I'd like to thank everyone who has commented positively on my first article, giving me the go-ahead of sorts to continue. For those just joining us, these articles deal with "-oids", somehow skewed versions of the characters we all know and love. These are not dreamcards (though you're welcome to design them, they are rather guesses as to the future of our game, possible Personnas and AU personnel to come (or in many cases, NOT to come).
Wesley was rather easy last time, so let's try someone with a little more meat on his bones:
RIKOIDS
Oh, yes. Riker has a good deal of material to him. First, those that have already been made:
1-Premiere Riker (not an -oid)
2-FC Riker (also not an -oid)
3-Thomas Riker: Yes, I am counting the beaming clone since he is Riker (though luckily for him, not a Personna or AU personnel).
So what else?
3-Young Riker: A 1st Season Rikoid. He loses his beard and with it his Leadership. I don't really know, but I still say that an out-of-character bridge crew would be real neat. They would probably all be weaker but would make for great premium cards for collectors. (Maybe call him "Bill" Riker?)
4-Rivas Jakara: The undecover Malcorian Riker from "First Contact", the episode. Little chance of being made, but he was given his own name so you never know. (Nullifies Alien Groupie? Yawn.)
5-Frame of Mind Riker: A similar version, but since we have a Dilemma to reproduce the effect ourselves, there's really no need for this particular Rikoid.
6-Traitor Riker: From "Gambit", a Riker to go with the very useful Galen. This one has very good chances of being made. I've seen a pretty good dreamcard of him floating around the net (Qume's?) making Federation ships at the same location have weaker Weapons.
7-Captain Riker (Barash illusion): Now, Riker is the only personnel in the Barash illusion who ISN'T an illusion so I wouldn't get my hopes up. His being made really depends on what the Barash icon actually does. What I would like to see? Since the Barash versions are often weaker than the actual cards, maybe they could have the "Naked Truth"-like ability of replacing (Personna-like) your opponent's bridge crew. He pops down his Data, turn him into a non-android. That kind of thing. If so, Captain Riker could conceivably nullify such an effect where present. Thoughts? Decipher, you listening?
8-Captain Riker (Parallel): One of a number of Rikers who were put in command of the Enterprise after Picard was lost to the Borg when he became Locutus. I don't think we need any more matching commanders for the Enterprise, to tell you the truth.
9-Captain Riker (Borg world): What a cool pic of Riker with long beard screaming for help this card would have! He didn't make a very good showing on the show though (went BOOM in no time), so I'm not sure the card would be particularly viable.
10-Neanderthal Riker: With the classification of ANIMAL, this Riker from "Genesis" would be real neat! High STRENGTH, low CUNNING, and some caveman skill like bashing people over the head with Equipment or Downloading Monolith from 2001. ;-)
11-Riker from "Yesterday's Enterprise": Once again, no real difference between this AU Riker except that this one had a more military uniform and that he's dead.
12-Thomas Riker, Maquis: This one WILL be made for the DS9 expansion, it's just a matter of how. No one can yet agree on how the Maquis will be handled (affiliation, special icon, etc) but it's a sure bet ol' Tom is gonna make it.
13-QRiker: From "Hide and Q", a Q-powered William Riker. Now I know beings this powerful usually only make it as Events or Interrupts but bear with me here. How about a Personna with a time-limit? And with some kind of wish-granting ability? QRiker could conceivably nullify one Dilemma per turn, that kind of thing, but only last like 4 turns before being discarded (or put out-of-play).
14-Admiral Riker: This one from "All Good Things..." has player support behind it. A lot of people even thought that it might have been the 18th Fajo card. And just everyone wants a matching commander for their Future Enterprise. Too powerful? How about a built-in restriction that Adm. Riker must be "convinced" into boarding The F.E.? I'll leave "how" to the game designers.
15-Riker hologram: The holo-recreation of Riker programmed by Data in "Unification". Mentioned here for completeness's sake.
16-Klingon Riker: The cool Klingon first officer from "A Matter of Honor" would make a great addition to any Klingon deck. Dual-affiliated, maybe even with Pagh-boosting abilities... could we see this as soon as BaH!?
17-Little John: The Merry Man from "Qpid". No material here.
18-Riker Odan: We'll know more when rules for Trill symbionts are established, but if each symbiont is a package of skills that can be implanted into potential hosts, there could be a Riker ready and willing to get a worm put inside him. A MEDICAL would probably be important for this.
19-Bluegill Riker: Don't know how the Bluegills will wok either, but this Rikoid, undercover among the parasites, could be immune to parasitic invasion. Could even attack them from within. So remote as to be impossible (maybe an Interrupt instead?)
I'm not even going to count Conundrum Riker here as there's no real potential there. Riker is one of those personnel who hasn't yet been done to death, so has a good chance of turning up in future cards. Look for Admiral Riker, Maquis Tom and Pagh First Officer (they almost sound like action figures don't they?) to show up eventually.
