Star Trek: Nemesis

by Rich Redman

This is not a review of the film, nor is it a review of gaming in the Star Trek universe. There are plenty of professional film reviews on the web, and plenty of fan sites for Star Trek RPGs. Instead I'm going to talk about drawing inspiration from the film for your d20 Modern game. There are no spoilers in this document that don't appear in reviews, trailers, or TV commercials.

The Plot

The plot of Nemesis can be broken down this way: An oppressed ethnic group allies with their government's military and takes control of their nation. This group then sets out to reward the military by destroying their greatest foe. Pretty simple, right?

The Villains

Here's where it gets more complex. First, most people sympathize with oppressed ethnic minorities. In order for you to set the minorities up as villains, you must make them worse than their oppression. They must embrace the evils they see everyday and attempt to outdo them as soon as they get freedom, and weapons. I'll talk more about this in Setting, below.

Nemesis also has a villain in the leader of the oppressed minority. Clearly your villains will also need an identifiable leader. He may or may not be a member of the minority. For example, he could be a missionary, medical volunteer or political prisoner who comes to identify so strongly with the oppressed that he rises to become their leader.

Setting

Certain parts of our world have reputations for volatility, oppression, and military juntas. Specifically I think Africa and South America have that reputation; however there's nothing stopping you from setting the game in Central or Southern Asia. Many nations in these regions consider the United States to be their greatest enemy.

I strongly advise you to create your own small country in the region of your choice. Base it on an existing country if you like. That stretches disbelief less than deviating from real current events, because once you stage this junta, you've changed events in an existing country from that point forward. This country may simply be a splinter from an existing country, as Pakistan was once part of India and separated over many differences, including those of religion.

Your new country has a government whose strength is drawn from the military. Perhaps the President for Life at the start of the game was a general who promised to change the country's direction in ways more advantageous to the military, or who promised to resume more traditional social norms (which often involve freedom to oppress ethnic or tribal minorities).

Your new country also has an oppressed minority. This minority may be distinct because of tribal, ethnic, or religious differences from the majority. The minority does all the physical labor in the country, while the majority works in management and leadership roles. Napoleon said the best schools for soldiers were hard living, deprivation, and want, and the minority has them in spades. When your new country decides to go to war on its neighbors, the minority are used as cannon fodder in the most vicious engagements. The minority hates the West because, even though the West knows of the human rights abuses against the minority, it does nothing.

The minority needs a leader who rose to military rank in those same vicious engagements. Charismatic, intelligent, and ruthless, the leader knows he will never receive the recognition he deserves for his tactical brilliance and military accomplishments as long as the majority control the government. His military career gives him personal contacts within the "elite" units controlled and staffed by the majority.

Finally, your new country needs a powerful resource. This could be uranium, an old depot of Soviet nuclear weapons, or it could be extensive biological warfare production facilities. Use your imagination. Perhaps the new country has a cadre of Western-educated computer experts who develop a new cyber-virus. Whatever it is, the resource must be something the minority can use. It should also be something that concerns outside powers, which worry about the country's recent military successes. They each try to woo the government into alliance. Over time, the President comes to see distinct advantages to alliance with the West, despite Western demands for reform.

The military feels the President betrays them. The minority's leader approaches his contacts and offers to lead the nation to new glory and to cripple Western powers. Using his allies within the majority, the leader assassinates the President and other ruling authorities and uses the military to place him in power as the new ruler. Then he sets his sights on the West.

Events

The ruling minority uses whatever resource you established initially against its neighbors, testing the power and applications. This could be a small nuclear device, a biological weapon, a cyber virus, chemical lasers, control of a top-secret Chinese orbital weapon system, or whatever you decide they manufacture from the resource you gave them. Testing may give them access to some other part of the plan. For instance, they may conquer a neighbor in order to gain an international airfield or a sea port. The tests get the attention of the West.

Involving the Heroes

In Nemesis, the leader of the oppressed members of the Romulan Star Empire needs Captain Picard. He plants bait just off Enterprise's course. Picard takes the bait, making Enterprise the closest Federation ship to Romulus when the Federation gets word of a new government that wants to negotiate with the Federation. That sets the hook, and the rest of the movie flows from there. You may have to work a little harder.

All sorts of people may be in the country, from embassy staff and Marine guards to journalists, missionaries, UN representatives, and medical volunteers. These people have support staff like mechanics, computer experts, and drivers. Your heroes may be among them. Your heroes may work for Department-7, or some top-secret Western special operations group.

Alternately, your heroes may be mercenaries hired by the government-in-exile of the conquered neighbor. A diplomat's family may be missing in either your made-up country or the conquered nation, and the heroes are hired to find the missing persons. A friend or relative of the heroes may be missing. Or, of course, the heroes might be laborers in the conquered country and the only people in the right place at the right time with the right skills to stop the mad plan.

Complications

Chances are not everyone will be happy with the minority's rule. The majority won't like having the lash turned back against it. The military finally learn the true scope of the leader's plan, and may decide it goes too far. Such people can be allies of the heroes if treated properly, or their activities may distract the opposition at opportune moments. Plan out conspiracies against the leader so that you can use them when you need to keep the proceedings from becoming smooth, routine, and predictable.

Endings

You must also decide what constitutes a satisfactory conclusion to your adventure. It may be enough to stop the leader's plan, leaving the rest to the UN. Or they may need to assassinate the minority leader and leave the country to find its own destiny. Heroes may need to topple the entire minority government. They may need to install their own candidate for Benevolent Leader.

Conclusions

There's a lot of inspiration in Star Trek: Nemesis. If this kind of story interests you, you might also want to watch Die Another Day, Dogs of War, and The Wild Geese. Good luck and good gaming!

Your Turn

What did you think of Star Trek: Nemesis and Rich's analysis? Let us know in the Opinions section of our discussion boards.