First Edition Rules Update

by Jon Carter, First Edition Rules Master

4th June 2018

This month, the Rules Committee is issuing 1 clarification, 4 updates to current gameplay (all of them pretty minor), and added a new section to the CRD:

Clarifications - 

 

• Genetically enhanced - We've been asked several times whether "genetically engineered" cards like Hannah Bates can use Group Therapy (which references "genetically enhanced" cards). They can't. These two terms are not equivalent. The same goes for augments.

Updates - 

 

• Does not work with - A few months ago, there was a lengthy discussion on the forums about whether aligned personnel affected by Release This Pain can work with Sybok while War Council is in play. (War Council says non-aligned personnel cannot work with aligned personnel; Release This Pain says they can.) We eventually issued a ruling on that specific issue, but decided that the rules here were pretty confusing and deserved clarification. Today, we are releasing our revision. The practical upshot: if a card (such as Release This Pain) lets your affiliated cards mix, this overrides affiliation-based "does not work with" restriction. Thus, Sybok can work with General Korrd, even with War Council in play. Also, if They Call Themselves The Maquis and War Council are both in play, your non-aligned Maquis can still work together with your aligned Maquis. If Treaty: Federation/Romulan is in play, Tallera can work with Federation cards, and Lore can cooperate with Smiley if Emblem of the Empire is in play. However, that this only affects "does not work with" restrictions that are 100% affiliation-based. Miles O'Brien from the Fajo Collection can't work with cards of Cardassian affiliation or Cardassian species, so a Treaty: Federation/Cardassian isn't going to help him.
• Mona Lisa - We've spent years trying to figure out exactly what this card does, and so have you. The current Glossary entry involves a complicated formula weighing your "intent" and whether a card is a "spaceline hazard" or what, but fails to answer basic questions like "If V'Ger blows up your ship during a mission attempt, do you lose the points for attempting or does your opponent?" In the end, we decided to erase the current Glossary entry and replace it with a much simpler rule: if a dilemma blows up the Mona Lisa, nobody is directly responsible and nobody loses points. If any other card of yours blows up the Mona Lisa, you lose the points.
• Receptacle Stones - A few years ago, we ruled that, when facing dilemmas under Receptacle Stones, stops didn't matter -- everyone on the ship would face the dilemmas anyway. We codified that in the CRD a couple months ago. Thing is, you didn't like that result very much (it made Receptacle Stones too weak), and, frankly, neither did we (it was bizarrely unintuitive). So we decided to tweak the "stopped" rule to make Receptacle Stones work the way we want. Stopped personnel are now excluded from Receptacle Stones dilemma encounters, so the nasty space combos you encounter should work more or less as expected.

Documentation - At the bottom of the CRD, you'll now find a new section for "temporary" rulings. The Rulesmaster sometimes issues "bluetext" rulings on the forums, which are intended to answer rules questions while the Rules Committee deliberates and finds a permanent solution. The problem is that these "bluetext" rulings are hard to find, and can remain in force for months or years if the change turns out to be a difficult one. In order to make sure that all players have ready access to all rules of the game, we are starting to include our "temporary" rulings in the CRD, effective this month. Most of the items in this list should disappear pretty soon and be replaced by permanent rulings.

As always if there are things that need addressing, PM me or post in the forums (now that I am done with doctor school, I should be back to my previous involvement in things).

The First Edition Rules Committee is scheduled to release rules updates on the first Monday of each month, if necessary.

This update takes effect immediately.

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