Card Extra

You Dirty Rat from Kathy McCracken (01/1999)

This interrupt gives us our first glimpse of potential uses of shape-shifting. The consequences of morphing are spelled out on the card (suggesting that morphing could take many forms): the shape-shifter is treated as disabled and may not be targeted or participate in battle. But you may discard the interrupt at any time (that is, between other game actions, but on either player's turn) to morph back to original, undisabled form.

Why might you want to disable your own personnel? The key is in the card's lore: "to conceal...from a potential threat." Drawing on past experience with androids, diplomats and empaths, consider the strong possibility of dilemmas that would require a shape-shifter to pass, in combination with other dilemmas that target shape-shifters. Once you pass a dilemma requiring a shape-shifter, you could morph him into a rat, selectively removing him from the mission attempt. (If you need his skills to solve the mission, you would have to let the mission attempt fail, discard the interrupt and let him rejoin the Away Team for another attempt.)

Another major potential threat is personnel battle. Much as Asteroid Sanctuary may be played on a ship as a response to a ship battle initiation, to hide the ship from battle, you might morph your shape-shifter as a response to the initiation of a personnel battle, to remove him from combat.

Combo:

• You Dirty Rat + Investigate Rumors: If your opponent's Lack of Preparation forces you to add Odo (DS9) to your crew, once you're past it, morph him into a rat. He won't be vulnerable to the subsequent dilemmas, such as Yuta.