Companions of the 'Verse

Good evening, fellow captains!

My apologies for not posting in a few days.  I have been recovering from some form of cold.  Despite this minor setback, I still managed to play a few games of Firefly and the Pirate Rules are going to be altered slightly soon.

The topic of today's post is Companions.  A companion is a very useful addition to the crew.  There are many mission cards that offer bonuses for having a companion on board and a few Misbehave cards that can be passed automatically by having one handy.

Here is a breakdown of all the companions in the game and where you can find them:

Nandi
Where:  Leader Card
Cost:  N/A
Skills:  1 Fight, 2 Negotiate.
Extras:  Moral

Nandi is the only leader that has the Companion keyword.  The only way to get her is to select her as your leader in the beginning of the game.  Her perk allows her to hire crew at no cost (well... at least no monetary cost...).

Having her as your leader means that you don't have to fly around to look for another Companion in the future and you can take an early advantage of missions with a Companion bonus.




Inara
Where:  Osiris Shipyard
Cost:  $300
Skills:  3 Negotiate.
Extras:  Fancy Duds, Moral

Unsurprisingly, Inara is the best companion in the game by far.  With a huge amount of Negotiate skill, plus a perk that lets the player re-roll Negotiate skill checks, she is well worth the steep crew cost.

Inara can easily turn the tide and she is incredibly handy for Misbehave cards.








Saffron / Bridgit / Yolanda
Where: Silverhold / Regina / Osiris
Cost:  $300
Skills:  2 Negotiate, 1 Tech
Extras:  Grifter

YoSafBridge is the trio of doom.  They are all the same person, however, in the game, she has three different cards.  She has two keywords, both of which offer bonuses for mission cards.

Her only flaw is that if anyone else hires her after you have her, you must remove the card you own from play.  This can happen at most two times during the course of a single game, like this scenario:

"Player 1 uses a Buy Action in Regina and purchases Bridgit.  On his next turn, Player 2 uses a Buy Action in Osiris and adds Yolanda to her crew.  Player 1 is forced to remove Bridgit from play, permanently.  Then, a few turns later, Player 1 finds Saffron in the Silverhold Deck and adds her to his crew.  Player 2 removes Yolanda from play, leaving Saffron as the only one of the three left in the game."

Misbehave Cards:

There are a total of 4 Misbehave Cards that will allow an instant "Proceed" by having a Companion on board.

A Sheriff's Justice:

This card is impossible to pass unscathed without a Companion.  Option 1 allows you the ability to perform a Negotiate Skill Test, however, even if you successfully pass the skill test, the attempt is botched (without penalty).

If you choose Option 2, you can perform a Gun Check that can cause you to kill either one, two, or ALL of your crew, depending on how well you do.

This is one of the worst cards in the deck to draw... unless you have a companion handy.


A Formal Affair:

This card is has two instant Proceed conditions:  Option 1 requires Fancy Duds and you proceed immediately or having a Companion allows you to Proceed.  Of course, Option 2 of the card has a very simple Negotiate Skill test with a target score of 6.  So this is a very easy card to take down.

It Takes a Woman's Touch:

This Misbehave card has two different skill tests, Option 1 for Negotiate and Option 2 is for Tech.  They both require a score of 7 and they both offer a huge bonus if you have Fancy Duds or a Hacking Rig, so this card is easily defeated with a well-equipped crew.

We Need a Distraction:

Again, this card is really easy to beat, provided you have enough Tech or are carrying some Explosives around.  However, if you choose risk a Tech roll, failing the roll will get you a big fat warrant and ruin whatever job you were working.  Of course, by simply having a Companion, you can bypass this card and the other three misbehave cards above.

In conclusion, having a Companion not only yields monetary rewards (via Mission bonuses) and huge quantities of skills, their rarity makes them difficult to obtain.  However, despite their high costs, they will more than make up it if you plan on being a bad guy.

If you have not already, feel free to follow this blog for more exciting updates, along with a review of the newest expansion Firefly: Breakin' Atmo.

Don't forget to check out my Salvage Operations article, about how to make tons of dough while cruising around the Black.

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Companion Bonus:

Certain mission cards have a Companion Bonus for their completion.  The bonus is always $500, which will easily recoup the expense of buying the companion.  The breakdown per contact is as follows:

Harken: 2
Amnon Duul:  3
Patience:  5
Badger:  4
Niska:  4

Based on that data, Patience can be a Companion's best friend but Badger and Niska also have a decent amount of jobs with companion bonuses.
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Stay Shiny, my friends!

~ Captain Paddy Bardic