I'll soon be hosting my first game of BSG. It will be me and a few of my coworkers (we will probobly be 4-5 players total). They have not seen the series and most of them have litle or no experiance of board games.

Obviously I want to make it as great an experiance as possible so that they will want to play again! Do you have any tips or sugestions as to what to think about and how I can prepare to make things run smoothly and be as much fun as possible?

If you have time on your hands, grab some beer and watch one or two or all episodes of the Galactica Miniseries beforehand. Right afterwards, jump right into the game.

I personally favor "learning by doing", since running through all rules can bore the hell out of playing-hungry people. I'd explain the general rules and would go into detail once the situation calls for it (i.e. how to battle raiders, what the different activation symbols mean, etc.).

Just make sure, every player is equipped with a knowledge so that asking for additional rules will not demask him as a cylon.

I would ask everyone to look at their loyalty cards for 15 seconds or so. That way, the Cylon(s) will have the chance to actually read their specific card without giving it away to everyone.

We had a first time player as Cylon last game and she did a great job.

Here's a few points:

• Explain the ways in which the humans can win and lose the game.
• Explain how Skill Checks work, when they're performed, and that skill cards have other uses apart from their number values
• Explain the Character Sheet (character type, skill cards, ongoing power, one-shot power, disadvantage)
• Explain the types of movement (within the ship, ship-to-ship, getting into a Viper, flying in a Viper, getting out of a Viper)
• Explain the types of Actions that can be performed (skill cards, quorum cards, locations, in a Viper, loyalty card, character powers)
• Explain the locations on the board and when they're used
• What happens when you jump, and why it's sometimes worth it to jump early
• Examples of how unrevealed Cylons can affect the game (bluff about how strong their skill cards are, gingerly adding negatively-valued cards, choosing suboptimally), and when it's obvious a Cylon has affected the outcome of something.
• When the Sympathizer enters play and how it's used to make the game harder if the humans are doing well.

I've hosted several games now, and while I don't make any claim of any great skill at teaching the game, people have always reported having an excellent time.

One of the things I do beforehand is get the board and bits out and put a sample of each type of crisis card (president chooses, admiral chooses, current player chooses, skill check, and cylon fleet) out so everyone can see them. I also place an example of each type of skill card out so that everyone can see them. I place samples of each destination card out (1, 2, and 3) so that everyone can see them. I take each of the "You are a Cylon" cards, the "Cylon Sympathizer" card, and one of the "You are not a Cylon" cards, and I lay them out. I put out the character cards with their accompanying character tokens. I do this so that when I am explaining the game, I can use concrete examples of everything I'm talking about, and match something visual to go with the words I'm using.

Incidentally, this will be a little overwhelming. Make sure people understand that it's okay to feel a little overwhelmed-- the overview is only meant to familiarize them with the elements of the game, not to give them a bunch of stuff they need to know or remember. Assure them that everything will become clear once they start the game.

When you explain the game, have a structure in mind. Here's the one I use:

1.) The turn (so simple!): Four steps - draw cards, move, take one action, and draw a crisis card. Then I go back and unpack each step, and use concrete example from the bits and pieces.

2.) So how do I win the game? (so easy!): Explain the jump track, and show a crisis card with a jump icon. Show the destination cards, and place them on top of each other to show how they add up. Explain how the humans win (accumulate a distance of eight and then jump once more). Add that this is only the way the humans win; that Cylons win by dropping one of the resource dials to 0 (or by damaging Galactica six times, or by moving centurions to the final track).

3.) Cylons? Wuh? (so cool!): Explain the loyalty card system, and show the players the "You are not a Cylon" and "You are a Cylon cards." Go back and explain the sleeper phase. Explain how the Cylons win, and the advantages of being a revealed Cylon vs. an unrevealed Cylon, and how revealing is an action. NOTE: This, to me, is the most important part of the rules explanation, and where I strive the most to be absolutely clear. Once the game starts, all the humans will still be free to ask questions, but the Cylon player will feel constricted in the questions he or she can ask.

After that, have people choose characters and draw cards. While they are getting settled, construct the loyalty deck, and pass out the loyalty cards.

The way I do loyalty cards is insist that everyone turn around and look at their cards, and then I slowly count to ten. Everyone must look at their card for the full ten count, regardless of what card it is. This allows the Cylon to read his or her card a couple of times before the game begin.

After that's done, I invite the players to look at each other, and realize that there might already be Cylons amongst them.

Only then do I place the initial setup of the basestar, raiders, vipers, and civilian ships on the board. I explain that they are already under attack, and wish them good luck. If I'm feeling particularly nasty, I remind them that, just because I'm explaining the rules, doesn't mean I'm not trying to kill them all.

Big Head Zach and Eldil both have a lot of good advice.

I just hosted my first game the other night and it was a blast.

I would say, if you have time, to have them watch a bit of the show. I just had the guys watch the miniseries before we played, as I wanted the guys to understand the story a bit and also not have the game spoil certain things incase they would watch the show at some point. Also, I wanted people to join me in chants of "So say we all!" and "Frak!"

Honestly, I think it does make the game a bit more fun.

Thank you all for the good advice! I'll see if I can get them to watch an episode of the series before the game, I've got it on DVD after all. Allso, we will be playing at our office after work. So I'll sett up the board and lay out cards and stuff in the morning so people can go look at it during the day. It's still two weeks away so I've got planety of time to think this over

Make sure, the cards don't get legs, if you get my drift.

Even if they don't, they can get lost easily if not supervised.

Mike said:

Yes, good points. I'll have to concider that risk. But frankly I'm more worried about the actual playing time as there will be beer drinking involved and I realy don't want any beer spil om my board or cards...

The main issue to make sure the players understand what a cylon should be trying to do, and how they can go about it. They are indeed the only players who feel like they cannot ask questions.

I made sure all players were familiar with the "You are a cylon" cards before the game, and that all you need to know is that you use your cards power when you reveal yourself (and are not in the brig).

One other suggestions, especially if they have trouble understanding the rules is have one round of play without anyone looking at their loyalty cards. This gives players a time to join in and understand what humans are trying to do without thinking too much about how to make the humans lose. After that round, all can look at loyalty cards (all agree how long to look at them for). It might tilt it slightly in the cylons favour, but for a first game I don't think that is a bad thing

Thanks Eldil and Big Head Frank. I've printed out your advice to make sure I hit all points on my first run-throughs. It hadn't occurred to me to doubly emphasize Cylon roles since those players can't ask questions.

Frank?

lmao - sorry - I think my coworker (frank) actually came in and starting talking to me as I was typing that.

Smuggler said:

Sci-Fi channel ran a special that recapped seasons 1 and 2. It's available at netflix and only runs 90 minutes. It's a great way to get non BSG viewers up to speed.

Hmm, I dunno how entertaining a 90-minute summary episode would be for someone who's never seen the show. Ditto on watching the miniseries, as it drags quite a bit too (especially at the beginning, which is when you're trying to grab their attention). If your target audience isn't necessarily all that interested in Battlestar, but you want to convince them it's a better show than they might assume from its silly name, I'd suggest an intense, stand-alone episode that doesn't rely on much back story. I like Pegasus myself, if only because I love watching the faces of anyone who expected an episode of Star Trek :-)

Here's a 13 minute recap of the entire series.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=62611

I'm not sure how helpful it is to people who haven't seen any of the show though.