What a Card: Yeoman Rand

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 with Sulu, Yeoman Rand's pic comes out of The Corbomite Maneuver, but in her case it WAS her first appearance (in production order).

EXPANSION: All Good Things

PICTURE: A bit on the red side, but that was always my problem with Yeoman Rand on the show. Trying to get ourselves noticed by the Captain, are we? Aside from the shade of lipstick and sweaty look, Rand's dignity takes another blow with the mug of coffee she's carrying. Ah, those sad, unenlightened 2260s. All joshing aside, it's merely an ok pic, good for a chuckle, but with an odd background structure that seems to place her on two different sets. A 2.9 is all I can muster.

LORE: The details are interesting - I'd forgotten the bit about the diving team, for example - though it may try a bit hard to make sure she deserves her Biology. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: What's a Yeoman, as far as classifications go? Since the clothes match Uhura's, Officer is ok, though secretary work hardly seems to be related to leadership or navigation duties (she handled the helm in "The Naked Time", but no Navigation skill for her). At least she got the Staff icon (though her regular duties hardly warrant it). The first season of TOS happens in 2266, so she was at the Academy just the year before. That qualifies her for Youth. The Biology is derived from her studies in horticulture and xenobotany, which we saw a little of with Sulu, Beauregard, et al. "Miri" also has her serving as a field nurse. (I don't want to explore Biology's use in making coffee, or whatever other "biological" duties she may have performed for the Captain.) As for Engineer, it's not corroborated by the television series, but it creates a link between this version and the transporter chief of the movie era. Given her Youth, however, I'd have skipped it entirely, getting her to that classification in the intervening years. The File Mission Report download is meant to represent the "Classic PADD" equipment she was often seen to carry. And since Mission Reports were indeed filed aboard ship, she allows it despite FMR's text. It's that card's problem that it doesn't already cover ships, but if we need a justification for OS personnel getting a break, make it their distance from Earth. Then again, it need not be an OS ship, and the spaceline is in the present anyway. Integrity is at the normal level for OS Feds. The Cunning and Strength are in line with the way she was portrayed on the show, though Strength could still have been dropped another notch for the damsel in distress factor. Where does that leave us? How about at 3.1?

STOCKABILITY:
An OFFICER/ENGINEER with the atypical Biology (always good at Sherman's Planet) and lukewarm attributes - that's not too different from Commander Rand, another version of the same persona. The Commander trades a point of STRENGTH for a point of CUNNING, and drops the less useful Youth for much better Leadership (Command icon too) and Transporter Skill. But it's more than a question of whether you want OS or CF personnel, because Yeoman Rand also has interesting special skills. She downloads File Mission Report (just as you completed a mission, perhaps), and are allowed to score 5 extra points off a mission right there on your ship, without needing to go back to a Nor. It must be an OS personnel, so Rand works best with that crew, whether the classic gang, the Terran Empire, or Sisko's non-AU tribble-busters. File Mission Report is much more worth it if 1) it doesn't cost you your card play, and 2) you can exercise it right after a mission attempt without having to go anywhere else. Note that point (2) will work throughout the game, even with non-downloaded FMRs. Add Federation mission specialists and you can jack those mission points up a great deal. A good card at 3.7.

TOTAL:
12.8 (64%) At the time, our last "Good Thing" (All Good Things was meant as a final 1st Ed. product), though Decipher did eventually come out with 1st Edition Enterprise cards.

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