Does anyone even use that coin? It's like more of a hassle than an aid.

*usually* it is not too necessary to use the current player token. Contrasting to a game like say, Arkham Horror, where all players take actions during several phases during a turn, in BSG, generally only the current player is taking actions, so its difficult to get lost and not know whose turn it is.

However, it can be nice to use if people are getting Executive Order happy. Since you start taking actions on turns that aren't yours, things can get a bit confusing on occasion. Still, it's not usually necessary, but occasionally it's nice to have.

I'll use it when we have to 'pause' the game. We generally pause after the Prepare for Jump and before the next player draws his 5 cards. Use the counter to see whose turn it is to draw cards.

We make a point of using it. We've found it easy to lose track of whose turn it is when things get complicated; if someone activates FTL Control and thus pushes us into the sleeper phase during an XO, for instance. Everyone with whom I've played has scoffed at the current player button until such a situation comes up.

Wre use it too, for the same reasons others have mentioned. If someone gets XO'ed, scouts, FTLs, the mission specialist chooses a destination, then the oriignal player has a crisis we'll get lost.

The only time I use it when teaching the game to new players. It definitely helps with XOs and when someone use FTL. However, with my regular gaming group, it rarely gets passed around.

We'll use it during two situations.

The first one is if we are taking a break, mostly smoke braks just to keep track of whos turn it is when we come back. Secondly is usually during big games, 6 or 7 players. With XO's being flung around and cylon turns that use crisis cards it can get a bit confusing. Smaller games 5 or less we don't use it.

We give the token to Baltar.

When it is his turn he puts it on top of the crisis deck to remind him to pick his fifth skill card.

Kushiel said:

Yeah, in just about every game I've played with new players, especially if those players are hardcore gamers, there's a lot of derision about the current player token until we actually need to consult it to see whose turn it is.

we use it for games like Arkham, but not BSG. Luckily everyone else in the group is pretty good at remembering that someone got XOed, as I have a tendency to hand the crisis card to whoever took the last action.

We use it, I say why not?

We don't use it; on the rare occasion when we get confused about whose turn it is we just look at the Crisis deck for the most recent "Current Player chooses" Crisis and work it out from there.

Seems like we have more trouble with the "Is that where the jump track marker is supposed to be?"

We either forget to move it, double move it, or more often... hit it with dice or such.

I have been thinking we need to start putting a "marker" in the discard pile after we jump so it's easier to go back and count.

Maybe thats a future promo-card - the "we jumped here" card for the crisis deck... haha.

We tend to forget about passing the current player token more than we forget about whose turn it is.

Other than that, the current player token can help with XO's and the like...anytime someone needs to do something within somebody else's turn it can come in handy. Keep in mind though that FFG didn't print the current player token so you must use it. They printed it so you can use it if the need arises. Words such as nuisance are a little harsh and completely miss the point. There are groups out there who need this aid to help them play. So I tend to look at the current player token as a sign of how well FFG takes care of its fans/players.

I like the idea of giving it to Baltar. I'll try that with my group. Baltar tends to forget to draw an additional skill card sometimes. Must be all the hallucinations.

Mephisto666 said:

We actually have a fairly easy way of keeping track: flip the discarded crisis cards to face down after a jump. That way you'll only have a few cards to check to make sure the marker is where it's supposed to be.

We use it because we're new and have some trouble remembering whose turn it is sometimes.

Also, because we sort of worship it as a minor god-of-being-able-to-do-stuff at the table.

HooblaDGN said:

Ha! That kills me! It's like the conch from "Lord of the Flies"!

We use it in a games with inexperienced players. Also, I really prefer not to remember such trivial things as turns, focusing more on a devious Plan.

ronsen_04 said:

I would never have a problem with Baltar forgetting to draw his extra card. Chances are good that he is a Cylon and I don't want him getting the card anyway; I really don't want anyone drawing more cards if I don't know their loyalty. If Baltar is a known human, then the other humans should be reminding him if he forgets.

Mephisto666 said:

Mephisto, I recommend you assign different duties to each player. One and only one player handles the skill card piles and destiny deck, one and only player handles the civilian ships, Cylon tokens, and Vipers, one and only player handles the resources and jump tracks, etc. This will prevent the "it's my turn but I can't remember if I moved the jump track yet" problem.

That and I often find myself in the narrator role, even among experienced players: "that second action by Apollo concludes the XO, which means Baltar's action phase is over, so now it's Baltar's crisis phase."

We leave it in the game box. moving it is 5 seconds wasted each turn.

And when (not if) you forget to move it it's worse than useless.

- Essential !! -

Our games are always rather intense, so there is no chance we lose track of who's playing.

However, we keep using it religiously, as a reminder of an old tradition whose meaning would have been lost for ages.

Plus, when I receive it, I feel invested with a strong feeling of colonial patriotism, and I start to hum the colonial anthem (especially if I'm a Cylon) XD

My group uses it cause some of them have short attention(or they are busy reading cards they just drew) spans and need to be reminded its their turn.