John Connor: Temporal War Criminal

Future John Connor from Terminator 2

The basic conceit of the Terminator franchise is that John Connor, leader of the human resistance is this great hero who is protecting humanity from Skynet. Even going as far as sending agents back in time to try and alter events to keep the Terminators from existing.


But is John Connor truly this great leader?  At least that's what the loyal resistance fighters of the future say about him. They have lived in a world of total war for years and John Connor seems to be the only glimmer of hope they have. As a result they are fanatically loyal and more than willing to lay down their lives for him. Kyle Reese's devotion to him is quite evident in his numerous monologues in the first Terminator movie.

All we have really ever seen of John Connor is younger man who finds himself propelled steadily closer to his eventual future. By a large degree, it is John Connor's future self that is manipulating events though his proxies in the first two movies. Even worse, in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chrocnicles it's clear the manipulations of both Skynet and the Resistance extend much farther than just John's existence. Both sides are engaging in a time active war against each other and it seems the more both sides change the past the more inevitable Judgement Day becomes.


By sending Reese and the second Terminator back in time, he pretty much ensures the very future of blood soaked death and destruction through predestined paradox. Without Kyle to impregnate Sarah, there is no John Connor, who never becomes the resistance leader Skynet must seek out before he is born, and thus their Terminator never falls into the hands of Cyberndyne Systems and the technology that creates Skynet never exists. The John Connor of the future must be aware of these facts when he arrives at the point where he must send Reese off to become his father.

Yet he chooses this path, and the world suffers for his decision. The war can be prevented by John Connor, if he chose to sacrifice his existence which was never meant to be.  More than a few writers have made Christ comparisons to John Connor,  but his future actions make it clear he is no savior of mankind. He is it's damnation by fire, and it is clearly a conscious action on the his part since he did it repeatedly.

Random NPC: Mavlor

Since it is close to Halloween, I thought at least one classic monster themed write up was in order. Since Doctor Who has already had multiple flavors of vampires, werewolves, mummies, and at least one Frankenstein's Monster, it seemed Universal's classic Creature from the Black Lagoon seemed like an appropriate addition.


Mavlor, the Gill Creature of the Dark Basin
Recently awoken Silurian


Mavlor is a member of a Silurian subspecies that was much more amphibious than most of their cousins (Sea Devils excepted.) They lived in and around swampy estuaries and deep river backwaters.

Like the rest of his people, Mavlor went into hibernation when the planetoid that would become the moon came close to the Earth, threatening their survival. When he awoken in the middle of the 20th century, he found he was the only one of his community to survive the millennia.Thinking himself alone, he resigned himself to a solitary life deep in the Amazon. He was aware that the ape creatures they used to keep had become these humans now roaming about. Mostly he's ignored them, the locals are fairly primitive and seem to fear him.


Though recently, some scientists from far away have come up the river looking for the so called "Fish Man". Mavlor is uncertain whether he should try and talk with these humans, or just try and frighten them off like the locals.


Awareness  4 Presence 4
Coordination 4  Resolve  4 
Ingenuity 3  Strength 5

Traits
Alien, Environmental (Amphibious), Natural Weapons (claws) , Alien Appearance [major], Weakness [minor-cold], Last of My Kind

Skills
 Athletics 4 (AoE: Swimming) Convince 1, Fighting 4, Knowledge 3, Medicine 2, Subterfuge 3, Survival 4, Technology 1

Movie Review: History of Future Folk

The History of Future Folk is a low budget indie sci-fi comedy that's been screened at various film festivals and recently came out on DVD and VOD. It's a charming little movie  based around a fun and quirky idea.


The story revolves around General Trius (Nils d'Aulaire) the most decorated warrior of the planet Hondo. He has been sent to Earth to unleash a deadly plague that will wipe out the human race and allow the Hondorians to colonize. 

When Trius lands on Earth, he discovers music, a concept completely alien to Hondo. Falling in love with music and the planet that created it, he chooses not to go through with the planned destruction. He marries a human, gets a job and starts playing bluegrass at a local club. 

