I'm posting it here because I really like this idea and don't want it to die on Dec 31st. The original post was made by Hellequin on Fri, 2008 Sep 19, 6:06 PM (CDT)

Here's a brain spark for y'all...

Ignore the existing text on the Sympathizer. Do not reveal this card when you're dealt it (in fact don't reveal 'til end of game); go ahead and put it in the starting Loyalty deal.

Being the sympathizer becomes a secret you need to keep from your own faction - whatever that faction is - because it offers you a bribe to help the other guys a little, and to keep your own side from running away with the game.

Specifically, if you are a human:
- You share in a narrow cylon win. If the Galactica was at distance eight and the jump track was 'in the black,' but the Cylons won, you share in the Cylon win.
- You don't share in a human win if it's too easy. If any dial is in the blue when the last jump is executed, you must reveal the Sympathizer card and you do not get to share in the exultation of the victorious humans.

Alternately, if you are a cylon:
- You share in a narrow human win. If the humans complete the run to Kobol but the total resources were less than ten, or the Centurions were one space from the end, or the Galactica had 5 areas damaged, you share in the human win.
- You don't share in a cylon win if it's too runaway. If the Cylons win before the humans make it to at least distance seven, reveal the Sympathizer card (and your Cylon card if unrevealed) and join the humans in weeping.

This would best be combined with a slightly less deterministic 'jump losses' mechanic so that you couldn't game that aspect too directly; I have a post on that but it's not quite ready for prime-time.

But imagine the upshot of this change... a sympathizer among the humans is playing kinda like a true undiscovered cylon, a little bit, but he's not truly a cylon; he'll never resurrect (and thus no Super Crisis is not an issue). Conversely, a human-sympathetic cylon would want to damp the assault slightly, holding back on the evilness a bit. Both are motivated to make the game a closer and tenser one.

I suspect that with this tweak, the sympathizer is no longer "half a cylon" and some other tweaks to the four- and six-player game would be needed. (Most simply, play with the two-points-less resources variant when at those sizes, or add a cylon to each and play with the two-points-more version instead, again at four and six players only.) However, it also means that you could sling a sympathizer into any game size. Yummy!

A more consise way of stating this is in a later post of his:

I think for mine to be clearer what we really need is a clear taxonomy of victories:Overwhelming Human Victory - Jump to Kobol with total resources of 20 or more.Standard Human Victory - Jump to Kobol with neither overwhelming nor narrow conditions met.Narrow Human Victory - Jump to Kobol with less than ten resource points left, or Centurions one space from completion, or five damage markers on Galactica.Narrow Cylon Victory - Destroy Galactica with the jump track in the black at distance eight.Standard Cylon Victory - Destroy Galactica with neither the overwhelming nor narrow conditions met.Overwhelming Cylon Victory - Destroy Galactica at distance six or less.
Then the sympathizer card simply reads: If your own side achieves overwhelming victory, you lose. If the other side achieves narrow victory, you share in the win.