Hello, and welcome to Starbase One, a new series of articles for Star Trek: Customizable Card Game for the beginning player. The world of Star Trek can be intimidating with all its FAQs, doorways, and dilemmas. In this series, I'll try to write with the beginner in mind and try to present information in a clear, concise manner.

So, where do we start? Chances are, if you're reading this, you have some cards. If you don't, go get some! Got 'em? Good. Now that you've done that, take a look at what you have. If you have the Introductory Two-Player Game, you have everything you need to play right off the start. But what if you don't have the Two-Player Game? Then you just have a bunch of cards with a lot of pretty pictures. However, do try to read through the starter deck rulebook. While you don't need to completely understand every concept and complexity, I won't be able to explain every little thing in this article and will refer you back to that rulebook at times.

With just two starter decks, one can generally put together a playable deck. Granted, some substitutions might have to be made (see below), and what you have won't win any tournaments, but you can at least start playing with it (assuming your friend has also bought two starter decks and has this article).

The first thing you should do is separate your cards. Separate the personnel, ships, and outposts by color. Put all Federation cards in one pile, Klingons in another, Romulans in another, and non-aligneds in another. Then separate the rest of your cards by card type -- event, interrupt, dilemma, mission, and equipment. If you have any doorways, just set them aside for now.

Examine your mission cards. These will be the driving force behind your first deck. As you develop other strategies, you will choose to base your decks around other themes, and missions might not be the first things you select. But for now, you should start with your missions.

Sort the different missions. You will need at least six missions that can be attempted with just one affiliation (affiliation symbols on missions are explained on page 9 of the starter deck rulebook). See if you have that. If you don't, you'll need to make a Treaty deck -- that's Trek "lingo" for a deck with more than one affiliation in it. If that's the case, select two of your affiliations based on the number of missions you can do with them, the overlap of their symbols on the missions, and the number of cards you have available from that affiliation.

Time out! That's a lot to think about! This is your first balancing act, but it's not the last one you'll do. Playing this game is like making a great meal. You have to get all the proper ingredients together and then you have to make sure you don't burn your roast while you're stirring your soup.

So, back to your missions. Let's assume you have your six missions, and based on that, you've decided which affiliation(s) you're going to play. If you don't have six decent missions, see "Substitutions," below. Now you need the right personnel. All your missions require skills and your personnel have them. Select personnel who match the skills and affiliations of your missions. Don't forget to include your non-aligned personnel!

If you have plenty of cards, you'll probably want at least two of each skill that you need in your deck. If a mission requires multiples of a skill, such as Treachery x3, you'll want about double that (five or six Treachery). At this early stage, you might not have those kind of resources, though, so make the best of it.

In addition to the number of personnel required to complete missions, you'll want to make sure to have at least one or two of every classification (OFFICER, SECURITY, etc.). Classifications are usually used to overcome dilemmas. Take a moment to look at your dilemmas and you'll see that most of them mention classifications. Many pieces of equipment also add classifications. If you find that you have a lot of OFFICER's, for example, throw in a Medical Kit to help all those OFFICER's out. If you have a lot of SCIENCE personnel, throw in an Engineering Padd to give them all ENGINEER, and so on.

When it's all said and done, you should have about 20 personnel. Combine that with your six missions, two outposts (let's assume you're playing two affiliations), and two equipment cards, and that totals 30 cards. You're halfway to a deck of 60 cards!

Add about five ships, of whatever affiliations you have. While bigger usually is better, you might want one or two of your ships to have minimal staffing requirements, such as one staff icon or no icons at all, in case you need a quick, easy ride. Staffing is described on page 17 of the starter deck rulebook.

Now it's time to select events and interrupts. This is mostly a trial-and-error experience. For now, just briefly read the card text and put in whatever cards seem helpful. As you play with your deck, you'll find that some cards work well and some cards don't, so you'll be constantly tuning and modifying your deck to get the optimum card mix. You'll want about 10-15 total events and interrupts in your deck.

Good common events include: Red Alert!, Q-Net, Static Warp Bubble, and Res-Q. Also, you'll need to throw in whatever treaty is right for your deck.

Good interrupts include: Palor Toff, Countermanda, and Loss of Orbital Stability. Although they are uncommons, some of the strongest interrupts are Scan, Full Planet Scan, Kevin Uxbridge, Amanda Rogers, and Q2. If you have them, put them in your deck.

Finally, we come to dilemmas. If you have fewer than 15, throw 'em all in! At this early stage, you're better off just going with everything and experimenting to see what works. As common cards go, some of the best dilemmas are Love Interests, Impassable Door, and Microbiotic Colony. Uncommon and rare dilemmas are almost always stronger, so definitely throw those in, if you have any.

And that should just about do it! Just add or subtract a few cards to get you to exactly 60, and you're ready to roll! Now all you have to do is get your friend to buy two decks and then you can show him this article.

It's possible that you won't have everything you need to make your initial deck. You may be lacking a vital card such as a treaty or an outpost. If a Warp Pack is available, you should be able to make do with a non-aligned outpost. Warp Packs are a premium pack containing cards that are not found in any regular expansion pack, including seven common missions. Build a little flexibility and power in your decks, right from the start. Just contact Decipher to get a Warp Pack. You'll find the information you need right here on the web site.

If you lack a Warp Pack, or a non-aligned outpost, substitute another outpost for the kind you need. Just make it clear with your playing partner what you are doing.

Similarly, if you lack the proper treaty, just "pretend" that the treaty you have is the one you need. Again, you might want to clear this with your playing partner.

So, you think you're done with your deck? Not by a long shot. As you play, you'll find new combos and old ideas that you just can't seem to work in your deck. Even greater than the game itself is the meta-game of continually adjusting and modifying your deck. Your deck will constantly evolve and mutate into a new monster as you add and remove cards between matches. These guidelines will give you a place to start, and serve as your first step into the greater world of Trek.