Hi there
As I stated in another thread, I'm currently working on some unofficial expansions for BSG.
I've finished all the templates I need and got pretty far in to the design process. However, after discussing things with a friend, it occurs to me that simply adding in new skill cards might present some problems (technical issues of printing aside at this stage!). Here are my current thoughts about the problems and my suggestions for implementation;
1. There are 5 categories of skill card and each category has 2 different types of skill card, which are duplicated but with varying Strength Values on each card.
2. Each category is weighted to have specific numbers of said Strength Values (no more than 2 x Strength 5, 4 x Strength 4, 8 x Strength 3 and so on).
Simply adding in an additional 21 Skills Cards x 5 Skill Categories (doubling up each category) is the easy option but that does create problems;
3. You effectively double up on all card Strengths (e.g. 4 x Strength 5, 8 x Strength 4 and 16 x Strength 3 ...). But since you have also doubled the size of the deck, your chances of drawing those Strength cards are not significantly increased (you statisticians out there can probably figure out the maths).
4. The rarity/availability of all cards is immediately halved. By simply doubling the size of the deck with new cards, you are reducing the chances of drawing existing cards.
Points 3 and 4 MIGHT not actually be all that much of an issue. It depends on your perspective: does the variability and introduction of new cards mean more to you than the probability of drawing, say, a Repair card?
5. The tactic of "Bunkering" cards (i.e. holding on to high value/specific effect cards, thereby denying the cylons/humans access to the same) becomes more difficult as you are less likely to draw those cards. And yet, this might not be such a problem as everyone has reduced chances of drawing those same cards, so bunkering will still work. You will just be relying on the odds of drawing the required cards denying your opponent the cards in addition to those bunkered in your hand.
6. An alternative would be to take out x number of cards per Strength Value (such as, 1 Strength 4, 2 Strength 3 etc) and replace them with new cards. This doesn't increase the variability/access to the NUMBERS on the cards but does add in some new cards (but, of course, at the same time reducing your chances of drawing the replaced cards).
7. If you were to go with the option presented in 6, it is possible to construct the 5 decks based on which CHARACTERS are being played (similar to the Loyalty Deck). So, for instance, if you were to play with Starbuck, you might weight the deck in favour of "MAXIMUM FIREPOWER" instead of, say, GENERIC PILOTING CARD ALPHA.
This option would require some set up and be a bit fiddly to start with but could end up being rather cool.
I await your thoughts.
DTH