Quick Analogues for Traveller Races

Mithras

Banded Mongoose
My son knows Star Trek. I wondered if I could compare some of the Spinward Marches races to Star Trek races to enable him to get a thumbnail 'idea' of what their like.

Would the Aslan be fairly (and roughly) compared to the warrior Klingon race?

In the same vein, even with or without Star Trek (!) how best could I get across the Zhodani society, the Sword Worlds society and the Darrians? I need a thumbnail comparison, and leave the details to be built up in play.

Note he won't be playing these aliens.

:)
 
Probably Caitians for Aslan barring the fact Caitians aren't that savage!

Would Kzinti apply?

Zhodani closest analogue would be the Vulcans at least in so far where logic and limited where psionics go.

I wonder for the Darrians would you go as far as Star Wars and the Chiss?
 
The closest analog in Trek to the Aslan would indeed be the Klingons. It isn't really close, but it is as close as you'll get. While too close a parallel gets you in trouble, the Aslan are nonetheless somewhat Feudal Japanese. Lords, familial obligations, and honor.

The Zhodani are tricky, as they have elements of several Trek groups. They are as honest as the Vulcans, but not stoic. They will have the matter-of-fact attitude of the Next Gen Federation, frankly, except there will be more telepaths. They will view Imperial humans like the Federation views the Ferengi or even the Romulans: squabbling, untrustworthy, and mentally unstable. Imperials will view them as several guest aliens on Next Gen viewed Troi: meddlesome mind readers with no compunctions about reading anyone.

For the Sword Worlders I can't really think of any Trek group that fits. If your son is old enough, I'd hand him the original inspiration for them, H. Beam Piper's "Space Viking" (I was reading SF by 11, if that helps).

The Vargr are another tough one, if only because they are too close to home. Another Klingon type, though from a different aspect of the Klingons than the Aslan. The Klingon tendency to follow and be attracted to success is very Vargr, as is the tendency to walk into a place of power and loudly declare your intentions, your successes, and your sheer bravado in the hopes of gaining support.

Despite all the words spent on them, the Darrians are still a bit of a personality mystery. They are not Vulcans, pointy ears aside.
 
If we extend a bit beyond Trek and allow some serious stereotyping from the average Imperial's viewpoint:

Aslan - TNG Klingons, but with more defined gender roles. (Men fight and lead, Women fix and discover.) Warriors obsessed with Honor and such, some on the Worf-ish side but most like the other TNG Klingons. Remember that Aslan consider Humans to be *capable* of Honorable Behavior, but they're not going to be friendly without the characters doing something to ingratiate themselves.

Vargr - Space Pirates! (Yar! Avast ye mateys!) Less dangerous than Aslan if only because they aren't organized enough to have huge fleets and armies, and won't stay in a fight they're not winning. Vargr will also respect a particular impressive show of force, possibly even befriending players afterwards if the players don't kill too many of their friends. Vargr are also just "normal folks" living around the Imperium, and those guys are going to be like anyone else, though it might still be fun to make them talk like pirates. :)

Zhodani - Space Nazis or Space WWII Japanese as portrayed in movies. This isn't fair to the Zho (or the Japanese for that matter), but that's how Imperials would see them. Authoritarian, menacing, intolerant and culturally homogeneous. Use them as "black hats", and rehabilitate them later if your campaign goes that way.

Darrians - "Space Elves" in the "Lord of the Rings" mode. The Darrians most players will run into will seem like some of those arrogant scientists from TNG, like the guy with the new warp theory who was with "The Traveler". Darrians are way more curious than LoTR elves, and should generally be seen out on science missions or peddling high tech goods.

Sword Worlders - Romulans with a Norse flavor instead of a Roman one. (It's all Huscarls and "By Odin's Beard!" instead of Centurions and Praetors.)

Traditional/Cultural Vilani - Maybe Betazeds without the telepathy? These guys are generally steeped in tradition and ritual, which you can play for some laughs. Most Imperial humans seem to have gravitated away from the ritualistic behavior of Vland and gone more towards Terran style mercantilism. You could introduce situations with extreme traditionalists who serve many course meals with intricate etiquette rules and opulent surroundings for a change though. If you're familiar with Firefly, the character Inara seems to me to be very Vilani in her application of ritual to her profession. (In fact, the cultural difference that character has with the rest of the entire settings seems very reminiscent of the Vilani to me - a respected relic of another age; not practiced by any but a select few, but known about and respected by everyone.)

