Love… Klingon-style

by Sean O'Reilly, Staff Writer

9th February 2019

Ferengi keep their women naked.

Betazeds get married naked.

Klingons just can’t stop getting naked (after nearly killing each other).

One thing Star Trek series and movies often show is the Klingon culture’s large romantic appetite. Of course, a Klingon displays affection much differently than an Orion or Risan. (We will get to those species tomorrow.) 

That brings us to par’Mach. It is the Klingon word for “romance” or “love.” But it means more than just that. As Jadzia Dax once put it, par’Mach comes “with more aggressive overtones.”

Humans sometimes think of love as a sickness. For Klingons, love is a disease requiring the correct seduction techniques to cure.

Mating rituals for Klingons often involve combative foreplay with participants being bitten, spilling blood and suffering multiple broken bones. In fact, fracturing a clavicle on ones’ wedding night is considered a blessing.

In several Star Trek episodes, different characters came down with a bad case of par’Mach. They include Worf, Jadzia Dax and Quark.

For the Qpid expansion, the designers are depicting this “love disease” as a dilemma to overcome.

The first thing a player will notice about A Bad Case of par’Mach is it costs three and does not require a skill.

Romulan players will love this because Donatra (Honorable Commander) can use her ability when facing par’Mach. Yes, she will be removed from the game, but at least she avoids a fate worse than death for a Romulan: infatuation with a Klingon. 

Upon encountering A Bad Case of par’Mach, a player chooses two personnel to stop. They can both be male or female. Klingon love truly knows no boundary with gender irrelevant in Second Edition.

There is some bad news for Federation or Starfleet players. Benjamin Maxwell, Jonathan Archer (Damaged Captain) and James T. Kirk (Experienced Commander) cannot avoid this love sickness. Their abilities only exclude them from random selections.

Stopping two personnel with a 3-cost dual dilemma might make it appear undercosted, but that is not necessarily the case.

First, the choice is not random. This means the player attempting can choose personnel not needed to solve the mission or ones with the fewest skills.

Second, there is a big bonus for stopping certain personnel. The player attempting the mission can draw two cards if they choose one character afflicted by par’Mach during a Star Trek series (Jadzia Dax, Quark or any Klingon personnel).

Players might wonder why Neelix, who had his own romantic encounter in the Delta Quadrant with Ch’Regha, cannot help draw cards. The “love” trip he is on arrives in a few days.

Here are here some dilemma combinations to try out:

A Bad Case of par’Mach and A Private Little War: Three personnel are stopped first. It then might be difficult for an opponent’s personnel to have the skills and attributes to get past the rest of the second dilemma. If that happens, you can download an equipment.

Honorable Pursuit and A Bad Case of par’Mach and Commanding Presence and On Guard: The first two dilemmas can get rid of enough Honor, Security or Navigation personnel that the two Species 8472 dilemmas will end up in an opponent’s core.

A Bad Case of par’Mach and The First Duty and Frozen by Fear:  Get rid of your opponent’s Honor, Law or Treachery personnel so two personnel are removed from the game.

A Bad Case of par’Mach and Secret Identity and Head to Head: The first two dilemmas are about stopping personnel and seeing skills to set up two kills.

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