Fire all D6s! Let's Play Star Trek: The Dice Game

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Fire all D6s! Let's Play Star Trek: The Dice Game

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FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!

In 2015, Tau Leader Games released a solitaire print-and-play dice game called Deep Space D-6. In it, you play as the captain of a starship that has been ambused by enemy forces and must hold out until help arrives. Play involves rolling dice, then assigning those dice to perform various actions to eliminate threats and keep your ship and crew intact.

In 2016, on the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek series, Carl White produced Star Trek: The Dice Game. It uses an expanded version of the Deep Space D-6 rules, changing the game from surviving a single brutal attack to managing your resources to complete a five-year mission. While any one event is less hazardous, the trick is getting all the way through without getting the ship blown up or having some alien entity suck up all of your crew.

The game is available for free from the creator's website, but I recommend going to Board Game Geek to get updated versions of the cards and rules, as well as the Away Team expansion, which adds more of everything, including new rules for sending away teams on missions.

How the game works
The super-brief version of the rules is as follows: each turn, you roll ten dice, then assign them to various stations on the ship. You then spend those dice to complete steps on the Mission Card (you draw a new one for each year of the five-year mission, and, yes, it is a bit confusing that you complete five missions in your five-year-mission), collect Development Cards (which give you various bonuses when collected), defeat Event Cards (which impose penalties until removed), or perform miscellaneous tasks like repairing the hull.

Several things can reduce your dice pool. You can choose to lock dice onto Event or Development Cards until you get enough of the right dice to complete the Event Card or collect the Development Card. Sometimes an Event Card will lock up some of your dice as crewmen are sent to sickbay or possessed by an alien entity.

Last, but certainly not least, any ones you roll are considered threats and are kept until you accumulate four of them. Every time you do, you draw another Event Card... and that's bad.

How this LP will work
To discourage bandwagoning, decisions will not be made by voting. Instead, they will be made by raffle. I'll give everyone some time to call out what they want to do, then randomly select someone and use their choice.

The first choice you need to make is game difficulty. Difficulty has two effects. The first is what our starting dilithium reserve will be. Dilithium is a timer for each year of our five-year mission; if it runs out before we've completed the mission card for that year, we fail the mission, and if we fail two missions in a row, we lose the game.

The second effect is what Year Card we use. The Year Card determines what additional hazards we face as wear and tear eats at the Enterprise. To simplify matters, I've boiled the Year Cards down into a list; you move one step down the list for each year that passes:

No effect. Easy difficulty starts here, with a dilithium reserve of 10.
No effect. Normal difficulty starts here, with a dilithium reserve of 9.
No effect. Hard difficulty starts here, with a dilithium reserve of 8.
Repairing the hull costs more. Kobayashi Maru difficulty starts here, with a dilithium reserve of 7.
In addition, raising and lowering shields costs more.
In addition, healing costs more.
In addition, reducing threat costs more.
In addition, all damage is increased by one point.

So, what'll it be? Easy, Normal, Hard, or Kobayashi Maru?

FredMSloniker fucked around with this message at 17:17 on May 14, 2019

# ¿ Apr 15, 2019 18:25

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 08:46

FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

sudonim posted:

if we choose Kobayashi Maru, can we cheat?

That depends. Can you reprogram the computer? _{_{Please do not actually hack my computer or the Something Awful forums kthx.}}

# ¿ Apr 15, 2019 18:30

FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

Just giving this a little bump, since the forum's so active I suspect folks interested in this thread missed seeing it.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2019 23:58

FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

I've changed my mind about putting the difficulty level to a ~~vote~~ raffle, because boy howdy, getting this post ready let me know that 'less brutal' than Deep Space D-6 does not mean 'not brutal'. We'll start on Easy and see if we can earn a higher difficulty.

So let's get this party started. I didn't mention it earlier, but we will be playing with the Away Team expansion, so we'll have new and exciting ways to die.

First, let's take a quick look at the board.

(Not pictured: the Away Team sideboard. I'll show it when it becomes relevant.)

To set up, we put markers on Hull space 7 (fresh from the starbase) and on Shields space 0 (we start with shields down, but we'll be able to raise them later). We put a Year Card on the appropriate space; this reminds us of the effects of the current year of our mission, based on the difficulty we chose. (Speaking of, we put a marker on Year 1.) Since we're starting off easy, we put a marker on Dilithium Reserves space 10. Then we put ten old-fashioned six-siders, referred to as Crew Dice, in the Quarters space.

After shuffling the three decks, we draw and display, in order, three Development Cards. These cards are Reassigned, Diagnostic Scanner, and Security Station. I'll explain what those are in a bit.

