Star Trek The Next Generation Collectible Dice Game
Unofficial Discussion Board Archives
PART II: May 1998-12 July 1998
The following information is from the FRPG Star Trek: The Next
Generation Collectible Dice Game Discussion Board
(which ceased to exist sometime in mid-1999). Note that not all
messages originally posted to the Discussion are included here.
In this particular archive you will find more design notes, the
"happy time" when the Vor'cha/Galaxy expansion and boosters
were finally released (albeit in a very limited area) and
naturally questions about these dice.
------------------------------
Star Trek: Collectable Dice Game Away Teams
From: LauraC@[domain deleted]
Date: 5/4/98
We are looking for a few good people to become part of the Star
Trek: Collectable Dice Game Demo Team, called "Away Teams."
What's involved, you ask? First you must fill out an application &
take a test on your knowledge of the rules. Once we receive your
complete application, we check your test and then follow-up with a
phone interview. If you are approved as a member, then we send you
out a demo kit with instructions and guidelines about the program.
We ask that you demo at stores, conventions and game clubs. The
expectation is one to two demos a month, more if you are
available. You must schedule all demos through FRPG. You will be
paid for each demo you do, either in a check or product points.
Here is an overview of the expectations of the Star Trek Dice Away
Teams Program:
The Golden Rule: If you do not have anything nice to say about
someone, or some other game, please say nothing at all. It is not
our job to tell people bad things about other games or companies
to make our own game sound better. It is our job to show how well
our game plays. Comparisons between games are inevitable, but try
not to downgrade other games. Bad mouthing other games or their
parent companies can be grounds for revocation of a your status as
a member of the Away Teams.
Ego: "The customer is always right" is one of the primary rules of
retail. You should never, ever have an argument with a player, or
heavens forbid a game store owner about Star Trek:CDG, Five Rings
Publishing Group or any other matter. They will not remember any
of the good work that you have done, only the disagreement you may
have had. It does not matter if you are right, and they are wrong,
do not argue. Now, a good rules discussion is a whole other thing,
but even then, do not let it approach the argument level.
Politeness: We get over 100 calls a day from customers. Some have
good questions, some have silly questions, and some just call to
chat. We try to be polite to all of them. As a representative of
Five Rings Publishing Group, you will be required to be on your
best behavior at all times. A customer should never have cause to
call the corporate office and say that an Away Teams member was
rude or would not take the time to help them.
Presentability: The official uniform of an Away Teams member is a
clean pair of jeans, khakis or shorts (depending on the weather)
and a Star Trek t-shirt. We will send you a t-shirt when you are
approved as a member of the Away Teams. Remember that stores will
be reporting on your appearance when you do demos and always do
your best to be well groomed and presentable.
To participate in the Star Trek:CDG Away Teams Program, email
LauraC@frpg.com, please include your real name, your mailing
address, your phone number and a store where you may want to demo.
We will be sending out applications in late May and early June.
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Best Regards,
Laura Carroll Demo Teams Coordinator Five Rings Publishing Group
[email deleted]
------------------------------
D'deridex
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 5/7/98
The Romulan D'deridex class Warbird design has been finished and
submitted. I'm not sure where it stands on the production
schedule.
------------------------------
Nebula?
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 5/13/98
The Nebula is a 50 point ship. So it can evenly battle the
Vor'cha, or add on 10 points of extras and fight the Sphere. When
released, the Romulan D'deridex class will also be 50 points.
------------------------------
Re: order in volley revisited
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 5/18/98
All points have to be used instantly. We did this so people don't
have to remember how many Movement points were used during
previous moves of the volley.Attack Bonus points apply to all
following attack die rolls for the remainder of the volley.
------------------------------
Borg Scout
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 5/18/98
I have been working on the original design ideas for the Borg
Scout, the ship Hugh, 3 of 5, was in.It will probably end of being
worth 20 points.
