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Dancer
May 23, 2011
Rulebook, in case my explanation is unclear (which it probably is). Note that there are some ambiguities, which I have made executive calls on. Feel free to ask any questions, either in the thread or via Discord.

Player order and special abilities:

1. nimby - Engineer - Teleport: Choose two players. Swap the positions of any Energy and malfunctions in front of them (note: Hull Breach is the only malfunction in the base game).
2. rydiafan - Captain - Command: Target player must choose you as an ally on their next turn.
3. Shadow 225 - Researcher - Examine: Look at a random card from target player's hand. You may add it to your hand.
4. Some Numbers - Navigator - Maneuver: Look at the top three cards of the draw pile. Put one in the discard pile, one in the command pile, and shuffle the other in the deck.
5. CirclMastr - Weapons Expert - Disarm: Target player discards a random card.
6. The General - Doctor - Sedate: Skip target player's next turn. They gain one energy.
Everyone also has the ability Refresh: Discard a card, then draw a card. Remember that you lose both your special abilities if you take damage.




I discovered and PnP'd this game recently. I'm not yet sure that it's actually a *good* game, but it fills a niche in our group because it's a social deduction thing (and some people in my group really love those) that works at lower players counts. The games we play always end up being really tense; there's a lot of talking and figuring things out, and we generally have a good time. The drawback is, I'm not sure whether there's that much actual skill involved? My personal impression is that the RNG is maybe a tad heavy. I wanted to try exposing it to some more try-hardy gamers than my group to see how it can go.

So here I am, trying to play this by forums. Here's the deal with this game. Six players are on some crucial mission, on a space-ship. Unfortunately there's a Saboteur in their midst. The crew need to make it to the end of their journey or throw the Saboteur out the airlock before all of the ship's oxygen cells get blown up.

There is a draw pile of 51 cards, and there are six oxygen cells open on the board. If the draw pile is depleted with at least one oxygen cell remaining, the good guys have successfully arrived at their destination, and win the game. There is also a so-called Command Pile, which starts with one card already in it. The game loop is as follows. There is a rotating active player. The active player draws up to 3 cards in hand, and chooses one to add to the Command Pile. They also choose an ally, who also adds one card to the Command Pile. After that, 2 cards from the Command Pile are revealed at random, and the active player must resolve them, in an order of their choosing. Also, at the beginning or end of their turn, the active player may use any energy they have to fix malfunctions, or activate their special abilities.

I will explain the rules in more exact detail when they become relevant. For now, here's a card list (note: the ship enters "Red Alert" when there are 2 or less oxygen cells remaining. This is generally a Bad Thing) (2nd note: each character has 2 "hit points". If they take one damage, they can no longer use their special abilities. A further point of damage will kill them):

Blue cards (generally positive):
13x Energy - Place this in front of you for future use.
3x Overrule - Play a card from your hand.
3x Recycle - Draw a card, then discard a card.
2x Salvage - Look at the top 3 cards of the discard pile. Shuffle one of them back into the draw pile.
2x Safeguard - Oxygen Cells cannot take damage next turn.

Red cards (generally negative):
7x Impact - Either take damage, or destroy an oxygen cell. Red Alert: Do this twice.
5x Rupture - Destroy an oxygen cell. Red Alert: This cannot be prevented by Safeguard
3x Aftershock - Destroy an oxygen cell. Then either take damage or re-shuffle this into the Command Pile
3x Discharge - Discard all energy cells in front of other players.
3x Hull Breach - Place this card in front of you. Other players may contribute energy to repair it; 2 total energy is required to remove it. At the start of your turns, while this is in front of you, destroy an oxygen cell.
3x Override - Play the top card of the Draw Pile
2x Wormhole - Every player plays a card face-down. Add the top card of the draw pile to this, shuffle, discard a random card, then reveal. Energy and red cards are played, other cards are discarded with no effect.

Green cards (unique and impactful)
1x Airlock - Every player simultaneously votes for another player. A player having a majority of the votes is killed.
1x Martyr - This card has no effect when played normally. It is the only card that can be played from hand. A player with a red role card (the bad guys) can play this to instantly destroy the last remaining oxygen cell. A player with a blue role card can play this to prevent the last oxygen cell being destroyed.

Anyone joining will be required to stay in touch with me via Discord but (and we'll have to rely on honour code here), private communication between the players isn't allowed. It would probably destroy the game's balance.

Accepting sign-ups, please reply if you're interested.

Dancer fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Dec 27, 2017

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Shadow225
Jan 2, 2007




I will join.

I do have a question:
It doesn't sound like the oxygen cells are in the deck. Where are they? How many are there?

Dancer
May 23, 2011

Shadow225 posted:

I will join.

I do have a question:
It doesn't sound like the oxygen cells are in the deck. Where are they? How many are there?

Post edited for clarity: You start with 6 cells open on the board. In the physical game, the last two are marked "Red Alert" to indicate that status. Cells can be destroyed but (at least in the base game) can't be replenished.

The General
Mar 4, 2007


Sign me up. I like sabotaging spaceships.

