I have been working on my own Amalgam Universe, which at first started out to be three franchises, just for fun, and has now morphed into a monster containing 200+ (I lost count some time ago). Doing maps for it is kinda my thing, which is how it began, but then I started taking notes on how to blend the stuff together canonically, as well (in other words, write or rewrite as little of the canon as possible in all settings, so that most of what fans already know remains 'true'). The base for this project is Star Trek, and the idea is to bend the lore of other settings around it. But while I am at it, I have developed a 'prime canon', with proto-concepts, that I can then extend forward into each franchise (because believe it or not, there are many similar themes running through all IPs, even non-scify ones). And I have also decided to 'clean-up' some ST-only lore... I hesitate to say "make better", but that's the intent, anyway. If Moderators think this would be better served in the 'Fan Productions' forum, then so be it, and feel free to move it. I just feel like this definitely falls more under 'fan-fic', since the finished product goes well beyond just Star Trek. Plus, I really want feedback on this stuff, to see if I am on the right track.
So, for your viewing pleasure, one of my entries from my notes -
Ocampa (ST) -
The word 'ocampa' means 'those who are not ready' in ancient Organian, back when that species had a spoken language. When most of the Organians had reached a sufficient level of enlightenment they decided to 'ascend' as a culture, a small portion of the population found themselves unable to do so. A situation arose where the the 'Ocampa' resented their brethren, and for the sake of both, they relocated their kin to a distant world which also became know as Ocampa. The current Ocampans have no knowledge of these ancient events. When the Nacene arrived - another group that were pre-ascent - they studied the Ocampans in hopes of learning about the Organian ascension. Unfortunately, the secret defenses left in place on Ocampa reacted badly to the Nacene's attempts to circumvent them, and a chain-reaction destroyed the planet's ecosystem. Had the Nacene not interfered with the Ocampans, many of them probably would have ascended by now. Ocampans removed from Ocampa tend to live longer, so it seems logical that their environment was also changed by the Organians to affect them, which could explain why that same environment collapsed when the Nacene messed with the Organian tech.
Behind the Scenes: The pylons left by the Organians had a three-fold purpose; to protect the inhabitants from extraplanetary threats (sentient or otherwise), transform the once-barren world into something more livable, and lastly, speed up the evolutionary process on Ocampa, both to help terraform it faster, and to give the inhabitants a better chance to ascend on their own. This had the side-effect of shortening the Ocampan's lives. When the Organians realized what the Nacene had done by damaging the pylons, they took the Nacene under their wing, helping them achieve their own ascendance, but also imposing a punishment on them that they needed to take care of the Ocampa. Two volunteers accepted their fate, and the rest 'moved on'.
So you can the gist of my approach - not really changing the canon, so much as adding to it in such a way to make it work better, IMO. Thus, if you were to use this setting to run an RPG, everything the players know about Ocampa from Voyager still holds true.
So, for your viewing pleasure, one of my entries from my notes -
Ocampa (ST) -
The word 'ocampa' means 'those who are not ready' in ancient Organian, back when that species had a spoken language. When most of the Organians had reached a sufficient level of enlightenment they decided to 'ascend' as a culture, a small portion of the population found themselves unable to do so. A situation arose where the the 'Ocampa' resented their brethren, and for the sake of both, they relocated their kin to a distant world which also became know as Ocampa. The current Ocampans have no knowledge of these ancient events. When the Nacene arrived - another group that were pre-ascent - they studied the Ocampans in hopes of learning about the Organian ascension. Unfortunately, the secret defenses left in place on Ocampa reacted badly to the Nacene's attempts to circumvent them, and a chain-reaction destroyed the planet's ecosystem. Had the Nacene not interfered with the Ocampans, many of them probably would have ascended by now. Ocampans removed from Ocampa tend to live longer, so it seems logical that their environment was also changed by the Organians to affect them, which could explain why that same environment collapsed when the Nacene messed with the Organian tech.
Behind the Scenes: The pylons left by the Organians had a three-fold purpose; to protect the inhabitants from extraplanetary threats (sentient or otherwise), transform the once-barren world into something more livable, and lastly, speed up the evolutionary process on Ocampa, both to help terraform it faster, and to give the inhabitants a better chance to ascend on their own. This had the side-effect of shortening the Ocampan's lives. When the Organians realized what the Nacene had done by damaging the pylons, they took the Nacene under their wing, helping them achieve their own ascendance, but also imposing a punishment on them that they needed to take care of the Ocampa. Two volunteers accepted their fate, and the rest 'moved on'.
So you can the gist of my approach - not really changing the canon, so much as adding to it in such a way to make it work better, IMO. Thus, if you were to use this setting to run an RPG, everything the players know about Ocampa from Voyager still holds true.