------------------------------
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 5/22/98
I just received the first of the new games direct from the
factory! I have the Galaxy Starters, Vor'cha Starters, 1701E
Boosters, and Sphere Boosters.I'll be at the LAX Game Convention
this weekend with a couple cases of the games at the Alderaac
Entertainment Group booth. Hope to see you there! The new games
should be arriving in stores over the next week or two. The dice
look great. The engraving is deeper and the inking is more solid.
------------------------------
!!!!!Prices?
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 5/26/98
The Vor'cha and Galaxy are $15.95 and each Booster is $9.95. Each
Booster comes with 10 pre-selected dice and a rulebook.
------------------------------
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 5/26/98
The Galaxy, Vor'cha, 5 numbered Federation, and 5 numbered Borg
Boosters are being released.
------------------------------
Borg Scout
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 5/26/98
I have turned in the first draft of the Borg Scout to Edward. The
ship is more maneuverable than the Sphere. The Sphere averages 3
points of value on each facet of an 8-sided Movement die, the
Scout averages 6 points. I have also incorporated more
flexibility into the Redundancy system which will also be usable
by the Sphere, without making any rule changes. The ship remains
at 20 points.
------------------------------
Re: Ordering
From: Edward Bolme
Date: 6/2/98
We want to support your local retailer. Therefore we will give
them time to place their orders. However, when sales gives me the
nod, we will make the sets available through e-commerce. More
details later, but please, ask you retailer. It's better for
everyone!
------------------------------
Re: Speaking as a retailer
From: Edward Bolme
Date: 6/8/98
They're coming. They just just just came out.
They also had no advance warning; they were done below radar.
------------------------------
Re: Schedule
From: Edward Bolme
Date: 6/19/98
The problem is that the game was kind of a stealth product. It was
not formally solicited. It is being solicited now, which, when
added to the pressure form below (you guys), should get it out
there.
The question in how quickly the distributors order it, and I can't
answer that. Sorry.
The Away teams are coming together. Expect to be contacted
shortly.
------------------------------
Borg Scout
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 6/23/98
We are finishing up the playtesting on the Borg Scout. Should be
able to turn it in soon.One feature which will also be usable by
the Sphere is Redundancy dice which are more flexible. Redundancy
dice represent the ability of the Borg to use the same systems in
different ways. Because of this, the new Redundancy dice may be
transferred to give the ship additional dice in other systems,
such as Shield Reinforcement. Once the Borg starts taking damage,
it can then swap the Redundancy being used to boost Shield
Reinforcement for its normal Redundancy dice to exchange damaged
and non-damaged dice.This gives Redundancy a usefulness when the
ship is not damaged.These are general fleet dice and may be used
by all Borg ships
------------------------------
The Vor'Cha
From: Majiken
Date: 6/30/98
Qapla'! Yes comrades, the Klingons have been released, as have the
first five boosters for the Enterprise and Borg. I'll sum it up in
one word... "WOW!" I played my first game as the Klingons against
the Borg. Wasn't pretty at first. Seriously outgunned, but once
that Cloaking die comes into play, watch out. By the end of the
game, ( we had to quit, no resolution possible ), the Klingons had
recovered nicely, (despite the assimilation of the Shield
Reinforcement die ), and were pounding the snot out of the Borg. I
imagine a few unlucky rolls on the part of my opponent had a lot
to do with it, but the game was still fun. Galaxy-class against
Vor'Cha will probably be more even, but it's still fun to try and
take out a bigger ship. Now if we can just get those Klingon
boosters.... hmmm?
------------------------------
HEADLINE: NEW DICE FOUND!!!
From: Ace McFlop
Date: 6/30/98
Good to See you found the Board Maj. I told you it was here. As
stated the new Dice are NOT Phantom products (despite the claims
of so many of the retailers in the area) They are real and they
are cool. Though the only form of multi-player rules incuded are
2 way battles. One team vs a second team. No rules as of yet for
three ships (or fleets) in a free for all. Dan or Ed if you can
come up with some way to pull a three sided battle let me know.
