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Battlestar Galactica: Exodus Expansion» Forums » Variants

Subject: Crashdown Character rss

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Andy
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The thread I made for a Doc Cottle character led to some really interesting discussion, so here are some basic ideas for another character - good ol' Crashdown! Again, not been played yet, so this is just theoretical so far. Please post what you think!

Lieutenant Alex 'Crashdown' Quartararo


PILOT

Draw
2 Piloting
1 Leadership
1 Tactics
1 Leadership/Tactics


Passive
Raptor ECO - Whenever a player risks a raptor, you may reroll the die. You must keep the new result.
Current thinking: Raptor ECO - Whenever a player risks a raptor, you may increase or decrease the result by 1.

Once Per Game
Gutsy Ploy - Action: Activate Heavy Radiers, then either destroy all Centurions on the Boarding Party track or damage Galactica once.
Current thinking: Gutsy Ploy - Action: Move all Centurions forward or backwards 1 space on the Boarding Party track and place one Centurion at the start of the track or remove one Centurion from the track.

Flaw
Poor Leader - Your Executive Orders only grant one Action.

Setup: Hangar Deck

Succession
Admiral
Cain, Adama, Saul Tigh, Helo, Gaeta, Apollo, Dee, Starbuck, Kat, Boomer, Crashdown, Anders, Chief, Cally, Zarek, Ellen Tigh, Gaius, Tory, Roslin

President
Roslin, Gaius, Zarek, Tory, Ellen Tigh, Apollo, Gaeta, Adama, Helo, Chief, Cally, Cain, Dee, Boomer, Saul Tigh, Anders, Starbuck, Crashdown, Kat

CAG
Apollo, Starbuck, Kat, Boomer, Crashdown, Anders, Helo, Adama, Cain, Tigh, Gaeta, Dee, Chief, Cally, Zarek, Ellen Tigh, Gaius, Tory, Roslin

Logic Behind the Ideas
Crashdown's main role in the TV series is as a Raptor ECO (electronic countermeasures officer, according to wikipedia ). The passive allows him to reroll the die for any risked raptors, which might seem a little overpowered but to only be able to do it on his own turn feels too weak to me. (Compare, for example, Helo's passive to reroll any die but only on his turn.) The idea of Cylon Crashdown rerolling successful raptor rolls while in the Brig also seems hilarious to me!

The OPG allows you to either activate Heavy Raiders and then clear the Boarding Party track entirely (human) or activate Heavy Raiders and then damage Galactica once (cylon). An alternative to damaging Galactica could be -1 Morale. This is the ability I'm least sure about. I like the idea of being able to clear the Boarding track, or at least destroying 2+ Centurions (adds a sense of 'should I use this now or wait for more Centurions?'), but that alone doesn't give much cylon potential so I added in damaging Galactica to sweeten the deal for Cylon Crashdown. Too powerful? Too situational? What do you think?

The flaw means that Crashdown's Executive Orders are much less effective, but still useable. He draws 1-2 Leadership so he won't be getting as many XO's as some characters, but this flaw should still have some bite.
 
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  • Last edited Sat Jan 28, 2012 4:45 pm (Total Number of Edits: 2)
  • Posted Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:58 pm
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Todd Warnken
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Good design. The abilities seem reasonable to me. Interesting flaw.
 
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Steye
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Nice to see a new character again!

The one thing that struck me the most is the 2 tactics he can get. In the series he is the officer with the least tactical experience - at least on the ground. Do you remember this scene:

"Diagram 1: We crashed on the planet and are hiding in the woods. Diagram 2: The Cylons are building ground to air missles to shoot down Search & Rescue Raptors. Diagram 3: We are going to kill all the Cylons "

Even the Chief has more tactical insight than Crashdown. So I'd go for:
2 piloting, 1 leadership, 1 engineering, 1 leadership / tactics.

 
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Jason Beck
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I'm not sure how I feel about him. Well, the OPT and the drawback are kind of similar to the one I came up with him some time ago, so I will go ahead and post that here.



