This forums is for questions, answers, and discussion about First Edition rules, formats, and expansions.
 
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#485999
The Battle

“I have been waiting a long nine years for this, Picard! You murdered my only son! And I have spent these years searching, seeking proper blood revenge!" - DaiMon Bok, ‘The Battle’

In my latest article for the STCCG1e, I’m going to introduce the Battle Bridge side-deck into the game and the very clever Tactics cards that really enhanced Ship battles. I’m also going to discuss Infiltrators and how Personnel can be captured and then hopefully rescued in the solo game.

Battle Bridge Side-deck: Introduced in ‘Blaze of Glory’, possibly my favourite expansion for the game, the mechanic to vastly enhance Ship battles was a brilliant one (and I believe that the CC are looking into doing something similar with Personnel battles too – bring it on!). The new Tactics cards were a fantastic way in which to get some subtle strategies and thematic Affiliation differences into Ship battles.

When setting up the solo game, construct a single Battle Bridge Side-deck using between 6-12 Tactics cards for you and an equal number for the Opponent, trying to theme the cards appropriately for the Affiliations - Federation ships might have Phaser Banks or Photon Torpedo, Klingons would have Pulse Disruptor, Romulans get Plasma Torpedo etc ... I use a nice spread of Tactics ( max of 3) depending on the Affiliations in the game, plus a few cards that are good for either side, such as Target Shields. Used Tactic cards are placed face up underneath the side deck. When the side deck runs out of face-down Tactic cards, shuffle the face-up cards and place them face down again underneath the seeded Battle Bridge Door.

Ship Battles: Regardless of whether you are attacking or defending, you always draw 2 Tactics cards as normal (unless other cards like Make It So are on the table) from the Battle Bridge Side deck first and then choosing one to use in the battle. You then draw only 1 Tactics card for the Opponent or Self-controlling Ship. Resolve the Tactics cards and the resulting damage to the Ships as normal.

USS Stargazer: In this TNG episode, DaiMon Bok returned Picard’s old ship, the USS Stargazer, to him – whilst setting up a nasty trap for revenge, naturally! To mirror the episode more closely I offer a tweak:

USS Stargazer: Artefact (Space). When earned, need ENGINEER and Tractor Beam to repair. Return to Federation Facility to gain 5 points (10 points if returned by Jean-Luc Picard).

Infiltrators: This episode also introduces the first Infiltrator card with the Ferengi Affiliation’s Captain Picard. Infiltrators in the solo game operate in the usual way, but to speed things up a little and rather than needing any special cards, an Infiltrator may attack opposing Personnel present (obeying normal Attack restrictions) or steal a Ship that the Infiltrator may Staff alone. In both cases, the Infiltrator becomes exposed and becomes an Intruder. An Intruder may be attacked as normal and I rule that even Federation Personnel may do this but instead Capture the Intruder if they are defeated in a Personnel battle. It also seems that apart from a very few specific cards there is very little chance of an Infiltrator becoming exposed otherwise, so I’m ruling that if you have CUNNING present that is at least 6 x Infiltrator CUNNING, the Infiltrator is exposed automatically. I have also ‘added’ a Federation Infiltration icon to Romulan agent Selok from Premiere.

Personas: I always subscribe to the ‘no duplication in the universe’ rule, so if the Ferengi get their Captain Picard on the table, the Federation can’t play Jean Luc Picardas they are personas of the same Personnel.

Rescuing Captured Personnel: Similar to exposure of Infiltrators, apart from the Rescue Captives card from the AU expansion, there are very few other ways to actually release captured Personnel so in the solo game I have ruled that if a Captive is being escorted and you win a Personnel battle there (normal Attack restrictions apply) then the Captive is rescued. Similarly, if a Captive is aboard a Ship you may ‘threaten’ the Ship with battle against your Ship. If you have 2 x WEAPONS then the captive is released. Finally, if the Captive is held at a Facility or ‘off the table’, you may transfer X points (where X = 2x Skill Icons on Captive) to your Opponent for the release of the Captive who is placed at your Facility.

Next time it’s another side-deck being introduced as the irrepressible Q makes his entrance into the solo game and I’ll discuss tweaks to certain Q cards, including those Q cards from the Premiere set...

I'm doing a re-watch of TNG and am currently in the middle of Season 6 as well as now being a good few episodes in of DS9 Season too. I Tweet my episode reviews on Twitter- so if you're interested in what I think about the episodes, Follow me - @DWSSG01.

“Make it so...”
 
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#486768
Hide and Q

"This is the dressing for a game that we will play." – Q, ‘Hide and Q

Welcome to the tenth article on my solo STCCG1e solo project and what could be more appropriate than introducing the super-being that was there from the start – the irresponsible Q!

