Home of the third annual You Make The Card contest, where the community designs a card for an upcoming Virtual Expansion!

How should Harry Mudd interact with Commodities?

1) He downloads a Commodity.
7
8%
2) He takes command of a Commodity.
3
3%
3) He returns a Commodity to hand.
1
1%
4) He draws cards for each Commodity.
5
6%
5) He "bribes" his way out of trouble
24
27%
6) He gives away or takes back a Commodity when stopped.
3
3%
7) He includes an extra person in a dilemma's random selection.
10
11%
8) He adds a random selection to a dilemma's game text.
10
11%
9) He reduces attribute requirements of a dilemma or mission.
14
16%
10) He gains skills/attributes as more Commodities enter play.
11
13%
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Director of First Edition
By MidnightLich (Charlie Plaine)
 - Director of First Edition
 -  
Prophet
#180197
Well, last week we asked you to vote on which direction you wanted to see Harry Mudd go, and here are the results:

1st) The Commodities Trader (38%, 26 votes)
2nd) The Slippery Weasel (22%, 15 votes)
2nd) The Lady Killer (22%, 15 votes)
4th) The Jack-of-all-Trades Rogue (16%, 11 votes)
5th) Other (1%, 1 vote)

So, with a total of 68 votes, the winner is The Commodities Trader - and that means that Mr. Mudd will have something to do with Commodities. The question we bring to you now is - what?

In the poll above, we've presented ten (10) options for you to consider and choose from. Each of you can vote for three (3) of the above options, or you can pitch your own ideas in this thread. At the end of the voting period (next Friday), we'll review all the votes and the suggestions, and then bring you at least three (3) versions of Harry for you to review and vote upon.

Each of the options is briefly described below.

1) He downloads a Commodity.
This one is pretty straightforward. He will be able to download a Commodity when something happens to him, or when certain conditions are met. The exact details will be shaped by the discussion and the other winning options.

2) He takes command of a Commodity.
In this case, he "takes back" a Commodity that had previously be passed to an opponent - or perhaps he just outright steals something that opponent had already played.

3) He returns a Commodity to hand.
This is a more extreme variant of Option #2, but rather than "grabbing" a Commodity, he gets rid of them entirely. Maybe he's dumping his cargo, or maybe he gets rid of a Cunning boost as he faces Oh No!?

4) He draws cards for each Commodity.
This ability would allow the player who commands Harry to draw cards based on the number of (probably different) Commodities in play. I could be when he's played, or maybe it comes during a mission attempt.

5) He "bribes" his way out of trouble
This option is a nod to one of the runners-up, "The Slippery Weasel." In this case, the Commodity text would be part of his cost, and the benefit would be avoiding a stop or a capture.

6) He gives away or takes back a Commodity when stopped.
Combining options #2 and #3, this ability would be less predictable but more versatile. His Commodity trading would kick in when he's about to be stopped, allowing you to get (or get rid of) an extra boost.

7) He includes an extra person in a dilemma's random selection.
This is an option that is a nod to "The Lady Killer;" he allows an extra person to get selected by a dilemma. This way, you can include your "girls" in a mass selection dilemma like Personal Duty. Or maybe - add the opponent's personnel you targeted with Mudd's Women to your Show Trial options?

8) He adds a random selection to a dilemma's game text.
Another "Lady Killer" option, but in this case, Harry would cause each dilemma he faced to first randomly select a personnel. There would probably be some cost or requirement to this, so it wouldn't drag the game to a halt.

9) He reduces attribute requirements of a dilemma or mission.
Harry likes things his way - the easy way. In this case, he might bribe an official with a vat of Tulaberry Wine in order to make it a little easier to get past a Gomtuu Shock Wave or to Penetrate Enemy Lines.

10) He gains skills/attributes as more Commodities enter play.
This option hints at the "Jack-of-all-Trades" version, allowing Harry to gain more and more skills (and attributes) the more Commodities are in play.

As always, we invite you to ask questions, make suggestions, and lobby for your favorite options! After all, without you and your votes, we wouldn't have the Will of the Collective!

-crp
 
By Foreman
 - Gamma Quadrant
 -  
#180230
An interesting hybrid would be to give him the ability to redo a random selection. This could be used to get himself out of trouble or to try another shot at getting one of his women selected.
User avatar
 
By Iron Mike
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
1E Australian National Runner-Up 2015
2E Australian National Runner-Up 2015
#180231
I like the idea of him bribing his way out of trouble with commodities.

It just seems so right.
User avatar
 
By chompers (Steve Hartmann)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
1E Australian Continental Runner-Up 2019
2E Australian Continental Semi-Finalist 2019
#180249
I like 7 ... Even without mudd's women ... More chances of randomly selecting shran or leeta or .... Could be quite strong however

Also 9 .... Not affected by psychokinetic control which helps
User avatar
 
By GooeyChewie (Nathan Miracle)
 - Gamma Quadrant
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
Architect
#180263
1) He downloads a Commodity.
Base Commerce laughs at this one.
2) He takes command of a Commodity.
Could get interesting in a mirror match, but otherwise it just means getting another chance to use an ability on one of your cards. I usually find that I'm looking for opportunities to give away Commodities.
3) He returns a Commodity to hand.
Same response as the previous one. If I really need those Commodities back, Base Commerce works.
4) He draws cards for each Commodity.
Nice, simple and boring. The game needs boring cards, but I think Will of the Collective should come up with something a bit more exciting.
5) He "bribes" his way out of trouble
I like this one. I especially like him being able to bribe himself out of capture.
6) He gives away or takes back a Commodity when stopped.
I'd take this one over either #2 or #3. Giving away Commodities is usually more important than taking them back, but having the option to do either would be cool.
7) He includes an extra person in a dilemma's random selection.
I have concerns about this one. Does the extra person suffer the same fate as the original personnel? Like, if I face Pinned Down, would the extra personnel also be stopped? It feels like one of those abilities nobody uses until somebody figures out a way to break it.
8) He adds a random selection to a dilemma's game text.
So, have him give a Commodity when he's about to face a dilemma to make that dilemma randomly select a personnel? I like it a lot better than the previous one.
9) He reduces attribute requirements of a dilemma or mission.
Not a fan. Probably my least favorite. I think it could get way too powerful way too fast.
10) He gains skills/attributes as more Commodities enter play.
Burrito! Simple and effective.
User avatar
 
