[MidnightLich]

Welcome to today's First Edition Friday Question, where you get a chance to answer questions that will help shape the future of First Edition. This is the fourth installment of this series, and so far I think it's been going well. If you want to read up on or answer previous questions, here's a list:

13 SEP 2019: What do you think of [SPOILER]?
6 SEP 2019: Which card needs an alternate image (AI)?
30 AUG 2019: Which characteristic needs love?

Today, we're going to talk about the sometimes labyrinthine rules of this game we all love.

Which rules always confuse you?

There are a lot of rules to First Edition, so many that the rulebook has been supplemented with a massive glossary. We've been working to help, with a new rulebook launched in the past year. We've also got active Rules and Errata teams that are constantly looking for ways to clarify and improve the rules. But there are so many rules, often that are written down in multiple places, that even the most talented of us is bound to be confused.

What rules always trip you up? Which ones do you find yourself having to keep looking up? Do you have certain pages in the rulebook or passages in the glossary bookmarked? Why? We want to know which rules always confuse you, and maybe we can find a way to clean them up.

Thanks for reading and answering. Have a great weekend! And if you happen to also play 2E, go check out their newly announced expansion Sacrifice of Angels. As discussed in the announcement, it's a battle themed expansion and will be releasing on October 4th, 2019.

-crp

[Iron Prime]

All of them?

For some reason I can never keep the countdown icons straight. Not sure why...

[MidnightLich]

I have the hardest time with two things:

1) Doorways play like interrupts, but only on your turn.
2) How trap cards work.

-crp

[AllenGould]

I've done rules, I've done errata, I've done design, I've done playtesting, I have read the glossary front-to-back multiple times, and I generally have a pretty good grasp of all the nuances of how this game works...

... and I wouldn't try to explain cumulative on a bet.

[Discovery rox]

the nor walking rule is confusing. not just because it makes things harder but more because its really non intuitive at all. its actually pretty simple once you get it, but then you forget it the next time because it makes no sense that you cant walk wherever you want all day.

also every turn vs each turn. thats something i can never remember and have to look up each time. thats super confusing.

also, valid responses. i have never understood this rule so i gave up trying. it makes sense that interrupts can be played any time, thats what interrupt means. and it makes sense special downloads can download any time. they are like interrupts.

except you cant play interrupts any time and you cant special download any time (or maybe you can). they have to be valid responses, which is bogus and confusing. if i want to respond in some way and have teh card that responds int he way i want, then that should be valid.

[SudenKapala]

Cumulative rules (thx Allen).
No, Assign Mission Specialists does NOT give points if you assign (which you may, hence the confusion) a specialist to aid solely by any of their attributes. I keep forgetting this, even though it's on the card!
Dilemma Resolution, generic rules -- I keep forgetting the trules-of-thumb for DR. I often use the (old!) DRG (because the new one still has a lot of troubles; all text after a certain character is lost/invisible).

More to come if when I think of them.

[Marquetry]

Stopped people making their own away team, or different away teams, or something like that...

[BCSWowbagger]

Random selections involving dual personnel cards (yikes @ that sidebar -- even I have to reread it all the time, and I wrote it!)

The precise meaning of "any" under current rules

"Once each turn" abilities on ❖ and cumulative cards.

When relocation permits time travel (and when it does not)

Apparently, who resolves ties.

[SudenKapala]

Ahh...
All of the above, actually, for me, too.

[sexecutioner]

I'm with Heaney with this about duels.

The way I've always worked it, if the duel personnel is not selected last, then they count as two personnel.

But if they're the last, then they're still selected.

Please say if I'm wrong.

[BCSWowbagger]

I'm with Heaney with this about duels.

The way I've always worked it, if the duel personnel is not selected last, then they count as two personnel.

But if they're the last, then they're still selected.

Please say if I'm wrong.

That may have been right at some point in the past. I've heard some CRAZY stuff about how Decipher tried to make dual-personnel cards work.

It's not correct right now.

BASICALLY, dual-personnel cards are always treated as a single personnel for random selections -- but ONLY during the selection (the effect hits both equally). And ONLY for random selections -- in all other selections, they're treated as two people.

It's on my list of "things to research to see if we can maybe make this easier without ruining everything."

[Enabran]

also, valid responses.

almost every time I wish to do something with my and/or cards my opponent says: You cannot. But reads "suspend play" to do... - ahhh - headache....

[AllenGould]

BASICALLY, dual-personnel cards are always treated as a single personnel for random selections -- but ONLY during the selection (the effect hits both equally). And ONLY for random selections -- in all other selections, they're treated as two people.

Yeah, but that's still saner than the old rule where they counted as one OR two depending on when you picked them.

[Discovery suxs]

Borg rules especially when encountering dilemmas. It gets frustrating sometimes.

Self controlling cards rules.

Black (or)and red (or) rules

Decipher not so clear text on cards rules.

If you didn't meet the conditions of the dilemmas it goes back under the mission. Of course there are dilemmas that say discard, cure, nullified, etc. It would be alot easier for everyone. If all that was crystal clear right on the card.

The rule my group always forgets is attacking without a leader. There is so much going on we forget to check for a leader.

[Mogor]

Borg in general, and how they interact with missions. If you steal a mission from them, they shouldn't be able to come and scout it still