I've discussed the possibility of creating new characters for a future expansions (or just add-ons)

and I want your opinion (BTW the characters' skill name are my grilfriend's idea, I give her the credit)

------

Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo

Military Leader

2 Leadership
2 Engineering
1 Piloting

ECO Partner: After your Receive Skill Step, you may discard 1 Skill Card to draw one from another character's skill set in the same location (or space area)

Doing What We Must: Once per game, you can destroy up to four Raptors, to increase a single ressource by that same number. You cannot use this ability if there are no more Raptors in the Reserve

Impulsive Leader: Everytime you receive the Admiral Title card (including at the Setup), lose 1 population

Setup: Armory

------
Billy Keikeya

Political Leader

3 Politics
2 Tactics

Political Liaison: You do not need to discard Skill Cards to move between ships

Chief of Staff : Once per game, when the Administration is activated, but before playing Skill Cards, you can decide if the Skill Check automatically passes or fails

Subordinate: You may never become President

Setup: Press Room

------
Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza

Pilot

3 Piloting
2 Tactics
1 Engineering

Group Viper Leader: Action -Once per turn, When piloting a Viper, you can activate 2 unmanned vipers, you may then take another action

Optimal Pilot : Action -Once per game,while piloting a viper, you can send your character to the Hangar Deck to launch up to 6 unmanned Vipers

Leave No One Behind: Cylon Raiders who are activated in the same space area must attack you before any other unmanned or piloted Viper

Setup: Hangar Deck

------
Dr Sherman Cottle

Support

1 Leadership
1 Engineering
1 Politics/Leadership

Fleet Doctor: Movement- you may move any other player in the Sickbay to another location on Galactica, you may then move yourself

DNA Analysis: Action- Once per game, you can look at one random Loyalty card from another human player and swap it with one of yours

Heavy Smoker: You only draw 3 Skill Cards during your Receive skill step

Setup: Sickbay

------
D'anna Biers

Cylon Leader

1 Leadership
1 Tactics/Treachery

Investigative Reporter: Action- While Infiltrating, you may look at one Random Skill Card from another player's hand in the same location.You may then exchange it with one of yours

Miraculous Vision: Action- Once per game- you can move your character to the Resurection Ship to draw 3 Super Crisis Cards, you must then discard 2

Blinded by Fate: Crisis Cards resolved on your turn skips the Prepare for Jump Step

Setup: Human Fleet

------
Simon O'Neill

Cylon Leader

1 Engineering
1 Treachery/Tactics

Cylon Doctor: You still draw a Super Crisis Card when you're executed

Logic Contributor: Action- Once per game, you can remove two basestars from the game board, you may then place two basestars on any space location

Romantically involved: You may not activate the Cylon Fleet Location

Setup: Caprica

------
Aaron Doral

Cylon Leader

1 Politics/Tactics
1 Treachery

Cylon Operator: When you draw two Crisis Card by the effect of the Caprica location, you resolve the first one, you can place the other one on the top or bottom of the Crisis Deck

Public Relations Executive: Action- Once per Game, you can give the Admiral Title Card to the President

Fall-Guy: You start the game in the Brig, Infiltrating. If you end your infiltration, do not draw a Super Crisis Card

Setup: Brig

And the Line of Succession for the Titles

Admiral

Cain, Adama, Tigh, Helo, Gaeta, Apollo, Crashdown, Dee, Starbuck, Cottle, Hot-Dog, Kat, Boomer, Anders, Chief, Cally, Zarek, Ellen, Baltar, Billy, Tory, Roslin

President

Roslin, Baltar, Zarel, Tory, Ellen, Apollo, Cottle, Gaeta, Adama, Helo, Chief, Cally, Cain, Dee, Boomer, Tigh, Anders, Starbuck, Hot-Dog Kat, Crashdown

CAG

Apollo, Starbuck, Kat, Hot-Dog, Boomer, Crashdown, Anders, Helo, Adama, Cain, Tigh, Gaeta, Dee, Chief, Cally, Cottle, Zarek, Ellen, Baltar, Billy, Tory, Roslin

Great idea, Gyronymo. I haven't read them closely enough yet to decide which are my favorites and what I think of potential balance issues, but these are definitely some of the characters I miss seeing around the ship. Nice work!

check out this old thread from BBG

the characters are pretty solid

javascript:void(0);/*1317076143212*/

That link doesn't look like it's going to post correctly so just in case, google "bsg alternate character cards"

Wow! Those really are pretty impressive. Thanks for posting those; not sure how I missed them the first time!

