Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game - Gameplay

Gameplay

Each player in the game assumes control of a specific faction, represented by one of the four main races in the TV series - Human, Minbari, Centauri or Narn. Later expansions allowed people to control the League of Non-Aligned Worlds as well as separate "Home Factions" of the four main races. The Vorlons and Shadows, although not a playable race in their own right, are available as supporting characters and fleets, as are Babylon 5, the Drakh and the Interstellar Alliance. The object of the game is to use various agendas, events and conflict cards to build power and influence points for your faction. Actions in the game have to be carried out by the characters that you control, for example if you only have one character in play you can only initiate one action per turn. Unless otherwise stated, Characters can only perform one action per turn. Politics and alliances between players become very important in a multiplayer game, in fact there are certain cards which require the calling of a player vote in order to pass. If one person seems to be surging ahead, the other players will often band together to prevent him from winning. The makers of the game deliberately incorporated roleplaying elements into the game to try to give the feel that the participants are telling the story of Babylon 5. Although not strictly necessary, players are encouraged to take on the persona of their Ambassador and develop an in-game narrative to explain why they are playing the cards they are.