Droyne - these guys are going to be hard to deal with. I'd say they're like B5 Vorlons. Mostly they don't interact with others, and when they do it's cryptic or possibly badly translated. ("Black is the suede that hears the future." "Huh? So do you want to buy this laser pistol or not?")
 
Squinting my eyes up and disastrously force-fitting yielded:
Aslan: Klingon
Darrian: Vulcan
Zhodani: Romulans
Sword Worlders: Andorians
Vargr: Orions
Hivers: Organians
Droyne: Preservers

:)
 
I have to agree with what is being shared so far, but Vargr = Orions?

I don't really make the connection. The Vargr just don't have a good analog in Star Trek as far as I can see.

Mind you I really dig the Vargr and their (pardon the D&D alignment reference) Chaotic Neutral, pack oriented, charisma hungry nature!
 

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How about the Kazon tribes from Voyager?

That's a pretty good one, actually.
The scattered pack mentality is the important attribute to bring out. However, a lot of Vargr are more sociable than the Kazon (provided you're not rich, or they're not bored, or whatever...) - I always got the impression the Kazon would shoot you for no better reason than they had guns and you were in line of sight.

Droyne are an odd lot, again they don't match anything exactly.
 
Vargrz said:
I have to agree with what is being shared so far, but Vargr = Orions?

I don't really make the connection. The Vargr just don't have a good analog in Star Trek as far as I can see.

Mind you I really dig the Vargr and their (pardon the D&D alignment reference) Chaotic Neutral, pack oriented, charisma hungry nature!


Ha. Well, the topic starter said it was for his kid and he said "thumbnail". I thought the view-from-a-distance approach was appropriate. Superficial appearances aside, the Orion seem like a sort of very loosely organized pirate-y nation and it seemed like a fair enough fit for Vargr, certainly no worse than Aslan and Klingon :) Additionally, I thought it was better to stick with the TV races instead of the expanded canon and so played it safe.
 
When you put it that way (Orions as a pirate nation) it does make sense. Weren't the Orion viewed as sort of passion driven instead of rational? That would probably fit too, come to think of it...
 
I don't know much about Orions or Andorians. My Trek is limited to all TOS, all TNG and all Voyager. And sporadic episodes of Enterprise.
 
The Orions (with their green slave girls) and Andorians (blue, with antennae) appeared in one episode each in TOS. I thought the Andorians got a bit more attention in Enterprise, but since I saw almost none of it...
 
GypsyComet said:
The Orions (with their green slave girls) and Andorians (blue, with antennae) appeared in one episode each in TOS. I thought the Andorians got a bit more attention in Enterprise, but since I saw almost none of it...

Yes, they where in Enterprise more then they where in TOS.
 
locarno24 said:
Droyne are an odd lot, again they don't match anything exactly.
Neither do any of the others. Aslans are kinda, sorta like Klingons, except for the differences, but the match is not very good. Same for the other analogies.


Hans
 
Wasn't there a Cat Creature on the crew of the Enterprise in the 1973 animated series?

I'll have to see if I can find someone who has them. When I was 10 and these were brand new (boy do I feel old), I seem to remember liking them.

Mithras, they might be cool to show your son...
 
Vargrz said:
Wasn't there a Cat Creature on the crew of the Enterprise in the 1973 animated series?

Lt. M'ress was a Caitan. IIRC a couple others were mentioned either in the series or in the novelizations (also worth tracking down). When Larry Niven adapted a story of his for the series he imported the Kzinti, who were explained as a cousin race to the Caitans. This is why SFB has the Kzinti, as the SFB universe draws from TOS and TAS. SFB also added another related race, the Lyrans. In relative appearance and demeanor, the Caitans are domestic cats, the Kzinti are tigers, and the Lyrans are lynx. Supposedly, the vaguely feline being spotted in the crowd at Kirks trial at the end of ST IV was not identified as any of the previously known races.

TOS = The Original Series
TAS = The Animated Series
SFB = Star Fleet Battles
 
Personally, I would use Ferengi for the Vargr, given the emphasis on Charisma and personal success.

Hope That Helps,
Flynn

:)
 
Ferengi for Vargrs? It doesn't match for me.
The Ferengi are to business oriented and organized. Money is too important to them. They might trade prestige for gold, where a Vargr would gladly sacrifice gold for prestige...
 
I am starting to watch the Star Trek Animated Series (on Netflix).

Interesting how many strange aliens seem to pop up! Clearly the animators realized that they could do more than live action could back then (1973).

The show is almost 40 years old, and I think it holds up well. It reminds me of the original Johnny Quest (although not quite to the animation level).
 
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