The Final Frontier 9

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Text File | 1995-11-09 | 23KB | 529 lines

TF01 3,TNG Card Game - New Rules 4,by Simon Plumbe Star Trek: The Next Generation Customisable Card Game ------------------------------------------------------- New/Updated Rules ------------------- by Simon Plumbe ----------------- While Decipher have obviously done their best to create as good a game as they possibly can, there are a few minor flaws with the game that players have commented on, and there are a number of things that the game doesn't allow for that players would like to be able to do. Because of this, I have spent a large amount of time studying the existing rules and adapting many of them to make play more realistic and more dependent on strategy and skill rather than luck. As well as this, I have devised a new set of additional rules which might enhance your enjoyment of the game. Obviously, you don't need to follow and use all of these rules, but you might be tempted to try a few of them... Away Teams ------------ One of the problems with the TNG game is that there are no restrictions placed on the use of Away Teams. In many games this can lead to players beaming down their entire crew to attempt missions, meaning that most dilemmas can be overcome quite easily. Any dilemmas that have Integrity, Cunning or Strength requirements are made redundant by such large teams. It tends to make winning games more a matter of how many crew you can get on board your ships as soon as possible. The first player to build up a large crew will usually win. As an alternative, Away Teams should be restricted to no more than 6 personnel (plus up to 6 pieces of equipment) and only one Away Team may be beamed per turn. Each mission may be attempted by no more than two combined Away Teams. Put simply, to attempt a mission, you can either beam a 6-man Away Team down and attempt the mission, or wait until your next turn, beam another 6-man team down and attempt the mission with 12 crewmembers. However, once a mission has been completed, the crew can only be beamed up at a rate of one team per turn. If a player has two ships in orbit around the same mission, then Away Teams can be beamed between ships freely and two Away Teams may be beamed to a planet per turn (one Away Team per ship). Banned/Restricted Cards ------------------------- Something which many players are now adopting is the banning or restrictions of certain cards in the game. There are some cards which are so powerful or advantageous to the player that, if not controlled, can allow for one-sided games. The following restrictions can be applied to the game to add a little extra strategy to the proceedings (make sure all the players agree to these beforehand): * Dilemmas - players can include as many Dilemmas in their decks as they wish (as long as they have no more than half of their decks consisting of seed cards) but Dilemmas should NOT be duplicated. * Artifacts - again, players may seed as many Artifacts as they wish subject to deck restrictions, but again these should not be duplicated. This merely prevents players from using some of the more powerful Artifacts that play as Events or Interrupts on several occasions throughout the game. * Particle Fountain - these are normally played after missions have been completed for bonus points. An alternative rule would mean that players may only use ONE Particle Fountain for bonus points per game, although they may include as many in their decks as they wish in order for the card to appear in their hand sooner. * Raise The Stakes - this is optional, but I find that Raise The Stakes is a fairly redundant card. If you are playing against a friend, the chances are you'll only end up giving any cards back that you keep from your opponent, and if you are playing someone who isn't such a great friend, it can only lead to heated arguments. An alternative is that the loser could agree to buy the winner a Booster Pack or two. * Other cards - in order to prevent one player having too great an advantage over another, the following cards should also be restricted to one per deck: Events:- One of each Espionage card "Kivas Fajo - Collector" "Red Alert" "Res-Q" "Static Warp Bubble" "Supernova" "The Traveller: Transcendence" "Warp Core Breach" Interrupts:- "Kevin Uxbridge" "Palor Toff - Alien Trader" "Q2" Adapted Cards --------------- One thing that I have discovered during play is that there are some cards that are either too powerful or their meanings are either unclear or are disadvatageous to players because they haven't been explained properly. Because of this, I feel that a number of cards should be slightly adapted and their effects changed slightly to make gameplay a little more balanced. * Alien Parasites For this Planetary Dilemma, normally if an Away Team is unable to pass this, the Away Team beams up and the opponent immediately gains control of the ship and its crew and control does not revert to the original owner until the crew/ship is stopped. To make things fair on the owner of the ship, whoever takes control MUST use the ship to attempt