I love the inclusion of Liberated Borg and I have big ideas for a campaign! That being said, there is one thing I have a concern about: Cortical Node. It’s one thing to have Borg Drones that are immune to pain and fear, but to have player characters that are? Fear is something that is great for roleplaying, and removing a way for players to emote is not a good idea IMO. It is a very attractive option for all of its benefits, which is why I am concerned that many will take it, thus limiting roleplaying opportunities. Beyond that, 7 of 9 has the ability despite there being a number of instances where she obviously felt both pain and fear. I think they should definitely have a reduction to fear/intimidation/pain related tasks, but to be entirely immune is simply unprecedented in canon.
I know I can just house-rule it to only grant an advantage in such situations, but this game is important to me and I want it to be the best it can be, which is why I’m bringing this to your attention. Thank you for your attention.
It is odd that the game book would state that borg have no fear at all. There are many instances where the borg actually show fear…for instance after incountering species 8472, as well as liberated borg like 7 of 9 showing fear when memories are brought back to her…even those that are not hers. I think the liberated borg “critical node” should really play very similar to the already instagated “Vulkan kholinar” (i might of spelled that wrong) the only difference is that instead of being only being available to Vulkans you can now use it with other races
Sorry, but I see it exactly the opposite way. Fearless characters have been part of Star Trek from the very beginning (well, if you ignore “The Cage”), Spock was absolutely fearless, then TNG had Data who needed an upgrade to feel fear which he later learned to turn off. If anything the problem is that STA has so far been too stingy with fear immunity. Jem’hadar got it, but neither Vulcans nor Soong-type androids (not being able to feel emotions is mentioned in their trait, but no explicit fear immunity). And yes, it makes complete sense for Borg. Borg are never afraid. If they attack the first two or three always die to enemy fire before their shield adaption kicks in, still no Borg drone would let another go first when ordered to advance. Yes, they knew Species 8472 could beat them, but they had no problems with sacrificing entire cubes to protect Voyager while it was carrying their weapons research, you’ll never see a Borg ship fleeing at warp speed from danger broadcasting distress calls. I don’t remember everything Seven ever did but the time she manifested other personalities, including scared ones her implants were malfunctioning big time.
Teal Deer: Fearless characters are part of Star Trek, if your players want to play them let them.
First off, the Vulcan trait quite rightly says nothing about Vulcans being unable to feel emotions since they do feel emotions like anyone else, including fear. Their trait does mention that they work hard to suppress their emotions, which would naturally provide them an advantage to resisting fear. Secondly, the Soong-type Android trait says that they don’t naturally have the capacity for emotions and that they require additional hardware to experience emotions, meaning they do have fear immunity unless they have an emotion chip. You are correct about the Borg proper, but Seven most definitely experienced fear. She had eremophobia, which is common to Borg separated from the collective. She also flat out admitted fear of the unknown. Don’t mistake extreme bravado for fearlessness.
Data is the only truly fearless main character from any Star Trek series. Every other playable species should be capable of fear.
I would make a house rule that rather than be immune to fear and pain they are highly resistant like a Vulcan. It seems more fair for the game, and more faithful to the source material (the shows and movies).