Bat'leths & BiHnuchs

Bat'leths & BiHnuchs ("Swords & Cowards") was a tabletop RPG board game in which players took on the roles of Klingon warriors about to go on the greatest adventure of their lives. The game was developed by the Ferengi and had multiple expansion packs. Players could also purchase further content à la carte or with subscription passes offered through the Ferengi black market.

The game setup included a board, 20-sided dice, Klingon figurine playing pieces, and a PADD on which the host, an unauthorized facsimile of a famous Klingon such as Martok or Gowron, would determine the flow of the game based on the die rolls of each player. The end goal of the game was for the player to die in a way that would be considered honorable.

In 2381, Ensigns Beckett Mariner, Brad Boimler, D'Vana Tendi, and Sam Rutherford played the game together. (LD: "The Least Dangerous Game")

The game was offered at a Wadi recruitment booth on Tulgana IV later that year. (LD: "Reflections")

Example of game play[]

Introduction:

HOST: "Ah! The blood of my enemies is forever immortalized on my d'k tahg. I can still taste their final panicked screams. My death will be ecstasy. A glorious end that will take me straight to Sto-vo-kor. I have honored my house, but will you? How many soldiers in the Klingon Empire will be proving their toduj?"
PLAYER(S): "Four!"
HOST: "I heard... four. And so begins the greatest adventure of your lives. You will all die on this quest, but will you do it with honor?"

Turn 1:

PLAYER 1 (rolling die): "Come on, natural 20."
HOST: Qapla'! "You've rolled an 18, which means the petaQ is frozen in fear by your battle cry."
PLAYER 1: "Okay, while he's cowering, I strike him down with my mek'leth."
HOST: "Your blow landed. But his brother swears revenge. Reinforcements are on their way."

Turn 2:

PLAYER 2: "I punch my own chest, excited for more foes to vanquish."
HOST: "Your battle chest punches fail to boost your stamina."

Turn 3:

HOST: "Warrior, you discover a shortcut through the Caves of T'rachmor. Do you enter the darkness?"
PLAYER 3: "No way. I'm not trying to get cave killed. I'll stay on the path."
HOST: "Ah! Ambush by House of K'toh-maag! You beg for your life like a biHnuch and live out the rest of your days not as a warrior but as a dentist."

Later:

HOST (to PLAYER 2): "You eat breakfast and gain plus-three stamina!"
...
PLAYER 3: "I confidently enter the bar and demand blood wine."
HOST: "The bartender rips your arm off and kills you with it. It is not an honorable death since, technically, you have died by your own hand."

Ending:

HOST: "If you'd like to continue, download the expansion pack, Dinner with Lady Lindor. You can subscribe to the entire honorable season by tapping here or purchase your worthy adventures à la carte. Ferengi black market tax not included. All sales final."

Background information[]

The game is a take on the classic tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons. However, it also incorporates elements of the Star Trek board game, Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Klingon Challenge, which was an interactive VHS board game that took place on the USS Enterprise-D. [1] The game included taped instructions and interactions with a Klingon named Kavok, who had commandeered the Enterprise and was taking it to Qo'noS. It was up to the players to stop him before he starts a new conflict with the Federation.

The Klingon letters on the game sign are those created by the KLI, and which were used in several series since 2017. When converted to the orthographic system used in The Klingon Dictionary, the words read betleHmey bIHnuchmey je.