Make it So Challenge #7: Delta Force

by Charlie Plaine, Make it So Host

28th February 2014

This week brings us the second to last challenge of this phase of Make it So, the third of the four (4) team challenges. Contestants have been arranged into three (3) teams of three (3) members each, and must once again work together to design cards for this challenge. And again, we will be relying on the judges and the public to rate and comment on each of the cards in each of the submissions.

As with previous weeks, the teams have been re-arranged and are different this week than they have been in previous weeks. This re-arrangement comes with unique challenges: perhaps the time zones will be less (or more) advantageous, or personalities will mesh more naturally this week versus the previous week. Designers often have to work with many different types of people all across the world, and these challenges are designed to test the contestants' ability to work in less than ideal environments.

This week, we're tasking the teams to work within the confines of a single affiliation or faction; specifically, one of the affiliations or factions that plays within the Delta Quadrant.

Rate of Change
The Delta Quadrant affiliations - specifically Voyager Federation, Hirogen, and Vidiian - were dominant in First Edition play ever since their debut in Voyager and The Borg. One of the ongoing efforts of The Continuing Committee during the initial years of 1E support was to find ways to level the playing field between most Alpha Quadrant affiliations, and the powerhouses that were the Delta Quadrant.

Design has tried a number of tricks, from bans to errata to new cards, to help mitigate the power of the Delta Quadrant affiliations. When these "sticks" are combined with the "carrots" provided to power up and encourage Alpha Quadrant play, such as Continuing Mission, the playing field has been pretty level for the past few years. However, the Delta Quadrant affiliations have also not received much in the way of new cards. Part of this is due to the limited source material, but part is because they are very difficult affiliations to balance, and design has been reluctant to do anything to tip the scales back in favor of Delta Quadrant decks. But these affiliations have their fans, and eventually players will want to see new material for these affiliations. Fortunately, there are several options of factions based in the Delta Quadrant that have never been terribly good, and these are what we'll be asking the teams to focus on.

Each team should pick one of the following Delta Quadrant affiliations or factions to work with: Borg, Maquis, Kazon, Klingon, or Other (see below). All cards submitted by the teams must be cards of the chosen affiliation, or reference the chosen affiliation. For example, if a team chooses to work on Klingons, all of their cards must either be affiliation, or reference the affiliation in game text. One of the options above is other, and this allows the contestants to create either a "new" affiliation in the , or to work with another subset of cards based in the Delta Quadrant. For example: perhaps a team wants to develop a strategy; if they feel they can accomplish this goal with the extremely limited number of cards, they can attempt to do so. Federation, Hirogen, Holograms, and Vidiians are prohibited as the affiliations of choice (although their use as options on cards is not, i.e. a dual-affiliation personnel that is / would be acceptable if working with Klingons.)

Here are the expectations for the challenge:

1. Avoid dual-affiliation personnel that included . Design currently believes all of the / personnel were a mistake, and is not eager to continue making such personnel. Story and precedent may require these personnel to be made, but measures should be taken to ensure these personnel won't automatically be used in any deck.

2. Avoid escalation. personnel already carry considerably higher skill density and attribute levels compared with non- personnel. Though this does suggest precedent, care must be taken to avoid escalating these levels further. Other options for providing utility and power are encouraged, instead of just layering more skills and attributes.

3. The is "home." While all cards need not play or function solely in the Delta Quadrant (nor must they carry the icon), teams are enabling these based affiliations. Cards should enable decks and play in the Delta Quadrant, instead of primarily providing cards a way to play in other quadrants

4. Personas must offer choice. There is very limited source material for many of these Delta Quadrant affiliations and factions, and new versions of ships and personnel will eventually need to be created. This is acceptable, and the rules allow for this, but new versions of personas must not make previous versions obselete. For example, the new Dr. Farek in The Sky's the Limit. While he is and offers more skills than his previous version, that previous version is a mission specialist and is . There are valid reasons for players to choose both options, making this a good second version of a persona. 

Challenge #7: Delta Force
This week, the teams are tasked with creating a suite of six (6) cards designed to give something new to a affiliation or faction. Teams can choose any affiliation or faction as outlined above, except for those expressly forbidden. Each card in the submission must either a) be of the chosen affiliation, or b) reference the chose affiliation in game text. The purpose of this suite of cards is to enhance the play experience of the chosen affiliation or faction, without pushing them to pre-CC era levels of power. There are no restrictions on the types of cards the teams need to submit, other than that they must all be of (or reference) the chosen affiliation. (Remember, guidelines and high level rules for each of the card types is available in the MiS Lessons #3 article.)

The judges will be rating your cards on how well they make use of the principles of First Edition design. Well-designed cards respect the templates, breaking them only when necessary, and work within the existing rules structures; such cards are as elegant as possible, respect precedent, are creativity and demonstrate an understanding of the state of the game. In addition, judges will be looking to measure how effectively the submissions provide competitveness and fun for the selected affiliations. Hopefully the community will use this challenge's discussion thread to let you know what they're looking for too, but beware: it's impossible to please everyone!

Your entries are due by 11:59 PM server time (Eastern Standard) on Saturday, March 8th, 2014. Entries must be sent via PM to MidnightLich on the forums and not posted anywhere else. Voting and judging will be done anonymously, so you may not talk about your cards during the judging period. You will have the opportunity to discuss them after voting is complete. Late entries may be accepted, at a penalty, at the discretion of the judges.

Good luck, and may all your journeys home be swift.

Discuss this article in this thread.