Q Continuum Expansion: This was the 3rd full expansion for the CCG, released in 1996 and notable for introducing no less than 2 side-decks, some truly ‘off the wall’ cards and mechanics, and the more usual cards to enhance and add to Affiliations and strategies. Unfortunately, many of the Q cards introduced were, like Q himself, so outlandish that they never actually saw play. Why, for example, would anyone put Gift of the Tormentoror Wesley Gets the Point, into a deck? It’s a shame because, again like the TNG episodes they originate from, they are a lot of fun, and hail from a time when playing a CCG was just that – a fun pastime between friends rather than competitive tournament decks. Looking at the decks published on the CC website, it’s very rare to see decks that contain Q Continuum side-decks and a Q Flash, the Doorway that opens the side-deck, is relegated to the binder. Conversely, the Q’s Tent side-deck has become a staple for nearly every deck, albeit almost always for solely a deposit for your downloads rather than anything else.

Q Continuum side-deck: In the solo game we can mitigate some of the problems of this deck by making it independently controlled such that both you and the Opponent have to put up equally with Q’s games or can feel the benefit from his playfulness. Seed a Q Continuum side-deck with as many Q cards (dilemmas, events or Interrupts) as you wish, just like the AU side-deck, then shuffle 2-3 Q Flash Doorways in with the Encounter cards which function as normal. You may NOT place a Q Flash in your Draw deck however.
Used Q cards are placed face up underneath the side deck. When the side deck runs out of face-down Q cards, shuffle the face-up cards and place them face down again underneath the seeded Q Flash.

When encountering cards from the Q Continuum side-deck, Q Interrupts or Doorways do not count towards the total number of cards. Any cards that have ‘until the next Q Flash’ replace with a Countdown (3) icon.

Additional Q cards: These are considered to have a Q Icon and be part of the Q Continuum side-deck: Q, Q2, Res-Q, Q Net, Drag Net, Q’s Vicious Animal Things, Anti-Time Anomalyand A Second Chance at Life. Any Amanda Rogers cards (including Countermanda), are not part of the Q Continuum as Amanda didn’t know she was a Q. Q cards that refer to Amanda (such as Amanda’s Parents) retain their Q icon however.

Q card tweaks: Some Q cards need to be tweaked slightly for the solo game:

Q2: The Q Flash immediately ends and any Q dilemmas currently in play are discarded

Door Net: You may not report any card to this Mission or any Ship present unless you have 2 Diplomacy present or Countdown (3) expires.

Q’s Tent: Before downloads were introduced, this card meant that you could put up to 13 cards (does anyone know why it was 13?) in here and find a way to get them out quicker since your rare cards that you only had 1 copy of could get on the table by playing a Q’s Tent. Since then, and the advent of virtual printing however, the side-deck has become a ‘download home’ so a card doesn’t use up a place in your draw deck.

In the solo game, since I’m trying to keep cards as they function in the usual game (aside from being really turned off by the phoney planet stage-set photo and having such an important staple of a CCG tied to something as narrow as Q), I see no reason why it shouldn’t continue as such. However, I’m also soon going to introduce a new side-deck concept for the solo game that is a thematic alternative to Q’s Tent, so a slightly different use of this card is to put it in the Q Continuum side-deck:

Q’s Tent: When drawn, download any card from your draw deck and immediately reshuffle any used Q cards back into the Continuum side-deck. Place Q’s Tent at the bottom of the Continuum side-deck

Next time I’m discussing everything about Facilities, including HQ cards at Home-world Missions too. My re-watch of Star Trek continues and I’m currently in the middle of Season 6 of TNG and am now a good way into Season 1 of DS9 too. I Tweet my episode reviews on Twitter- so if you're interested in what I think about Season 6, Follow me - @DWSSG01.

Make it so...”
 
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#487339
Haven

Such a beautiful world - legends say it has been known to mend souls and heal broken hearts.” – Jean Luc Picard, ‘Haven’.

In my latest article for the solo Star Trek CCG1e project I’m going to discuss Facilities, Affiliation Home worlds and their associated Missions, plus take a look at the various HQ cards and their effects.

Home Worlds: When the Premiere set was released back in 1994 there were 2 cards, Cloaked Mission and Expose Covert Supply that allowed you to visit Romulus and Qo’noS respectively – Home worlds of the Romulans and the Klingons. Earth, home of the Federation, didn’t make an appearance until First Contact in 1997 with Espionage Mission, and the poor Ferengi had to wait until Rules of Acquisition was released in 1999 with Deliver Message to Ferenginar. One problem with all these Missions is that the Affiliation who actually resided there couldn’t (unless using an appropriate Espionage Event) attempt them! I suppose that kind of made sense as why attempt a Mission on your home planet when there’s a big galaxy out there? More importantly was that you couldn’t report Personnel or Ships of the matching Affiliation there either. Again, it did make sense as the default Facility was an ‘Outpost’, but it was strange when you couldn’t report the USS Enterprise to Earth for example. Decipher created two solutions to this issue – new Headquarters Facilities that DID build on Home worlds, and a set of HQ cards that could play on them. Interestingly, when 2e was released in 2002, Home-worlds ousted Outposts and were a feature from the start...