My only other complaint is that not all of the symboles on the
dice are explained. I have what apears to be a command die with
the same icon as picard but with W in the Delta shield and a T on
the botom. Im gussen that its either "W"orf who is "T"actical or
"W"illiam "T" Riker. Most likley Worf. Also one of the borg die
has the ID "BI" Mabey "B"org "I"ndivdual?
------------------------------
Symbols
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 7/1/98
The Fed die with the Comm-badge icon and the "W" is Worf. The
Borg die with the "B1" is Borg One, an unnamed, but more skilled
than most drone.
------------------------------
Re: Some Questions
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 7/1/98
Answers:1) The Volley 2 allows you to roll a weapon die, like a
Beam, see the result, then roll a second Beam. You then add up all
the modifers for BOTH rolls, before declaring the damage taken by
the target.2) Crack dice represent exceptionally skilled crew
members manning that system of the ship. You get better than
normal die roll values with Crack dice, but they cost you VPs
equal to their size (1, 2, 3, or 4 points).3) #3 does have all
Movement dice. Each box centers on a certain type of die,
weapons, movement, crew, etc.4) The "Sensor-like" dice for the
Borg are Crew dice.
------------------------------
Victory Points
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 7/1/98
The Galaxy and Vor'cha are each worth 50vp. They can fight the
Sphere and 1701E on even terms by adding 10vp of Character, Crew,
or Crack dice.The Galaxy does not have a problem, since it can
draw from the dice of the 1701E's booster boxes.The Vor'cha can
also do so, with a little fudging, until its boosters come out.
Use some Federation Character and Crew dice on the ship, and
rationalize it as some sort of crew exchange program.
------------------------------
Multiplayer Rules
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 7/1/98
There are two methods of conducting battles with 3 or more ships.
#1 is included in the new Basic Training Rulebook. In short, the
rules go like this: take turns between teams in order of agility
rating, and don't fire at your allies. Rules are also included
for inter-ship beaming.#2 involves a grid of squares and is
played like a board game. Players use their Ship Facing dice to
move around the map. Shield and Weapon arcs work as they do on
the helm tracks. A new modifier table modifies weapon damage
based on range. The idea is to include these rules with the Borg
Cube, which is a fleet battle waiting to happen...
------------------------------
Re: Multiplayer Rules
From: Ace McFlop
Date: 7/3/98
For those of you who just cant wait for the multiplayer rules in
the cube set contact fenyan@AOL.com. He has a working set of rules
that cover most every thing and seem to work fairly well in almost
all cases. (Still trying to come up with a way to pull the "Picard
Manuver") And for those of you who dont like square games he has a
set for hex grids as well.
------------------------------
Icons Found
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 7/2/98
I've tracked down some of the icon descriptions players have
posted questions concerning. In the Captain's Briefing for the
Galaxy we have: Worf on page 11, Hard Over on page 15, and Shield
Optimization on page 17.
------------------------------
Re: Icons Found
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 7/3/98
Sorry about the lack of definitions, Hard Over and Shield
Optimization are amoung the best facets in the game so far...
Hard Over: After an opponent rolls a weapon die, and you
see the result, you may select any facet on the weapon die
(presumably a Miss facet). You must then rotate your ship 90
degrees to Port or Starboard. The Hard Over die is then placed in
Ready or On-Line, as appropriate.
Shield Optimization: Once
during one of your turns you may redistribute the points in your 4
Shield dice between the Shield dice however you wish, so long as
you do not increase a Shield above its normal maximum. The Shield
Optimization die is then moved to Ready or On-Line as appropriate.
------------------------------
Re: Icons Found
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 7/5/98
You are correct. Double bent arrows is Hard Over, and an "O"
inside of a larger, broken in half circle is Shield Optimization.
