Tide

Alert

Resource

Destroy

Support

Type

Power of Waves

Washes Pods In and Out

Setup: Add three of your marks to your nexus as “waves”.

As a leader, after winning an encounter, use this power to add one wave to your nexus. You and each of your sponsors draft one pod for each wave in your nexus.

As a leader, after losing an encounter, use this power to remove one wave from your nexus. Then, each alien in the enemy fleet ravages one pod in their cache for each wave in your nexus.

Legacy: When winning an encounter, actors draft two pods. When losing an encounter, actors scrap two pods in their cache.

The estranged sister race of the Gales, the Tides possess a mastery over water and the rolling waves produced by the heavenly bodies. The last thing people expect to encounter in space is a flood, much less a sentient one.

Leader: Encounter
Leader: Encounter

Mandatory

Wild Flare

As a backward, during payoff, you may discharge this flare to choose another alien. That alien ravages pods from their cache equal to your boons.

Backward: Payoff

Super Flare

During any warpfall, you may discharge this flare to add one wave to your nexus.

Any: Warpfall

Modifications

Originally the power to Ebb and Flow. Simplified to the power of “waves” to keep on theme with a single word.
Original Tide forces enemies to scrap pods instead of ravaging them. It makes the punishment aspect more of a reward than a punishment, weakening the threat of the power.
Original Tide starts with two waves in its setup clause instead of three.
Original Wild Tide gains a guaranteed four boons as a backward. Changed to punish an enemy as a way of reflecting the tide pulling in and out.
Original Super Tide can use its power during any phase. Switched to warpfall for simplicity.
Tide’s legacy provides a miniature version of the base effect globally. The winning aliens gain two extra pods as an additional reward for winning. The losing aliens can scrap two pods, helping to get them closer to a resupply faster. Both sides technically get a benefit, and either could be punishments depending on the specific pods. The legacy hinders compensation since the total number of gained pods will be reduced. Machine can greatly benefit from this legacy, chaining together a series of wins while gaining resources from each one to keep itself going. Original Cosmic has no legacies.

Tips

The more Tide wins as a leader, the more of a threat it becomes in the future. However, its lack of a combat advantage can make it difficult to get the ball rolling.
Tide can be an attractive leader to sponsor, especially if it can build up its waves. Tide does need to worry about giving its sponsors too many resources, since it will provide them pods in addition to boons as a defender.
Tide can also be an undesirable leader to oppose, since defeating it could cost you some valuable resources.
Tide can most benefit by spreading out the pods it provides to its sponsors, like a more long-term form of General. Since it participates in every one of its own encounters, it can gain more than others if they don’t.
Tide is one of the few aliens to gain a bonus as a defender, allowing it to keep its cache stocked without needing resupplies.
The timing of Tide’s gain power means it will always get at least one pod for itself and its sponsors when winning. However, it will only ravage a pod if it has at least two waves before losing.

Development Notes

The primary issue with original Tide is that its secondary aspect is not very punishing. Unless Tide wipes out the entire cache, enemy aliens can simply protect their strongest pods and dump their weakest. It is commonly even better for the enemy than the gained pods are for Tide’s sponsors, since it brings them closer to a free resupply.
Another major issue with Tide’s power is that it is too “nice” of a power, the same issue people list to criticize aliens like Observer and Animal. Particularly as a backward, Tide provides more pods to its sponsors than it gains for itself. Since it lacks a combat bonus, it is more dependent on sponsors to help build up its waves. If it loses its first two encounters as a leader, it can find itself completely powerless. It has to leverage its pod advantage in order to win, but such a feat can be difficult when other aliens are no doubt getting the same advantage.
I opted to have Tide start with three waves instead of two, to give it more of a buffer against losing all of its waves. Since it starts with no direct advantage, I wanted to make it more enticing as a sponsor from the beginning, making it more likely it can secure a victory. Since the power is considered weak even with a high number of waves, I figure this won’t cause much of an issue balance-wise.
Tide can best be compared to Animal and General, as well as win-based aliens like Void and Mercenary. Tide’s effect is both rewarding and punishing, positive and negative. Winning gives it pods and losing destroys enemy pods, but its strength diminishes with each loss. By chaining many wins together, Tide can gain many more pods than Animal and General. If it cannot build up momentum, it will get much less. Animal and General are not win-based and gain pods regardless. Mercenary is another alien that can gain pods on defense, while Void punishes enemies it defeats. Mercenary does not entice sponsors like Tide does, and Void is more universally threatening, but Mercenary can more consistently gain pods, and Tide threatens pods instead of ships.
I see Tide as the type of alien that performs better when aiming for a joint win. It can easily become one of the most enticing aliens to sponsor, but the final encounter is when it loses all of its enticement. No one needs pods when going for the final foreign base, so Tide’s power would come from its cache advantage.
The theming of Tide is very on-point. The waves flow in and out to splash into someone’s cache and wash their pods away, or the pods wash in from the ocean for collection. The power is the water counterpart to Gale’s wind. I considered making it the power to “wave” to reflect it further, but I couldn’t justify it since “wave” is not a verb that refers to ocean waves.
I find it amusing that Tide has an alien power focused on pods.