Headquarters: This new Facility card debuted in Bajoran and Cardassian versions in Deep Space 9 in 1998, but Federation, Klingon and Romulan players had to wait until The Dominion in 1999 to get their versions. You can report Personnel, Ships and Equipment to your Headquarters just like your Outpost, and although they can’t repair Ships, they have the big advantage of a free card play of critical Personnel. This was very thematic, such as getting Klingon High Council Members at The Great Hall. Now a Romulan player could actually play Cloaked Mission, a Mission he couldn’t do (and potentially his Klingon opponent could complete for 30 points) to get Romulus on the table, play Office of the Proconsuland get free plays of important Romulan senators. It did use up one of your Mission ‘slots’ however which meant a reduction in available points you could score – until you consider HQ cards...

HQ cards: These are a small set of Incidents and Objectives that play on your Home-world and were first introduced in Deep Space 9. One of the first and arguably still the most useful was Secure Homeworld. With this Objective, you could complete your Homeworld Mission with different requirements. If you were lucky your opponent might attempt the original Mission so you can score the points and capture all his Personnel at your Headquarters. Like the other HQ Objectives, such as Return Orb to Bajor, these are brilliantly thematic.

Solo game: How is using Facilities different in the solo version? In my 2018 project I created a dedicated Facility deck putting in lots of Events and Incidents that could happen there such as Inspection or Bynar Data Transfer and many Dream cards like ‘Parises Squares Tournament’ and ‘Upgrade Starship’. There were also many cards to draw Non-Aligned Personnel as ‘Federation Guests’ and an option for granting shore leave for crews or filing Mission reports. Although this was great fun and created a great thematic flavour, it also veered too far from the original game and meant too many Dream cards. It was also totally based on the Federation and couldn’t be replicated for the different Affiliations. In the 2019 version I’ve regretfully had to jettison all of that due to my ‘mission statement’ of trying to keep as true to the regular game as possible with very few Dream cards. In short, Facilities play completely as normal!

But I couldn’t resist one tiny tweak. ‘Haven’ introduces Lwaxana Troi, Deanna’s overbearing mother as a semi-regular character. Lwaxana isn’t well received by lots of fans, but I quite like her and since she is portrayed by the lovely Majel Barrett, I’d thought I’d add something to the lack-lustre Premiere version:

Lwaxana Troi (Premiere): Gains V Mr Homn.

Next time I’m discussing everything hologram as I dive into using Holodecks, Holo-Programs and Holo-Personnel in the solo game in ways that differ from usual 2 player game. My re-watch of Star Trek continues and I’m currently over half way through Season 6 of TNG and also started Season 1 of DS9. I Tweet my episode reviews on Twitter- so if you're interested in what I think about Season 6, Follow me - @DWSSG01.

Make it so...”
 
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#487737
The Big Goodbye

Tell me something...when you’ve gone, will this world still exist?” - McNary, ‘The Big Goodbye’

In my latest article for STCCG1e, I’m discussing everything hologram as I dive into using Holodecks, Holo-Programs and Holo-Personnel for the solo version in ways that may differ from usual game.

Holodeck Adventures: This expansion was originally scheduled for release in 1997 with exciting promo-mentions as far back as 1995 although players had to wait until 2001 until it was eventually released. I’m a huge fan of Holodeck episodes and although the trope of it breaking down was over-used in the early days of TNG, it did produce fantastic shows like ‘The Big Goodbye’ and ‘Our Man Bashir’, and allowed the regular cast and costume/set design to do something a little different and have some fun. I certainly remember not being able to wait for this expansion and designed loads of Dream cards back in the day that related to Programs (my new card-type I likened to Equipment) and using the Holodeck – sometimes getting very close to what was actually in the official expansion. Of course, the original 1997 expansion was going to just contain TNG cards – I’d love to know what Decipher had planned for it if anyone knows?

Holoprograms: The Holodeck Door plays exactly like it does normally (in my 2018 project, I had a side-deck called the ‘Holo-deck’...) although note the CC limit of 1 per Ship. There have been 8 Holoprograms released but with the exception of Cafe des Artistes (more about that card in a later article) however, they are extremely narrow and do not see much play. To make them more useful, I have added these rules:

1. Holoprograms may not be seeded. Only 1 Holoprogram may be in play per Ship or facility with a Holodeck.

2. You may discard any of your Holoprogram cards at the end of your turn.

3. If a Holoprogram is in play you may download and swap a matching Persona once per turn – so Worf may be swapped for Sheriff Worf if present with Holoprogram: Deadwood. Matching Persona can only be played, and remain in play, if you have the corresponding Holoprogam in play at the same Mission, Ship or Facility.

4. If you stop a matching Persona inside the corresponding Holoprogram, such as Sheriff Worf inside Holoprogram: Deadwood, you gain 1 point (limit 3 points per Persona per Holoprogram).