Last, but not least, we draw the first of (hopefully) five Mission Cards. Now things get interesting.

Year One: The Frozen Sky

Captain's Log, Stardate 1524.3. The Enterprise is responding to a distress call from the planet Antaeus 3. The planet's rotation is slowing for an as-yet unknown reason. If we can't put a stop to it, the planet will become tidally locked, the sun searing one side while the other side freezes.

Each Mission Card has a Mission Event. This is something that happens every turn to make our lives more difficult. In this case, before we even get to roll a Crew Die, we have to send one of them to Sickbay. We'll cover how to get them out again later.

(Insert a scene here from the 'episode' of Dr. McCoy treating someone from Engineering for what looks like a minor injury while he and Captain Kirk discuss possible medical responses to the situation on the planet.)

We start at the first Mission Stage. In order to complete the Mission Card, we need to progress through every Mission Stage in order; we can only complete one Stage a turn, so Sickbay is going to get crowded! To complete this Mission Stage, we need to use two Engineering Dice in a single turn.

So how do we get those dice? Well, in Roll Call ( :downsrim:

), we roll all of the Crew Dice in Quarters. Of those nine dice, we get:

Two ones. These are Threat Dice. Threat Dice go in the Scanners boxes. When those boxes fill up, they return to Quarters, but we have to draw an Event Card. (That's bad.)
One two. This is a Security Die. Security Dice go in the Security boxes. If there aren't enough empty boxes for the Security Dice rolled (or for the other types of Crew Dice below), they return to Quarters. That isn't a problem here, obviously.
One three. This is an Engineering Die. We wanted two. We have one. This is an issue.
One four. This is a Medical Die. This could come in handy.
Three fives. These are Science Dice.
One six. This is a Command Die. Unlike the other types of dice, there are only two boxes for Command Dice.

Having rolled the dice, we then Report for Duty, which is when we actually put the dice on their appropriate spaces. Then it's time to Deploy. We can take the following actions:

A Security Die may be used to return a Threat Die to Quarters (Clear Sensors). (Dice that have been spent also return to Quarters.) We can also use two Security Dice as if they were one Engineering Die.
An Engineering Die may be used to repair one point of hull damage (Repair). We can also use two Engineering Dice as if they were one Security Die.
A Medical Die may be used to return one Crew Die from Sickbay to Quarters (Heal). We can also use two Medical Dice as if they were one Science Die.
A Science Die may be used to move Shields to 5 or 0 (Raise or Lower Shields). We can also use two Science Dice as if they were one Medical Die.
A Command Die may be used to change one other Crew Die to a result of your choice (Orders). (The rules don't say if you can change any Crew Die, but based on my reading, I'm going to say this only applies to active Crew Dice, i.e., ones that are at stations other than Scanners.)
Event Cards, Development Cards, and Mission Cards can all have associated costs, which are paid in the appropriate number and type of Crew Dice. We pay to remove Event Cards, claim Development Cards (about which, more shortly), and advance Mission Cards.
Finally, if we really need a specific Crew Die, we can use any three Crew Dice as if they were a specific Crew Die. (Note that, when we're using multiple Crew Dice as if they were a single Crew Die, that doesn't mean 'send all but one back to Quarters and turn that one to the desired result'! Those Dice are stuck together until they get sent back to Quarters as a unit.)

We can take any or all of these actions in any order we want, and we can take any action as many times as we can pay for it. Any Crew Dice we don't use this turn can be locked in if we think we'll need their value next turn, but otherwise they return to Quarters. (This does not include Threat Dice, for obvious reasons.)

So, what should we do this turn? Well, the following options seem at least somewhat relevant:

Spend a Security Die to return a Threat Die to Quarters.
Spend a Medical Die to return a Crew Die from Sickbay to Quarters.
Spend a Science Die to raise shields.
Spend a Command Die to change an unneeded Crew Die to an Engineering Die.
Treat three Crew Dice as if they were an Engineering Die.
Advance the Mission Card by spending two Engineering Dice. We don't currently have two Engineering Dice, but see above.
Put Crew Dice on a Development Card. Development Cards are buffs we can pay for with Crew Dice; some provide a continuous bonus, while others can be used up in an emergency. Unlike Mission Cards, we can pay for Development and Event Cards in installments, leaving the Crew Dice on the card until we either choose to remove them at the end of a turn or finish paying the cost.
- The Reassigned Development Card is a Tactics card (the relevance of this will be explained when it's, well, relevant) that costs two Command Dice to claim. (Note that those dice return to Quarters once the cost is paid; they're not locked up forever.) It lets you reroll one Crew Die, other than a Threat Die, during Roll Call.
- The Diagnostic Scanner Development Card is a Technology card that costs three Medical Dice to claim. With it active, each Heal action moves two Crew Dice, not just one, from Sickbay to Quarters.
- The Security Station Development Card is a Tactics card that costs three Security Dice to claim. It acts as an additional Security box, letting us keep one more Security Die roll.
A shortened list of the available Development Cards will appear in Mission Status, below. We don't have enough Crew Dice to claim any of these outright, but we could make a deposit.

