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. As advertized, this is the other card from What Are Little Girls Made Of?
PICTURE: Can't say I care much for the baby blue background or the pink kerchief, but Ruk has enough presence in that stare to make him at least a 3.
LORE: Very nice. The opening lines contain 2 useful keywords, Android and Bodyguard. The circumvention of his programming leads to murder, but we don't need to anger Ruk by saying that. Blackly humorous understatement. Speaking of black humor, the last line refers to the actor's role as Lurch in the the original Addams Family TV series. According to the song, they too were "mysterious and spooky". Excellently done at 4.5.
TREK SENSE: Ruk, the android bodyguard of Roger Korby, acts as his Security man, but has other talents. He's the one that taught Korby how to use the android-making machine, and so must have some Engineering programmed into him. Because that machine copies living beings in automaton form, it's not a stretch that such knowledge would include Exobiology. And Geology stems from his knowledge of the various caves and tunnels on Exo III, with which he seemed very familiar. The Staff icon is used more in the lab than on a ship, so it's slightly grating, but only slightly. You might think that a murdering robot would get lower Integrity, but he was very loyal to Korby, and that loyalty ups it a bit. Maybe too much. Cunning may be a little low on the other hand, but his programming WAS limited to certain things, and his conversational skills weren't great. Strength's the highest we've ever seen, and Ruk was indeed super-strong. Stronger than the Rock on Voyager? Yes, even without the professional fighter's savvy. I'll buy it. And since I buy most of it, I'll give Ruk a 4.
STOCKABILITY: Only 3 skills, but he's got loads of stuff going for him aside from that. Not that they're bad skills, not at all. His dual-classification is excellent, with SECURITY meaning he can download via Defend Homeworld, and ENGINEER still being in high demand. Exobiology and Geology are strong dilemma-fighters, especially on planets. And what about those attributes? No real flaw in INTEGRITY or CUNNING, but STRENGTH is the highest we have. He'll mortally wound a personnel with a STRENGTH of 7 or less! Most personnel won't be able to stun him even with a hand weapon or two! Because he's a bodyguard, you can use the Bodyguards card to exclude more vulnerable personnel from battles (and they're ALL more vulnerable than he is), and if you give him a leader, you can choose who he actually goes up against. In an OS deck, he'll give you that android species you need to pass certain dilemmas, and even open up some verb cards you could use. And since everyone can basically use him, he'll fit into any assault team you care to bring together. Hits 4.3... hard!
TOTAL: 15.8 (79%) Too scary for me to dare a lower score, I guess. ;-)
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