I was introducing the BSG board game to a group of work friends, and we came across a situation I hadn't ever run into before and I was hoping for some clarification.

The humans were at a distance of 6 (I was a Cylon at this point, frak those guys!) and the Admiral had a choice between Desolate Moon (3 distance, -3 fuel) and another destination that I don't remember the name of (2 distance, -1 fuel and -1 raptor). Choosing the Desolate Moon would drop Fuel to 0, so the Admiral decided to choose the other destination. The only problem is that the humans had no more Raptors available. While the rules/FAQ are very clear on risking Raptors on Launch Scout cards etc., there was no direct solution for just straight up losing a Raptor. We treated it like any other incomplete cost requirement (i.e., discarding your hand of 4 skill cards when discarding 5 is required). Is this the right way to handle it? Or would the right way be to say that Desolate Moon is the only possible destination since it is the only destination for which all cost requirements can be met? And if that is the case, if you draw 2 destination cards, neither of which you can meet requirements for (e.g., 2 of the -1 fuel -1 raptor cards mentioned above) would you just not go anywhere, draw new destinations cards... what?

Thanks for any help you can provide! Good hunting!

I would say, granted that I am no expert, Congrats cylon you won! I think i remember reading in the forums and the pegasus rule book that if you can't pay the full cost you can't use that choise (i also can't spell). So once again congrats on winning you toaster.

I would actually interpret the rules differently and say that the admiral made a valid choice. With regards to raptors, all the rules say is that if you are to "risk" a raptor, you much actually have one to try (so if the admiral went to tylium planet without any, they couldn't try to regain fuel). However, the rules explicitly say with regards to crises on pg 30 of the main rulebook: "when a player makes a choice on a crisis card, he can always choose the top or bottom section of the card, regardless of whether he will be able to fullfill the game text listed (unless the card specifically restricts this)"

There are crises that cause humans to lose a raptor (as oppose to risk one) and the rules would clearly allow the humans to choose that option even when no raptors remain. Treating the choice of destination like a choice between options on a crisis, I would say the admiral was correct and the humans survived that turn.

I did search the pegasus rulebook and could not find a reference to the admiral only being able to choose destinations that they could fullfill all the requirements for. Since this is a situation that could easily arise if the admiral were prohibited from choosing any one in particular, and no FAQ or rulebook has addressed that situation, I think treating it in a similar matter to a crisis choice is proper and a raptor (or civilian ship) that does not exist can be sacrificed (though, of course, not risked).

I was just going by memory cause the games are at my brother's and i didn't look through the online copy of the rules. So I am probably wrong, thanks for researching it kargie.

I'm pretty sure Kargie has the right of it. You can generally options that you are unable to complete; rather than viewing the consequences of a choice as costs (i.e. you travel to this destination with a value of 2 by losing one fuel and losing one raptor), they really ought to be viewed as effects (i.e. you traveled to that destination with value 2, and you lose one fuel and one raptor as a consequence). The salient difference is that if you haven't got a raptor to lose, that's okay (as it is not a loss condition).

Of course, there are some things that take exception, but that exception is always printed on the card.

If it says "lose one raptor" then you may do so. If it says "risk one raptor" you may not use it if you do not have a raptor. I have seen a game survive by jumping, losing all the fuel, then risking the raptor to gain fuel. The loss condition of having a resource at zero is only assessed at the end of each players turn.

Alright, end result seems to be that the admiral made a valid choice, making me and my fellow toaster the unfortunate losers of the game. This is how I'd interpreted it originally but I wanted to make sure of it. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Hope it's ok to piggy back onto your question!

I had a few questions that I couldn't seem to clarify even though they seem basic.

1- What is the max number of cards you can spend in a skill check?

2- Can a revealed cylon still tamper with skill checks?

3- If a cylon is in the brig when revealed do they still get a super crisis card?

4- Is there a way to gain another super crisis card aside from your original reveal?

Thanks!

Gravnos said:

1. There is no limit unless your character has a restriction

2. By "tamper with" I assume you mean "play cards into" - yes, you can add 1 card to any skill check (core rules pg. 20)

3. Yes, the disadvantage to being in the brig when you reveal is you cannot use your reveal ability on the "You are a Cylon" card.

4. Depends on if you are playing with Pegasus or not - in the base game there was no way to get more than 1 SC, with the modified Cylon locations used for Pegasus a Cylon player may draw as many as he/she wants.