missions on every turn. Any missions that are completed in this way will earn points for the controller of the ship, but if stopped, the original owner gets their ship back. This prevents the situation occurring where a players ship is just left stranded in orbit around a planet with no way to regain control over it. * Two-Dimensional Creatures This Space Dilemma is one of the few cards that normally has a long-lasting effect on the game. The ship affected is unable to move until SCIENCE and ENGINEER present and it stays on the ship permanently, disabling all empaths. Instead of this, it would be better to place a duration for the effect of the card, with the card being discarded from the ship after 5 full turns. * Horga'hn As with the Two-Dimensional Creatures, if this card is allowed to remain in play for the duration of the game, it virtually guarantees that the owner of the card will win the game. Instead, again it should be restricted to last for 5 turns and then be discarded. Obviously, if a player obtains another Horga'hn in their hand, then this can be played at a later date. The restriction is necessary as it is the ONLY Artifact to have a permanent effect on the game and has no counter-measure. * Genetronic Replicator This card has caused more than a few disagreements amongst players over when and where the card is able to save the lives of characters. Normally, while in play, the card prevents characters from being killed on Away Teams if two MEDICAL are present. Generally, this should be adhered to, but in situations where cards state that more than one crew member or entire Away Teams are killed, then the card should only have an effect on ONE character. Looking at the episode "Ethics", the Genetronic Replicator was able to save INDIVIDUAL lives, but it was not able to affect entire crew or multiple crew members simultaneously. * Emergency Transporter Armbands If you are using the restricted Away Team rule described earlier, then the same restriction should apply to this card. Put simply, when this card is brought into play, it will only be able to transport a MAXIMUM of 6 crew before the card is discarded. Reincarnated Cards -------------------- Another optional rule you may wish to bring into play is one that affects cards such as Res-Q and Palor Toff - Alien Trader. For cards such as these that allow the player to select a card from their discard pile and return it to their hand, restrictions should be made on which cards can and can't be reincarnated to prevent players from becomming too powerful. Again, this will force players to be more careful when using such cards, knowing that they can only be used ONCE per game. The following cards, therefore, should be restricted so that they can not be reincarnated: Res-Q Amanda Rogers Kevin Uxbridge Palor Toff - Alien Trader Kivas Fajo - Collector Ships ------- As you are aware, all ships have a minimum crew requirement before they can be used, each needing a pre-determined number of Command and Staff ability crewmembers. To make the game a little more realistic, when using Away Teams to attempt Planetary Missions, each ship must STILL have the minimum crew requirements on board in order for the ship to function properly. This just adds a little extra strategy when players are selecting their Away Teams, because some crew MUST remain behind. Shuttles ---------- For those playing with the Federation affiliation, two of the ships cards are smaller vessels, namely the Runabout and the Type VI Shuttlecraft. A minor rule alteration will allow players to transport these smaller ships on board larger vessels in the shuttlebays. Obviously, not all the Federation ships are the same size, so the following MAXIMUM storage capabilities come into play: Excelsior Class - 2 shuttles Galaxy Class - 4 shuttles, 1 runabout Miranda Class - 1 shuttle Nebula Class - 3 shuttles Oberth Class - 1 shuttle For added realism, the maximum number of crew allowed on board any Shuttlecraft at any one time should be no more than 6 and the maximum for a Runabout should be 12. Obviously, when these smaller craft are used, they need to be crewed as specified. Also, these craft can be used to land on the surface of planets, avoiding the use of transporters. However, while attempting missions, players are not allowed to use Transporters AND Shuttles. This avoids players sending 6 crew in a shuttle and six in an Away Team therefore negating the Away Team size restriction mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, not enough technical data is known on the other affiliations to adapt these rules, although because a Shuttle (specifically the Yridian Shuttle) is part of the Non-Aligned set, then the other Non-Aligned ships should also be able to carry one or more of these on board. The number of shuttles that any ship may carry is set out as follows: Combat Vessel - 1 Yridian shuttle Husnock Ship - 4 Yridian shuttles Mercenary Ship - 2 Yridian shuttles Zibalian Transport - 3 Yridian shuttles Again, as with the Federation Shuttlecraft, I would suggest that the Yridian Shuttle should hold no more than 6 crew at any one time. Outposts ---------- During the initial seeding of the spaceline, players may only seed ONE Outpost for each affiliation they control, although additional Outposts may be played later on during the game. Originally, the game allowed Outposts to be constructed on any mission (as long as it it of a matching affiliation) at any time during the game. However, again to add more realism to the game, to construct an Outpost you MUST have at least 2 Engineers present AND 2 ships present for 2 full turns. These ships and the Engineers can do nothing for those turns, although any other crew may form Away Teams and attempt missions. The idea for this is to give a more realistic representation of the time and resources needed to construct an Outpost - the 2 ships represent the amount of materials that need to be transported for the Outposts construction. Federation-Initiated Attacks ------------------------------ One thing that the rules doesn't allow is for players who are playing the Federation affiliation to make the first move in any battle. The Federation is the only affiliation that is restricted to retaliation actions only. They can attack other vessels/Away Teams, but only in defence. However, in past episodes of TNG, Federation ships HAVE initiated attacks so I have developed a new rule which allows players to do just that. As you are aware, each ship has a minimum crew requirement before it can be used comprising of a number of Command Ability and Staff Ability crew. Based upon these ship requirements, a Federation ship may attack another if it's minimum crew ALL have the Treachery skill. For example, to use a Galaxy Class vessel in an unprovoked attack, you would need one Command Ability crewmember with Treachery and two Staff Ability crew, again with Treachery. For ships with no minimum staffing requirements, for these to attack first they must have at least one crew member of either Command or Staff Ability present with Treachery. For Away Team combat, a Federation Away Team may only initiate a battle if the crewmember leading the Away Team has both Leadership (if there is no Officer present) and Treachery and AT LEAST one other character in the party has Treachery as well. Three Player Game ------------------- This is the most complicated of all of the new rules we have created to take into consideration. It is not simply an adaptation of the existing rules to allow three people to play, but more of a new game altogether. To be honest, the game really needs four people - three as players and a fourth to act as referee and scorekeeper. The fourth player is optional, but it makes life a lot easier and can help settle disputes with relative ease. The three player version incorporates the other rules alterations mentioned above, along with a few new twists to the gameplay. It also adds a new dimension to the game from a strategic point of view as players have to cope with not one but two opponents. The Deck -------- Each player uses a 100 card deck. Out of this, 10 are missions (one from each player MUST be a mission suitable for all three affiliations), and at least 1 outpost. The remainder of the deck is left to the player's discretion, although it must adhere to the rule that no more than 50% of the deck can consist of missions, dilemmas, outposts and artifacts. Also, because all of the cards will be laid out facing the same way, players MUST keep a record of what cards they are using and what cards are in their decks so that they can be returned to their rightful owners at the end of the game. The Spaceline ------------- As with the normal two-player game, players take it in turns to seed the spaceline, although it does not follow the normal linear design, instead using the pattern below. Although this is more complex and a little more difficult to set out, it does offer more variety in the gameplay and offers players more scope in where they actually go. There is no restriction on where missions can be placed, but the centre location MUST be a mission that is suitable for all three affiliations. The spaceline should be laid out like this: X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XXX X X X where each "X" represents a mission card. Outposts should be located on the outer rim of the spaceline. This just makes life easier when positioning ships and personnel at outposts, rather than trying to squeeze all the cards into the centre of the spaceline! An added option is that the referee can also seed cards into the spaceline, planting dilemmas and artifacts to help and hinder the players. I would recommend that the referee seeds one dilemma under each location, and seeds artifacts in multiples of three. Obviously, because of the circular design of the spaceline, certain cards in the deck become redundant or need their functions altered, namely the Event card "Where No One Has Gone Before" and the Dilemmas "Female Love Interest" and "Male Love Interest". With "Where No One Has Gone Before", it is simply a matter of ensuring that no player has one of these in their deck (it won't be of much use to them if they do!) and with the love interest cards, these will send players to the opposite side of the space line to a location determined by the referee. Alternative Spaceline --------------------- Instead of using the above Spaceline, a few other alternative designs are listed below. Please note that some require the players to seed a different number of missions to the standard spaceline shown above. 