------------------------------
Re: Borg Cube
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 7/6/98
Here are some of the details for the (as of yet unplaytested)
Cube: The Cube will come is different strengths based on its
Collective Integrity. All the Cubes look the same, and are the
same size, but the size and integration of its collective are a
major factor in their overall power. The smallest Cube is worth
150vp and has the following: two 12-sided Beam dice per corner,
one 12-sided Torpedo die per corner, one 12-sided Tractor Beam
die per corner. It has three Power Cores, each of which produces
17 points of Power at Normal. It has 40 point Shields. There are
several larger sizes of Collective Integrity, going up to 1500vp.
With these larger sizes, the Cube uses the same number of dice,
but their results are multiplied by the Collective Integrity
number, which will be 2, 4, or 6. For example, a 12-sided Beam
from the 1500vp Cube would be rolled for a result of 10,
multiplied by 6 for Collective Integrity, to end up hitting your
ship for 60 points of damage. Not much fun for the starship on
the receiving end, but on the other hand, you do get 1500 points
of ships.
------------------------------
Re: Newer sets
From: Edward Bolme
Date: 7/7/98
Production of a dice game takes a minimum of 9 months.
At the moment, we can't spare the design resources, and the market
is pretty well set against dice games. This is simply a way of
saying that we won't try to glut the market with new stuff each
month, but we are planning on new expansions and ships.
------------------------------
Re: Pivot
From: Dan Verssen
Date: 7/8/98
Pivot is an action or reaction. As an action, you simply declare
its use during one of your volleys and it takes effect. It does
not cost an action, because you must have already performed some
type of action to have been able to roll the die in the first
place. In reaction, they roll a die, you react with Shield
Reinforcement, their attack hits your shields and scores damage,
you can then Pivot.
------------------------------
New Dice - Seattle
From: Shay
Date: 7/9/98
Well, I was amazed to finally /really/ see the new dice at the
WotC game center. It looks as though so far, I've been the 2nd
person to buy a Vor'Cha, and the first to buy a Federation
booster set (#1, in fact.)
I can't recall how to play the game anymore, it has been a very,
very long time, but here are my couple of first impressions:
1) Whoever did the Klingon font has no business designing fonts!
(It is AWFUL!) It looks like a leftover L5R font or something.
Ugh!
2) I don't know how the cloak works yet, but somehow I'd imagine a
more warlike race to be a bit more offensive.
3) Five dice packs per ship at $10 each? For a game which could
very well be dead in the water (sadly) from a hiatus /this/ long,
it seems like a bit much.
4) Is there no Vor'Cha quick reference card? My pack shows one on
the box, but there wasn't one inside. :(
5) I wonder if I'll ever find anyone else to play against! :)
------------------------------
Re: New Dice - Seattle
From: Majiken
Date: 7/9/98
Shay, Let's address your issues one at a time. #1: Terrible
looking dice? You have to be kidding! Look at them again and
compare them to the original sets. The new dice are a much higher
quality and the icons are quite crisp and easy to make out. The
originals always looked "smudged" to me. #2: The Captains Handbook
could cover the Cloaking ability a bit better, I agree. However,
it's not that hard. Divert energy to place it in active. At that
point you can't use it. On your next turn it goes to charged, and
can be used. If needed, place it in ENGAGED and set the die at
it's lowest setting. Read the manual for how that works. As for
the Klingons not being offensive, remember that they were also
VERY sneaky. Think of how that cloaking device was used, and then
mimic the style. Always works for me! #3: Boosters for $10.00? I
agree it's a bit high since you only pay $15 for 25. I also think
the starter kits should come with a dice bag too. As for the game
dying, I don't think so. They appear to be trying to ressurect it,
and if we support them, we could see it turn around. #4: Reference
Card. I agree here too. A card would've been nice, but the icons
can be found in the manual, and that's not been a big hinderance
so far. #5: As for who you can play with? I've said it before,
(see post entitled "Wait a minute!"), if you want more people
playing, you have to show them the game. I was one of those that
scoffed at the game when I first saw it. Then someone made me sit
down and play a game and I was hooked! You can do the same. You
have to have more than one friend! Call someone and sit them down.
