[jjh]

I'll tell you what we need:

A new Warp Core card centered completely around Tin Man.

I know 1E Designers that would be up to the challenge!

Make it so.

[Slayer07]

Since we've settled the ineffectiveness of undefined Weapons that can't be modified, can we have a friendly discussion about what some updated cards might look like that could revitalize the character/ship? Or should I start a new thread in the Dream Card section to encompass that? It seems a shame when this thread is going perfectly well so far.

I was thinking this over and I figure we might be able to fix everything wrong with Gomtuu without having to create a new version of the ship itself, which I understand the committee is loathe to do if at all possible. In my estimation we would need;
-A new Tam Elbrun as Jono said. From his background he's just a citizen of Betazed, not a member of Starfleet, so there's some room to justify it. And by the end of the episode he clearly identified more with Gomtuu than with his fellow Betazoids even. of Gomtuu Shockwave as an event at his location would work, if you add (while present with Gomtuu)
-A new Tactic card playable specifically by Gomtuu could fix his combat woes. Sort of like the Chain Reaction Pulsar and Riker Maneuver, we've had some very specific tactic cards before. This would be a good place to fix Gomtuu's inability to damage enemy ships without throwing away the "hurl" ability completely either.
-An Incident (tentatively titled "Tinman"?) that could cover any and all remaining rules fixes specific to Gomtuu. Reports Gomtuu to Beta Stromgen (or maybe seeds him under the mission like an artifact?), provides attribute bonuses based on Empathic crew, and allows it to self-repair instead of being repaired at an Outpost (because really, how does that make sense).

I'd say with that little block of three cards you could have a nice little side-theme for a future TNG expansion and bring an old dead card back to life!

My concern is how to make a new Tam Elbrun without completely invalidating the old one, especially since in all fairness it wouldn't be hard to do that in the first place. In all fairness it is worth noting his symbol has nothing to do with being in Starfleet but that Betazed is part of the Federation and so gets that affiliation just like Deanna's mother does. Still I would agree that by the end he basically made himself so it could be justified. Maybe the removal of that Honor would do it, then he'd have that download of Gomtuu Shockwave.

A new tactic card wouldn't solve the weapons problem unless you want to load your deck with the card. Of course those really devoted would do so. But an Incident could I think, by simply giving Gomtuu a Weapons equivalent to work with on that card along with everything else there.

[Boffo97]

I'd have concerns that while Tam would probably consider himself not aligned with any affiliation after joining Tin Man, he really wouldn't be helping anyone BUT the Federation. Even being teamed up with other NA's seems wrong.

But that ship has long past sailed with 1E.

[edgeofhearing]

I'll tell you what we need:

A new Warp Core card centered completely around Tin Man.

I know 1E Designers that would be up to the challenge!

Make it so.

Amen!

We don't need a new Tam or a new Gomtuu, just something that, I don't know, makes one NA and the other playable.

[Slayer07]

I'll tell you what we need:

A new Warp Core card centered completely around Tin Man.

I know 1E Designers that would be up to the challenge!

Make it so.

Amen!

We don't need a new Tam or a new Gomtuu, just something that, I don't know, makes one NA and the other playable.

Ironically I'd bet you if they ever made stuff around Gomtuu a new Elbrun would be one of them. And the truth is there have been lots of other personnel that didn't need a new one that we still got one of anyway. But yes we don't really need a new Gomtuu I agree.

[Professor Scott]

What about changing Gomtuu from to . Wouldn't this solve the Tam Elbrun problem?

[Tosk]

What about changing Gomtuu from to . Wouldn't this solve the Tam Elbrun problem?

I don't think it would, but a ship would still be hella cool to have in the game anyway, and it seems appropriate for a living fossil that is at least a millennium old and might originate from a different galaxy.

[Professor Scott]

What about changing Gomtuu from to . Wouldn't this solve the Tam Elbrun problem?

I don't think it would, but a ship would still be hella cool to have in the game anyway, and it seems appropriate for a living fossil that is at least a millennium old and might originate from a different galaxy.

I thought the problem with ships is that you needed an personnel to staff it. With a ship, Tam should be able to staff it alone.

[BCSWowbagger]

Too lazy to check the Glossary rn, but wouldn't a ship need a personnel aboard to staff? And that'd be rather a tall order.

[Boffo97]

Just give Gomtuu a special skill of "ANIMALs may staff this ship."

[Professor Scott]

Too lazy to check the Glossary rn, but wouldn't a ship need a personnel aboard to staff? And that'd be rather a tall order.

The glossary entry is as follows:

Neutral – An affiliation consisting of only
a few cards (not a full affiliation). While
similar to Non-Aligned, neutral cards are
neither an aligned affiliation nor NonAligned.