Holo-Personnel: I also allow Non-Aligned Holo-personnel to report free to their matching Holoprogram. This means the Opponent may also report them to your Holoprogram too, so Felix Leech, Frank Hollander and Chaotica can all leave the binder and see play and cause some strife especially if Disengage Safety Protocols is on the table. This is a real advantage of solo play where you construct the Opponent deck so this could happen, as opposed to the very slim chance in a normal game. It makes running Holoprograms more interesting, mirrors the episodes on TV and balances the tweaks above. The Holo-Personnel function within the Holoprogram and can ‘attack’ any Personnel in there, as well as use any special abilities or downloads. There is a lot of scope to have a bit of fun in solo games with these rules – just like the episodes!

Dream cards: I created some simple Holoprogram cards years ago (so I can get around my no ‘Dream cards rule’ as these are ancient...) all around similar Affiliation-based recreation:

Holoprogram: National Park: Plays on your Ship with Holodeck. Stop up to 3 Human Personnel this turn. For each Personnel stopped either gain 2 points or draw a card. Discard Holoprogram.

Holoprogram: Valley of Chula: Plays on your Ship with Holodeck. Stop up to 3 Romulan Personnel without Youth this turn. For each Personnel stopped either gain 2 points or those Personnel each gain +2 INTEGRITY for your next turn. Discard Holoprogram.

Holoprogram: Halls of Boreth: Plays on your Ship with Holodeck. Stop up to 3 Klingon Personnel with Honor this turn. For each Personnel stopped either gain 2 points or those Personnel each gain +2 STRENGTH for your next turn. Discard Holoprogram.

Holoprogram: Risa Pleasure Dome: Plays on your Ship with Holodeck. Stop up to 3 Ferengi Personnel with INTEGRITY <5 this turn. For each Personnel stopped either gain 2 points or those Personnel each gain +2 CUNNING for your next turn. Discard Holoprogram.

Next time I’m discussing a new concept to introduce more Non-Aligned Personnel to the solo game, as well as ‘self-controlling’ Enemy Personnel... Follow me on Twitter too where I’m watching loads of various Trek episodes – currently TNG and DS9 - and Tweeting my views - @DWSSG01.

“Make it so...”
 
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#488168
Datalore

You make me wish I were an only child.” – Data, ‘Datalore’.

In this article on the solo version of STCCG1e, I’m going to focus on Non-Aligned Personnel and introduce a new way in which they can appear in the game.

Non-Aligned Personnel: The ‘Non-Aligned Affiliation’ isn’t really an Affiliation, but a way to represent the myriad aliens, rogues, love interests and guest stars that appeared in the TV episodes. They are also used to represent (mainly) Federation Personas when characters go undercover, such as Jean-Luc Picard as Galen, or using a Holodeck program, such as Dixon Hill. As such, and unless otherwise noted, I always make those Personnel dual-Affiliation, adding an Affiliation Icon. Non-Aligned Personnel are normally used to ‘fill in’ other Affiliation decks for missing skills, and it’s extremely rare to see an ‘all yellow’ Personnel deck.

There have been some excellent thematic attempts to introduce ‘mini-Affiliations’ within NA Personnel, the biggest and most successful being the Maquis – especially when we get into DS9 territory. There is also the Mercenary archetype of the TNG episode ‘Gambit’ that has several Personnel including Baran, Galen, Tallera, and even Will Riker. It also has a Warp Core card in Mercenary Raiders that has a ‘base’ at Calder II with Raid Ancient Burial Site that can seed a Mercenary Ship, and several other key Missions. The other mini-Affiliation is based around the non-Collective Borg led by Lorefrom the TNG episode ‘Descent’. Their Warp Core card is Followers of the One, with a base on Foster New Collective. Using a Neutral Outpost or a Repurposed Outpost as a Facility, both could be fun to play, so I’ll test those out in later articles.

There are also some Non-Aligned Personnel however that represent the villains and enemies that have graced the Star Trek universe over the years and are acting totally for themselves out of a desire for greed, power or revenge – the usual villainous objectives! I wanted to include mechanics in the solo version to represent these not being tied to any Affiliation but still be included in the game and appearing to thwart either you as the player, or the Opponent deck. You can still include them in either deck of course if it fits the theme of the deck or Affiliation, but I think these mechanics offer an interesting alternative that makes them a viable obstacle in winning the game and where taking time to hunt them down might be worth the trouble...

Enemies: Lore was introduced way back in Season 1 TNG and the episode ‘Datalore’. Apart from being a great double-role for Brent Spiner, Lore was the first real ‘Enemy’ of TNG (not counting Q as he was an omnipresent entity that was half played for laughs anyway) and returned several times over the next 7 years of the show. In the solo game, I define an ‘Enemy’ as a Unique, Non-Aligned, non-Hologram Personnel with a Command Icon, Treachery, INT<5 and CUN >5. There are only a small number of Personnel that fits this definition from TNG, but it certainly grows as you include more of the TV shows and movies (and if you want to extend this definition to normal Affiliation Personnel, the game can get interesting).

