12/31/95 ******************************************** OFFICIAL FAQ FROM DECIPHER, Inc. ******************************************** STAR TREK: CUSTOMIZABLE CARD GAME ******************************************** RULES FAQ: v.4 ERRATA RULE CHANGES NEW FAQS FROM ORIGINAL SET WARP PACK QUESTIONS (See Rules FAQ: v.5 for Alt.Univ. Questions) ******************************************** by Tom Braunlich ******************************************** THIS INFORMATION WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE COMBINED RULES FAQ FOR ST:CCG, WHICH CAN BE FOUND ON DECIPHER.COM, AND ELSEWHERE. ******************************************** SHEEPISH INTRODUCTION First, I want to apologize for a couple of dumb mistakes made in the last Rules FAQ -- saying that Crosis was cumulative, and contradicting an earlier ruling about Equipment. Both of these FAQs are reprinted below in corrected form. I was going to post an Errata FAQ about this, but since seemingly Everybody sent corrections to DAnswerMan (somewhat gleefully I might add :-), I thought, heck, everybody already knows! Both mistakes were my fault (adding up those cumulative Crosis numbers was so much fun I forgot to check the card!). Needless to say, we'll try to avoid repeats of this. I also apologize that it has been so long since the previous FAQ. Pressures to finish work on the Alternate Universe and then Star Wars have been intense, and it has been the priority. Decipher is taking steps to greatly improve its communications and postings of this sort. This FAQ sheet includes recent FAQs since the last one, plus some FAQs about the Warp Pack cards. ******************************************** The following information is copyrighted by Decipher Inc. 1995; however, it can be freely disseminated online or by traditional publishing means as long as this copyright notice is attached. TM, (R) & (C) 1995 Lucasfilm, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Star Wars and related marks are trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd. Used under authorization by Decipher, Inc. Authorized User. ******************************************** OVERALL INDEX TO THE QUESTION CATEGORIES ******************************************** 1. GENERAL QUESTIONS 2. PERSONNEL 3. SHIPS 4. MISSIONS 5. DILEMMAS 6. EVENTS 7. INTERRUPTS 8. EQUIPMENT 9. ARTIFACTS 10. OUTPOSTS ******************************************** 11. HOLOGRAPHIC RE-CREATIONS 12. NON-ALIGNED and TREATIES 13. AFFILIATIONS 14. THE SPACELINE and MOVEMENT 15. SEEDING 16. BEAMING -- AWAY TEAMS -- CREW 17. DUPLICATION RULES / UNIVERSAL CARDS 18. BATTLE 19. CLOAKING 20. BORG and ROGUE BORG 21. CUMULATIVE EFFECTS 22. CARD COMBINATIONS 40. COMMENTS ON PAST RULINGS ******************************************** *0. ERRATA and RULING CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS FAQs Q: CROSIS -- Is Crosis cumulative or not cumulative? A: It is not cumulative as it says on the card. My previous statement in a FAQ that it is cumulative was totally in error! Q: PREVIOUS INCONSISTENCY IN THE FAQ -- How does one resolve the following two statements in the previous FAQs? >>>>> (Under Treaties we state that...) ÒTREATY and EQUIPMENT -- If a mixed Klingon/Romulan crew (with a treaty) has both Klingon and Romulan disruptor equipment cards aboard their ship, do they each get +2 strength from their respective disruptors, or does the whole crew get +4 because of the treaty? A: No. Those disruptor cards refer specifically to which affiliation they ÒworkÓ for.Ó and.... (Under Equipment we state that...) ÒWhat if there is a treaty in effect -- can my Federation people use the Romulan Disruptor? A: If there is a treaty, then both affiliations can use the Equipment, because under a Treaty the allied affiliations share their cards "as if they were one affiliation." (You might rationalize that they teach each other how to use the equipment, etc.) Ò <<<<< A: One of them is wrong. It is the first one. The second explanation is correct. (The first one is a result of a confusion on my part with another ruling that is similar. <>) *** RULING CHANGE -- EVENTS PLAYED ON SHIPS IN TIME TRAVEL The following is a quote of a previous ruling in a previous FAQ which has proven unpopular: ÒQ: TEMPORAL RIFTS AND COUNTDOWN EFFECTS -- There are some cards with "countdown" effects, such as stating something that is going to happen to a ship in X turns (i.e. Warp Core Breach). And there are some cards which can be played on a ship (i.e.Temporal Rift), that make it "disappear" and reappear X turns hence. During the time it is in the Rift, are the countdown effects still happening, or are they suspended? A: The current ruling is: Time isn't frozen for the people aboard the ship. The countdown of turns continues for the ship in the rift. Note: while in the rift, the ship can only be affected further by cards which have natural effects, similar to the interpretation for ships that are "cloaked" -- i.e., a Plasma Fire can be played on a ship in a Rift, but the opponent could not "scan" the ship in the rift.