The Wedding Couple

by Maggie Geppert, Trilled to Be Here

25th December 2018

And when the two hearts began to beat together, they filled the heavens with a terrible sound. For the first time, the gods knew fear. They tried to flee, but it was too late. The Klingon hearts destroyed the gods who created them, and turned the heavens to ashes. To this very day, no one can oppose the beating of two Klingon hearts - not even me.

                                                                                    -Sirella from “You Are Cordially Invited…”

As you already know, the inspiration for the new First Edition set Equilibrium was two-fold; the creation of Joran during the Will of the Collective IV: FOURm Edition and 2018 being the canon birth year of the Dax symbiont.  Charlie and Chris designed equivalent cards to Joran for all of Dax’s other hosts and a variety of other Trill-related cards and mechanics.  However, when Version A of the set went out to the playtesters, they told us right away that something was missing – the Wedding Couple.  I decided to take up this challenge.  After all, one of my personal goals in riding along with this set was to observe the design process from start to finish so I can better understand our core mission.

Now, a little background here – I’m a fixer.  I’m not generally a creative person in terms of thinking up new stuff, but I am good at adapting and improving things that need upgrading.  That’s why I’m on the Second Edition Errata Team and do not intend to design again any time in the future.  So, when it came to making a new card I looked very carefully at a variety of sources:

• What skills and attributes did Dax and Worf have on their own individual cards?
• What has been done in the past with dual personnel?
• What were these two characters doing in the wedding episode?

So I settled on this first version of Worf and Jadzia, which is a simple two-line card with special downloads, reminiscent of cards like Sergey and Helena:

Worf: [SD] Honor ×2 [SD] SECURITY [DL] Kal'Hyah

Jadzia: [SD] Honor [SD] Physics [DL] Fire Sculptor

I really wanted an AI of Fire Sculptor with the Samoan dancer from the party, but feedback from Charlie and Chris was “meh” on these downloads, especially since one of them was a broken link.  This led me to look at the Second Edition version of the Wedding Couple for further inspiration.  I thought maybe I could make a 2EBC conversion out of them, so I submitted this version:

Worf: [SD] Honor ×2 [SD] SECURITY [DL] The Strongest Heart

Jadzia: [SD] Honor [SD] Physics [DL] The Second Heart

I tried to offload the abilities of Worf, The Strongest Heart and Jadzia Dax, The Second Heart onto an event and interrupt, respectively, taking inspiration from some of the conversions that came out in Metamorphosis.  I looked at cards like Souls of the Dead to see what an appropriate cost for those abilities might be in First Edition.

Playtest feedback came back saying the interrupt was too weak and overcosted, but the event, if tweaked properly, would be a welcome addition to the game.  Playtesters felt like Dax should have skills that would supplement the Klingon affiliation.  Also, Creative felt that Worf’s download better represented a different moment in their marriage, and both cards became what they are today.

In case you’re wondering, the term “Bride” has been added to the Glossary as part of the definition of romantic couple, so Worf and Jadzia are fully compatible with Holoprogram: Café de Artistes.  I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t make the full 2EBC conversion happen, but I am happy with the final product, especially since Creative took my last suggestion to heart.

“Don’t make ‘Change of Heart’ a DL for the wedding couple.”

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