Hey all! I thought I’d take a wee breather from my own world and head back into Star Trek Adventures again this week for Tabletop Tuesday, with the first of a quartet of species I fleshed out for my group playing their way through the Shackleton Expanse campaign put out by Modiphius. Based on a throw-away line from Deep Space Nine about an organization Worf is considering joining after the destruction of the Enterprise-D—”the Nyberrite Alliance”—I bring you the first of the species involved in that alliance, and the ones for whom the alliance took its name.

Nyberrite

TOS ERA ONWARD

The Nyberrite homeworld is located close to Romulan space in the Beta Quadrant, and is a Class O planet with 81% surface ocean with a single, closely gathered cluster of landmasses  denoting a fairly “early” state of continental drift. The Nyberrites evolved from amphibian ancestors, though they’re humanoid, with heads about half again as wide as most humanoids. Their broad, rounded, smooth head shape is somewhat reminiscent of Earth turtles, with long nostrils bearing nostril-flaps, widely-set eyes, and barely visible ear-holes. Their blue-grey skin contains whiter or silvery spots and stripes that tend to repeat down family lines, and the majority sport residual chin-barbels capable of aiding in scent and taste (especially while submerged). Their fingers and toes are webbed, and while they are capable of breathing air for extended periods of time without ill effect, most prefer to spend at least some of their day in water, usually swimming, especially communally with familial, romantic, professional, or platonic groups.

These groups form the basis of their society, and outsiders might find the ways Nyberrites bond a little confusing, as it’s not unusual for any given individual Nyberrite to consider their friends, co-workers, romantic partners, or biological family as the singular most important group in their life, and as a whole their society doesn’t favour any one sort of group over another, just the value of being connected to others. This means one Nyberrite might have an extended biological family with siblings, children, and cousins, while another might spend most of their time among a group of childless experts of stellar cartography that work together on a regular basis. Neither would be considered unusual or preferred behaviour. 

This Nyberrites tendency leads them to be generally community-oriented and to enjoy intellectual pursuits, and they have better-than-average spatial awareness and mental acuity when it comes to three-dimensional thinking, owing to their ancestry and propensity for enjoying life in water. Their technological progression as a species took longer than the average in part because of their consistent awareness of potential environmental and sociological impact—as a result, Nyberrites had a slow growth into and through the industrial period, but without much of the environmental damage most species withstood—and when they reached the stars with their initial low-warp vessels, their first encounters were with Romulans. The Nyberrite’s careful, respectful reaction to finding others in space led to tentative nonaggression from the normally paranoid and territorial Romulans.

As Nyberrites met other species, their tendency to neutrality came to the fore, especially as they encountered the Balduk and the R’ongovians, who had similar views, as well as the Federation and the Klingons, who seemed to the Nyberrites to be much like the Romulans in their propensity to destabilize through conflict. This caused the Nyberrite to become the central impetus in the formation of the eponymous Nyberrite Alliance. Their initial organization was formed with the R’ongovians and the Balduk and has since been joined by other independent worlds in Beta Quadrant space such as the Halee, and while as a whole the Nyberrite Alliance are not quite as technologically advanced as the Federation, each of the species work together and their overall collective technological capabilities are about on par with the Cardassian Empire or the Ferengi. 

However, most important to the Nyberrites—and the Nyberrite Alliance as a whole—is the neutrality they maintain, which has led to generations of peace even when wars strike those aligned with the Klingons, Federation, or Romulan people. The Nyberrite Alliance’s neutrality comes in part from the Balduk having mutual respect from the Klingons, the R’ongovians having ongoing diplomatic relationship with the Federation, and the Nyberrites themselves having a trade relationship with the Romulans. None of the involved governments want to risk the access and relationships they have by upsetting any of the others. 

Within the Nyberrite Alliance, the Nyberrite provide much of its scientific and logistical acumen. The largest of the Nyberrite Alliance facilities exist within the Nyberrite system itself—its functional headquarters, the significant training facilities, and a shipyard where a significant portion of the Alliance ships are built. Beyond scientists and technicians, Nyberrite pilots are particularly valued for both their ability at the conn and their tendency to form close bonds with the rest of their crew.

