In a single-avatar game, what do the other main characters do?

Question

Before I try a group play of Legendary: Encounters (the Firefly version), I've started the first three missions as a solo, single-avatar run. I just completed episode 1-A solo, and it was challenging but not terribly so. I'm worried that I'm not playing the game right, though.

It's not explicitly stated, but as a single-avatar player, I just use my Avatar's character deck every turn, plus the Bridge cards, and thats it. My other main characters don't seem to have a function other than determining which other characters fill the Supporting Characters (and thus the big crew deck that rotates into the Bridge).

I used Mal as my avatar in the last episode, and every turn was just the introduction of an episode card into the 'Verse, then my hand of six Mal cards (attack/scan/recruit), then cleanup. A few cards moved a square or two in the 'Verse, but no cards ever entered the combat zone, and I completed the goals just as an Inevitable card showed up.

Does that sound right for single-avatar play? Should I be doing something with my Main Characters (besides my Avatar) each turn, or are they just there to have passive effects on episode cards and soak up crew strikes?

Answer 1

From your description, you used the Avatars correctly.

At the outset of your solo game, the Avatars really only determining what crew member you are playing and what crew members will be available on the bridge. Those four crew members will define what strategies you'll use throughout the game.

As far as the other four main character Avatars that aren't you, their purpose is really only to take crew member specific strikes (defined on page 14 of the rulebook). Other than that, once you've set up the game, their impact on gameplay is very minimal.