So, what'll it be? I know what I'd do if I were playing, but would it be the best choice? Well, we'll just have to see.

__________________ __ \_________________|)____.---'--`---.____ || \----.________.----/ || / / `--' __||____/ /_ |___ \ `--------'

MISSION STATUS

It is year one of the U.S.S. Enterprise's five-year mission (on easy difficulty.)

Crew assignments:

Command: 1/2
Science: 3/3
Medical: 1/3
Engineering: 1/3
Security: 1/3
Away Team: 0/10
Quarters: 0/10
Sickbay: 1/10

Threat Level (Scanners): 2/4
Shields: 0/5
Hull: 7/7
Dilithium Crystal Reserve: 10/10

Active Mission Card: Avert Environmental Catastrophe (Away Team expansion).
Mission Event: Move one Crew Die to Sickbay.

Travel: pay two Engineering Dice.
Transport: shields must be down. Pay one Engineering Die.
Scan: Pay two Science Dice.
Repair: Pay one Engineering Die and one Science Die.
Cure: Pay two Medical Dice.
Development: Draw two Development Cards. (Discard the two available Development Cards at the top of the list, then draw two Development Cards and put them at the bottom of the list.)

Active Event Cards: none.

Active Development Cards: none.

Available Development Cards:

Reassigned (Tactics card. Reroll one Crew Die, other than a Threat result, during Roll Call. Costs 2 Command to claim.)
Diagnostic Scanner (Technology card. The Heal action moves two Crew Dice from Sickbay to Quarters. Costs 3 Medical to claim.)
Security Station (Tactics card. This card acts as an additional Security Crew Station. Costs 3 Security to claim.)

FredMSloniker fucked around with this message at 06:53 on Apr 16, 2019

# ¿ Apr 16, 2019 06:26

FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

habituallyred posted:

(Any good as orders?)

That sounds like a pretty good plan, and MaskedHuzzah agrees with you, so let's do it. We spend our Command Die to turn a Science Die into an Engineering Die, then spend two Engineering Dice to complete this Mission Stage. Using two Science Dice as a Medical Die to Heal our injured Crew Die leaves our actual Medical Die free to go on the Diagnostic Scanner Development Card. (We could have done it the other way around, but this is more efficient.) Our Security Die clears one Threat Die, and we're out of Crew Dice to spend.

As the next turn starts, our Dilithium Reserves drop by one. Dilithium Reserves are refreshed at the start of each new year. If they run out before a Mission Card is completed, that Mission Card ends in failure; fail two in a row, and ~~the show is cancelled~~ the game is over. So we have nine turns to finish the remaining five Mission Stages. Keep that in mind.

The Mission Event then activates again, sending some poor schlub back to Sickbay, and we roll the Crew Dice.

That's one of each kind of Crew Die, plus a second Engineering Die. That gives us the following options:

Complete the current mission stage using one Engineering Die, then:
- Complete the Diagnostic Scanner (using the Command Die to get the second Medical Die) and remove one Threat Die.
- Remove both Threat Dice (using the Command Die to get the second Security Die) and either heal one Crew Die or partially complete the Diagnostic Scanner.
- Remove one Threat Die, heal one Crew Die, and partially complete the Diagnostic Scanner (using the Command Die to get a Medical Die).
With any of these options, we'd have either an Engineering Die or a Science Die left over, which we could save for next turn.

OR
Remove both Threat Dice (treating two Engineering Dice as a Security Die), then complete the Diagnostic Scanner (using the Command Die to get a Medical Die). This would use up all of our Crew Dice. This would not complete the current Mission Stage.

OR
Do something else I haven't thought of. (I wouldn't suggest partially completing either of the other Development Cards, but you do you.)

So. What are our priorities?

__________________��__ \_________________|)____.---'--`---.____ ��||��\----.________.----/ ��||��/�/��`--' ��__||____/�/_ ��|___��\ ��`--------'

MISSION STATUS

It is year one of the U.S.S. Enterprise's five-year mission (on easy difficulty.)