Ó FEEDBACK This ruling, though it ÒworksÓ was considered to be illogical by most people. The ruling was made by the Rules Committee mainly because they thought it would create some interesting card combinations. But, as many pointed out, when a ship travels from now to the future, it should be an instantaneous movement, so there is no passage of time for them. NEW RULING The new Ruling is that in situations like those above the ÒcountdownÓ does not run while the ship is still in the Rift. (It isn't so much that time is ÒfrozenÓ for those on the ship (unlis ÒStasisÓ), but instead the movement from now to the point in the future happens instantaneously, so that there is no time for time to run, so to speak.) The countdown would begin immediately after the ship returns from the rift. The same applies to similar cards to the Temporal Rift. *1. GENERAL QUESTIONS Q: NULLIFY -- What does ÒnullifyÓ mean? A: It basically means the affected card is *discarded without effect*, although there are a few inconsistencies of this use. (Sometimes we say a certain *effect* of a card is nullified, but not the card itself, as on the Hugh card which nullifies the *attack* of the Borg Ship, not the ship itself). And sometimes we incorrectly used the term ÒdestroysÓ instead of ÒnullifiesÓ (as on the Kevin Uxbridge card). We will try to be more consistent about it in the future and let us know if there are any ambiguous usages. *5. DILEMMAS Q: Q2 vs. Q DILEMMA -- If my opponent has enough to override the Q dilemma, can I play Q2, nullifying the Q dilemma, and thus make him go thru the rest of the dilemmas at that location? Can you explain the relationship between the Q2 card and the Q dilemma card? A: Yes! This is a good point that a lot of people, including me, forget about. The Q2 card says it "nullifies any Q- Related dilemma" This specifically says it can nullify the Q-dilemma even after it has already come up. "Nullifies" in ST:CCG means that the target card is discarded and its effects are canceled. The only question is whether you can wait to see whether the opponent has enough Leadership and Integrity to overcome the dilemma first, and then decide to nullify it if he does. No one has ever asked this before. The current ruling on this is yes, you can wait to make the decision. *Note* that a common tactic players use is to place a lot of valuable dilemmas or artifacts at one location and then place a Q- Dilemma there *last* (so it will be the first to come up). Then they make sure they have Integrity >60 before attempting the mission, which overcomes all the dilemmas at once. There are at least two ways to foil such a strategy. While they are preparing their big away team, if you suspect they have this kind of plan you can send over a ÒRed ShirtÓ to attempt the mission. This will Òuse upÓ the Q- dilemma and spoil what might be their entire gameplan at small cost to you. The other method is to ÒdefendÓ against the Q dilemma by using Q2 as described above. At the current time, there is only one ÒQ-related dilemmaÓ, the basic one named ÒQÓ. However, you can bet there will be some more in the future. Q: ALIEN PARASITES and ALIEN PARASITES -- What happens if a crew under the opponent's control due to Alien Parasites runs up against *another* Alien Parasites dilemma? Is there no effect, or does control revert to the opponent? A: This could go both ways, but the current ruling is that control of this crew would again change hands. The card says that the Ò. . . opponent immediately controls ship and crew...Ó So, if this happened twice, the opponent of the opponent is you! Q: ALIEN PARASITES and DISCARD DILEMMA-- Is the Alien Parasites dilemma discarded after it has had its effect, or is it placed back under the mission? A: Strange. I personally had always thought it was placed on the ship it was affecting and then discarded when finished, but it was pointed out that this is not correct. In that case, it would have to say, ÒDiscard dilemmaÓ, which it doesn't. It should stay with affected ship until stopped, then return it to the bottom of the dilemmas under its original location. Q: TARELLIAN PLAGUE SHIP -- The dilemma requires a Medical to be sacrificed. If I have an Officer and a Medical Kit (which gives Officers Medical skill), do I have to sacrifice the Officer, the