Inspired by @nightcrawlerash13's blog about table top games I thought I would post these shiny House Rules that I play by. If you own this incredible board game give these a try and, no matter what, keep flying.
House Rules
On the Raggedy Edge– During Setup Supply cards are not revealed until the first player who lands on the planet begins a discard pile. Also players are dealt a single Job card from the Contact Deck of the System they are in. (If they choose a System without a Contact they begin with no job.)
How Come It Never Goes Smooth?– Before a Full Burn the Player rolls 1 die; if he gets a 6 he may move the maximum distance of his Drive Core without drawing a Nav Card.
Curse Your Sudden but Inevitable Betrayal!– The Dinosaur token is gained (or taken) whenever a player rolls a ‘Firefly’ (6) on the dice for player movement. Upon receipt of the token remove 1 Disgruntled token from any Crew or your Ship. The Dinosaur token may be discarded to: 1) Add +2 to any Skill Check, or 2) Elude the effects of any Reaver or Alliance Contact.
Take Me Out to the Black - If you are at Full Stop in the Black (a sector with no planets) and you have an Action remaining you may ‘Socialize’ to remove a Disgruntled token from 1 Crew or from the Ship itself.
I Do the Job, I Get Paid– Crew Members cost Double the price listed on their card when you first hire them. (Nandi’s ability means you may hire them at the listed price.) If a Player forgets to give the Crew members their cut of a Job the first player that notices it may pay the listed cost and one Crew Member will ‘Jump Ship’ immediately to that Player’s ship regardless of how far apart the ships are. The forgetful Player must then add a Disgruntled token to the Ship even if no one Bribed a Crew member away.
Roots in the Community– As part of a Buy Action Pilots may purchase Fuel and Mechanics may purchase Parts from non-Supply Planets.
Seems There’s a Thief About - Grifters may Gamble on any planet as part of a Buy Action; Roll 1 die and multiply the result by 100 to earn 100-500 Credits but on a roll of 6 the Grifter is caught, receives 1 Warrant, and must leave that Sector on their next Action. (This Warrant does not count towards a Job and has no negative effect on it.)
You Move On Over to This Side– Any Merc Crew Member may be tempted to Jump Ship by another Player in the same Sector by paying Double the cost listed on their card.
Balls and Bayonets Brigade– Soldiers are immune to the Bribe option and will not Jump Ship, even if Disgruntled, unless the Ship itself has 3 Disgruntled Tokens.
The Ambassador– If a Ship has a Companion onboard a Player may sell Cargo at any planet for 200 Credits or at a Supply Planet for 300. Hiring a Companion removes all Disgruntled tokens from the Ship and crew one time.
You Know What is Reputation?– Reputation stacks. As you complete Jobs for a contact stack the cards near your Ship up to 3 Cards. The Player is not Solid until Rep has reached 3. Once a Player has at least a Rep of 1 the Contact will buy Cargo but they will not buy Contraband until they are Solid.
Things Not So Solid - If you fail a Job you will lose all Rep with a Contact unless you were Solid. If you were Solid with the Contact you only lose 2 Rep. If you Botch a Job more than once you lose 1 Rep with the Contact. If you Botch 3 times you fail the Job and lose all Rep with the Contact.
A Very Unlovely Rep– Niska’s Pound of Flesh rule changes: Instead of automatically killing 1 Crew after a failed job Niska sends a Hit Squad after you. The Player must make a Fight Skill Check with a target of 8. 1-7 means 1 Crew is killed and Niska takes the Pay Cost of the Failed Job from the Player (if you cannot pay the full cost Niska takes all the money the Player has and kills 2 Crew.) If the player has no Crew to kill the next 500 Credits he receives goes directly to the Bank. On a roll of 8 or above the Player escapes unharmed but may never take a Job from Niska again.
Best Thing for Everyone, I’m Right There With You– Jobs may be discarded at any time at a loss of 1 Rep with the Contact. If the Player does not have a Rep with the Contact the Ship gains 1 Disgruntled token. Discarding a Job of Niska’s will activate his Pound of Flesh special.