Later, when the Hondorians send an assassin to try and deal with their renegade, Trius uses the power of music to sway his would be killer named Kevin (Jay Klaitz) to his cause. Soon they join up to become the Alien Bluegrass Folk Duo Future Folk.

While the movie is clearly low budget in an almost classic Whovian manner, the charm of the story and the characters make it a fun ride in spite of the limitations. Did I mention the music? Yes, the original songs by the duo are quite fun. Here are the guys in character singing "Space Worms", it does very well to sum up the nature of the movie.

From a gaming perspective, I could easily see having the Hondorians and a younger General Trius as a recurring villain in your campaign. He's a competent soldier and his advanced technology could be a threat. In general he might be played less outright villainous like the Sontarans and much more of the dedicated soldier doing his duty. When he suddenly turns up on Earth as a musician, it ought to make the players really wonder what the heck is going on.

Book Review: Star Trek: From History's Shadow by Dayton Ward

From History's Shadow might remind a lot of Doctor Who readers of David Bishop's Who Killed Kennedy. Both stories serve to tie together a number of plot threads into a cohesive continuity.

While the original crew is part of the story, it's the parallel tale of Captain James Wainwright that really drives events. He was a minor character in the Deep Space Nine episode "Little Green Men" where the Roswell incident is the result of the Ferengi accidentally time travelling to 1947. Wainwright becomes part of Project Blue Book and throughout the 50's and 60's has run ins with the other time travelling incidents in Star Trek lore.

The book in general has an X-Files feel to it. With Wainwright and his partner Allison Marshall playing Mulder and Scully as they try to track down a group of time travelling aliens who are trying to interfere with Earth's history.  They also have to deal with the lack of support from the military and government, who regard Blue Book as a waste of time.

Gamers running a period Torchwood or UNIT campaign would find lots of interesting ideas out of this book. It plays heavily with the Temporal Cold War idea that was introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise (and honestly making it much more interesting here than the show ever did.) It's feasible the Temporal Cold War might be an extension of the Last Great Time War into the Star Trek Universe. And the book providing a look at events both through the eyes of locals trying to grasp what is happening and the time aware agents who are trying to alter events to their own advantage.

Star Trek Week: Troi and Guinan

Ship's Counsellor Deanna Troi

Deanna Troi was a half-Betazoid, half-Human Starfleet officer. Under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, she served as ship's counselor aboard the USS Enterprise-D. As a half-Betazoid, Troi was capable of extra-sensory empathy, but was incapable of reading aliens with brain structures dissimilar to Humans and other Betazoids, such as the Breen and the Ferengi. Like most Betazoids, Troi had telepathic abilities; due to her half-Human heritage, however, the range of her telepathic abilities were limited compared to full-blooded Betazoids, and could usually only read the thoughts of other Betazoids, most notably her mother. Troi's empathic skills made her an important asset to the Enterprise and often came in handy when dealing with hostile races. Since she could usually tell if others were lying, she repeatedly proved herself invaluable in many suspenseful situations.

ATTRIBUTES (20)
Awareness    3   Coordination 3
Ingenuity     3     Presence  4
Resolve        4    Strength 3

Good Traits (8)
Alien,

Attractive
Charming
Empathic
Psychic
Psychic Training
Telepathy

Bad Traits (-8)
Code of Conduct-Professional Ethics (minor)
Emotional Complication-Former Relationship with Riker (minor)
Distinctive
Obligation-Starfleet (major)
Obligation-To her patients (minor)
Weakness-Telepathic abilities very limited, mostly empathic feelings, and some non-human species were unreadable. (major)

Skills (22)

Convince 4 (Area of Expertise: Negotiation)

Fighting1
Knowledge  4 (Area of Expertise: Psychology)
Marksman  2
Medicine 2
Science 2
Subterfuge 2
Survival 1
Technology 1
Transport 1

Story Points 12
Tech Level 7

Guinan


Guinan was the mysterious bartender in Ten Forward, the lounge aboard the USS Enterprise-D. She was well known for her wise counsel, which had proven invaluable many times. She was an El-Aurian, a race of "listeners" who were scattered by the Borg. Q, however, once suggested that there is far more to her than could be imagined.