Its a 2 year old thread.

I had a friend who works at FedEx print them out for me and they look better than the actual cards from the game!

I've got a one page cheat sheet on BBG that includes lines of succession (for all 3 titles) for all the available characters should anyone decide to start playing with these.

I have read your suggested characters closely and while I welcome the idea of new characters to make BSG even more alive, I have my reservations about your suggestions.

First of all, I noticed that most of the suggested characters draw more or less skill cards than the standard amount of five. Why?

Alex “Crashdown” Quartararo:

Crashdown’s OPT ability seems a little destructive to me. Sure, exchanging skill cards can be life saving. But discarding one of my own to steal one from another player? I would suspect to end up in the brig before long.

Bill Keikeya:

The handicap of never becoming President is a very small price to pay for being able to move between ships without having to discard sill cards. Billy strikes me as a character to support the President to a degree that the President can do a much better job – both in the series and in your suggestion. That I like. I just have that uneasy feeling that his positive abilities outweigh his handicap.

Brendan “Hot Dog” Costanza:

He draws 6 (!) skill cards? Also, his OPT ability seems to put the CAG ability to shame. Hot Dog as CAG? Overkill! And his OPG seems a tad strong as well. Being faithful to the TV series in my book means that certain characters are not better than others. Starbuck is not only the best pilot in the fleet, she is also the best shot. Hot Dog, using his OPT and OPG abilities, would beat Starbuck almost every time.

Dr Sherman Cottle:

I believe reducing his skill card draw to three is a bit harsh. Four would suffice, I believe. Also, moving another player out of Sickbay in addition to your regular movement AND action phase seems a little strong. Sure, I draw less skill cards, but no player on my team would ever have to stay in Sickbay past my turn. That, in combination with Apollo’s OPT ability, means Sickbay loses much of its drawbacks…mostly because players don’t end up staying until the beginning of their turn. I would change it so Cottle can move a player out of Sickbay instead of moving himself, or as an action.

D’Anna Briers:

Her I like. Her OPT ability certainly beats Crashdown’s. D’Anna can actually be of help (or not) to the other players. Her OPG seems a little strong, but I believe that’s ok. After all, having a miraculous vision means you can use that knowledge to pursue whatever plan you have – be that unleashing a Super Crisis Card on the human fleet or withholding its negative effects. Again, I like!

Simon O’Neill:

Drawing a Super Crisis Card even when you’re executed seems a little too strong. Usually you try to be sly and wait for the opportune moment to reveal yourself or end your infiltration. Drawing a Super Crisis Card even when you get executed, well, I would just wreak havoc no matter what the outcome! Plus, where does this ability support your cause if you are pro-human? His OPG ability is…I don’t know. It seems almost too specific to make much of a difference. You can move Cylon base ships closer to or farther away from Galactica’s hangar bay to support or hinder boarding. Would this ability also work to move Cylon base ships from the main game board to the Cylon Fleet game board (or vice versa) that comes with Exodus? Now, that could prove interesting. And it would make his OPT ability that much more meaningful.

Aaron Doral:

His OPT is always negative to the humans...but if he is pro-human, a little less so. Drawing a Crisis Card never seems good in my book; it’s just a question of whether you feel like you can take the risk of its negative outcome. If I remember correctly, drawing Crisis Cards through the Caprica location always omits the advance jump track step. If you are pro-human, why would you use this ability and, if yes, what for? His OPG seems a little permanent. In order to get that title card back you would have to kill the President or throw her into the Brig, right? That seems a little too permanent for me. I would prefer a OPG where the President holds the Admiral title until the beginning or end of Aaron’s next turn. Aaron’s handicap seems like the exact opposite of Simon’s. Is that intentional? What happens to the game’s balance?

Wow! Thanks for the feedback ronsen, very appreciated that someone took the time to analyse and comment every single characters and their abilities

As I read myself again, I would say you're mostly right

But I just want to clarify

Crashdown:His OPT doesn't draw skill cards from another player,'s hand; he draws skill cards from another player's Skillset

Billy: Let's not forget that the main purpose of a President is playing/drawing Quorum Cards (either by the Action on the President Title Card, by the President's office location or simply on the Quorum card itself) , which proves ressourceful. The President Title must go to another player, which is normally busy resolving other actions.

