@boromirofborg Great minds think alike. I've had the following in draft form on my computer for a while. I figured I would share it. The crux of the proposal is to remove basic affiliation attack restrictions; that is, most everyone is Klingon! I believe the frequency that normal attack restrictions come into play is small; and the frequency they come into play in a positive light is even smaller. They are best done away with. After that, the details of how multi-affiliation cards work are fairly straight-forward after shoehorning existing text to work the way it should. Enjoy!
MULTI-AFFILIATION CARDS (6.3.3)
A few cards have more than one affiliation icon. For example, The Emissary has both the
and
affiliation icons.
He is compatible with both cards and cards simultaneously. You do not need to choose nor declare which affiliation they are. However, a multi-affiliation card does not provide a "treaty" for your other cards; all other personnel present (and the ship or facility they are aboard) must be still pairwise compatible with each other.
A multi-affiliation cards (unless ) are not subject to attack restrictions.
sidebar:
If a single-affiliation personnel gains a new affiliation without losing his or her original affiliation, it functions as a multi-affiliation card.
A few select multi-affiliation personnel have features that are dependent on their "affiliation mode" (such as Major Rakal);
they gain those features if they could operate as that affiliation alone. They lose these features if they lose that affiliation (e.g. Memory Wipe or they are assimilated). It is possible such a personnel could gain multiple sets of features (if, for example, all other personnel present are )
A card that "does not work with" affiliation(s) means that card cannot consider those affiliation(s) on other cards to determine compatibility. For example, Lore who is but "does not work with " is still compatible with a personnel.
As always, a card is a copy of another if both have the same title and gametext. Prints of the same card with different affiliation border colors, such as Prot and Prot (Identity Crisis) are copies.
INITIATING A BATTLE (7.4.1)
...
Most affiliations have no attack restrictions. Two affiliations have attack restrictions.
may initiate battle only against
. Otherwise,
may battle only during counter-attack, or when permitted or required by a card.
may never initiate battle unless permitted or required to by a card, usually an objective, (such as Eliminate Starship or Conundrum), or as a counter-attack (see After the Battle).
Multi-affiliation cards (unless ) are not subject to attack restrictions.
sidebar
A "mixed" force is subject to all the attack restrictions of its members. However, multi-affiliation cards have no attack restrictions. For example, your crew or away team containing a
personnel (who is only
) is subject to the
attack restrictions.
If a card specifically allows you to attack a specific affiliation (or faction), then you may attack any forces that include that affiliation (or faction), even if other cards are working with them. For example, Admiral Leyton, who allows
present to attack
, implicitly allows you to attack a mixed
/[Kaz] force as well.
When a card, such as Emblem of the Empire, removes affiliation attack restrictions from a group of cards, they may attack any affiliation, including their own. If cards from that group mix with other cards whose affiliation attack restrictions have not been removed, the entire force is subject to the restrictions of the second group.
A card that allows a specific attack (e.g., Captain Kirk may initiate battle against non-[Fed]) does not permanently or universally remove affiliation attack restrictions.
Older rules gave most affiliations the attack restriction that they cannot initiate battle against their own affiliation; this is no longer the case.