EXAMPLE VALUE: In all things, respect the group’s balance.

ATTRIBUTES: +1 Control, +1 Reason, +1 InsightTRAIT: Nyberrite. Nyberrites are functionally amphibian, capable of holding their breath for a significant amount of time while underwater, and are particularly graceful in liquid environments (a skill which translates to Zero-G and Low-G environments as well). Their eyes are just as capable of vision underwater thanks to secondary eyelids, and their vestigial chin-barbels offer them sensitivity to particulates in water much like a sense of smell and taste combined. Their larger, rounded skulls and widely-set eyes in larger-than-average eye sockets give them a wider field of vision than many humanoids. Their sense of hearing, however, is less acute out of water. Many Nyberrites complain of discomfort if they spend more than a few days out of water—but even a liquid shower can alleviate this issue, though the majority prefer to actively swim. Nyberrites generally don’t handle extended periods of solitude well, as their psychology lends itself to communalism, much like Grazerites or Denobulans.TALENTS: The character receives access to the following talents, and would also qualify for the “Three-Dimensional Thinking” Talent from the Lower Decks sourcebook, or “Underwater Acrobat” from the Animated Series sourcebook:AT ONE WITH THE OCEAN

REQUIREMENT: Nyberrite, or gamemaster’s permission.

Nyberrites are born underwater, and spend much of their lives swimming. As such, while swimming or in zero gravity environments, or holding their breath, characters with this Talent gain a bonus d20 on any task related to moving while underwater or in a Zero G environment, or to function while holding their breath (be it underwater or otherwise). 

NATURALLY COMMUNAL

REQUIREMENT: Nyberrite, or gamemaster’s permission.

When providing assistance on any Task, a character with this Talent doesn’t count when determining the Complication Range increase from more than two or more individuals working on a single task. For example, if a Nyberrite with the Naturally Communal Talent were to assist two humans on an Engineering Task, the Complications would only occur on rolls of 20, despite there being three individuals working on the Task, which would normally increase the Complication Range to rolls of 19 or 20.

NAMES

Like Bajorans, Nyberrites list their communal or group name first, followed by their given names; the specific epiglottal-like sound denoted by an apostrophe in their given names is difficult for other species to imitate, and many Nyberrite individuals shorten or adopt a simpler name for those they might respect and know well with whom they might be on a given-name basis. Their communal names often refer to bloodlines, fields of study, or locations. A Nyberrite community name might mean “descendents of M’T’Nit” (by using the prefix “Kish-“); or be “Oletta,” the Nyberrite word for “peacemakers”; or something as informal as “Ril-Orrif,” meaning “friends who swim in the Orrif river.” 

Male Names: O’R’Vost (“Voust”), P’Q’Yolt (“Yoult”), Q’Q’Qolt (“Koult”)Female Names: M’T’Nit (“Neet”), M’V’Sil (“Sheel”), V’R’Yin (“Yeen”)Nongendered Names: S’S’Wyn (“Wen”), S’W’Vys (“Vess”), V’Q’Myl (“Mel”)Example names: Oletta M’T’Nit, Kish-V’R’Yin Q’Q’Qolt, Ril-Orrif M’V’Sil.

USING THE SPECIES

In my campaign, fleshing out the Nyberrite Alliance was a way to bring the non-aligned locals in Narendra Station to life, and detailing species involved in the Alliance added some political flavour to the major events of the campaign—especially when the Klingon Empire first dissolved the Khitomer Accords and then later became openly hostile with the Federation. The neutrality of the Nyberrite Alliance can be a resource for players, at other times a frustration or outright impediment, depending on their goals. 

In diplomatic stories, the Nyberrite Alliance is always the neutral option—which can be dangerous during times of conflict such as the Dominion War, where neutrality favours the strongest oppressors. That said, the Nyberrite Alliance has freedoms Starfleet doesn’t—their traders and merchants and ships are at least nominally welcome in Klingon, Romulan and Federation space, which can be useful for missions of mercy and trade alike.

A Nyberrite in Starfleet would be a rare thing indeed, and would be seen as very odd by their own people, which can be a rich source of narrative fodder—what made Starfleet more attractive to someone who grew up in such a communally-minded, staunchly-neutral culture?