Simon O'Neill: Let's not forget that having a Super Crisis Card in your hand prevent them to be in other Cylon player's hand which is extremely beneficial for human players. and his OPG would let him place two basestars only if he wants to

Aaron Doral: If you're playing with Cylon Leader, you're playing with the Cylon location overlay (from the Pegasus Expansion), which doesn't skip the Prepare for Jump anymore, which can help the humans a lot

Simon O'Neill: Let's not forget that having a Super Crisis Card in your hand prevent them to be in other Cylon player's hand which is extremely beneficial for human players. and his OPG would let him place two basestars only if he wants to

You're saying that as if there's a chance for the Super Crisis deck to be depleted... Having a Super Crisis in your hand merely means that the other Cylons won't have access to that Super Crisis, meaning they will draw another one which may be better or worse. How about allowing him to draw two normal crisis cards when executed and treat these cards as Super Crisis cards with regards to playing? This way, a pro-human Simon can throw the humans a bone with a soft jump crisis if he gets one without taking the chances of activating Caprica and being handed two Cylon Attacks while a pro-Cylon Simon can work towards a situation where his crisis cards wreak maximum havoc.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Crisis Cards are never good for humans...with the small exception of those cards that actually give you something if you win the skill check (those are way too scarce to warrant an ability depending on them to work). So please explain to me where playing Crisis Cards to help the humans seems like a smart move.

Super Crisis Cards are even worse and they are never ever any good for humans. Being a pro-human Cylon and holding on to a specific Super Crisis Card to keep it out of reach for other players seems very volatile to me. Super Crisis Cards are weaker or stronger by the criteria of how the resources lay in any one specific game. I've had games where the bomb on Galactica would turn the tide and others where this card was simply useless. That said, if you can draw a Super Crisis Card and hold on to it...well, may help humans if you are pro-human and you draw the one card they need not played. Nah, that's too volatile to be a usefull ability.

@ronsen

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Crisis Cards are never good for humans...

Happy to oblige. Crisis cards are actually the most important cards for humanity, for the single reason of that little jump symbol at the bottom. That symbol is the only way to end the game, to escape the predations of the frakkin' skinjobs sitting at your table. Of course, there is a "too much" when it comes to hammering humanity with yet another crisis while they're card-poor, but deliberately withholding crises often hurts more than it helps because it gives the cylon players more turns to wreak havoc with. That's one of the reasons why it's often better to let a possible cylon roam free on Galactica rather than throw an innocent into the brig.

Great, I don't have the game handy right now...

Someone please enlighten me: it was either the Core Game or the Pegasus Expansion where the little icons at the bottom were ignored if the Crisis Card was drawn by means of Cylon location Caprica . The other one, respectively, did the opposite. Did this ignoring include only the Cylon fleet symbols or also the jump track icon?

However, and here I wish to get back to the point, the argument was whether drawing that Super Crisis Card when you get executed is worthy enough of being a OPG ability. And I don't see how.

• Scenario 1: Simon O'Neill is pro-Cylon and gets found out. He is executed and draws a Super Crisis Card despite what the standard rules say. The humans just made a fatal error, they should have let him rot in the brig -- or they meant to, but Helena Cain, also a Cylon, intervened. Once all players know and understand Simon O'Neill's OG ability, they will make sure not to kill him but take him out of commission nonetheless. His OPG ability forces the other players to adopt a certain strategy, and if they do, his ability becomes useless .
• Scenario 2: Simon O'Neill is pro-human and doesn't get found out. (If here were to get found out, his ability again would become useless.) By means of a Cylon or human or mixed plot he is executed and draws a Super Crisis card. Again, if humans think he is pro-Cylon, why would they even consider executing him?! He is now a pro-human Cylon leader with a Super Crisis Card in his pocket when he wakes up on the Resurrection ship. That Super Crisis Card better be frakking game-changing, otherwise his death was worth next to nothing.

See what I mean?

ronsen_04 said:

I don't have the game handy either, but if memory serves me correctly, in the Core set the Caprica location activated the Cylon ships but the jump icon was ignored; with Pegasus the Caprica location will give a jump but the activate Cylon ships step is ignored.