You'll see the reaction and I bet they start buying dice of their
own. Sorry for the long post gang, I'm through with the sermon
now. If I've gotten anything wrong, somebody step in and correct
me. Qapla'!
------------------------------
Re: New Dice - Seattle
From: Shay
Date: 7/10/98
Not terrible looking dice. An ugly font on the control panel. In
fact, a /terrible/ control panel. I've got 5,000 weapon dice, and
no room to play them. While systems that have all of 1 or 2 dice
have more space.
Not a huge problem. New dice vs old? I can /barely/ tell a
difference. Maybe I lucked out, but my old dice are fine. :)
I bought Booster Pack #1. Ugh. Its so lame. Not one sexy die among
the whole thing. 10 movement dice, and 6 of them are 6 siders.
Guh. I wanted some sexy dice, some new and exciting dice. And I
got... Dice I'll not use too often. I'm not sure I can justify
buying another booster at $10.
------------------------------
Borg 1-5 && Fed 1 & 2
From: Shay
Date: 7/11/98
Fed Booster #1 6 1 point (M) Movement dice 2 2 point (G) General
Movement dice 2 2 point (F) Follow-Up Movement dice
Fed Booster #2 3 1 point (R) Reaction Movement dice 2 2 point
(B) Backup Movement dice 2 2 point (M) Movement Movement dice 2
2 point (C) Crack Movement dice 1 4 point (O) Offensive Movement
dice
Now that's a sexy movement die! I'm dreaming of laying the smack
down with a 451 or 541 roll sometime. :)
------------------------------
Borg booster breakdown
#1
2 3-pt Crack Assimilation 2 3-pt Crack Shield Reinforcement 1 3-pt
Expending Damage Control 1 3-pt Character ("B1") 2 1-pt Crew
(Attack +2, React +1, Recharge Shields, Movement +1, Gather Info)
2 1-pt Crew (M.P., Power Coupling, Optimize Shields, Damage
Control 1)
#2
2 2-pt High-Risk Damage Control 6 1-pt Reactionary Impulse 2 3-pt
Movement Impulse
#3
2 2-pt General Beam (arc FS) 2 2-pt General Beam (arc FP) 2 2-pt
General Beam (arc AS) 2 2-pt General Beam (arc AP) 1 4-pt Narrow
Beam (arc FS) 1 4-pt Narrow Beam (arc FP)
#4
3 2-pt General Impulse 2 3-pt Follow-Up Impulse 2 3-pt Backup
Impulse 3 1-pt General Assimilation
#5
4 2-pt Activating Impulse 1 3-pt Crack Assimilation 1 3-pt
High-Risk Shield Reinforcement 1 3-pt Narrow Torpedo (arc FS)
1 3-pt Narrow Torpedo (arc FP) 1 4-pt Narrow Beam (arc AS)
1 4-pt Narrow Beam (arc AP)
------------------------------
Help - What do these facets mean?
From: Shay
Date: 7/11/98
Alright. I stood around in the store like a moron and felt out the
dice shapes in hopes of figuring out what packs had the Fed Crew.
I got it right! :) Pack #3.
------------------------------
Fed Crew - Quantum Torps - Narrow...
From: Shay
Date: 7/12/98
>> What pack are Quantum Torps in?
I don't know. But they aren't in 1-3.
Fed Crew? What do "Crack" die do? You get a 2 point Worf, a 2
point crewman, and two 1 point crewmen in pack #3. As well as more
sensor dice, and repair dice. This pack is chock full of cool
stuff!
What do narrow torps and beams do?
Narrow means that it has more 0s, but the highs are in the 30s. In
fact, the expected value of the dice is higher than a normal die!
The narrow beams seemed very powerful when we played with 'em.
Especially when B1 gets his 'All' result. Ouch!