1/31/95
*************************************************
STAR TREK: CCG
TOURNAMENT RULES   v.1
    compiled by DAnswerMan@aol.com
************************************************
README -- INTRODUCTION

Decipher is in the process of developing a system of 
sanctioning tournaments, which will include a simple step-by-
step tournament kit, an effective rating system for players, 
prizes, and a finals championship event, etc. In the meantime, 
this document contains some basic guidelines for tournament 
directors and tournament play.

"Tournament Rules" for ST:CCG will evolve, especially since 
the game is new, future cards will change game dynamics and 
tournaments are presently limited. Many players have offered 
suggestions for tournament rules, and such suggestions are 
welcome. For the time being, you may send suggestions to: 
DAnswerMan@aol.com with "Tournament Rule Suggestions" 
in the subject heading. We expect regular updates of this 
document and refinements as time goes on. As soon as the 
tournament system is established, a different contact point will 
be established and posted.


OUR CURRENT PHILOSOPHY ON TOURNAMENT RULES

In the wide variety of suggestions we have received, many are 
contradictory! There is a temptation to suggest numerous 
"banned" cards and "limitations." With the exception of a few 
cards, in our view, most such limitations are not justified at this 
stage in the evolution of the game, especially when the player 
consensus about them is not strong. The tournament rules 
presented here contain only limitations upon which there seem 
to be player consensus at this point. Our general philosophy on 
handling cards that prove to be too powerful, unbalancing, or 
otherwise simply "disliked" by players, is to create new cards 
which remedy and re-balance the situation. This is a natural 
solution because it turns a problem into an advantage. In 
tournaments, however, players can't wait for new cards. To 
insure fun and balanced games, any problem cards must be 
listed in a tournament rules document.

This is the first such document. REMEMBER, however, that 
there will be many future expansions of ST:CCG, bringing new 
cards and new gameplay elements into the universe. This will 
immediately cause players to re-evaluate the strengths of 
cards. A card that is "too powerful" now may suddenly become 
normal. A normal card might suddenly become more powerful, 
etc. Therefore, each time a new expansion set arrives, THIS 
TOURNAMENT RULES DOCUMENT WILL BECOME 
OBSOLETE! A new tournament rules document will then be 
posted to accommodate the new universe of cards. 

Thus, this document will be updated regularly, and you should 
check to get the latest version regularly. We welcome 
suggestions and the rules committee will seriously consider all.


CONTENTS:
1. Tournament Rules for Play
	General
	Deck Size
	Banned Cards
	Limited Cards
	Special Rules
2. Notes for Players
	House Rules
	Tracking Cards
3. Tournament Systems for Director/Organizers
	Announce Rules Well in Advance
	Answering Questions / Disputes
		Players' Committees
	Swiss System Format Preferred
	Quick Swiss System Explanation

****************************************************************
TOURNAMENT RULES  (As of 1/31/95)

1) General:
	All answers to Rule FAQs published by the time of the 
tournament are in effect (except for those superseded by the 
specific tournament rules below). The tournament director 
should have up-to-date copies of the Rule FAQs, as should 
players when planning their decks. (See sources, below).

	Some of the tournament rules are listed as Options or 
Advanced Options. This means the director will decide, in 
advance, if any of these options will be used for the entire 
tournament. Everyone plays with the same set of tournament 
rules every round of a tournament.

2)Deck Size:
	Standard:  60, as in the basic game.
	Advanced Option:  No upper limit (see rules pp.33)

3) Banned Cards:
	Raise the Stakes. (Optional if players agree).