Crime and Politics– Illegal Jobs have an X-in-6 Chance of resulting in a Warrant once the Job has been completed where X = 1 for every 2000 Credits the Job pays rounded up. Warrants received in this manner do not affect Rep with any Contact except Harken.
Couldn’t Let Us Profit, Wouldn’t Be Civilized – If a Player has Alliance Contact they do not automatically find Fugitives and Contraband hidden in the Stash. The Player may opt to hide these items from the Alliance or allow them to take it per the rules on the card. If hidden follow the rules for Wanted Crew; On a 1 the items are discovered and the Alliance seizes all Credits and captures all Wanted Crew. Also if the Player does not have enough money to pay off all Warrants he is transported back to the Londinium Sector in addition to having all cash seized.
Time for Some Thrilling Heroics– All Wanted Crew captured by the Alliance are removed from the game and are considered held at Londinium. A Captured Crew member may be rescued by any Player by completing 2 Misbehave cards at Londinium (+1 for each additional Crew) and will work for that Player for free for the rest of the game.
Guess They’re Not Hungry– During Reaver Contact if the Player rolls a 10+ the Reavers do not interact with them at all and will allow them to Keep Flying.
Love Keeps Her in the Air– The Ship itself gains a Disgruntled token whenever a Crew member is killed or captured or when a Solid Contact is lost. 1 Token may be removed upon gaining a Solid Contact. If the Ship gains 3 Disgruntled tokens remove all of them and add 1 token to every crew member.
She Understands, She Doesn’t Comprehend– Special Rule: The Tams will both become immediately Disgruntled if the other enters play on another Player’s ship. If either one dies the other leaves the game immediately. Also if two Players each have one and enter the same Sector the highest Negotiator (-2 per Disgruntled token) gets both for free and the pair is inseparable from then on.
This is Your Port of Call– A Player may kick any Crew member, Passenger, or Fugitive off the ship at any sector containing a planet. If it is a Supply Planet the Crew member goes into that planet’s discard pile, otherwise the Crew is removed from game until another player entered that Sector where they may Hire the Crew normally directly from that planet. Any Passenger or Fugitive kicked out in this manner causes all Moral Crew to become Disgruntled.
Player Versus Player– If two Players enter the same Sector there are 4 new Actions that may happen; Trade, Bribe, Steal, or Raid. Trade and Bribe are considered Free Actions but Steal and Raid count as full Actions.
Trade– If two players decide on an exchange of Goods or Crew and reach an agreement then each Player must declare whether or not they were Honest or were trying to Swindle the other player. If both Players were Honest then the deal goes ahead as planned. If one Player declares that they were Swindling the other both players must make a Negotiate Skill Check. The winner takes 100 Credits for each point they won the roll by from the losing player. If both declare they were Swindling then they must roll a Fight Skill Check with the winner taking all the goods in the deal.
Bribe – A Player may Bribe a Disgruntled Crew member of another Player’s ship (Except Soldiers) to Jump Ship by paying double the price listed on their card. That Player then takes the Crew member but leaves the Disgruntled token on the other Player’s ship. Mercenaries can be Bribed without being Disgruntled and do not cause the Ship to gain a Disgruntled token.
Steal– (Immoral) A Player may attempt to steal a Ship Upgrade with a successful Tech Skill Check of 6 or greater. 1-5 means they could only steal 1 Parts token instead. Regardless the thief must spend 1 Fuel token to escape and make an immediate Full Burn to any location. If the victim is Solid with Harken the thief receives a Warrant. If the Drive Core is stolen the victim’s ship is Adrift (lose a turn) and is towed next turn to the nearest supply planet where the victim must pay for the base model.
Raid– (Immoral) A Player may choose to Raid another play in the same sector with either a Fight or a Tech Skill Check. If a Raid is successful the Player takes all of his rival’s Cargo, Contraband, Fuel, and Parts not hidden in the Stash. If the raider uses Tech and fails then the victim has outsmarted him and must use 1 Parts token to repair or be Adrift for 1 turn. In a Fight a Crew Member is killed for every 3 points (rounded down) the loser was defeated by and the loser must use 1 Parts token to repair or be Adrift for 1 turn.