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ErikPeter Walker
United States
New Haven
Connecticut
Uplifting
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A number of months ago I had the notion I'd design an expansion for Race for the Galaxy. Homebrew, of course, but something that might be fun to play-test with my friends and share with the BGG community. Early on, perhaps from the beginning, I figured it would expand the base game, leaving the Rebel/Imperium arc behind and expanding into new territory, so to speak. I scanned in the blank "create your own" cards and let the idea stew for a while.
Flashforward to a month ago. I'd been fleshing out some of my ideas, when Mr. Lehmann announced his new expansion to the base game, Alien Artifacts. So, not the best timing, but I figure what the hell, maybe people will want something to try out in the meantime while they wait six to nine months for the expansion.
Right from the start I had a good idea of what I wanted the theme to be, as apparent in this excerpt from my first brainstorming document:
Theme: Someone has a plan for the galaxy. As powerful, secretive organizations clash and pull the strings from the shadows, the Uplift prophets search for a leader destined to unite the uplift races and unlock the true power of the code. Terraforming pioneers branch out into every corner of the galaxy while immensely wealthy corporations develop unbelievable new technologies and then struggle to keep them secure. Newly discovered alien artifacts and long-abandoned settlements offer more questions than answers: Where did the aliens go? More importantly, why did they vanish? Is there a great danger looming, or was their departure more mundane?
I envisioned the players as puppets of shadowy masterminds who will stop at nothing to achieve their far-reaching, galaxy-changing goals.
Speaking of goals, I needed a system to fill the gap created when I decided to work off the base game alone. I always felt the goals were sort of necessary to the game; I played with goals the first time I played Race and since then I never enjoyed playing without them. That basic "build a VP engine" gameplay wasn't what drew me in.
I envisioned a system where the players could earn the approval of empire-spanning corporations--e.g., the forces that really control the galaxy. I wasn't sure at first how it would work, but there would be some sort of resource, like Influence (I settled on "Tokens" for the time being), which you received when you placed a card that fit the interest of the corp, and possibly had to discard if you played a card that went against those interests.
Eventually the "Corporation" idea discorporated (har har) and became more of an unaligned, secretive "shadow group". These groups would have a dark agenda, which the players could assist or hinder. For example, the Uplift Cult is searching for the one being who will unite the uplift races; players seek out uplift races and new worlds (explore powers) and to gain their favor.
I toyed with the idea of global effects which would sort of set the tone for each game. For example a Corp that required a payment of 1 VP to settle a rare elements world, but gave a benefit to novelty (or aliens?) worlds--so each game would have a given "scenario" that the players would have to strategize for. I quickly decided that such a system, while promising, would destroy the balance of the different strategy pathways and increase the luck element too much. Imagine, for instance, that the former scenario was in effect; would you bother with Alpha Centauri? There could be some balancing factor (perhaps brown worlds are cheaper, too), but I decided it would change the game a bit too much.
Eventually Agendas started to solidify into "macro-goals". There'd be a couple agendas in play each game, designed to have little overlap and prevent them from deciding play too often (consider when the most military, most rebel worlds, and Military Influence goals all come up). Players would earn credit for them based on their tableau like Goals, but their hold on them would not necessarily be permanent.
Instead, each Agenda has an associated pool containing a limited number of Tokens. When one or more players earns a token, but there are none left in the pool, any player who has tokens must discard them, one at a time, until there are enough. With that basic idea in mind, I then had to figure out what tokens would actually do in the game.
I'll have more on Agendas (and Destiny and Favor tokens) in the next installment, along with the solutions/musings I came up with to replace other features (e.g. Prestige) that are missing from the base game.
(Click on the images to see larger versions)
Before I go, however, I'd like to paste up two images as a teaser of the cards I've actually put together. I'll explain my ideas for the Uplift strategy pathway at a later date, but one of the first cards I designed was Uplift Gene Proliferation. I had the idea that thematically you would be using the code to sort of unify races and make gene improvement accessible to all.
As you can see, the first draft was a wildly over-useful gene consume engine in itself and I toned it down a lot. These two cards also serve as a great example for how much my graphics skills improved over the course of putting together a dozen or so cards so far.
I'll put up a couple more cards every time I post in order to share how the process is going.
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