Design Spotlight: Second Edition Non-Aligned

by Charlie Plaine, Chairman

27th September 2017

"We knew we were taking some risks. We decided, in a very calculated way, to cut our ties with everything that was familiar. This is a dangerous thing to do. There is no more Starfleet, there are no more admirals to tell us what we can and cannot do, there are no Romulans, there are no Klingons, there are no Ferengi, no Cardassians." - Jeri Taylor, "Braving the Unknown: Season 1", VOY Season 1 DVD special features

Overview
Much like their counterparts in First Edition, Non-Aligned cards have evolved in the fifteen (15) years since they debuted. 2E cards began in the game as support cards, granting skill and attribute help as well as basic game mechanics. However, at a few points in the game's lifespan, cards grew to take up a larger and larger share of design space. In a game like Second Edition where affiliation identity is so integral to the game, this proliferation provided a problem.

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

Non-Aligned
Nouns	264 Cards (234 Personnel, 30 Ships)
Verbs	7 Cards (6 Events, 1 Interrupt)
Missions	33
First Appearance	Second Edition (2012)
Recent Appearance	The Nth Degree (2017)
Appears In	Enterprise, TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Movies
Doesn't Appear In	N/A

Strengths
It's not obvious, but the greatest strength of cards is that they can do anything... at the appropriate cost. Second Edition has a complicated matrix of affiliations and mechanics that guide which affiliations have access to what mechanics, and at what volume. Non-Aligned cards get access to almost every mechanic in the game, with the caveat that they are almost always going to pay more for it than a non-Non-Aligned affiliation. Sometimes, this cost difference is obvious: compare the personnel Skalaar to the personnel Markus Forbes. The end result of each ability is the same, but Forbes' ability is more cost-effective because it's an affiliated card. Here's another, less obvious example: compare the non-unique U.S.S. Excelsior to the unique Fortune from Energize. I can promise you that the Fortune's download does not increase her cost by 2.

So yeah... take almost any ability in the game, and it could theoretically be found on an card if the price were right. However, this area isn't used too often, because abilities are priced out of being playable when on a gold-colored template. However, there are some globally available game mechanics that are ideal candidates to appear on Non-Aligned cards. Deck smoothing, as featured on Nel Apgar, is something every deck should have access to as it leads to better gameplay. "Dirty Nel" isn't nearly the staple he used to be, but still finds a lot of play because he's an efficiently costed personnel with a useful ability. These types of abilities are bread and butter.

Non-Aligned cards provide incredible versatility; to use a millennial term, they have "an app for that." If you're playing Bajorans, you likely aren't hurting for any Anthropology. However, if you're playing Romulans, maybe you are; fortunately, there are sixty-four (64) Anthropologists in the game. And most of those have their own abilities that could fit nicely into your deck. If you need to add a few more species into your deck, there are ten (10) different species that only appear on Non-Aligned cards just starting with the letters "A" and "B."

Aside from general utility, the Non-Aligned affiliation is home to some unique - or mostly unique - mechanics that provide their own strengths. Androids, for example, are largely a deck. There are exceptions (*cough* Data *cough) but you can play Androids out of any headquarters and still use mostly personnel. Holograms and Thieves are similar, though it's more likely to find affiliated versions of those species to base a deck around.

Weaknesses
So what's the downside? Well, aside from the cost issue above (you're going to pay retail price on abilities vs. affiliated ones), there aren't many. Except for the Borg, anyone using a Phase II headquarters (Bajor, Romulus, Founders' Homeworld or Quatal Prime), and a few other unusual cases, you can play with cards in your decks.

It's not really fair to the cards themselves, but the biggest weakness of cards comes from design decisions made around such cards. At a few points in history, for a web of complex reasons, Non-Aligned cards became a crutch for Second Edition designers. Abilities that would be useful in more than a handful of decks were put on cards, even if those abilities should have been tied to a specific affiliation. (Pah-wraith Puppet, I'm looking at you.) These key, powerful, cards became staples in almost every deck, which led to decks looking more and more identical. For a game where affiliation identity is so core to good gameplay, this led to a dangerous situation.

This issue was one of the major factors behind the Phase II shift in Second Edition design philosophy. A renewed focus on affiliation-based themes and mechanics is better for the game, but theoretically it's strictly worse for the Non-Aligned affiliation. The more affiliation specific mechanics appear on affiliated cards, the less they appear on cards. Of course, this leads to the slippery slope argument and that way lies madness. cards have a place in the game, and the existence of strong affiliated cards must not negate that place.

Looking Ahead
The good news is that there will always be cards in Second Edition. Aside from the fact there are too many characters that don't fit in the game otherwise, cards are very useful. If you have a theme in your expansion and you want to turn up the volume, you can make a Non-Aligned card to support it. Julian Bashir (Rebel Captain) is an example of this, although his power level made him appear in most decks; though, to be fair, that was probably These Are The Voyages' fault.

I think Second Edition design could do more - a lot more - with making riffs on existing cards. For example, there is a place in the game for an appropriately costed version of Arridor ("Great Sage"). Skill gaining is something that every affiliation can do, so it makes sense to have a similar ability on someone almost every deck can use. Even affiliation specific abilities, like Jonathan Archer (Novice Mediator) could find a home on a card.

There is a debate that comes up every so often on the Second Edition design team discussion board about new affiliations. If the team ever felt it was the time to add Kazon, Hirogen, or even Xindi to the game, how would we do it? It could obviously be done with new templates and actual new affiliations, but it could also be done as new suites of cards. There are pros and cons to each - worthy of their own article - but I personally lean towards making them cards. We have good technology in Second Edition design to make them feel like new affiliations, to feel connected, and put them in a gold frame. So if I had to guess, I think you'll see Degra in gold rather than in a new frame.

Conclusion
Non-Aligned cards will always have a place in Second Edition. There are far too many characters in the world of Star Trek that won't fit into one of the other nine (9) affiliations that will always want to be Non-Aligned. And there will always be skill gaps to fill, core-game mechanics to implement, and themes to reinforce. The future for gold-colored cards is bright.