Beyond Kolinahr

by Chris Heard (uzo@unicomplex.org)

"Why You Pointy-Eared, Green-Blooded ..."

Among all the varied races of the Federation that are glimpsed in the Star Trek motion pictures, Vulcans play the most significant roles other than humans in the first six Star Trek films. Naturally, the character-rich Motion Pictures expansion set includes personnel representing these individuals.

The ever-popular Spock and his family feature prominently in the set. Spock's father, Ambassador Sarek – so important to the plot of Star Trek III – appears in a younger, more robust 23rd-century persona. Eighty-seven years of extra experience nets an extra level of Diplomacy for the 24th-century Sarek, but his younger counterpart has the useful Law skill and the ability to download a Federation treaty. (Note that Ambassador Sarek is not a version of the Sarek persona, so you can have both in play at once.) Spock's mother, Amanda Grayson, joins her husband in this set. In addition to sporting the increasingly useful skills of Anthropology and Diplomacy, Amanda allows any Spock or any Sarek – regardless of that character's native timeline or quadrant – to report where she is present, for free.

Then, of course, there's their illustrious son: Captain Spock, a new version of the Mr. Spock persona. As you would expect, Captain Spock's skill set overlaps considerably with Mr. Spock's, but with a few distinctive features. Spock's OFFICER skill has moved to his classification box, befitting his promotion to captaincy of the Starship Enterprise. Repairing the Enterprise warp core qualifies him for Physics, and his role in advancing Gorkon's peace initiatives is reflected in his new Diplomacy skill. Most interesting of all, though, is Captain Spock's special skill; his "rebirth" on the Genesis planet is simulated in game terms by his once-per-game self-regenerating ability.

Spock's two protégés from the films make their Star Trek CCG debuts in this expansion. Saavik, command trainee in The Wrath of Khan, strengthens the Federation's roster of Stellar Cartography personnel. Her strict regard for rules and regulations prompts her special download of any [Ref] card; sadly, Kobayashi Maru Scenario doesn't actually appear in The Motion Pictures set. The Undiscovered Country contributes the treacherous Valeris. While Federation scientists and navigators are hardly in short supply, other aspects of Valeris' character are completely unprecedented. Valeris is the first personnel to bear an infiltration icon for her own affiliation – a Federation-on-Federation spy. As such, Valeris is able to actually subtract 3 Diplomacy from the crew or Away Team she is infiltrating. With the current popularity of Diplomacy-related dilemmas like Implication and The Clown: Guillotine, your Valeris can sharply impede your Federation opponent's progress.

T'Lar and Ensign Tuvok round out the Vulcan contingent in The Motion Pictures expansion. Ensign Tuvok, from the Voyager episode "Flashback," is already familiar to Star Trek CCG players from his preview card in the First Anthology. T'Lar, high priestess of Mount Seleya, is featured at the end of Star Trek III performing the Fal-tor-pan ritual on Spock and McCoy. She tops the charts in Mindmeld and INTEGRITY levels, and downloads the Fal-tor-pan event. Moreover, her other skills are excellent for dilemma-busting, not to mention that she meets two-thirds of the requirements for Observe Ritual all by herself.
 

"Climb the Steps of Mount Seleya"

New Vulcan personnel are not the only Vulcan-related cards in The Motion Pictures. The Observe Ritual mission represents the planet Vulcan itself, and as with other recent "non-homeworld homeworlds," Vulcans (and Amanda Grayson) can report directly to the planet. The mission requirements are strikingly easy; Lojal provides a one-Vulcan ticket to 35 points, but beware your Borg opponents' Assimilate Planet objective.

Saavik's special download of Kobayashi Maru Scenario represents a "broken link" in The Motion Pictures expansion, but – fortunately – T'Lar's special download of Fal-tor-pan does not. The ancient ceremony that retrieved Spock's katra from Dr. McCoy translates into the game as an event card that allows you to retrieve Vulcans from your discard pile and re-play them as opportunities become available. Fal-tor-pan makes an excellent companion to Live Long and Prosper.

Finally, despite Saavik's assessment that humor is a difficult concept, The Motion Pictures does inject a slight note of levity into the stoic Vulcan milieu. The dilemma I Hate You confronts an Away Team with a punk playing his "boom box" too loud on public transportation ... and is nullified by Vulcan Nerve Pinch.

"Kirk ... I Must Have Your Thoughts"

The following deck is not a world-class tournament deck, but merely a sample deck demonstrating some special features of the Vulcans now available in the game (including their need for security backup!). Ideally, you should retrieve T'Lar from your Q's Tent as soon as possible and download Fal-tor-pan, then retrieve Kal-toh as soon after that as you can. Run Kal-toh by discarding personnel from your hand, then cycle that personnel to Fal-tor-pan for reporting later as needed. This gives you a flexible dial-a-skill engine while hampering your opponent's access to their personnel.

The biggest weakness in this deck is its slow reporting; Vulcans don't enjoy a particularly wide range of free reporting mechanisms, except for Spock's family. On the other hand, once you get the Fal-tor-pan mechanic going, you can pretty much choose which Vulcans you need when you need them (especially with Data, Keep Dealing and Smooth As an Android's Bottom? allowing you to move Vulcans under Fal-tor-pan so efficiently). Note that you're going to need your Space-Time Portal to play the I.S.S. Enterprise, so you might want to hold off on dropping that ship until after your opponent has used up their once-per-game function of Temporal Micro-Wormhole.

(By the way, there are two "Easter eggs" in this deck design related to Vulcan lore from the original series and classic films. Can you find them?)

April 2, 2002