So Helo isn't on the map to take any actions first turn. Does he still get a crisis card dealt on his turn? Can he re-roll if he wants? Can he contribute cards to somebody elses crisis?

I'm just asking because his disadvantage doesn't seem so bad. I mean one lost action isn't that large of a deal is it?

Helo simply collects his skill cards and proceeds to the crisis step.

He can use his reroll on crisis cards, or play cards like Strategic Planning, so long as he does not spend an action to do so.

His drawback is fairly invisible, especially if he is played by the first player.

Yeah, Helo's drawback is situational. Like in a 6 player game where you go last, the fleet could have jumped once or even twice before you get back on the ship. But in smaller games, and/or if you are one of the 1st players in turn order, it's not really too bad.

Assume the humans on average activate FTL on -1 population, and it takes five jumps to win (getting the average 2 distance on each jump), that means 20 jump icons have to show up to win. The odds of drawing a jump icon on any given crisis are about 2/3, so there will be about 30 total turns taken by characters who are not in the brig and not revealed Cylons. If you are playing a 3 player game, each player gets 10-15 turns depending on when the cylon reveals, so Helo loses 7-10% of his actions. If you are playing a 6 player game, the humans will only have 5-8 turns each, depending on reveals, so Helo may be losing as much as 20% of his actions! That's quite a bit of a drawback, I would say.

One interesting question regard Helo is whether he can be brigged/ sent to the sickbay before he shows up. The cards in question / the admirals quarters don't require a target to be on galactica. Those might be ways to jump start his return. If they don't work and he starts off as a Cylon, he can just be clearly evil early on and just reveal the first turn that he arrives on the ship.

Most of those state that the target character is moved to sickbay or the brig. Helo's card states that he cannot move or be moved. I feel thats likely to be a deliberate wording to prevent just that sort of thing happening.

myrm said:

Exactly. Nothing is moving him on board until the start of turn 2. The questions would be: can he be targetted (adn the target fail) or is he not even a legitimate target (like a revelaed Cylon)?

In other words (and this came up in a game), A player (maybe it was the current player and his turn for the Crisis step), would be sent to the Brig if the skill check failed. Well, they purposely failed the skill check knowing he couldn't move. I allowed it but wasn't 100% sure that was correct.

What happens if the "landing" (the place where the shpis are launched?) is damaged? Does Helo still arrive there?

grouik said:

Indeed. When a location is damaged, it does not prevent characters from going to the location. (If that was the case, Repair would be worthless.)

EchoingZen said:

Thanks!

ColtsFan76 said:

The latest FAQ forbids this, saying that Helo (and revealed cylons) cannot be selected for such things.

Sinis said:

Yeah, the ruling was made before the new FAQ came out. We will play it correctly from now on.

ColtsFan76 said:

Mmm. I did not wish for my post to be tersely worded. I'm just glad it was clarified (my group with all sincerity had simply targeted him to be brigged for that crisis that forces a brigging on a failure).

Can we summarise Helo and his disadvantage? We play he misses a turn, doesn't participate, but makes Admiral decisions on cards if he is the Admiral. There are many threads, and it is confusing. What does Helo do and not do when he is missing a turn?

Dan said:

Helo starts off the game board. On his first turn, he collects skill cards and proceeds directly to the crisis phase of his turn (skipping the movement and action phases), since he cannot move or take actions. This also means he cannot take actions by way of executive order. Helo's disadvantage also says that during the time before his second turn, he cannot be moved. The FAQ has clarified this to mean that he cannot be chosen to be moved either (by Admiral's Quarters, or by any other effect).

Not restricted by his disadvantage are skill cards that do not require an action, like evasive maneuvers or declare emergency, or abilities that do not require an action such as his ECO Officer and Moral Compass abilities.

Dan said:

Helo gets a full turn with the exception of MOVE and ACTION during the first round. In addition, he cannot be a target of anything that would MOVE or give him ACTIONS before his 2nd turn.

I am having heartburn with the Helo ruling on being the target of going to the brig / sickbay during his first turn.

I understand the FAQ to state that you cannot purposely target Helo if given the choice of placing someone in the brig. However, how shoudl this be ruled for " a side effect" of the current player (which happens to be Helo) going to the brig.

Case in point: Helo drew the Crisis Card, Rescue Mission during his first turn. The Admiral can either choose -1 Morale/CP goes to Sick Bay or -1 Fuel / -1 Raptor. It does not seem fair that the Admiral MUST choose -1 Fuel / -1 Raptor. He should be given the option to select -1 Morale as well. He is not specifically targetting Helo (as other targets do not exist) but it is a by-product of choosing the outcome of the event.

How would you rule in this case?

The FAQ doesn't say you can't choose something that would normally move Helo, but that you cannot select Helo as the person to move.

In this case I read it to mean that you can make that choice, but that Helo doesn't get moved due to his disadvantage.

timonkey said:

That's how I read it as well. I know nothing can move him. But he isn't the "deliberate" target either.

From Corey:

The admiral may choose -1 morale and the current player is sent to sickbay (although helo will not be moved).

Helo simply may not be chosen to go to sickbay by an ability like: "The admiral player chooses a player to send to sickbay".

I hope that this answers your question!

-Corey Konieczka
Fantasy Flight Games
Game Design and Development

This was in response to Rescue Mission being played on Helo first turn. So we played my original scenario correctly. If Helo is the target due to being current player, you may still select (or pass or fail) that option for less effect. If the President or Admiral or Current Player could choose Helo as an option but there are other targets, then they cannot select Helo while he is on caprica.