If you kill or capture an Enemy you gain bonus points equal to 2+ no. Skill dots on the Enemy card.

Self-Controlling Enemies: Seed the Enemy Personnel as an Encounter card that is playable at any Mission. If encountered, the Enemy attacks the Away Team, but only can be attacked if the remaining Away Team has 3xCUN of the Enemy (so Lore can only be attacked if remaining personnel have >39 CUN).

At the end of every turn (yours and Opponent), check the Mission requirements where the Enemy is present:

If the Mission has any skill or Classification that matches the Enemy, place a token on the Mission. If the number of tokens equals the number of remaining seed cards then the Enemy completes the Mission. An Affiliation listed on the Mission card (either side) now needs an extra X points to win the game, where X = 5 x original number of seed cards (so 10 points for a 20 or 25 point Mission, 15 for a 30 point Mission etc).

If an Enemy does not have a Skill or Classification listed on the Mission, or it has already been completed, instead move the Enemy 1 Mission card to the far end of the Space-lane. An Enemy may usually only attempt Planet Missions but if the Enemy encounters a self-controlling Ship, then he commandeers it which then increases his available RANGE every turn and allows the Enemy to also attempt Space Missions.

Next time, I’m discussing a new dream card, the limiting of seed cards, and sharing my versions of some of the Season 1 TNG Bridge crew. My re-watch of Star Trek continues and I’m currently finishing off both Season 6 of TNG and Season 1 of DS9. I Tweet my episode reviews on Twitter- so if you're interested in what I think about either of them, Follow me - @DWSSG01.

Make it so...”
 
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#488425
Many thanks to everyone who's following the blogs on the solo project.

Any feedback is welcome.

To make reference easier, I've compiled the first 13 into a PDF document (Captain's Blog - Supplemental Vol 1) too if anyone can tell me where to upload it??

Many more to come... :wink:
User avatar
 
By SudenKapala (Suden Käpälä)
 - Delta Quadrant
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#488432
Can't you simply attach the PDF to a post here, or is it too big? Or doesn't it work? I only ever uploaded images myself, I think.

A PDF with only the simple, additional rules might be helpful. To speak for myself: As your articles are now -- interspersed with lots of backgrounds, quotes, and ideas and thoughts -- they do make for fascinating reading if I have time for them, but you add articles faster than I can keep up with! :lol: It's a lot to keep track of. Also, I think I missed (or overlooked?) a general outlining of the basic structure of your solo game variant -- where you explain the basics of the Enemy / Opponent mechanic, lack of understanding of which confused me while browsing the rest. But that could be my mistake.

But hopefully/possibly, other people have more time, energy and attention span than to browse forum for a large number of short periods throughout a day...?

In any case -- I see "progress" (to my personal taste) with less dream cards, and I like a lot of the individual ideas with the existing cards. I think I said earlier (perhaps in your other thread?), that my interest in these sort of things is at least partially "academic", in that I like reading about others' uses for and interpretations of cards. In that way, at the very least, I appreciate your sharing... But oh, the sheer volume! :P :wink:

Still not sure if I'll have need for a solo game any more (no lack of players anymore, ATM). But if part of the end result of your efforts is a full, compact PDF rule-and-suggestions-book, this makes me hopeful that I'll sit down with that (and comment on it, and/or proofread it, if you like).

:cheersL: :thumbsup:
 
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#488653
Angel One

A brief visit will be tolerated.” – Mistress Beata, ‘Angel One

Welcome to the latest article on STCCG1e where I reveal a new Dream card, discuss a seed card limit and since I have to admit I struggled to find much of a link to this episode title, I also detail my versions of the TNG Season ‘One’ Bridge crew!

Angel One’ can hardly be described as the best episode of TNG ever - in fact with its terribly dated 80’s sexism and ‘planet of the strong women’ trope, it’s possibly one of the worst! This could be the reason, like the equally, or even worse episode ‘Code of Honor’ earlier in the season, this episode has only one 1e card sourced from it (and although ‘Code of Honor’ has a few 2e cards, it has none for 1e). The card from ‘Angel One’ is Premiere’s Matriarchal Society. It’s not a bad Dilemma though and some Affiliations, such as early Romulan, and especially the Ferengi, can have a terrible time getting past it – especially if a Female's Love Interest or two are seeded beforehand. But with only 1 card from the episode, (although you could argue that Patrol Neutral Zone could apply here as the Enterprise is ordered to do just that) it does mean I’m allowed to introduce a new Dream card based on this ‘new civilisation’:

New Civilisations: (Objective). Seeds or plays on table. Each time your unique Personnel uses either Anthropology or Diplomacy to complete a unique Planet Mission, stop Personnel to place a token here (limit one per Mission). When 3 tokens are here, score 10 points and discard Objective.
(This Objective mirrors one of the core values of Star Trek and plays very thematically with the Federation Affiliation but other Affiliations can also find ways to use it.)

