Klingon military...
- Thread starter Targ72
- Start date
Well I don't think we've ever seen any non-Klingon combatants in the series at all but I'd say there must be because of all the planets we've heard about that they've invaded! Actually we haven't but it's been hinted at during TOS and Day of The Dove specifically! Unless the Klingons like invading planets and then giving it's inhabitants a life of luxury? 
JB
JB
But why have people from planets you have subjugated in your military?
If those people were worthy, they would have defeated you in battle.
Having them serve could mean one less place for a Klingon to gain honour through battle
Never allow those you have subjugated to gain access to technology that they could learn to turn against you..
If those people were worthy, they would have defeated you in battle.
Having them serve could mean one less place for a Klingon to gain honour through battle
Never allow those you have subjugated to gain access to technology that they could learn to turn against you..
Well I don't think we've ever seen any non-Klingon combatants in the series at all but I'd say there must be because of all the planets we've heard about that they've invaded! Actually we haven't but it's been hinted at during TOS and Day of The Dove specifically! Unless the Klingons like invading planets and then giving it's inhabitants a life of luxury?
JB
More like a life of perpetual slavery in the ever-present dilithium mines. But, nah, some Klingons are good people.
Well what about collaborators like Apella who was promised a Governorship in the Klingon Empire? Maybe there are others out there that wouldn't have minded commanding a Klingon Warship?
JB
JB
In real life it does happen. Historically, conquered or subjugated people have been used as foot soldiers or cannon fodder.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Slave_soldiers
Doesn't The Final Reflection say that subject races can serve in the military? In the current novel continuity, subject races serve as slaves on Klingon ships doing menial work.
C
C57D
Guest
To my knowledge, (having read the excellent "The Final Reflection" about ten times over the decades ) it is not directly mentioned that non Klingon servitor races serve on starships. But, in the FASA Klingon campaign that I ran, a wide range of such individuals served in supporting roles in science, engineering and commumications.
And servitors in TFR certainly serve in plantside technical roles.
Also a Klingon RPG gives the ideal opportunity to introduce non "humanoid with bumpy heads" aliens into the game.
TFR showed felinoids, a species who called themselves the Willall who "flooped" and were like "putty sculptures, pale and colourless", a winged humanoid and an unamed species with "spindly legs and arms" "turret head" "covered all over with smooth black fur".
Good luck with your campaign, and I recommend TFR for ideas and atmosphere, even though it is soooooo totally non-canon these days !!
And servitors in TFR certainly serve in plantside technical roles.
Also a Klingon RPG gives the ideal opportunity to introduce non "humanoid with bumpy heads" aliens into the game.
TFR showed felinoids, a species who called themselves the Willall who "flooped" and were like "putty sculptures, pale and colourless", a winged humanoid and an unamed species with "spindly legs and arms" "turret head" "covered all over with smooth black fur".
Good luck with your campaign, and I recommend TFR for ideas and atmosphere, even though it is soooooo totally non-canon these days !!
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As @Christopher has pointed out, it makes more sense for the conquering Empire to conscript the conquered peoples. That's what real-life empires have done. It would be logistically difficult for the Klingons to maintain a Klingon-only military force to keep conquered worlds in line.
Kor
C
C57D
Guest
Making the assumption, based on equal (nay, carbon copied) tech, that Klingons had been in space for around the same length of time as Humans (so a century or two by TOS time) then how does one planet's population find enough people for ship crews, troopers, ship builders, colonists etc to achieve and maintain a good sized Empire? Surely trusted and trained janissaries are the only solution?
They haven't, they've been in space far longer.
C
C57D
Guest
Yeah I am vaguely aware of an idea of them having been slaves of some spacefaring race (sorry can't recall the name), working on that race's ships and then rebelling or some such, but never discovered where that originated. But, my personal headcanon never subscribed to that.
According to Disco, first contact between the Klingons and Vulcans happened around 2016 or so.
Who says the Gorn were friends of the Klingons? In the show it is assumed that the Gorn took no further hostile action against the Federation for trespass into their territory while the Romulan/Klingon alliance is a sore point for many posters on here it seems!
JB
[Kruge]"We are Klingons!"[/Kruge]
And even they failed to establish the Hur'q as slavers and oppressors, or even conquerors. Their reputation was one of pillagers in the aired works. Only the novels have suggested a prolonged Hur'q occupation that allowed the Klingon slaves to learn the secrets of their masters' fantastic space technologies (an idea that precedes the Hur'q in Trek novels - Barbara Hambly called her version the Karsids).
And may well have been the one that prompted the Vulcan adoption of the Prime Directive, which we see in use in ENT and later adopted as a UFP policy. The 2016 meeting could well meet Picard's specs on the "Klingon first contact" he speaks about in the TNG episode "First Contact": it would have been "centuries ago", apparently did directly lead to a violent confrontation, and might well have gone better had a policy of covert surveillance been in place at the time.
Of course, others would have contacted Klingons, too. And many a Vulcan may have fallen victim to such a contact before Vulcan the planet learned of the existence of Klingons, hence John Ford's tharavul could have preceded 2016 by a long margin (just like human "prizes" in Klingon games precede official human/Klingon first contact in that book).
As for non-Klingons in the Klingon military, strict segregation would easily explain our failure to see any. But we have seen time and again that looks aren't important to Klingons. Or, rather, that looks are fluid to Klingons; the one thing constant about them is that they always look different. Even specific individuals alter their looks across or within a Trek series. We might just as well decide that since Klingons go for body modification big time, a mandatory step in the process of an alien enlisting in the Klingon military machine is that he, she or it undergoes surgery to become Klingon, in looks at least!
Timo Saloniemi
The cool thing is, after 2016, two major events happened in Klingon and Vulcan history.
The Vulcans adopted an overtly militaristic stance, spying on Andorians, providing high levels of oversight to humans, and overall being ruled (partially?) by an Administrator of the Vulcan High Command. The Forge trilogy implies that this is all recent events, which, due to a Vulcan lifespan, could mean the last 150 years.
The Klingons had even more upheaval. According to advocate Kolos and Doctor Antaak (both old Klingons, probably over 100), the warrior class became more prominent, making other ways of life seeming dishonorable or unnecessary. Most importantly, the position of Emperor was abolished at some point in the 21st century, despite being in existence for 1100 years.
I propose that the events in the history of both polities (becoming more militaristic, shedding their old style of governments) stem from the same cause. The 2016 contact and subsequent Vulcan hellos.
The Vulcans adopted an overtly militaristic stance, spying on Andorians, providing high levels of oversight to humans, and overall being ruled (partially?) by an Administrator of the Vulcan High Command. The Forge trilogy implies that this is all recent events, which, due to a Vulcan lifespan, could mean the last 150 years.
The Klingons had even more upheaval. According to advocate Kolos and Doctor Antaak (both old Klingons, probably over 100), the warrior class became more prominent, making other ways of life seeming dishonorable or unnecessary. Most importantly, the position of Emperor was abolished at some point in the 21st century, despite being in existence for 1100 years.
I propose that the events in the history of both polities (becoming more militaristic, shedding their old style of governments) stem from the same cause. The 2016 contact and subsequent Vulcan hellos.
C
C57D
Guest
It seems shame that we have wondered substantially off topic. As a fellow ST RPG Gamesmaster, I would love to hear and discuss more about the OP's planned Klingon campaign.
We get sooooo few ST RPG threads here so shame to wander off one of the very few.
We get sooooo few ST RPG threads here so shame to wander off one of the very few.
