The concept is odd, I'll grant that. Vulcans aren't known for being all warm and fuzzy. They shun emotions. Some go through the kolinahr rite to purge the last traces of emotion. Yet, the various Star Trek series have shown Vulcans use an emotional logic of sorts. They tend to rationalize the decision as being logical. Still, the series have shown Sarek with Human wives and protecting his son. Why not have a Vulcan character who wants to learn how other species deal with emotions? If reunification with the Romulans does happen, Vulcan society will have to adjust to take into account that there will be newcomers who don't have the control culture expects.
The life path character creation system should help here. The seven steps, eight if deciding on a concept, help flesh out the player character. I have the concept worked out, and that determines the era as during Star Trek: TNG or later. All the attributes start at 7; all the disciplines start at 1. After the break, one Vulcan psychologist.
Step 1
Choose species. Done, Vulcan. The future engineer picks up the trait Vulcan; +1 to three Attributes, in this case, Control, Fitness, and Reason; and a talent, taking Mind Meld.
Step 2
Environment, or where the character grew up. The future ship's counselor got the idea of studying emotions after seeing how other species behaved, so the best place to be from would be a Starbase, where one or both of her parents served. She gets a Value, a core belief that can help or hinder, and defines it as "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination". She has a choice between Control and Insight to be raised; she takes Insight. There is a choice of disciplines to raise by one, Command, Conn, or Engineering; Command may be the best one as she asserts herself.
Step 3
Upbringing, or what was around the character while growing up. Of the six possibilities, Starfleet fits best given what was decided about her parents above. There is no logical reason to rebel, so the future counselor accepts and sees Starfleet as a good way to expand her knowledge. She raises Control by 2 and Fitness by 1, and raises Medicine by 1. She can also choose a focus, taking Composure, as she works to keep her own feelings in check while still observing others. The budding counselor also gains a new talent, taking Nerve Pinch, since it just feels wrong for a Vulcan to not have it.
Step 4
Starfleet Academy. Welcome to Starfleet, time to learn a career. Medicine falls under the Sciences, so that's what she takes. Being in Medicine, she raises that discipline by two and Command and Science each by 1. She's starting to see a career for after Starfleet as a diplomat. She also gains a value based on her education, taking "Knowledge is the beginning of wisdom, not the end." She also raises Reason, Insight, and Presence each by 1. For her three focuses, she takes Psychiatry, Linguistics, and Computers. Wrapping up her time at the Academy, she takes the Quick Study talent.
Step 5
Career. For a change of pace, I'll take Experienced Officer, on the same level as characters like Kirk, Sulu, Riker, Worf, Paris, and Archer. An officer who has served in Starfleet with distinction with many good years still ahead. The counselor gets a value, taking "To boldly go," and a talent, taking the Command talent, Advisor.
Step 6
Career Events, or what has happened during the counselor's career in Starfleet. These are random. First event is "Required to Take Command." Something had to go horribly wrong for a counselor to take over a mission. She raises Daring by 1, Command by 1, and gets a focus, taking Lead by Example; she managed to keep the team focused and on task by making sure they could see her doing the same.
The second event is "Called Out a Superior". The counselor had to point out an error a superior made. Given her position, it's possible she determined that the superior was at reduced mental capacity and couldn't rely on himself making proper decisions. She raises Reason by 1, Conn by 1, and gets a new focus, taking Starfleet Protocol.
Step 7
Finishing Touches. Time to make sure that nothing was missed. First, she gets one more value to reflect her career, taking "Emotional logic is still logic," representing what she learned serving among other species. No attribute should be above 12, and her highest is 10. Likewise, no discipline should be above 5, her highest is 4. She now can raise two attributes and two disciplines each by 1, raising Insight, Reason, Science, and Medicine. She has the correct number of focuses, talents, and values, so the character is good to go. Last thing to decide is rank. I was thinking Lieutenant, but given what her career involved, she may have made Lieutenant Commander, so I'll give her that. A GM could tell me to lower it, and I will if asked.
The character made gains in areas I wasn't expecting. I can see V'Lar becoming a First Officer at some point in her career, getting her ready for her own command, even if it's just a hospital ship. That would make for a good stepping stone to become a diplomat later in her life.
The final character sheet:
Name: V'LarComments are welcome. As always, feel free to use the character; just let me know if you do and how it goes.
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Assignment: Ship's Counselor
Species: Vulcan
Environment: Starbase
Upbringing: Starfleet
Academy: Medicine
Career: Required to Take Command, Called Out a Superior
Attributes:
Control: 10
Fitness: 9
Presence: 8
Daring: 8
Insight: 10
Reason: 11
Disciplines:
Command: 4
Conn: 2
Security: 1
Engineering: 1
Science: 3
Medicine: 5
Talents:
Advisor
Mind Meld
Nerve Pinch
Quick Study
Focuses:
Composure
Computers
Linguistics
Lead by Example
Psychiatry
Starfleet Protocol
Values:
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.
Knowledge is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.
To boldly go.
Emotional logic is still logic.
Stress:
OOOO
OOO
OOO
Equipment:
Communicator
Type I Phaser
Tricorder
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