Design Spotlight: Second Edition Romulan

by Charlie Plaine, Chairman

20th September 2017

"Paul Schneider modeled the Romulans on the ancient Romans, naming the species' homeworlds after the mythical founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. "It was a matter of developing a good Romanesque set of admirable antagonists that were worthy of Kirk," Schneider related. "I came up with the concept of the Romulans which was an extension of the Roman civilization to the point of space travel, and it turned out quite well." -Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 34

Overview
Romulans debuted in The Original Series, but didn't develop into a major player in the universe of Star Trek until The Next Generation. In Second Edition, they started as one of the first affiliations and with one of the four initial starter decks. Since then, they've been on a tumultuous ride of highs and lows as they have evolved.

At a Glance
Here's a quick look at the Romulan affiliation:

Romulan
Nouns	131 Cards (108 Personnel, 23 Ships)
Verbs	56 Cards(36 Events, 20 Interrupts)
Missions	45
First Appearance	Second Edition (2002)
Recent Appearance	Zero Hour (2017)
Appears In	Enterprise, TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Movies
Doesn't Appear In	N/A

Strengths
Romulans didn't make the largest splash in the earliest days of Second Edition. It wasn't until the third expansion, Necessary Evil that the first really powerful Romulan deck made a splash: Justin Beal's At an Impasse / Far-Seeing Eyes deck. It was in this era of the game Romulans found their first high point, and became the affiliation defined by their powerful events.

In reality, this has been an omnipresent theme for the Romulans since Second Edition was released. Romulans are at their best when they know what their opponent's are planning. And they can do quite a bit of damage if they can get ahead of their opponents.

Romulans are also one of the masters of deck manipulation, not only of the opponent but also of their own. There are a lot of ways for the men and women in green to download cards, replace or exchange cards, or gain additional resources. Over their lifetime, they have also gained some powerful mission solving enhancements and dilemma manipulation tools that have made them strong mission solvers.

Weaknesses
Romulans haven't, until relatively recently, had much in the way of high-attribute personnel. Even with design's more recent willingness to make Romulans with attributes>6, there are still only seventeen (17) distinct personnel that have one. Compare this to Klingons, who have forty-four (44) distinct personnel with Strength>6; or the Bajorans, who have twelve (12) distinct personnel with Integrity>6. Inescapably, attributes are a flaw for the Star Empire.

While Romulans have a lot of powerful events that give them a powerful advantage, it's also a built in disadvantage. After all, having powerful events means that opponents have more opportunities to prevent or destroy the events. It also ties a lot of the Romulan's power to being able to draw and play those events. In general, this makes the affiliation's power a little more volatile than an affiliation with a lot of power tied to their personnel.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the general inefficiency of most Romulan ships. Their most iconic ship, the D'deridex class, comes at a high price (6 or more) but with only Range 7. Romulans didn't get a good, solid, cost-efficient ship until 2009's Raise the Stakes with the Bird of Prey. It's a problem they've struggled with since Second Edition.

Looking Ahead
Romulans doubled down on their "lurking" theme and mechanics with their Phase II revamp, primary featured in Face of the Enemy from 2015. "Lurking" refers to abilities and mechanics that work while present with opponent's personnel, and are a great fit for the Romulan flavor and play style. Romulans will continue to gain benefits, both offense and defense, as long as they are around to meddle with opponent's turns.

I also think capturing is an underused Romulan mechanic, and they should be secondary in capture-related abilities. Captives should be a fruitful source of information for a Romulan player. It's nice mechanic that fits with their others (lurking, deck manipulation) and it would nice to see it developed in the future. Similarly, Romulans should have some more abilities tied into space battles, as they should be tertiary in maneuvers.

And personally, I'd like to see Romulans develop more "surprise" style mechanics.

Conclusion
Romulans have always been a popular affiliation in Star Trek and in Second Edition. Unfortunately, their popularity in game hasn't been as high. Romulans have a lot of power, but its masked by at least as much complexity and some fundamental obstacles. Still, they are a classic affiliation and will always have a seat at the table. Jolan tru!