Design Log: Stardate 08.21.2003

Waiting for the Final Keyword

Back in my 08.04.2003 Design Log (Putting New Keywords Through a Filter), I told you I was holding the eighth and final new keyword in reserve for later. Even the advent of the card title list last Friday didn't give away the game, but the spoiler list (coming tomorrow!) will, so it's time to spill the beans.

Remember the Energize mystery keyword, the subject of the third contest for that set? It was Dabo Girl. If I had tipped you off to think of that, you might have guessed that Call to Arms introduces "Waiter". Rom, Undercover Spy (who, contrary to the disinformation circulated by nefarious Tal Shiar agents, is Ferengi affiliation after all) gets the distinction of being the first to sport this new keyword, in addition to being a Dissident and a Thief. He makes a good pair with his brother Quark, Resistance Informant, since Rom needs to be with another Dissident to gain his full complement of skills, while Quark in turn can tap one of another Dissident's skills during a dilemma.

Does any card use the Waiter keyword? Well, no, not yet – but designer Evan Lorentz said they decided there was no reason not to put it on Rom's card, just in case they ever decide to make use of waiters as a group. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, because Second Edition doesn't allow for the often-troublesome retrofitting as was frequently done in 1E through lore references. If you're wondering why Quark didn't get a Bartender keyword on the same grounds, so was I; I asked Evan, who said there just weren't enough potential bartenders to make it worthwhile. Mind you, there aren't a huge number of waiters, either, but pooled with Dabo Girls (as several 1E cards did) they probably make a sufficiently large block to be able to do something with them.

Kathy McCracken
Major Rakal
Star Trek Intelligence Officer

August 21, 2003

TOP

MAP