Crew assignments:

Threat Level (Scanners): 2/4
Security: 1/3
Engineering: 2/3
Medical: 1/3
Science: 1/3
Command: 1/2

Away Team: 0/10
Quarters: 0/10
Sickbay: 1/10
Diagnostic Scanner: 1/3 Medical Dice

Shields: 0/5
Hull: 7/7
Dilithium Crystal Reserve: 9/10

Active Mission Card: Avert Environmental Catastrophe (Away Team expansion).
Mission Event: Move one Crew Die to Sickbay.

Travel: pay two Engineering Dice.
Transport: shields must be down. Pay one Engineering Die.
Scan: Pay two Science Dice.
Repair: Pay one Engineering Die and one Science Die.
Cure: Pay two Medical Dice.
Development: Draw two Development Cards. (Discard the two available Development Cards at the top of the list, then draw two Development Cards and put them at the bottom of the list.)

Active Event Cards: none.

Active Development Cards: none.

Available Development Cards:

Reassigned (Tactics card. Reroll one Crew Die, other than a Threat result, during Roll Call. Costs 2 Command to claim.)
Diagnostic Scanner (Technology card. The Heal action moves two Crew Dice from Sickbay to Quarters. Costs 3 Medical to claim.)
Security Station (Tactics card. This card acts as an additional Security Crew Station. Costs 3 Security to claim.)

FredMSloniker fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Apr 16, 2019

# ¿ Apr 16, 2019 17:18

FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

inflatablefish posted:

Do we get a bonus for finishing the event with spare dilithium, or is it an advantage to hold off on the final step so we can activate our development cards?

You don't get a bonus for finishing the mission early, but you don't want to stick around; every turn means you're getting hit by the Mission Event and potentially rolling Threat Dice. That said, there is one reason to linger. The last stage in this mission completes itself, but it does so by forcing you to discard the oldest two available Development Cards (in our case, the ones at the top of the list) and draw two new ones (which will go at the bottom). So if we want Reassigned and/or Diagnostic Scanner, we need to get them before the mission ends.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2019 19:07

FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

Oh, also! One thing to consider is that, with the Away Team expansion in play, we may want to have a spare Crew Die and not save it. After all, we need warm bodies to actually send down to the planet...

e: actually, lemme cover that right now. With the Away Team expansion, after a Mission Card's Transport phase is completed, and after the Cleanup phase (used Crew Dice go back to quarters, completed Development Cards are collected, et cetera), you pick at least two Crew Dice and put them on the Away Team side board. This is like the Enterprise board, except it has two Stations for each of Science, Engineering, Medical, Security, and Command, and none for Threat. They go into the Away Team pool.

The following rules apply when an away team is, well, away:

Away team Crew Dice are rolled and assigned before shipboard Crew Dice are. Like shipboard Crew Dice, they can be left locked into an Away Team station if unused; otherwise, they return to the Away Team pool.
Rolling 1 on an away team Crew Die is not a Threat Die but a Wild Die, and can be used for any result.
As far as I can tell, there's no rule against away team Crew Dice performing actions like Heal or Repair Hull.
Mission Stages may only be completed with away team Crew Dice.
Event Cards with the Starship icon only affect, and can only be completed by, shipboard Crew Dice.
Event Cards without the Starship icon, as well as Development Cards, can be completed by either or both sets of Crew Dice. However, away team Crew Dice may not be locked onto these cards, so the Event Card or Development Card must be completed that turn. The away team Crew Dice return to the Away Team pool during cleanup.
Away team Crew Dice sent to Sickbay become shipboard Crew Dice.
You can recomplete a Transport phase (instead of completing the current phase of the Mission Card) to add more dice to the Away Team pool. (Gotta replace those redshirts somehow!)
The away mission ends, and all away team Crew Dice return to Quarters, if a second Transport phase is completed (some Mission Cards have two) or when a Mission Card is completed or discarded.

FredMSloniker fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Apr 16, 2019

# ¿ Apr 16, 2019 19:09

FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

MaskedHuzzah posted:

Continuing on the same basic plan as last time,
Send the Security and Science dies down in the away team (since that's a two person minimum if I'm reading correctly).

Assigning crew to an away team happens after Cleanup, so we'll have every Crew Die that gets used available.

quote:

EDIT: What does adding an additional security station net us? The ability to hold another die between turns?

That, and the ability to assign another Security Die after Roll Call. Remember, if you roll four Security Dice, but you only have three Security Stations available, one of the Crew Dice goes back to Quarters.