[rferries]

Hello all, longtime lurker here. I notice there are relatively few Borg-themed cards in the virtual expansions, so I'm going to try my hand at creating (and recreating) various Borg-themed cards. For starters:

2 Borg Drone
Borg
•Engineering •Medical •Programming •Science •Security
Drone. You may have any number of copies of this personnel in your deck.
TASK: Perform standard Collective functions.
Integrity 5 Cunning 5 Strength 5

(Explanation)

Finally the Collective has a truly "non-unique" drone, to represent how interchangeable the various drones have seemed as portrayed in the series. Synergises well with the various Implant equipment cards I've homebrewed (to come in next post)

3 •Hugh, Third of Five
Borg
•Astrometrics •Engineer •Honor •Navigation •Programming
Drone. Your other Drones present with this personnel are Integrity +1.
"I am Hugh."
Integrity 6 Cunning 6 Strength 6

(Explanation)

Hugh the astronavigation drone, just after he was starting to spread his newfound individuality back to the Collective.

4 •Borg Queen, The Beginning
Borg
•3 Leadership •Treachery
Order-If this personnel is at your Unicomplex, stop her to download non-unique Drones with a total cost less than your number of uncompleted missions.
Integrity 4 Cunning 8 Strength 6

(Explanation)

Something to get you rolling at the start of the game, quite possibly unbalanced. Becomes less useful as you complete more missions.

4 •Borg Queen, The End
Borg
•3 Leadership •Treachery
Order-If this personnel is at your Unicomplex, stop her to download a unique Drone with total cost less than your number of completed missions.
Integrity 4 Cunning 8 Strength 6

(Explanation)

More useful late-game.

3 •Borg Queen, The One Who Is Many
Borg
•3 Leadership • Telepathy
This personnel is attributes +1 for each Drone present (limit +5). Your Drones present are attributes +1.
Integrity 5 Cunning 5 Strength 5

(Explanation)

The quintessential Queen, the amoral rather than immoral embodiment of the Collective

6 •Borg Queen's Vessel, Nexus

Diamond
While your Borg Queen is aboard this ship she is considered to be at the Unicomplex for the purposes of her gametext.
Range 10 Weapons 10 Shields 10

(Explanation)

Lets you use the homebrewed Queens above for missions as well as downloading drones

[CaptMDKirk]

Hey there! Thanks for posting your ideas here. The main reason that 2E virtual sets have tended to shy away from adding Borg cards was because they were so dominant in the tournament scene towards the end of Decipher's custody of the game (~2007). Even today, in the hands of a skilled and practiced player, assimilation decks can be devastating. It's tough to write virtual cards that would both keep their current power level steady and be a viable alternative to anything they already have in their arsenal.

I'll post some notes for each of these cards based on the knowledge and experience we've gained over the years regarding the challenges of designing . Please take them as constructive criticism rather than just trying to point out the flaws in your work. There are many promising designs here; I'm giving feedback in the spirit of improving those designs.

2 Borg Drone
Borg
•Engineering •Medical •Programming •Science •Security
Drone. You may have any number of copies of this personnel in your deck.
TASK: Perform standard Collective functions.
Integrity 5 Cunning 5 Strength 5

This breaks our standard naming scheme for based on First Edition's drone designations. Also, this personnel should probably cost 3 (five core skills + an ability is a bit strong at 2 cost).

3 •Hugh, Third of Five
Borg
•Astrometrics •Engineer •Honor •Navigation •Programming
Drone. Your other Drones present with this personnel are Integrity +1.
"I am Hugh."
Integrity 6 Cunning 6 Strength 6

This gets a little sticky; we've only ever seen a version of Hugh, because when he gains his individuality, he separates from the Borg affiliation. The problem here (as you've identified) is that in order to be the same persona, he has to be named Hugh; otherwise, you could ostensibly have Third of Five and Hugh in play together. If we did pursue the path taken with Jean-Luc Picard/Locutus and Icheb/Second, he should correctly be titled Third of Five, Tactic Drone (his 1E designation), representing his character at the beginning of the episode before he discovers his individuality.

Gameplay-wise, a unique Integrity boost is a bit out of place here if it's supposed to be the version of this character. I feel like maybe he should give an attribute bonus to the ship he's on instead... although there are other appropriate abilities he could have. Also, this version would likely not have Honor.

4 •Borg Queen, The Beginning
Borg
•3 Leadership •Treachery
Order-If this personnel is at your Unicomplex, stop her to download non-unique Drones with a total cost less than your number of uncompleted missions.
Integrity 4 Cunning 8 Strength 6

4 •Borg Queen, The End
Borg
•3 Leadership •Treachery
Order-If this personnel is at your Unicomplex, stop her to download a unique Drone with total cost less than your number of completed missions.
Integrity 4 Cunning 8 Strength 6

3 •Borg Queen, The One Who Is Many
Borg
•3 Leadership • Telepathy
This personnel is attributes +1 for each Drone present (limit +5). Your Drones present are attributes +1.
Integrity 5 Cunning 5 Strength 5

Okay, let's talk about downloading. Yes, it's the Borg's signature gameplay mechanic. However, downloading directly slows the pace of play and detracts from 2E's core philosophy of "playing on the fly". 2E is supposed to be a game that tests how players deal with the variance of their decks and how they adjust accordingly. Downloading eliminates variance, and while it is desirable to dial any Drone you'd like from your deck, it is anathema to the spirit of the game (why bother playing a game of variance when you know what to expect?).

Specific downloads are somewhat less objectionable in this light. So if the Queen downloaded (for instance) Biological Distinctiveness, there would be no time for deliberation on what to download, you simply look for the specific card, reshuffle, and move on.

6 •Borg Queen's Vessel, Nexus

Diamond
While your Borg Queen is aboard this ship she is considered to be at the Unicomplex for the purposes of her gametext.
Range 10 Weapons 10 Shields 10

I like the idea of this one, similar to Escaping Detection. I'd probably just shorten it to say "she is at each of your missions."

Nice job, hope you find my comments useful.

[rferries]

Hey, thanks for thoughtful and thorough critiques (on all four posts, no less!). Much appreciated, especially coming from one of the CC!

Re: Borg Drone, I know it violates the naming convention but thematically the Borg are the one affiliation that would have a ubiquitous nameless worker. I also feel the cost is more or less appropriate - the ability is of dubious value so it's in line with other non-unique 2-cost Borg, to say nothing of those from other factions with better Cun/Str/Int stat-lines.

Re: Hugh, he's definitely a case of flavour over established mechanics. He's meant to represent Hugh when he's just rejoined the Collective, still a drone but starting to spread morality to the rest of his cube (the Honor comes from being willing to sacrifice his individuality to protect the Enterprise crew). However if his current form is unworkable I had also considered making him useful for your Unity dissident Borg, with an ability like "All Drones present with this personnel lose Drone and gain Dissident.", a la Sphere 117.

Re: The Borg Queens, yeah I was unsure about them already, so I'm happy to scrap the idea. I like the idea of her overseeing the troops from the Unicomplex so maybe the ship could still find use with another version. Perhaps I'd keep the One Who Is Many version and make her ability contingent on being at home.