Kit, or both? A: Both. Q: CYTHERIANS and CLOAKING -- When under the influence of the Cytherians, can I cloak my ship? A: No. Q: LOVE INTEREST RED SHIRTS -- When one of my personnel is sent across the galaxy by the Love interest cards, can I use that person to investigate the mission there? A: Yes, although it would be risky just like any Òred shirtÓ attempt at a mission with just one or two people can be risky, especially once the new expansion cards are out. The person could even theoretically do the mission at that location if they were capable. Q: HOLOGRAPHIC PERSONNEL and the Q-DILEMMA -- If I rearrange the spaceline during a Q dillema so that my opponent's hologram is at a location where he has no ships, is it destroyed? A: The current ruling is that it is only deactivated. *6. EVENTS Q: TEMPORAL RIFT and ANTI-TIME ANOMALY -- Does Temporal Rift save me from the Anti Time Anomaly just like the Time Travel Pod? A: Yes, for the same reasons Q: DISTORTION OF THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM -- Can this be played during my opponent's turn, giving me an extra move during their turn? A: No. That is not the intention. The card says, ÒAny one ship and its Away Team may immediately make another move.Ó You can't make ÒanotherÓ move during a turn unless you have already moved once. So, you can't play it on your own ship during your opponent's turn. (Future cards might have a similar effect to that, however). Note that you might, however, play it on an opponent's ship during the opponent's turn. I don't know why, but I guess you could! :-) Q: GAPS IN NORMAL SPACE and EVENT CARDS -- Is the gap created by "Gaps In Normal Space" considered to be Planetary, Space, or neither? If the space is considered to be a ÒspaceÓ location on the spaceline, can you then play cards on it which Òplay on space locationsÓ like the "Subspace Warp Rift"? If so, the combination of several such cards on the Gaps would almost insure a passing ship incurs damage, or worse.(?) A: Gaps in Normal Space Òcreates a gap with a span of 4Ó where it is placed. It is considered to be a ÒspaceÓ location on the spaceline. As the card says, ships can stop there (but one personnel will be killed if they do). Ships can also battle there, and any Events which are normally played on space locations can be played there, combining the effects of the two cards. i.e., a Tetryon Field played on the Gaps would cause a player to stop there (if they have no Navigation), which in turn would have one personnel aboard killed by the Gaps. So, Yes, you can play Events onto the Gaps' location and get the combined effects. At the current time, there seem to be no problems with this, although we will have to watch it to insure that future cards don't cause the possibility for a total roadblock. (See question below). (Note: the Q-Net is not a spaceline location. It is played between two locations, but has no span. Think of it as being a net draped between the two locations.) Q: GAPS IN NORMAL SPACE and KEVIN UXBRIDGE -- If the Gaps card is destroyed by Kevin Uxbridge, what happens to the gap and what happens to any other cards that might have been located at that gap? A: When destroyed by Kevin, the Gaps in Normal Space card is discarded, and the ÒgapÓ in the spaceline is closed up. If there were any other Event cards played on the Gaps, like a Tetryon Field, than these Events disappear with the Gaps. (They were are integral part of the space in that area, so when one goes away so does the other). If there were any ships located there, including Escape Pods, Borg Ships, and other such things (which are not an integral part of the surrounding space but Òjust passing throughÓ, so to speak), these are not destroyed along with the Gaps. Instead, we can assume that Kevin Uxbridge, being a personable fellow, would slide them to safety. The player who played Kevin would chose to which neighboring spaceline location these ships would be relocated. (Here is a fun house rule: in this situation, if the ship in question was a Husnock ship, Kevin would not save it, but allow it to be discarded instead!?). Q: PARTICLE FOUNTAIN and the OPPONENT'S MISSIONS -- Can I play Particle Fountain on my opponent's just-scored mission if I have 2 Engineer present? A: No. (Technically speaking it might seem so, but it wouldn't make any sense.) Q: NEAR-WARP TRANSPORT and the Q-NET -- Can I Near-Warp Transport through a Q-Net? A: Yes. From a logic standpoint this is debatable. But the way the Near-Warp Transport card is symbolically used in the play of ST:CCG, one would have to say yes. Q: THE TRAVELER and the STATIC WARP BUBBLE -- (1) Does the Traveler nullify all SWBs in play or