4) Limited Cards:
	Red Alert -- 1 per deck
	Static Warp Bubble -- 1
	Kivas Fajo -- 4
	Optional:  Res-Q -- 4
	Optional:  Supernova -- 1
	Optional:  All Artifacts -- 1 each

5)Special Rules:

    a) Improperly seeded cards are removed from play when 
discovered, rather than "discarded" as the rules currently say.
    b) Each player may seed no more than one Artifact at each 
mission location.
    c) The combination of Alien Probe plus Telepathic Alien 
Kidnappers is not allowed. A player cannot have both in play at  
the same time. Players are allowed to discard one in order to 
play the other.
    d) Optional -- Artifacts which are "discarded" after use are 
instead removed from play.
    e) Optional -- Shuttlecraft (including Runabouts and the 
Yridian Shuttle), can be carried aboard other ships (except 
aboard the Romulan Scout and Science classes, and the 
Zibalian Transport). (This is a somewhat experimental rule that 
lots of people are currently using as a house rule. Don't use it 
unless you are familiar with it in play -- it's tricky! It is also likely 
future expansion cards will allow this, making this option moot, 
but not yet.)
    f) Optional for Advanced Players Only -- Sidebar decks.
   g) Optional Method of Scoring Game Results -- Winning the 
game by scoring 100 points or more is a full "2-point victory", 
whereas winning by having the most points when someone's 
deck runs out is a partial "1-point victory". Of course, losing is 
zero points. (This is an experimental suggestion that sounds 
interesting as a way to encourage aggressive decks.)

************************************************************
NOTES FOR PLAYERS

1)  House Rules:
Many players play in groups and naturally develop "house 
rules" they come to like. This is good for casual games, since it 
allows you to "tune" the game the way your particular tastes 
prefer. But house rules differ widely, so there is a danger in 
becoming used to them. When you play outside your group, 
they may not apply.
	Playing with house rules in a tournament is frowned 
upon due to Decipher's priority of maintaining a consistent 
basic game for all players everywhere. The goal is for the 
tournament rules to evolve through refinement, which means 
keeping a tight grip on the rules rather than a chaos of clever 
but unorganized house rules.
	If you have house rules that you feel are a "must" to use 
in the tournament, or that you want to experiment with in a 
tournament format; you may do so, but  a) only if everyone in 
the tournament agrees (without unfair peer pressure or 
badgering), and  b) if players are notified sufficiently in 
advance of customizing their deck.
	When "sanctioning" of tournaments begins by Decipher, 
there will be tight restrictions on what kind of house rules will 
be acceptable for a tournament to be official.

2) Tracking Your Cards
	If you have any fears of keeping track of your own cards 
in the hectic environment of a tournament, here are some 
suggestions that we have received from players.
	Several players report that Post-It Pad sheets (by 3M, 
available in any office supply store, small size) make good 
markers on cards, and do not damage the cards. Plastic 
"sleeve" covers (available at many trading card stores) are also 
commonly used.

***************************************************************
TOURNAMENT SYSTEMS FOR DIRECTORS

1) Announce the rules well in advance
	Let players know when you publicize the tournament 
that it will be played using the current tournament rules, (or any 
optional tournament rules, if applicable). Have a copy of the 
latest tournament rules to hand out in advance to those who 
ask.
	Before play begins, review the tournament rules with 
players to make sure everyone is "on the same page."

2) Answering Questions and Disputes
	Players will have questions whether a certain play is 
legal or not. Directors should be familiar with the latest copy of 
the ST:CCG Rules FAQs, and should have it available at the 
tournament to answer questions. The Rule FAQs are available 
at:  decipher.com, or call Decipher, Inc.
	Players' Committee -- There is always the chance that a 
question will arise that is not answered in the FAQs. To handle 
this, we suggest that before starting the tournament players 
elect a "players committee" of 3 players. It is their job to resolve 
any such disputes by a vote between them, based upon 
common sense and their experience with the game. Of course, 
they are on their honor to be impartial. (Let Decipher, Inc. know 
about any rule dispute so it can be addressed in  future FAQs 
or Tournament Rules documents). If one of the committee 
members is an involved player in the dispute and the other 
members are split on the decision, the tournament director has 
the deciding vote.

3) Swiss System Preferred
	When the ST:CCG Tournament Kit is released, it will 
recommend the Swiss System (used in chess tournaments) as 
the best tournament format. This system is capable of handling 
large numbers of people in just a few rounds of play, while not 
eliminating anyone (every player gets to play all rounds). The 
kit will fully explain the Swiss System in a simple step-by-step 
form and give a director all the tools needed for 
implementation.
	Until that time, you can use any recognized format. For a 
small number of players, use a round-robin. For more players, 
use either 1) an elimination or double-elimination tournament 
(rules for which can be found in any library), or, 2) preferably, 
use the Swiss System. . . .

