Being a look back at cards from the Star Trek CCG, and what I thought of them back when they were fresh and new... in EPISODE order. Another card from the Star Trek III finale...
PICTURE: Though watching an old Vulcan brain-witch concentrate isn't my idea of a good time, there is an interesting optical illusion on the card. The sigil on the pillar above McCoy looks like Spock's katra escaping from the Doctor's head, about to rejoin its true body. Aside from that, the colors are vivid, and the shapes (pillars and costumes) speak the same language. Still, the pic leaves me cold. Dull symmetrical composition, dull solid color blocks (color corrected from the golden lighting of Vulcan in the movie)... The good stuff mentioned above gets a 3.1.
LORE: A translation from the Vulcan, the fact it had only been performed in myth before this incident, and the very formal "sons of"... It all works for me. A fine 3.5.
TREK SENSE: Performing Fal-tor-pan doesn't require a high priestess like T'Lar, but okay, perhaps an unseen priestess B'ob can do it, and if T'Lar IS in play, she can download the card for the same effect (even if not on Vulcan). The ritual basically resurrects a Vulcan (most discards are deaths), first placing it on the event (on the ritual table), then on Vulcan itself (where the ritual is actually performed since it corresponds to the mission Observe Ritual). That's all well and good, but just how are all these Vulcans coming back from the dead? Spock's case was a very special one, requiring his body to be regenerated. This card makes it a common occurrence, not even discarding after its first use. Absurd. Even more so when you consider that T'Lar questioned Sarek's logic about attempting it in the first place. The mechanics of it are ok, but the concept just isn't in line with Trek reality. Drops to a 1.1.
STOCKABILITY: Vulcan decks can be built that would benefit from this card, but otherwise, don't bother. If you are running a mostly Vulcan deck, the event can resurrect any of them lost to the discard pile as long as they're right on top. A pile of dead Vulcans can be brought back one after the other as long as they follow each other in the discard pile too. See, you take one and put it on Fal-tor-pan. It is now "any time", and another Vulcan can be placed on the event. The problem is now to report them normally to Vulcan (and only Vulcan), which allows reporting, but not reporting for FREE. So it's a bit slow-going, and though some Vulcans (like various versions of Spock) are great personnel, wouldn't stocking multiple copies of the personnel be a bit easier and cheaper to pull off (again, the powerful Spocks tend to be very rare)? Amanda Grayson offers a cheat for a couple of the better cards. T'Lar does download the event, saving you the cost of playing it (even suspending play to immediately save a Vulcan), but I have yet to be sold on Vulcan-only decks as anything more than an interesting theme. Providing a recyclable personnel for Crell Moset's special skill could be one way to go. Forcing personnel discards at no real cost with Kal-Toh is another. The limits imposed on this event make it less useful than, say, Res-Q, but you can still find uses for it. A 3.3.
TOTAL: 11 (55%) The Motion Pictures ironically sounded the death knell of the game's first edition.
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