Update to OTF Rules

by Department of First Edition

7th March 2016

Today, we're happy to release some updates to the Official Tournament Format (OTF) for First Edition. These changes are meant to further reduce the dependency on Referee ( or "Ref") cards in tournament 1E play and to clear up some confusion in the previous rules. You can find the most recent version of the Rules (March 2016) on the front page of the site, but here is a list of the changes and a brief explanation on them.

Personnel Download Limit
This rule (#5) introduces a once every turn limit on actions that download personnel. This rule replicates the effect of the Ref card General Quarters. However, as a rule, it removes the few exceptions in the game that would allow a player to download multiple personnel a turn. General Quarters has been part of the game for years and has become the de facto rule; today's update simply codifies that.

Card Conversion
The previous rule #5 specified how converted cards were to be used in OTF. As this is now a global rule of First Edition, it is stricken from the OTF Rules specifically.

Banned Cards
Previous versions of these rules specifically called out some banned cards instead of simply referencing the banned cards list. Those specific cards have been removed from the rules.

Victory Conditions
In addition to some wording cleanup, the most significant change here is the addition of a requirement of an Alpha Quadrant mission to the rules. This rule replicates the effect of the Ref card You Are a Monument, requiring players that have not completed an Alpha Quadrant mission to score an additional forty (40) points to win the game. The design team has been able to create new cards for the Gamma and Mirror quadrants in recent years because of You Are a Monument, and adding the rule solidifies the availability of that design space.

However, the rule includes an exception that was not included on the original card. The requirement of solving an Alpha Quadrant mission only applies if an Alpha Quadrant mission has been seeded. Therefore, in a Mirror vs. Mirror or Delta vs. Delta game, the additional forty (40) points are not required.

These changes go into effect immediately. If you have questions, concerns, or comments, please share them in this articles discussion thread or on the Gameplay (1E) forum.

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