just my opponent's? (2) Does the Traveler cause my opponent to discard the SWB or just make it ineffective until he can Kevin my Traveler? A: (1) Just your opponent's -- the ones played by the opponent that are affecting you. (2) Nullify = Discards Q: DISTORTION FIELDS - DOUBLED -- Can I play two Distortion Fields on a planet, rendering it impenetrable? A; Yes.You can if you time it right. Q: GENETRONIC REPLICATOR and Ò2 MEDICALÓ -- If I have two Medical in a crew/away team, and one of them gets killed, can I use the Genetronic Replicator since there were two Medical in the away team? A: No, the G. Replicator needs two ÒunaffectedÓ Medical personnel to run it. Q: GENETRONIC REPLICATOR and ANTI-TIME ANOMALY -- Can the Genetronic Replicator save one of my personnel from the Anti Time Anomoly? A: No, you need two *unaffected* MEDICAl to run the machine and everyone is affected by the Anomaly. Q: HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTOR -- If my hologram personel is destroyed does the Holo-Projector get destroyed as well? A: No. Q: SUPERNOVA and TOX UTHAT -- If I have the Tox Uthat out on the table, can my opponent play a Supernova? A: No. The Supernova card says, Ò *You* must have Tox Uthat already on table...Ó *7. INTERRUPTS Q: AMANDA ROGERS and PALOR TOFF-- Can I use Palor Toff to rescue Amanda Rogers from my discard pile and immediately play her to nullify an opponent's Interrupt card? A: No. This is a common question for players who are in a ÒQ-BattleÓ (in which you play an Interrupt, I try to nullify it with Amanda, and you block with Q2, I block your Q2 with another Amanda, you block with another Q2, etc. The last one to play in such a battle will be the winner). But, you don't have time to use Palor Toff during the middle of such a Q-Battle, because the chain of interrupts is broken. Why? Amanda Rogers says she works to nullify any Interrupt card that is Òjust played.Ó If I use Palor Toff (which is an interrupt) to rescue Amanda Rogers from the discard pile, then Palor Toff is the last Interrupt card Òjust playedÓ, and therefore Amanda can't work against Q2 anymore. The same problem applies if you try to rescue Q2 from the discard pile in an attempt to use it to nullify Amanda Rogers. Q: AMANDA ROGERS vs. WORMHOLES -- Can Amanda Rogers be played against Wormholes? Does she nullify both of them, or just one? A: Amanda only works against the last Interrupt Òjust played.Ó The Wormhole cards are required to be played in a pair, but do come onto the table in a definite order. So when using Amanda against them, she nullifies the second Wormhole (the ÒExitÓ). That end of the Wormhole is discarded. At this point, the ÒEntranceÓ to the wormhole is still trying to form, so to speak. Two things can happen -- (1) If the Wormhole player has another Wormhole card in hand, he can play it to re- form the two ends of the Wormhole successfully. (2) Otherwise, the Entrance wormhole ÒcollapsesÓ (fails to form) and is also discarded. Note: it is our intention with this ruling that if you are playing a multiplayer game, one of your opponents can come to your rescue and ÒreformÓ the exit of your Wormhole for you, if desired. (Perhaps some pleading or a small bribe would be in order.) :-) Q: KLINGON DEATH YELL and the ANTI-TIME ANOMALY -- Can I play a Klingon Death Yell when an Anti Time Anomoly takes place? A: Tell me, Grasshoper, If a Klingon yells in the forest, does he make a sound? The answer is Yes, if a Klingon dies from this Anomaly card, even though there are no other Klingon cards on the table (since they all die), you are still allowed to yell. One can rationalize this by saying that perhaps the Klingons had time to yell for one another before the Anomaly wiped them all out (or perhaps there are some Klingons still alive over in the Gamma Quadrant somewhere). :-) Similarly, you can play the Death Yell even if the Klingon that died was the only one you have on the table. Q: KLINGON DEATH YELL and the OPPONENT'S KLINGONS -- Can I play a Klingon Death Yell on one of my opponents Klingons? A: Yes. Q: MINDMELD with SPECIAL PERSONNEL -- Can I Mindmeld with Soong-type Androids, Exocomps or Holograms? A: Yes to Data and Exocomps (and other such living personnel). They have a mind and if Spock could mindmeld with the Horta (a silicon creature), it makes sense he can mindmeld with an android if it has a mind. No to Holograms. This is debatable, and our rules committee debated it at length, especially since there have been some episodes that hint this might be possible. However, the current ruling on this is that it isn't possible, except for ÒadvancedÓ self-aware holograms in future sets which we might want to have that ability, like Moriarity and Minuet, or the hologram doctor on Voyager. *9. ARTIFACTS Q: SPACE ARTIFACTS? -- Did you guys screw up when you said on the Scan card that you could glance at the Dilemmas and *Artifacts* under a space mission? You can't put Artifacts under a space mission! A: No. :-) The Cryosatellite card, new to the AU expansion set, does allow the seeding of an artifact in space, among other things. (See FAQ v.5). Q: TOX UTHAT -- If I have the Tox Uthat out on the table, can my opponent play a Supernova? A: No. The Supernova card says, Ò *You* must have Tox Uthat already on table...