Guinan came aboard the Enterprise-D in 2365 at Captain Picard's personal request. Guinan and Picard shared a long-time relationship, which, according to her, went "beyond friendship and beyond family", although she also claimed to have only met Picard after boarding the Enterprise.

ATTRIBUTES (23)
Awareness  3      Coordination 3
Ingenuity  4        Presence  6
Resolve  4          Strength 3

Good Traits (5)
Alien
Immortal
Experienced
Feel the Turn of the Universe

Bad Traits (-5)
Distinctive
Insatiable Curiosity
Eccentric-
Obligation-The Enterprise Crew (major)

Skills (24)
Athletics  2
Convince  5
Craft  3

Knowledge 5
Marksman 5
Subterfuge 2
Survival  2

Story Points 9
Tech Level 7

Star Trek Week: Doctors Crusher and Pulaski

Continuing with the Star Trek: The Next Generation Write ups, I'm doing a double feature with the two women who served as  the ship's Chief Medical Officer; Dr. Crusher and Dr. Pulaski.



Dr. Beverly Crusher

Dr. Crusher was appointed chief medical officer of the Starship Enterprise-D in 2364, and joined the ship at Farpoint Station with Wesley, reporting on board on stardate 41154. Picard initially had reservations about her presence, but she assured him that the past would have no effect on her duties and she had no problem serving under his command.

Crusher was offered a position as head of Starfleet Medical in 2365 and left the Enterprise during that year. She was replaced by Dr. Katherine Pulaski. While at Starfleet Medical, she worked with the notorious Lieutenant Commander Calvin Hutchinson. Crusher found it difficult to be away, however, and decided to return to the ship the following year.

Beverly and Jean-Luc maintained a close friendship while serving on the Enterprise-D, usually sharing their morning meal together. Beverly usually tried to serve a new and exotic food, although she and Jean-Luc both preferred something simple. Their relationship stayed platonic for the most part. They considered one another close friends, and would give each other advice when dealing with difficult decisions. 

ATTRIBUTES (21)
Awareness  3      Coordination 4
Ingenuity  4        Presence  3
Resolve  3          Strength 3

Good Traits (6)
Attractive
Experienced (x1)
Rank (Starfleet Commander)
Voice of Authority

Bad Traits (-4)
Code of Conduct-Doctor's Oath (minor)
Emotional Complication-her relationship with Captain Picard (minor)
Obligation- Starfleet (major)

Skills (25)

Convince 3
Craft 3
Knowledge 4
Marksman 2
Medicine  4
Science 4

Technology 3
Transport 2


Story Points 9
Tech Level 7

____________________________________________

Dr. Katherine Pulaski

Prior to serving on the Enterprise-D, she serves on the USS Repulse under Captain Taggart, who was sorry to lose her. Kate is a fairly traditional doctor, well versed in methods that her nurses consider archaic, such as splints. She has a cool bedside manner, and is known to prescribe "PCS", also known as "Pulaski's Chicken Soup", for minor ailments.

She is outgoing and much more bubbly and louder than the quiet, reserved Beverly Crusher. She also has a high-spirited nature and is known to be very charming toward most of the crew, while at the same time she likes to make humorous or even slightly sarcastic remarks every now and then. In short, she very strongly possesses a lot of archetypically "human" personality features.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard's working relationship with Dr. Pulaski is somewhat strained, and at the beginning of her service on the ship, her stubborn, brusque manner annoys him at times. Pulaski has some "personality" issues with Lieutenant Commander Data. Despite the fact that Data has always been seen as alive (and later won the legal rights of a sentient being), Pulaski thinks of Data merely as a machine, and does not understand why he wants to be human. She sometimes speaks about him in the third person while he is present, even referring to him as "it".