I actually think the OPT you have for him may be too powerful; if Crashdown is human, the humans are pretty much guaranteed to never have to worry about raptors getting destroyed, and that's pretty big. I might consider limiting it to just his turn, or when *he* risks a raptor (which would still allow the re-roll when he's XOed).

His OPG is... interesting? It's a little bit wonky, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I worry that his OPG makes centurions essentially totally meaningless if he is human. Centurions are already not the biggest threat, but if the Cylons execute their plans well, then the centurions *can* be a serious problem. That, however, depends on devoting Cylon actions to them, and if Crashdown just swoops in and makes that irrelevant, that seems a little overly powerful, no? And, I mean, all he has to do is use it when the board is clear of heavies, and that's basically just a "clear the boarding party track" OPG, which seems kind of nice? That is mitigated (a little) by the CFB, at least.

So, it's very situational but potentially very powerful OPG for the humans... but not really that great for a Cylon? That's probably my main problem. I mean, if you compare it to other OPGs, one damage doesn't seem like a whole lot. Although, if you paired it with the damage reveal, it could pack quite a punch.
 
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Mike
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I like it!

My biggest concern is that his OPG might be overpowered if he is a Cylon... what about removing the "damage galactica" part and changing the wording slightly:

"Action: Once per game, activate Heavy Raiders. Then, you may destroy all Centurions on the Boarding Party track."

I like the balance for the human side because you have to activate heavies first, so you can't wait until the centurions are on the last space of the track: you have to decide - do I burn my OPG to guarantee taking that centurion out now, or do I hold off and hope we can take it out with the Armory? As for the Cylon side, you still get to activate heavies, but can opt not to take out the Centurions for a soft-reveal. May be somewhat under-powered for a Cylon, but not hugely since it's got great potential for making the humans waste an XO on you.

Thematically, I too question the big leadership and tactics draw for him, but I guess 1.5 of each is not totally off the wall.
 
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Admiral Thraawn


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In our games, we usually don't rate the safety of our Raptors very highly. After all, besides the one Scout for Fuel, all you lose out on is the ability to Launch Scouts, which are a lot less useful with both expansions. And even with our lassiez-faire attitude to Raptors, we've still only lost all of them once or twice in the over a year we've been playing. So I'm afraid I'd find his passive rather lackluster.

Similarly, I imagine he may never use his OPG, even if it it rather powerful. It largely negates Cylons trying to win through Centurions, so I imagine they wouldn't even try, removing the need for him to ever use it, and even reducing its effectiveness as a Cylon.

So, if I were to be given him, I would feel very much like I had been given a character with no relevant abilities for me to use, and a drawback that restricts even further what I can do, since giving XO's isn't really viable as him either. With his skillset and ability to completely prevent a particular type of loss, he could be a powerful character, but I'd find him a dreadfully boring one.
 
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Andy
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A mixed reaction, then!

Steye wrote:
Even the Chief has more tactical insight than Crashdown. So I'd go for:
2 piloting, 1 leadership, 1 engineering, 1 leadership / tactics.

ninjamatic3000 wrote:
Thematically, I too question the big leadership and tactics draw for him, but I guess 1.5 of each is not totally off the wall.

I see the points here, but I think that Crashdown's Passive and Flaw rely on him having a decent tactics (using Scout and rerolling raptor risks) and leadership (his flaw reduces the effectiveness of XO's) draw.

Jason, that's awesome! Strange that both Crashdowns are pretty similar. How about a combination of both passives - Whenever a raptor is risked you may alter the die roll by 1? That would reduce the chance of losing a raptor (normally 37.5%) to 25% or increase it to 50%.

Colonial One wrote:
I actually think the OPT you have for him may be too powerful; if Crashdown is human, the humans are pretty much guaranteed to never have to worry about raptors getting destroyed, and that's pretty big. I might consider limiting it to just his turn, or when *he* risks a raptor (which would still allow the re-roll when he's XOed).