Ó *10. OUTPOSTS Q: NEUTRAL OUTPOST and SPACEDOCK -- Would a Spacedock allow me to repair ships at a Neutral Outpost? A: Yes *11. HOLOGRAPHIC RE-CREATIONS Q: HOLO PERSONNEL and MIND MELD -- A: See ÒMindmeld with Special PersonnelÓ under Interrupts. *12. NON-ALIGNED and TREATIES Q: SHIPS UNDER TREATY -- Under Treaty, must you have at least one crew of matching affiliation aboard a ship to move it? A: No. The rules say, ÒWhen a treaty card is in play, the personnel, ships, outposts, etc. can all be shared by the players as if they were one affiliation.Ó Thus, you don't have to have a ÒhostÓ aboard the ship. Remember, however, if the treaty gets destroyed the non- matching affiliation personnel will go to house arrest, and thus such a ship would be stranded with no active crew. (You do, however, need at least one personnel of matching affiliation to try a mission, as the rules state, page 30). *20. BORG and ROGUE BORG Q: ROGUE BORG and GAPS IN NORMAL SPACE -- My opponent puts down a Gaps in Normal Space and then waits for me to fly over it. When I'm over it, he plays a Rogue Borg on me so I have to stop there and lose a personnel. Is this fair? A: No. When you are in the process of moving your ship you are in the middle of an action. Interrupt cards (like Rogue Borg) can only be played *between* actions, so to speak (see FAQs elsewhere). To do what the opponent tries here would require an Interrupt card that specifically says it is allowed to interrupt *during* a move. The Wormhole card is like this, for example, and the ÒHailÓ card in the AU set can be used this way. But the Rogue Borg is not. Q: LONE ROGUE BORG -- If only one Rogue Borg card is played on a ship, and it loses the insuing battle, is the crew of that ship still "stopped" for the rest of that turn? If so, can Rogue Borg cards be played individually on successive turns to effectively "stop" a single ship for turn after turn after turn? A: Yes, as the rules clearly state (page 32), this can be done. If it turns out that people will ÒabuseÓ Rogue Borg by using them as stopper cards (in a negative way -- not just occasionally using them to stop a crew, but doing it to an extreme that isn't fun or seems unrealistic), then we will consider either a card that remedies that or rules against it. (In fact, there is at least one card related to this in the Alternate Universe set -- the ÒIntruder Force FieldÓ). But so far we haven't received any complaints of misuse of such a strategy. I haven't yet heard of an effective strategy of that type, however, since it is purely defensive. My guess is that anybody who played that way would soon not have any playing partners! Q: LORE RETURNS on OPPONENT'S ROGUE BORG -- Can I play Lore Returns on my opponent's Rogue Borg? I claim I wouldn't be able to fly the ship or beam to battle with them, but that I would have the ÒcontrolÓ and could prevent the opponent from using them. A: You could play your Lore Returns on the opponent's Rogue Borg, but at the current time there is no benefit to you for doing so, and you would just be helping the opponent. When Lore Returns gets on a commandeered ship, the *owner* of those Rogue Borg (it says Òyour Rogue BorgÓ) can now use the ship. Future Borg-related cards, of which there will be many, might have different effects like this however! Q: LORE'S FINGERNAIL -- Why bother using Lore's Fingernail when a treaty card would work just as well? A: If you don't like it now, it will be more useful as time goes on in the expansion sets. (Actually, there are some significant differences between the two cards.) Remember that future cards reference older cards, and that part of the ongoing design for the game involves attempting as much as possible to make more useful cards which turned out to be little-used. Q: BORG SHIP and HUGH -- If I play Hugh on the Borg ship do I get points for destroying it? A: Hugh nullifies the *attack* of the Borg Ship, not the Borg Ship itself. The Borg Ship stays on the table, it is just that it won't attack during this turn (unless somebody decides to attack it). END