1. 11 missions per player XXXXXXX X X X X X X XXXXXXX X X X X X X XXXXXXX 2. 10 missions per player XXXXXXXXXX X X X X X X X X X X XXXXXXXXXX This spaceline obviously has a higher dependence on the use of Wormholes and ships with long ranges. It could theoretically lead to players creating a territory around their Outposts and defending it vigourously. 3. 9 missions per player X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XXXXXX XXXXXX For this design, each player must locate their initial Outpost at one of the three corners of the spaceline. Player Alliances ---------------- With three people playing, there will always be the tempation for two players to team up and attack the other player. Understandably, this can be more than a little unfair, so a small restriction should ideally come into play. Instead of allowing Alliances to be formed just by players talking to each other, a couple of conditions should come into play, namely: * Both players must have the appropriate Treaty cards in play. For example if one person is playing Federation, the other Klingon, then both players need to have the Treaty: Federation/Klingon card in play on the table. * Secondly, in order for the inital Alliance to be formed, one of the players must have one of their ships stop at the other players Outpost. Once the ship reaches that Outpost, their turn ends and the Alliance between the two is formed. Obviously, if a card such as The Devil is brought into play, then this will nullify any Treaty in play. For Alliances between Federation, Klingon, or Romulan and a Non-Aligned crew, Treaty cards are unnecessary, but a stop at an Outpost is required. Also, such Alliances are only temporary, lasting for a duration of no more than 5 turns. For alliances between players controlling the same affiliation, alliances should be allowed, but again the restrictions should apply that exist for Non-Aligned in that an Outpost must first be visited and that the alliance will only last for 5 turns. Winning The Game ---------------- Obviously, the existing system of the first player to reach 105 points seems a little pointless - with 30 missions to play, there are far more points available than that in the spaceline. A suggested score target would be 250 points, or set a time limit (a minimum of two hours is suggested for a game of this size) and the winner would be the one with the most points after this. Referee Interaction ------------------- This is a more advanced option that can be introduced once players (and the Referee) become familiar with the three-player format. Basically, it allows the Referee to play cards during the game from his/her own deck against the other players! For this rule expansion, the referee needs to keep a six sided die on one side at all times and they should compile a deck of as many Events and Interrupts as they wish! The quantity restrictions described earlier do not apply, although there are certain cards that the Referee should not include, namely: Events:- Pattern Enhancers Raise The Stakes Red Alert Treaty: Federation/Klingon Treaty: Federation/Romulan Treaty: Klingon/Romulan Where No One Has Gone Before Interrupts:- Auto-Destruct Sequence Full Planet Scan Jaglom Shrek - Information Broker Life-Form Scan Long-Range Scan Near-Warp Transport Scan Tachyon Detection Grid Each of the three player should also be allocated a number before play commences, namely 1, 2, or 3. The Referee starts with no cards in their hand, unlike the players who start with the usual 7. At the start of every turn, the Referee should take a card from their deck and then roll the die. If they roll a 1, 2, or 3 then a card should be played from their hand. If a card has to be played against a specific player, then the "victim" should be the player to which the die roll corresponded. However, if the Referee rolls a 4, 5, or 6 then the Referee should role the die again until a 1, 2, or 3 is rolled. However, it can be left to the Referee's discretion as to whether or not they play a card in that turn and if not, they can reserve it for a future turn. The Referee should only play one Event card per turn, but they may play as many Interrupts as they wish... which is particularly useful if you have plenty of Rogue Borg!!! :-) While this can be cruel to the players, there is only a 33% chance that anything will happen to any player in any one turn, and even then, the card played could be advantageous to the player. This random element to the game makes play more exciting and dangerous! However, all is not lost for the players, as they will be able to use any appropriate Events, Interrupts or Artifacts to counter the effects of any cards played by the Referee. Thanks must go to Tim Smith, Sven Harvey and Marcus Priddey for acting as my playtesters for these rules.