Seed Cards: A player is usually allowed to seed a maximum of 30 cards. Since the solo game has automatic Dilemma seeding however, as well as having Battle Bridge, Q Continuum and Alternate Universe side-decks that are not controlled by the player, I am using a strict 8 card maximum on seed cards.

Season One TNG Personnel: It seems to me that with the exception of Tasha Yar (not a brilliant card and who is certainly missing the ‘not conceived yet’ Transporter Skill), the Premiere TNG bridge crew cards represent the main characters from about Season 3 onwards of the show rather than when it began (if nothing else, the uniforms are different). By this time, the characters had established both themselves and their roles aboard the Enterprise. In Season 1 however, some of those roles, particularly Geordi and Worf, but also Wesley, were certainly very different. When the CC released The Next Generation set in 2012, new versions of Data, Geordi La Forge and Deanna Troi were created to represent their Season 1 TNG personas (and in Troi’s case a much better card), akin to the cards produced for the 2e Necessary Evil expansion from 2004. That set also had cards for Will Riker, Beverly Crusher and Worf, and the 2e Premiere set already had a Season 1 TNG Wesley Crusher. Since us poor 1e players are still waiting for corresponding cards of those characters, but we do have a promo of Jean-Luc Picard from ‘Encounter at Farpoint’, I present my versions of the other 4 Personnel:

Will Riker: Two small tweaks, reducing his INT to 7 and replacing Diplomacy with Anthropology.

Beverly Crusher: Only a small tweak, reducing her CUN to 7.

Worf: A lot of changes happened to Worf over the first 3 seasons of TNG, most notably his promotion to Security Chief when Tasha died, but also his growth as a diplomat. His Season 1 persons is very different to that of Premiere with OFFICER Classification, a Staff rather than Command Icon, skills being Honor, Computer Skill, Navigation, and SECURITY, with stats of 7/5/9 respectively.

Wesley Crusher: The Wesley of Premiere depicts him at the helm of the Enterprise as a full Ensign but when TNG started he was just a talented kid in a woolly jumper so I’ve made him a CIVILIAN with no Staff Icon, the same skills as listed, but with stats of 6/7/4.

Next time, I’m discussing the introduction of ‘Computer Cores’, my new Affiliation-themed side-deck idea for storing your downloadable cards and as an alternative to Q’s Tent.

My re-watch of Star Trek continues - I’ve just about finished watching Season 6 of TNG and Season 1 of DS9 and am about to start a ‘first-time’ watch of Star Trek: Discovery. I Tweet my episode reviews on Twitter- so if you're interested in what I think about any of them, Follow me - @DWSSG01.

Make it so...”
Last edited by dragoncymru on Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
 - Beta Quadrant
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#488995
11001001

Gentlemen, if this is what you call ‘enhancement’, you have a gift for understatement.” – William T Riker, ‘11001001

In this article on the solo version of the CCG, I’m introducing ‘Computer Core’ Dream cards – Affiliation themed alternatives to a Q’s Tent side-deck. This is very appropriate given the theme of this article’s titular TNG episode where the computer of the Enterprise was given an ‘upgrade’ by the mysterious Bynars and where Will Riker got an upgraded holographic jazz club with a knockout Minuet in the bargain. I’m quite fond of this episode and created quite a few Dream cards from it for my 2018 solo project, including a new ‘Jazz Club’ Holo-program that stopped Personnel with Music to gain points and V Minuet if your 10 and 01 was in play, as well as a new Bynar pic for Commandeer Ship. This year I’m trying to keep all that reigned in, but since the following don’t have any pics on them, they’re not actually from any episode...

Computer Cores: These Doorway cards are seeded at the start of the game and open a new side-deck that can be used instead of a Q’s Tent as a way of storing downloadable cards. So that they do not invalidate Q’s Tent, the Computer Cores are smaller in size and have restrictions on Personnel and Ships that can be stored within. However to make them a viable, but not over-powered alternative, they allow duplication of cards within and for an Affiliation theme, each Core lets you take a card into your hand when you do something that matches the ‘purpose’ of the Affiliation. I’ll detail new Cores as I introduce new Affiliations into the solo game. Since I don’t count ‘Non-Aligned’ as an Affiliation, these are the first four:

Federation Computer Core: Place atop Federation Computer Core side deck (up to 10 cards but Personnel and Ships must be Federation) during the seed phase. Computer Core is now open and in play. Once per turn, if you complete a Mission with a Federation icon, take a card from Computer Core into your hand. You may not play Q’s Tent. Inaccessible if Computer Crash in play.

Klingon Computer Core: Place atop Klingon Computer Core side deck (up to 10 cards but Personnel and Ships must be Klingon) during the seed phase. Computer Core is now open and in play. Once per turn, if your Klingon leader wins a personnel or Ship Battle, take a card from Computer Core into your hand. You may not play Q’s Tent. Inaccessible if Computer Crash in play.