ATTRIBUTES (21)
Awareness  3      Coordination 3
Ingenuity  4        Presence  3
Resolve  5          Strength 3

Good Traits (8)
Brave
Charming
Experienced (x2)
Indomitable
Rank (Starfleet Commander)

Bad Traits (-5)
Argumentative
Code of Conduct- Doctor's Oath (minor)
Eccentric-strong willed, technophobic (minor)
Obligation- Starfleet (major)

Skills (26)
Athletics 1
Convince 4
Knowledge 4
Medicine 4
Science 5
Subterfuge 3
Survival 1
Technology 2
Transport 2

Story Points 6
Tech Level 7 

____________________________________________

Starfleet Medical Tricorder 

The palm sized medical tricorder used by Starfleet medical staff is an invaluable tool in helping analyze and diagnose the ailments that afflict the crew might encounter.

The tricorder comes with a small, detachable sensor that can be waved over the body of the patient to get a thorough examination.

 

Traits: Scan, Skill (Medicine), Restriction (Can only scan life forms)

Story Points: 1

Star Trek Week: Worf and Yar

Lt. Commander Worf
Worf was born in 2340 on the Klingon homeworld as the son of Mogh. Five years later, his parents moved to the Khitomer colony. Worf's parents were killed during a surprise attack by the Romulans on the Khitomer outpost. The colony's distress call was answered by the Federation starship USS Intrepid. Chief Petty Officer Sergey Rozhenko found Worf in the rubble and took him in after failing to find any living relatives. Rozhenko and his wife Helena raised him on a small farm colony on the planet Gault, a world of about 20,000 inhabitants, almost all of them human.

In 2364 Worf was assigned to the USS Enterprise-D as relief flight control and tactical officer with the rank of lieutenant junior grade  The next year he was made Acting Chief of Security following the death of Natasha Yar, even though he believed that a promotion due to the death of a comrade was not honorable  The next year he transferred to operations division and was formally made Chief of Security.

Awareness   4     Coordination  4
Ingenuity     3     Presence  4
Resolve       4    Strength  6

Good Traits
Alien, Brave, Voice of Authority, Rank (Starfleet Lt. Commander) Tough, Never Gives Up (major) Martial Artist, Experienced (x1)

Bad Traits
Adversary-House of Duras (minor) Alien Appearance, Argumentative, By the Book, Distinctive, Eccentric-Stoicism (minor), Impulsive, Obsession-Restrain his Klingon nature (minor) Obligation-Starfleet (major) Obligation- To his House and the Klingon Empire (minor)

Skills
Athletics
Convince
Craft
Fighting 4 (Area of Expertise: Bat'Leth)
Knowledge
Marksman 4
Medicine 1
Science
Subterfuge 2
Survival
Technology
Transport



Story Points 9
Tech Level 5

Distinctive Features:  Klingon Brow ridges, scowling demeanor

_______________________________________________

 Lieutenant Natasha Yar

 Tasha was born in 2337 on the failed colony world of Turkana IV. Her sister, Ishara, was born five years later. Both of their parents were killed shortly following Ishara's birth, after which they were looked after by "some people" for a few months who later abandoned them, leaving Tasha to care for them both. Tasha had to avoid rape gangs and terrible violence just to scavenge for the bare necessities of life, such as food.

 Tasha managed to find a way off Turkana IV in 2352 by the age of fifteen. Ishara and Tasha never saw one another again. Tasha began to attend Starfleet Academy soon after her escape. Tasha credited Starfleet for saving her from her previous life.  She joined security because of the lawless environment in which she grew up.


Awareness   4     Coordination 3
Ingenuity     3     Presence  3
Resolve       3     Strength  3

Good Traits
Attractive, Brave, Crack Shot, Rank (Starfleet Lieutenant) 


Bad Traits
Impulsive, Obligation-Starfleet (major)

Skills
Athletics 1
Convince 1

Fighting  3
Knowledge  2
Marksman  4
Medicine  1

Subterfuge 2
Survival 3
Technology  2
Transport  2

Story Points 12
Tech Level 5

Distinctive Features:  Athletic, reserved nature,