So technically, Neutral is an affiliation, however, it is not aligned with any other affiliation. Any affiliation can use the Neutral Outpost and can be mixed with any aligned or crews without a Treaty, so it would stand to reason that if a ship existed, any affiliation could use it. That's why Decipher made the Neutral Outpost in addition to the Husnock Outpost.

Thus if Gomtuu was I would think Tam would meet the requirements to staff it alone. Of course this opens the door for other 2x Empathy crews without to staff it as well.

[Slayer07]

Too lazy to check the Glossary rn, but wouldn't a ship need a personnel aboard to staff? And that'd be rather a tall order.

The glossary entry is as follows:

Neutral – An affiliation consisting of only
a few cards (not a full affiliation). While
similar to Non-Aligned, neutral cards are
neither an aligned affiliation nor NonAligned.

So technically, Neutral is an affiliation, however, it is not aligned with any other affiliation. Any affiliation can use the Neutral Outpost and can be mixed with any aligned or crews without a Treaty, so it would stand to reason that if a ship existed, any affiliation could use it. That's why Decipher made the Neutral Outpost in addition to the Husnock Outpost.

Thus if Gomtuu was I would think Tam would meet the requirements to staff it alone. Of course this opens the door for other 2x Empathy crews without to staff it as well.

The problem I see is that I don't think Gomtuu would actually be Neutral. Most ships receive affiliations not because they share a particular allegiance to an affiliation but just I assume game balance (wouldn't make much sense to see Romulans flying the USS Enterprise after all) but we did see Gomtuu basically choose not to align itself with the Romulans while choosing to bond with Tam to the point they were in communication long before he and Data boarded it, and if we assume Tam is still basically loyal to the Federation then...

And of course the issue of Neutral as an affiliation is one that hasn't always sat well with some, myself included. It is after all limited to five animals (which contradict what was done with Targ originally) and five facilities (all of which could have just as easily been Non-Aligned) I don't know that a Gomtuu is a better solution than making a Tam Elbrun, which for what it might be worth could be a 2E conversion.

[jadziadax8]

I forgot he even existed in 2E!

I have no opinion on getting a new Tam in 1E. All I can say is that if it happens, his lore must have a reference to the actor being The Mayor in Buffy.

[Borg King]

What about changing Gomtuu from to . Wouldn't this solve the Tam Elbrun problem?

I don't think it would, but a ship would still be hella cool to have in the game anyway, and it seems appropriate for a living fossil that is at least a millennium old and might originate from a different galaxy.

I'd like to see an Incident (or something similar) that would basically treat Gomtuu like a ship version of Empok Nor.

Have the ship seed at a mission (Investigate Sighting seems appropriate) and have "Gomtuu related Dilemmas" seed underneath it. Which ever player succeeds in reaching the alien ship first and overcomes the hazards there gets whatever bonuses the Incident (or whatever) provides!

This would be some cool design space as, while you wouldn't *need* too, there could be a double sided Gomtuu made, a new Tam, new Gomtuu-related Dilemma's, new cards made to enhance the ship downloaded once conditions are met, etc as well as other cards from the episode.

It follows Trek sense too as there were two factions racing to get to Gomtuu first and claim it before the other side did, and it would be a cool "what if" the Romulan's did get to Gomtuu first and managed to make contact with it?

I'd build that deck, or sprinkle it in to an existing one if doable!

[Professor Scott]

The problem I see is that I don't think Gomtuu would actually be Neutral. Most ships receive affiliations not because they share a particular allegiance to an affiliation but just I assume game balance (wouldn't make much sense to see Romulans flying the USS Enterprise after all) but we did see Gomtuu basically choose not to align itself with the Romulans while choosing to bond with Tam to the point they were in communication long before he and Data boarded it, and if we assume Tam is still basically loyal to the Federation then...

And of course the issue of Neutral as an affiliation is one that hasn't always sat well with some, myself included. It is after all limited to five animals (which contradict what was done with Targ originally) and five facilities (all of which could have just as easily been Non-Aligned) I don't know that a Gomtuu is a better solution than making a Tam Elbrun, which for what it might be worth could be a 2E conversion.

In the episode, the Romulans attempt to communicate with Gomtuu, and failing that, their orders are to destroy it. At this point, Gomtuu had already chosen to bond with Tam from light years away as you pointed out. It was only with Tam's intervention that Gomtuu choose to defend itself from the Romulans. To me this implies indifference or naivete' to the Romulans' presence. in the scene in sick bay, it's clear that Tam loyalty to the Federation is already wavering in favor of Gomtuu, to the point of admitting that he did not consider the implications of his actions and their effect on the Enterprise.

I don't know what is involved in changing an affiliation of a card, but it it seems clear to me that either Tam should be changed to / or perhaps / or that Gomtuu should be changed to to allow for Tam to staff it by himself. The alternative would be to make the ship a Self controlled ship that would yield this control only to a 2x Empathy personnel aboard, regardless of affiliation. Just my