Romulan Computer Core: Place atop Romulan Computer Core side deck (up to 10 cards but Personnel and Ships must be Romulan) during the seed phase. Computer Core is now open and in play. Once per turn, if you play a Romulan Espionage card or complete a Mission with an Espionage card present, take a card from Computer Core into your hand. You may not play Q’s Tent. Inaccessible if Computer Crash in play.

Ferengi Computer Core: Place atop Ferengi Computer Core side deck (up to 10 cards but Personnel and Ships must be Ferengi) during the seed phase. Computer Core is now open and in play. Once per turn, if you play a ‘Rules of Acquisition’ Event, take a card from Computer Core into your hand. You may not play Q’s Tent. Inaccessible if Computer Crash in play.

Spacedoor: This is another Doorway that hails from this episode and was released in the brilliant Official Tournament Sealed Deck product in 1998. Apart from the terrific image used (stolen from the movie ‘Search for Spock’), the card’s main claim to fame was being the first way to download universal Ships to your Outpost. This was a huge problem in the early life of the CCG where it was ‘play one, draw one’ and a race to get any Ship on the table to reach a Mission, so this card was, and still is, a very popular seed card.

10 and 01: I’m very fond of these little Bynar aliens and it’s a real pity we never got to see them again in any of the Star Trek shows (although I believe some published fiction did use them). They naturally link well into my Computer Core idea so I’m going to give them a small boost and allow them to be stopped to either: V Computer Crash (which they did in the show) OR a card from your Computer Core.

Next time, I’m going a little sideways to indulge in creating not Dream cards, but Dream TNG episodes and then assigning CCG cards to them. I hope people like my ideas and what is in my ‘head canon’!

My viewing of Star Trek continues and I’m currently just starting to watch Star Trek: Discovery for the first time and enjoying what I’ve seen so far, even if it is far removed from 90’s Trek. I Tweet my episode reviews on Twitter- so if you're interested in what I think about Discovery, Follow me - @DWSSG01.

Make it so...”
 
 - Beta Quadrant
 -  
#489943
Too Short a Season

They say the natives have a process there that rejuvenates the body, gives you your youth back …"
- Admiral Mark Jameson, ‘Too Short a Season

This week I’m begging your indulgence as rather than discussing the solo version of the CCG, I want to share my ideas for some ‘lost’ episodes of Season 2 of TNG and then add some existing cards to them.

Season 2 TNG: I was 21 when this season first aired - hence the above quote about getting your youth back – it was a long time ago! 1n 1988, Hollywood was hit by a strike from the Writer’s Guild that curtailed the Season to 22 episodes rather than the planned, and usual, 26 episodes. We literally had ‘too short a season’. Here are my ideas for the four missing episodes where I’ve tried to give all the regular characters an episode to shine, reflect back on what had gone before, foreshadow changes for Season 3, visit a universe where all the Trek shows have gone except TNG and finally plug a gap in honouring the original series cast.

Hailing Frequencies: It’s well known that actress Nichelle Nichols who played Uhura in the original Star Trek was an inspiration for not only Levar Burton but also for Whoopi Goldberg. Nichelle was also the only original cast member not to have made an appearance in 90’s Trek of some form (Nimoy, Kelly, Doohan in TNG, Shatner and Koenig in ‘Generations’ and Takei in ‘Voyager’), so it seems proper that she appear here.

The episode would concern contact with an alien race from Guinan’s sector of space where communication is impossible using the universal translator so Geordi would have to modify the ship’s systems to modulate correct harmonics (or something). All just an excuse of course to call up Commander Uhura as a Hologram to instruct both Geordi and Guinan in how to do it and get the 3 of them in the same scene

The Fairest of Them All: This would be a 2-part story, TNG’s first since the pilot episode and that wouldn’t be repeated until the end of Season 3. As the title suggests, it would be TNG’s visit to the Mirror Universe. I can’t believe this never happened on TV as it’s a fascinating concept, allows the regulars to have a bit of fun playing different versions of themselves and allows the writer to enjoy killing off a character in a nasty way as it’s all another reality anyway. I know there have been lots of published fiction books and comics where TNG does visit the MU but I haven’t read any of them – so this is not me stealing ideas in any way – honest!

My episodes focus on Riker in the MU and become embroiled in intrigue and deception as Troi is playing off Mirror Picard and Mirror Riker in a deadly power struggle. Also aboard is a vicious Klingon prisoner – Mirror Worf – who has escaped imprisonment and experimentation torture from Mirror Dr Selar’s laboratory (a return for a favourite character from earlier in the season and the sublime Suzi Plakson). We would see TNG versions of Climbing the Ranks, Agony Booth and Transporter Mixup, as well as some excellent Mirror Personnel cards for Troi, Picard and Selar along the lines of First Officer Spockor Chief Surgeon McCoy.