By nobthehobbit (Daniel Pareja)
 - The Center of the Galaxy
 -  
Moderator
#180264
GooeyChewie wrote:
7) He includes an extra person in a dilemma's random selection.
I have concerns about this one. Does the extra person suffer the same fate as the original personnel? Like, if I face Pinned Down, would the extra personnel also be stopped? It feels like one of those abilities nobody uses until somebody figures out a way to break it.
I think it's meant to expand the "field" of candidates by 1, so that it's more likely a random selection from a dilemma like Personal Duty or An Issue of Trust will hit those personnel who want to be randomly selected.
User avatar
 
By chompers (Steve Hartmann)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
1E Australian Continental Runner-Up 2019
2E Australian Continental Semi-Finalist 2019
#180276
nobthehobbit wrote:
GooeyChewie wrote:
7) He includes an extra person in a dilemma's random selection.
I have concerns about this one. Does the extra person suffer the same fate as the original personnel? Like, if I face Pinned Down, would the extra personnel also be stopped? It feels like one of those abilities nobody uses until somebody figures out a way to break it.
I think it's meant to expand the "field" of candidates by 1, so that it's more likely a random selection from a dilemma like Personal Duty or An Issue of Trust will hit those personnel who want to be randomly selected.
It might look something like this ....

When one of your personnel present is eligible for a random selection, you may give command of your Commodity event to an opponent to include one of your other personnel present in that random selection.

In this way -- Shran could be stopped by AIoT and get you a dilemma back, or Leeta could be stopped triggering her 'Consume 1' ability - pretty neat. Add Mudd's Women and you can earn two extra counters as well. Makes it that much more risky to play AIoT but a heap of other random selection dilemmas will be affected. I think the ability might end up being too strong.
User avatar
 
By Frimmel
 - Beta Quadrant
 -  
#180279
Options seven and eight most fit what I think of as 'slippery weasel' Harry. He puts other people in the way of trouble coming for him. (i.e. If zombies chase us I'm tripping you.)

The whole commodity angle doesn't make a lot of Trek sense to me. Although option 9 would be a better fit to my Trek sense than any of the other commodity angles with option 5 the nearest runner up.

And it really seems he should have something to do with Androids.
Second Edition Creative Manager
By Triumph (Jonathan)
 - Second Edition Creative Manager
 -  
Adventurer
#180280
Frimmel wrote:And it really seems he should have something to do with Androids.
I'm pretty sure we more or less established previously that this card represents Mudd in the episode Mudd's Women. Theoretically, there might be someday a future version of Mudd that pertained to the android episode, but it's not the point of this card.
Second Edition Creative Manager
By Triumph (Jonathan)
 - Second Edition Creative Manager
 -  
Adventurer
#180281
Option 9 sounded interesting to me at first (though option 5 is by FAR my favorite choice), but now I have a question. In practical, effective terms, will reducing the attribute end up being mechanically different than just boosting Mudd's attributes by a comparable number? Obviously a requirement reduction has a different flavor than boosting a personnel's attributes, but will it offer meaningfully different gameplay?
User avatar
 
By Danny (Daniel Giddings)
 - Gamma Quadrant
 -  
2E British National Runner-Up 2021
#180282
Number 9 worries me as it sounds like a double-hitter; not only would Harry reduce the difficulty of the dilemma/mission, but the commodities normally raise certain personnel's stats anyway.
User avatar
 
By GooeyChewie (Nathan Miracle)
 - Gamma Quadrant
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
Architect
#180298
Triumph wrote:In practical, effective terms, will reducing the attribute end up being mechanically different than just boosting Mudd's attributes by a comparable number?
It could make a difference if the dilemma looks at a particular personnel's attributes. For example, if Mudd faced Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and he reduced the Integrity requirement to "Integrity >4" instead of "Integrity >6," he might let some other personnel get stopped for the dilemma, even if he wouldn't have the Integrity himself (even with the +2).
User avatar
 
By chompers (Steve Hartmann)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
1E Australian Continental Runner-Up 2019
2E Australian Continental Semi-Finalist 2019
#180311
GooeyChewie wrote:
Triumph wrote:In practical, effective terms, will reducing the attribute end up being mechanically different than just boosting Mudd's attributes by a comparable number?
It could make a difference if the dilemma looks at a particular personnel's attributes. For example, if Mudd faced Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and he reduced the Integrity requirement to "Integrity >4" instead of "Integrity >6," he might let some other personnel get stopped for the dilemma, even if he wouldn't have the Integrity himself (even with the +2).
Also some cards prevent attribute gaining ... Effectively nuking the commodity deck ... Do those same cards prevent attribute reductions?
User avatar
Second Edition Playtest Manager
By Faithful Reader (Ross Fertel)
 - Second Edition Playtest Manager
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
#180367
GooeyChewie wrote:
1) He downloads a Commodity.
Base Commerce laughs at this one.
3) He returns a Commodity to hand.
Same response as the previous one. If I really need those Commodities back, Base Commerce works.
Last I checked, Base Commerce doesn't have attributes or skills. Heck, it even requires skills!

I would love for Mudd to cycle Commodities.

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