINAL SERIES AND NEXT GENERATION ERAS ONLY

Native to the planet Kaminar, Kelpiens have two distinct stages of development. Young Kelpiens are risk averse, and possess heightened senses. After undergoing a biological process called vahar'ai they loose their extra-sensory threat ganglia, and a natural spine launcher grows in their place. On their homeworld, they were kept ignorant of the wider galaxy by a religion imposed upon them by the Ba'ul, a technologically advanced species which harvested Kelpiens until Starfleet intervened. The Ba'ul also protected the Kelpiens from other predator species on Kaminar, like the t'rrask. Living peacefully, Kelpiens established villages near lakes and other bodies of water where they maintain kelp farms. Kelpiens are taller on average than most species, and tend towards leanness.