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"
I remember reading about this and seeing the PnP. I’m interested in giving it a shot!

rydiafan
Mar 17, 2009


I'll deduce things socially in space!

Dancer
May 23, 2011
For the record, the game is perfectly playable with 4. In this case we'd have 3 crew + one saboteur. Still going to try to wait for the full 6, where we get the Chancellor ("good" role whose death is an alternate win condition for the scum) and Accomplice (scum who doesn't trigger a loss when dying).

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Game starting in 24 hours, regardless of number of sign-ups. Of course I understand people are busy with holiday stuff, so the game will probably be slow at first, but that's okay.

Dancer fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Dec 24, 2017

nimby
Nov 4, 2009

The pinnacle of cloud computing.



I'm in if we call it the Spacey McSpaceship.

Shadow225
Jan 2, 2007




That's exactly what a saboteur would call it...

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

I'll give this a shot if it's not too late.

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Nope, perfect timing!

So the players, and their special abilities are:
1. nimby - Engineer - Teleport: Choose two players. Swap the positions of any Energy and malfunctions in front of them (note: Hull Breach is the only malfunction in the base game).
2. rydiafan - Captain - Command: Target player must choose you as an ally on their next turn.
3. Shadow 225 - Researcher - Examine: Look at a random card from target player's hand. You may add it to your hand.
4. Some Numbers - Navigator - Maneuver: Look at the top three cards of the draw pile. Put one in the discard pile, one in the command pile, and shuffle the other in the deck.
5. CirclMastr - Weapons Expert - Disarm: Target player discards a random card.
6. The General - Doctor - Sedate: Skip target player's next turn. They gain one energy.
Everyone also has the ability Refresh: Discard a card, then draw a card. Remember that you lose both your special abilities if you take damage.

Everyone please message me on on Discord to get your cards and your role. Here's an invite if you need it (lasts for 1 day, I can make a new one if required): https://discord.gg/G3nbVr . After that feel free to discuss whatever, and at some point nimby, as the first active player, needs to give me a card and an ally choice. No deadline for now.

e: Might as well get into the habit:
6 energy cells left
0 cards in discard
1 card in command pile
32 cards in draw pile

Dancer fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Dec 24, 2017

Dancer
May 23, 2011
BTW, one tip to not make this game too boring: From personal experience, the bad guys can't rely on staying stealthed until the end of the game. A time will come when you will have to take decisive action, making yourself suspect.

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Since this was asked in a private message: Activating an ability costs 1 energy. You may do this either at the very start of your turn (though after drawing cards) or at the very end. The energy must come from in front of you, and energy cards are placed in front of you when "played" (i.e. when they come out of the command pile and you're the active player).

nimby
Nov 4, 2009

The pinnacle of cloud computing.



Who wants to be my wingman on this very first outing of the Spacey McSpaceship? I promise nothing too terribly will happen when we play our cards!

Dancer
May 23, 2011
How did you not go for McSpaceFace...

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

Don't pick me my hand is bad.

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Important errata: Hull Breach destroys an oxygen cell, not an energy cell as I said first.

nimby
Nov 4, 2009

The pinnacle of cloud computing.



Dancer posted:

How did you not go for McSpaceFace...

Can we rechristen the ship? This is indeed vastly superior.

Shadow225
Jan 2, 2007




I have a few questions.

1. Is the Command Deck face up or face down?

2. Do players add their cards to the deck face up or face down?

3. What happen to the cards that get resolved? Do they go back into the command pile?

4. What is the turn order? Can we add it to OP?

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Command deck is face down. There's one card in it, and you don't know what it is. Players add cards to it face down, and it's shuffled whenever something is added.

Resolved cards, as well as cards discarded by card effects or special abilities, are sent to the face down discard pile.

The player order is the one in the post where I announced special abilities. I will move it to the OP as soon as I'm at my PC.

Shadow225
Jan 2, 2007




Alright, with that in mind, I think that adding energy to the deck is the safest bet right now, as we can all use energy. I have an energy card I can throw into the deck.

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Shadow225 posted:

Alright, with that in mind, I think that adding energy to the deck is the safest bet right now, as we can all use energy. I have an energy card I can throw into the deck.

Yeah, getting Energy out to turn on any of our abilities sounds like the best course of action this early.

nimby
Nov 4, 2009

The pinnacle of cloud computing.



Then I'll pick Shadow as my ally.

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Oh, and a disclaimer for all my pbf's: If something happened, and it's become another player's turn to act, and I happen to be at my PC to notice it, I will usually sent a poke to that player to inform them of this. This is meant to be a help for people who might check discord more than SA, or get notifications, it's not meant to be a complaint that you're too slow. If you can't act because you need more discussion, or are having a busy real life, or simply haven't figured out what to do yet, that is perfectly fine, please feel free to take your time.

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Shadow and nimby have both played a card into the command pile. The pile has been shuffled, and 2 cards are revealed. They are both Energy, which nimby now gets in front of him. Now that we've reached the end of the turn, he may choose to use some of it for special abilities. After that it's rydiafan's turn to play.