Now, about the OPG...
ninjamatic3000 wrote:
My biggest concern is that his OPG might be overpowered if he is a Cylon... what about removing the "damage galactica" part and changing the wording slightly:

"Action: Once per game, activate Heavy Raiders. Then, you may destroy all Centurions on the Boarding Party track."

This was originally what I thought, but for a cylon this would just be activating Heavy Raiders which is pretty lacklustre. And yes, the idea is that you can't leave it until a Centurion is on the last space.

Colonial One wrote:
I worry that his OPG makes centurions essentially totally meaningless if he is human. Centurions are already not the biggest threat, but if the Cylons execute their plans well, then the centurions *can* be a serious problem. That, however, depends on devoting Cylon actions to them, and if Crashdown just swoops in and makes that irrelevant, that seems a little overly powerful, no? And, I mean, all he has to do is use it when the board is clear of heavies, and that's basically just a "clear the boarding party track" OPG, which seems kind of nice? That is mitigated (a little) by the CFB, at least.

So, it's very situational but potentially very powerful OPG for the humans... but not really that great for a Cylon? That's probably my main problem. I mean, if you compare it to other OPGs, one damage doesn't seem like a whole lot. Although, if you paired it with the damage reveal, it could pack quite a punch.

gathraawn wrote:
I imagine he may never use his OPG, even if it it rather powerful. It largely negates Cylons trying to win through Centurions, so I imagine they wouldn't even try, removing the need for him to ever use it, and even reducing its effectiveness as a Cylon.


Very good points. Like I said, I'm not entirely sure about the OPG as it is... I'm sure a OPG involving Centurions can be made, though. How about this:
Action: Move all Centurions forward or backwards 1 space on the Boarding Party track and place one Centurion at the start of the track or remove one Centurion from the track.

As for the raptor preferences... I guess that's down to how important you see raptors as. Some people see raptors as worth using Strategic Planning, so a permanent bonus might seem a little more beneficial to them.
 
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Steye
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Quote:
How about this:
Action: Move all Centurions forward or backwards 1 space on the Boarding Party track and place one Centurion at the start of the track or remove one Centurion from the track.


How about: Remove X Centurions on the Boarding Party track. For each Centurion removed, two characters on Galactica (other than you) have to discard all their skill cards.

This is a bit like the episode: Galen, Cally, Baltar etc are going to try to kill the Centurions, but it will be at great risk to all of them.

Flaw: When you give an Executive Order to another player, you may "order" him what to do. If he does not, you loose 2 random (or leadership?) skill cards.

Looking forward to the finished product!
 
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Andy
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Steye wrote:
How about: Remove X Centurions on the Boarding Party track. For each Centurion removed, two characters on Galactica (other than you) have to discard all their skill cards.

The issue here is deciding how many Centurions. I suppose you could roll the die (1-2: 1 Centurion; 3-4: 2 Centurions; 5-6: 3 Centurions; 7-8: 4 Centurions). The die roll may, of course, be influenced by Strategic Planning and Calculations. The discarding of players' hands is an interesting idea, and makes it more viable for a cylon without becoming 'wonky'.

Steye wrote:
Flaw: When you give an Executive Order to another player, you may "order" him what to do. If he does not, you loose 2 random (or leadership?) skill cards.

I like this! Although if it was leadership you might only have to discard 1 because Crashdown only draws 2 leadership per turn. This sounds similar to Jason's flaw (If you play or are the target of Critical Situation or Executive Order, you must discard a card.).

Here's an alternative OPG ability, building on Jason's 'Numerous Discoveries'.
Before the Admiral draws Destination cards after a jump, draw the top 3 Destination cards. Put 2 at the bottom of the Destination deck and 1 on top.
Gives you a lot of control over a single jump, be it because you're human and you (a) don't trust the Admiral (after all, who does?) and/or (b) you want to guarantee a good jump or you're cylon and you want to sabotage the jump. Note that it doesn't put the jump completely in your hands, the Admiral may still choose the second card they draw.
 
