Et tu, Maquis?
Deep in season six, the Federation negotiated a treaty with the Cardassians, ceding territory inhabited by former Federation citizens who then refused to be resettled and began to resist both powers. Those rebels took the name of a French resistance cell from World War II: The Maquis. In this proposed series, the players would be the crew of a Maquis ship, a de facto independent guerrilla cell in the fight for independence.
Contents
Tone
This is something that could be determined by the players. Will it be gritty action, pitting the crew against enemies who were once friends, doing whatever it takes to succeed? Or, might it be an idealistic crusade, looking to save innocent lives against blind imperialism?
One strength of a series such as this is that there are a plethora of options for creating a very malleable series. The game could evolve based on the decisions and actions of the characters. Given that the canon never resolved the issue, we could have great freedom to shape the universe into something of our own.
System and Power Level
I can see three good options for this game, but as always, alternate suggestions are welcome. The tone will be an important consideration for which system works best.
Hero System 5th Edition
Having discovered the fan made Hero pdfs, the Hero system is a viable selection. I am impressed with the level of detail and information within. The Hero system would do an especially good job with a series based on characters of many races and with an action packed tone.
The power level could be anywhere from 150-175 points.
GURPS Prime Directive, 4th Edition
Like Hero, GURPS Prime Directive would be a good choice for an action packed series. Since it is Prime Directive and not Star Trek, there may need to be some tweaking to get canon races like the Cardassians and Bajorans created. The internet buzz is that GURPS does a better job at human level action, and we have never played a GURPS game, so it could be a nice change.
Power level for this system would be Veteran, 150 points.
Decipher Star Trek
This is what we have used for all of our previous Star Trek games. It works pretty well at the nuts and bolts of Trek, but is lackluster at action. This may be able to be remedied with a little ingenuity.
Setting
The action would be based in the former demilitarized zone between the Cardassian Union and the Federation. The characters would have freedom of movement, and the entire universe would be in play, but much of the action would be close to home.
One important consideration is, are all of the members of the cell from the same home world? This could develop a good bond between them, all fighting for the same home soil.