A note. I'm intentionally trying to abstain from giving people in-depth strategy advice (because I know a lot of things you guys don't), but I will point out that in my group, we talk a lot. The good guys are inherently at an information disadvantage, and communication is one of few ways you can fight that back.

Game status:

6 oxygen cells left
0 cards in discard
32 cards in draw pile

nimby - Engineer
2 cards
2 energy

rydiafan - Captain - next up
3 cards

Shadow 225 - Researcher
2 cards

Some Numbers - Navigator
3 cards

CirclMastr - Weapons Expert
3 cards

The General - Researcher
3 cards

rydiafan
Mar 17, 2009


So for what it's worth I have an energy, an impact, and an airlock. I stand by the "get energy into the deck" plan, so that's what I'm playing. I'll keep the airlock until we figure out somebody who needs to die.

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"
As there's only one copy of Airlock in the deck, I think we should definitely wait on that until more people have at least said something, if not had a turn. So far, this thread has been eeriely quiet.

nimby
Nov 4, 2009

The pinnacle of cloud computing.



I'm going to keep this 2 energy to help fix things, if that's ok with everyone. I don't think I need to use it yet, anyway.

rydiafan
Mar 17, 2009


So just to be clear, since there was one card in the command pile, two cards were added, and two cards were drawn, there's still one card left in it, right? And unless I'm missing something I don't see any way for there ever to be more or less than one card in the command pile after the two cards are executed, correct?

I need an ally! Who wants to pitch an energy in there with me, or barring that who wants to pitch something else in there and let us know what it is?

Dancer
May 23, 2011
There are two ways that an extra card can come in the command pile:
The Aftershock card says "take damage or put this back in the command pile".
The Navigator's special ability adds one card to the pile.
In any case, whenever a turn ends with more than one card in the pile, cards are randomly discarded until one is left.

Furthermore, when we hit red alert, we switch from playing 2 cards from the command pile, to playing 3 cards (which is usually all of them). If the pile is left empty, a random card is added from the draw pile.

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

rydiafan posted:

So just to be clear, since there was one card in the command pile, two cards were added, and two cards were drawn, there's still one card left in it, right? And unless I'm missing something I don't see any way for there ever to be more or less than one card in the command pile after the two cards are executed, correct?

So, one card is left in the Command Pile at the end of the turn, but three cards are added: one from the current player, one from their ally and one from the deck, meaning that most turns, there will be four cards in the pile, two of which are played, one is discarded and one is left facedown.

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Sooo since that last post is in direct contradiction with what I was saying, I decided to thoroughly go through the rulebook again, and it turns out that I did indeed miss a thing. We missed the rule that you also add a card from the command pile (which also made the rules more ambiguous in a few other ways). Since I was already thinking this game has too much RNG, I think I'd rather not add more. Maybe I run another pbf after this, with that rule, but, unless there are objections, I'd rather play it "my way" for now.

The General
Mar 4, 2007


Are there any rules about communicating? Aside from no PMing/writing notes and passing them under the table?

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Dancer posted:

Sooo since that last post is in direct contradiction with what I was saying, I decided to thoroughly go through the rulebook again, and it turns out that I did indeed miss a thing. We missed the rule that you also add a card from the command pile (which also made the rules more ambiguous in a few other ways). Since I was already thinking this game has too much RNG, I think I'd rather not add more. Maybe I run another pbf after this, with that rule, but, unless there are objections, I'd rather play it "my way" for now.

Oh okay, fair enough.

So it'll be one card from previous turns and one card from each person that turn?

Shadow225
Jan 2, 2007




Yes, you send me 2 dollars for every post you make.

Shadow225
Jan 2, 2007




To actually add discussion, we are looking at effectively three situations right now:

1. Command card was Energy. One player added energy. We would not know what to other card is.

2. Command card was Energy. Both players added energy. This would make the other card an energy.

3. Command card was not energy. Both players would have to add energy. We would not know what the other card is.

So with that in mind, I think the most likely situation was that both of us added energy to the pile. While the other card is most likely an energy through pure frequentist statistics, we don't know for certain. I think that we should continue to try and play low impact cards for now. I threw an Energy in the pot last round, and have a Recycle and Discharge left. In retrospect, I should have thrown the Discharge out while no one had energy, but you live and you learn.

Dancer
May 23, 2011

The General posted:

Are there any rules about communicating? Aside from no PMing/writing notes and passing them under the table?

You're allowed to say whatever you want. In the physical game you'd be forbidden to show your cards, but it's not like you can do that here. Just in case, let's adapt that rule goons use for mafia that you can't copy-paste private messages from me.

Dancer
May 23, 2011

Some Numbers posted:

Oh okay, fair enough.

So it'll be one card from previous turns and one card from each person that turn?

That is correct.

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rydiafan
Mar 17, 2009


Shadow225 posted:

I threw an Energy in the pot last round, and have a Recycle and Discharge left.

You want to ally with me and put that recycle in? I can get rid of my impact if I draw it. Impact seems like the least bad bad card, though, so no worries if you want to save your recycle.

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