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Steye
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Captain Crumpet wrote:
Here's an alternative OPG ability, building on Jason's 'Numerous Discoveries'.
Before the Admiral draws Destination cards after a jump, draw the top 3 Destination cards. Put 2 at the bottom of the Destination deck and 1 on top.
Gives you a lot of control over a single jump, be it because you're human and you (a) don't trust the Admiral (after all, who does?) and/or (b) you want to guarantee a good jump or you're cylon and you want to sabotage the jump. Note that it doesn't put the jump completely in your hands, the Admiral may still choose the second card they draw.


I think for an OPG it's a bit soft, especially because of the second destination card. Change it to: Once per game after you jumped, instead of the Admiral you may take the top 4 destination cards and choose one.

Or rework it to a Passive perhaps? But I realy did like the Raptor CEO passive you already had! One other thought: give a 'Numerous Discoveries' OPG to Racetrack, everytime she stept into a Raptor, I knew something was about to happen

 
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Andy
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Steye wrote:
I think for an OPG it's a bit soft, especially because of the second destination card. Change it to: Once per game after you jumped, instead of the Admiral you may take the top 4 destination cards and choose one.

Or rework it to a Passive perhaps? But I realy did like the Raptor CEO passive you already had! One other thought: give a 'Numerous Discoveries' OPG to Racetrack, everytime she stept into a Raptor, I knew something was about to happen


I've just realised that my ideas have been very similar to the Opera House Racetrack character, with the passive rerolling raptors (although we might think this is too powerful/boring) and the OPG is very similar too (Racetrack's is 'Action - Look at the top four Destination cards. Put any two at the top and any two at the bottom').

 
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  • Last edited Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:16 pm (Total Number of Edits: 1)
  • Posted Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:15 pm
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Matt Downey
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4 destination cards and choose one is terrible, way too overpowered. Make it more like mission specialist would be more reasonable and still may be too powerful. Choosing the jump instead of the admiral is a good ability as it is without adding extra cards.
 
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David Turczi
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I just want to add that Crashdown is not a pilot, he's an ECO, like Helo. Those go to Military Leaders, not Pilots (Racetrack is a pilot, her ECO is Skulls before you say "Racetrack was an ECO for all of a single episode")


To avoid similarity to Racetrack, I'd suggest a centurion shooting aspect to him, there is none of that around anyhow.
The other thing he was "good" at is discovering amazing things with Boomer, so I'd make his OPT thematically similiar to Boomers
I like the "bad XO" drawback though

With that in mind:
1 Piloting (again, he's NOT a pilot)
3 Tactics
1 Leadership/Engineering (though he doesn't deserve more leadership than Starbuck)

Amazing Discoveries - Whenever you play a Launch Scout on your turn and roll 6 or higher you may look at two cards instead of one.
Clash with Centurions - Action: Once per Game send another player on the same ship as you to Sickbay in order to destroy every centurion on the Boarding Party Track.
Poor Leader - XOs given by you cannot be used for two actions.
 
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Andy
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Crashdown being a military leader makes sense. Do you think he should be like Helo and able to pilot vipers?

About his draw, I think he should draw more than 0-1 leadership. His drawback makes him a poor leader, but sort of loses its bite if you end up not having any XO's to use. He's a bad leader, but still a leader - it just happens that his leadership isn't great. How about:
1 Piloting
2 Tactics
2 Leadership


Or, for less leadership:
1 Piloting
1 Leadership
2 Tactics
1 Leadership/Tactics


I like that OPT

The issue I have with the OPG to remove all centurions is that it doesn't seem to have much cylon capability. Cylon Crashdown would just have to try and use it inefficiently or make excuses for not using it at all (I suppose that makes it similar to Cain's Blind Jump). What about:
Action - Destroy any number of centurions and send that number of players to Sickbay - Might be too harsh for the humans?
 
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David Turczi
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OPG Not Cylon-y enough? Just toss a human in sickbay for free when there is no centurion onboard!
 
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Andy
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I guess. Could toss in a -1 morale to balance it out too.
 
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