Infection: The season climax is the sequel to Season 1’s ‘Conspiracy’ that was clearly set up in the episode and yet the parasites never made a return appearance in any Trek show. Here, Wesley is infected by a new parasite Queen and the only way to save him and destroy them is for Data, the only crewmember who cannot be affected, to deliver a virus created by Dr Pulaski that wipes out the entire species. Disgusted by her role in their destruction, Pulaski resigns her commission on the Enterprise. We could have a cameo from Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, concerned over her son and whom Pulaski turns to for help with the problem. This would set up her return for Season 3 and also gives a reason why Pulaski suddenly disappears without any proper send off or mention. In terms of CCG cards, a TNG version of Alas, Poor Queen perhaps?

So there you go – 4 new episodes that would I believe would finish Season 2 of TNG off with style, action and some fan-pleasing continuity and character progression. I hope you enjoyed reading about my episode ideas and would love to hear any feedback on them.

Next time, I’m back to discussing the solo CCG proper with a new Dream card, another way to select Missions and a massive game report detailing Federation clashes with all 3 other Affiliations!

My viewing of Star Trek continues and I’m currently giving Discovery a first-time watch. I’ve got to half-way through Season 1 and although very different from 90’s Trek, it’s very enjoyable so far. I Tweet my episode reviews on Twitter- so if you're interested in what I think about it, Follow me - @DWSSG01.

Make it so...
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By SudenKapala (Suden Käpälä)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#489950
While skimming your latest article, I quickly became intrigued by the episode pitches you make here. Especially the one for Nichelle Nichols. I'd liked to have seen that one! I like the episode title, for all its familiarity -- it fits and rings true.
Not sure about Infection (make sure it doesn't look like I, Borg), but the point is valid that the Bluegills should certainly have returned. So, benefit of doubt: yes, go make it, the series would be better off for it.

Now, for Fairest of them all...

Mirror episodes always seem lame to me when first described, but I end up loving them anyway; and it would've been fun to see mirror TNG cast.
So -- I want to see a dumb, goofy Wesley (to show how he could have been really annoying, but luckily isn't usually), not being taken seriously with rights.
Most of all, I want to see an epic part of the progression between TOS [MQ] and DS9 [MQ] -- the Terran Empire assailed at all sides (by quarreling [Kli] and [Car] , and also any others we can write in), the last of [TE] crumbling into dust. The E'prise is one of the last and toughest boats standing, partly due to iron discipline and flogging. And as it goes down; prisoner Worf taking over the E'prise, wanting to take it home for a mighty prize, setting him up as a small-time hero.
The few good crew: either enslaved, marooned, or everybody dies.
Except for Wes. He turns out to have been an evil mastermind all along, who manipulated even Picard, Riker and Worf -- and he 'suggests' a course toward Cardie space to form an alliance (but Wes makes it so that Worf feels it's his own idea). This turns out a great plan -- after Benevolent Dukat opposed the wretched alliance and tries to kill Worf, which Wes foresees, earning Worf's and Garak's gratitude (exit Good Dukat in nasty manner).

The [KCA] manages to defeat the last remnant of the [TE] . And instead of Worf being a poster boy hero, Wes helps Worf claim a seat of leadership, and later Gov'nur.
Last shot: Wes, living in a quiet mansion on Boreth or Bajor (whichever we can show as a tranquil, nice place to live the rest of your life in peace), sipping a glass of spring (or blood) wine on a throne-like chair. He's been growing a beard (or goatee?) and smiles satisfactorily (my phone told me that's indeed a word!).
He might even look to the side into an oval Mirror On The Wall and check out his new facial hair in a Riker-like manner, hinting at the episode title. But that must be executed either very subtly or blatantly spoofy.

Huh! Sorry, I ran off with your idea. (Also never read any of the TNG books.) (But it may resemble In A Mirror Darkly a bit too much, now...? Ah, we can work around that -- things being done before was -- quite often -- done before. :lol: ) Yeah, it could be a great 2-parter. :P Let's make it! 8)
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First Edition Rules Master
By BCSWowbagger (James Heaney)
 - First Edition Rules Master
 -  
Community Contributor
#489978
Old!Uhura deserves to be in command, I think. Ms. Nichols herself was glad to be a role model but often frustrated with being a communications officer -- so, forget it, just make her a captain with a knack for codebreaking and signals intelligence.

But I already sorta gave my thesis statement on that...
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By SudenKapala (Suden Käpälä)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#490005
BCSWowbagger wrote:Old!Uhura
What does that mean? Something specific?
deserves to be in command, I think
No argument there. :thumbsup:

Awesome that you worked with her! :o I read some about her ideas, but thx for the further insights.
 
 - Beta Quadrant
 -  
#490313
Thanks for your comments both of you - glad you like the episode ideas.

I'd never heard of the Starship Excelsior project before, but I'm going to make a point of sitting down and listening to some over the Xmas holidays - thanks for the link. :cheersR:
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