4) Quick Swiss System Explanation:

Swiss Systems allow everyone to play every round, and 
handles a large number of players:

# of Players          Suggested # of Rounds
8 - 16				3 - 4
16-32				4 - 5
32 - 64			5 - 7
64 - 128			6 - 8

Games per round -- the Swiss System is geared around one 
game per round, because no one gets eliminated. (Whereas 
playing best 2 out of 3 is preferred for Elimination 
tournaments). The number of rounds you play is decided 
relative to the number of players in the tournament and the 
amount of time you have available -- figuring 1 hour per 
round on average.

The "Tournament Kit" will make it easy and foolproof, but if you 
want to try it on your own before the kit is available, it works like 
this:

	1) Get a box of blank index cards. 
	2) Write each player's name on the top of a separate 
card, and number the cards in the upper left-hand corner. 
These numbers become player's numbers. 
	3) In the first round, pair-off players randomly 
On the first line of each card, write the number of the 
player's opponent.
	4) Let the players know who they play by writing down 
the pairings on a pairings sheet that you post on the wall. Tell 
the players to play and report to you who won.
	5) Write the result on the first line of the cards (next to the 
opponent's number). Winners score 1, losers score 0. Just to 
the right of the score for this round, keep a running total of the 
player's score. 
	6) In subsequent rounds, pair together players with the 
same total score. Again, in the simplest form of a Swiss System 
you can pair them randomly. (In advanced tournaments there 
are a few additional pairing rules).
	Each group of players gets paired-off with other players 
in the same group. (i.e., players with 2 points would play other 
players with 2 points, etc.)  If there is an odd number of players 
in a scoring group, the lowest-number player from the scoring 
group below is brought up. If there is an odd number of players 
overall, you will have to eliminate the players with the lowest 
total score each round. 
	7) Important -- Do not pair 2 players together who have 
already played each other. Instead, switch cards around in the 
group to avoid such pairings.
	8) Repeat this process each round until the final round. 
After the final round, the person with the highest score is the 
winner.
	Tiebreaker -- In case of a tie, play a tiebreaker game, or, 
if time is not available for such a game, the "official" winner 
among the tied players can be determined by adding up the 
total scores of the opponents. The winner is the player whose 
opponent's did the best (the theory being those opponents 
represented the toughest competition).

	**Scoring Option -- An optional scoring system awards 
either one or two points for a win. For example, winning by 
scoring 100 points is a full win (2 points) and winning by high 
score when deck runs out is a partial win (1 point). If you use 
this scoring, use these numbers when pairing in the Swiss 
System rounds. For example, if after three rounds, one player 
has 6 points (three 2-point wins), three players have 5 points 
and six players have 4 points, etc., bring one 5-point player up 
to play the 6-point player, then pair the remaining 5-point 
players together, then the 4-point players together, etc. 

Again, the Tournament Kit will make all of this easy and step-
by-step, including all the forms you need.. It will also have an 
easy report form so that you can send in the results for the 
tournament to be officially sanctioned and rated, giving each 
player and official rating. There will be prizes and other stuff!

Also, when the tournament system is in place, tournament 
organizers will be able to advertise their upcoming 
tournaments and post the results of their past tournaments on 
decipher.com, Decipher's internet information site, which also 
has the latest tournament rules, FAQs, and other documents of 
interest to tournament players.

In the future, we will release more information on holding your 
own sanctioned tournaments.


*****Copyright Notice********************************
The information in this document is copyrighted by Decipher 
Inc. 1995,  however, it can be freely disseminated online or 
by traditional publishing  means as long as it is not altered and
this copyright notice is attached.    TM, Copyright & 
Registered 1995 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. 
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION is a registered 
trademark of and all characters and related marks are 
trademarks of Paramount Pictures. 
Decipher Inc. Authorized User.
******************************************************