4 DND Tips from Star Trek TNG’s Sixth Worst Episode | TNG The Child (video)

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Dungeons and Dragons Tips from Star Trek: The Next Generation

According to IMDb, with a rating of 5.8, that episode is “The Child.” It originally aired on November 21, 1988, and is the Season 2 premiere. Counselor Troi is impregnated by an alien entity that unwittingly puts the Enterprise in danger.

The premise of this episode is the stuff of nightmares. I can’t really believe I’m saying this, but it is the best of the “Troi is assaulted” episodes, in my opinion. We find yet again that Troi is put into a passive role instead of an active one where she would be able to use her abilities and training.

For all the controversy surrounding this episode because of the premise, it is absolutely pivotal to the series. There was a sizable budget increase from Paramount. Director Rob Bowman went out of his way to capture creative shots throughout the episode. Geordi is made Chief Engineer. Dr. Pulaski and Guinan both join the series. We get updates like better chairs for ops and conn. The pinstripe detail on the horseshoe support behind the captain’s chair is such a small change, yet it had an incredibly powerful visual impact on all of the shots of Picard in the command chair. And of course, we cannot forget the beard.

Dungeon Master Tip Number One: Recycle Material

TNG the child D&D tips

Recycling material is always a viable option for dungeon masters. “The Child” was a script written for Star Trek: Phase II, a TV series that was supposed to be produced in the late ’70s but morphed into Star Trek: The Motion Picture. As game masters, we probably tried running something years ago that didn’t work. Run it again and fix the mistakes. Borrow heavily from books, movies, and TV shows for ideas to use in your campaigns. Real history can be mined for ideas. You can see my series of interviews here on YouTube about just that. Now, there is a good side to recycling and a bad side. TNG took a script that no one knew about and reworked it. That was good. However, Dr. Pulaski’s character was a recycle of Dr. McCoy. That was bad because we all knew and loved Bones. It was too obvious.

Dungeon Master Tip Number Two: Connect A and B Storylines

The entity, Troi’s pregnancy, and the child Ian all comprise the main storyline. The Enterprise carrying samples of a deadly plague to be used in scientific research is the B storyline. However, these two storylines converge because Ian is giving off a certain kind of radiation that threatens to release the deadly samples. Bringing the two storylines together brings completeness to the narrative. We can do the same in D&D. Say your main campaign is that the characters need to defeat a necromancer minotaur and his undead army. Let’s say one character in the party is searching for their long-lost sister. Those two storylines should converge at some point. If the minotaur has captured the sister or the sister is now its wicked high priestess, player engagement soars. The two storylines cross, and interest increases.

Dungeon Master Tip Number Three: New Character Introductions

In “The Child,” two new characters are introduced: Dr. Pulaski and Guinan. Both introductions are handled well but in different ways. Dr. Pulaski is introduced so that Picard doesn’t think she is doing her job, and he operates under that assumption until there is a reversal. He realizes she is doing her job and doing it well. Guinan’s introduction happened off-screen, and now everyone knows her, but still has questions about her background. As DMs, we should, of course, try to think of creative ways to introduce new characters. However, we have the problem of a person sitting around not doing anything until their character is introduced. Sometimes it’s better to just say a character has joined the party off-screen, so to speak. Other times, a more elaborate introduction can be crafted. Once, when I was a player in a Star Trek campaign, we had paused a session after my character, the captain, and the doctor found a person being experimented on in a secret lab. A friend asked to join the campaign. The GM said they were welcome to join, but their character had to be the person on the lab table. Our friend agreed, and it was an awesome introduction.

Dungeon Master Tip Number Four: Stealing a Character’s Thunder

In D&D, characters tend to be specialists. There’s the character who is the archer. There’s the swordsman. There’s the deceptive character, the smart one, and so on. And it works well because each gets to shine at some point. Now, I know in real life Frank Herbert had some wisdom about how specialists are dangerous, but in RPGs it is different. In “The Child,” as was mentioned, the character of Guinan was introduced. Troi and Guinan are both listeners. They are both sounding boards that help people solve their problems. The introduction of Guinan robbed Counselor Troi’s character of that role and made it even more difficult to use her in episodes. Anytime people had a problem, they could now go to a therapist or a person who acted like an old friend. Don’t do that to your D&D players. If a new character is joining the party, make sure they do not step on anyone else’s toes.

That’s four D&D Tips from Star Trek TNG’s sixth-worst episode.

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