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. Ah yes, we mentioned Paul Rice, well here he is...
PICTURE: Maybe it's because he's being holo-projected, but there's some purplish "garbage" on the black portion of his uniform (a sometimes-seen printing defect). Otherwise, the pic's okay, with a rather cool batch of leaves in the background, offering adequate contrast to his dead eyes, pale skin and cranberry costume. Plus, let's not forget the Easter egg: that backwards text in the card's margin next to the copyright notice that says "Paul is dead", revealing the truth about our man here, while paying homage to the Beatles. Defect brings it down to a 3.2.
LORE: The "re-creation" bit comes later rather than sooner, unlike most holograms, which perhaps re-creates Riker's dawning realization that this was not his friend. It does make for an odd read when the text says Rice was "lost", something the lore never does, especially when dealing with final and permanent character resolutions (such as death, etc.). A lot of information on the real Paul Rice, though, and maybe it's a good thing there was no USS Drake card until All Good Things, since it means a hologram created by an alien culture is its matching commander (a problem for next week). Overall positive, but with a couple of strange comments. 3.7 here.
TREK SENSE: The main problem with this hologram is that he's Federation affiliation. He was created by a Non-Aligned culture, and controlled by that culture (or really, the automated Minosian remnants of that culture). There's really no reason why he should hang with the Feds (he tried to divert them). Oh? You say he's a Federation re-creation of the Officer they might have made after the meeting with the Minosian one? Well, then, I would take issue with his powers over the Echo Papa. No, this is a flat-out mistake (which we'll find again on the K'Tesh Federation-created Klingon hologram). But let's forget the affiliation now and proceed with the rest of the card's elements: First, early holograms usually had a universal icon, because if your computer can handle it, there really is no limit to the number of "copies" of a program you can use at the same time (they didn't stick to this long term). On the one hand, Paul Rice was modelled as closely as possible on the real one, taking his captainly powers of Leadership (including Officer and the Command icon) into the holographic matrix. As for the Computer Skill, it's a common enough skill in the 24th century, so it can't really be refuted. The Integrity is Federation standard, the Cunning and Strength adequate. I said on the one hand, so here's the other: Paul Rice is also a Minosian hologram, so he can call off the Echo Papa weapon where present. He represents a sort of call for diplomacy on Minos, after all, so it wouldn't do for the weapon demonstration to be in effect during bargaining. Of course, in the game, the players have bought Echo Papas already for their personnel. Should Paul Rice be able to control (or destroy, really, or let's say call off permanently) the Killer Drones when they are no longer under the same control he is? And in any case, there can be no reconciliation between the all-purpose Federation elements (including matching commander status), and the more thematic Minosian ones (for example, if you knew the guy was an alien holo, would you let him command your ship as per his staffing icon?). Gets about as far as a 2.1.
STOCKABILITY: Paul Rice has the singular distinction of being a hologram who can staff ships, and even command one (enhancing the solid USS Drake with the usual cards). That's for those of you who appreciate the comforts of using lots of holograms to tackle dilemmas and opposing Away Teams. After all, they can't die or be assimilated, they can only be deactivated, right? I suppose that's why they made so many holo-hosers. Paul's Leadership and OFFICER are somewhat redundant, but they allow him to initiate battle. And while the Feds can't normally attack much of anyone, a bunch of Fed holograms with Disabled Safety Protocols and Tommyguns (and/or real guns) could be a real pain for the Borg. When I say a bunch, I mean a bunch of Pauls of course, since you're not gonna make much of a dent with Albert Einstein! As for the rest, Computer Skill is a common, but always useful skill. And the Echo Papa thing is cool, but rarely used. Still, those Echo Papas can be nasty. Better safe than sorry, especially for the STRENGTH-vulnerable Feds. Okay stats. A neat enough 3.6.
TOTAL: 12.3 (61.5%) Not as highly regarded as the real thing.
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