Warpwalker
Alert
Invasion
Control
Destroy
Type
Power to Wander
Establishes a Base in the Warp
At the start of your orientation, you may use this power to move one of your planets into the warp as a “warpworld”, swapping it with any existing warpworld. When your ships are destroyed, they go to the warp instead of your warpworld.
Any of your ships on a warpworld are treated as both a home base and a foreign base and may move to and from it freely. Any foreign ships on a warpworld are treated as in the warp. If your power is deactivated, your warpworlds return to your system.
Legacy: The alien(s) with the most ships in the warp gains 1 dominion. (min 1).
A nomadic and free-spirited race of unknown origin, the Warpwalkers get their name from their unfathomable ability to enter and leave the warp at will. Attempts to study this unprecedented power have proven fruitless. It’s hard enough just getting them to show up to Federation meetings.
Invader: Orientation
Optional
Wild Flare
At any time, you may discharge this flare to shroud a pod from your cache in the warp. You may claim pods from the warp at any time. If this flare is lost, scrap all pods in the warp.
Any: Any
Super Flare
When using your power, if you already have one warpworld, you may discharge this flare to move a second one of your planets into the warp. If this flare is lost, move one of your warpworlds back to your system.
Invader: Orientation
Modifications
- Originally named Voyager. Changed to align with Warpish and Warphole as another “warp” alien.
- Originally the power to Journey. Changed to better match the Warpwalker image.
- Modified Super Warpwalker to lose the second warpworld if it loses the flare. This clause gives the flare utility even after it is used, preventing it from effectively being a burnout flare.
- Warpwalker’s legacy creates a secondary means of gaining dominion for all aliens, providing passive dominion in the same way Warpwalker does. The base is easy to gain but also easy to lose, especially with the warp key still in play. Aliens like Zombie and Roach can have trouble benefitting from this one since they struggle to lose ships. Warpish loves this legacy, since every alien will be racing to lose as many ships as possible. Persistent aliens also appreciate this legacy, since they are better equipped to lose more ships. They just have to be wary of losing so many that they get eliminated. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Warpwalker’s effect gives it one additional dominion for free that doesn’t cost it any authority. In addition, it can deprive other aliens of one dominion by swapping out its warpworld, making its system less attractive to invade.
- Warpwalker’s ships on its warpworld do not count as in the warp for powers like Warpish.
- Warpwalker’s warpworld is not in any system, so it cannot be targeted by another alien, except through the use of a power like Will. If space stations are in play, Warpwalker can take advantage of this factor to keep its station safe from harm.
- Since Warpwalker loses its warpworld when losing its power, it doesn’t receive any extra defense against losing its power from its warpworld.
Development Notes
- The original alien theme of Voyager is based on the Voyager 1 and 2 space probes that were launched into space to study the outer solar system. Voyager captures the idea of journeying into the dark abyss to discover what is there. I took the theme in a different direction to depict a creature capable of entering and exiting the warp at will, the only creature capable of surviving the process. Since the power is so focused on utilizing the warp, I wanted to match it to Warpish and Warphole, two other aliens who follow the same trend.
- I imagined an alien similar to Mr. Mxyzptlk, a reality warper that can go wherever it wants, even to the point of teleporting an entire planet there. The power somewhat helps Warpish since it puts more enemy ships in the warp. Even though the power makes a mockery of the warp, I could imagine Warpish might respect the Warpwalker if it sees it as more of an emissary or prophet of the warp.
- Sending a planet to the warp means it is does not exist in any system, meaning that it cannot be chosen as the targeted planet. It means effects like Locust and Saboteur cannot target it either, making it mostly safe from attack. Only ship snipers like Assassin and Brute can attack it.
- While there are several aliens like Zombie and Ninja themed around leaving the warp, they are themed more around reviving from the dead, the normal means of exiting the warp. They still die in order to enter the warp and are revived in order to leave. Warpwalker differs from all other aliens by entering the warp alive and remaining in the warp alive. Only an alien like Specter could make a claim like that, and they still lose their corporeal form to leave the warp.
- The core idea behind Warpwalker’s power is gaining one extra dominion and depriving other aliens of one dominion. It’s one reason I am glad I decided to take away Oligarch’s dominion privilege that lets it win with one fewer dominion and force others to win with one more. Oligarch essentially gains this power for free and gets additional benefits on top of it. I’d rather the two powers be noncomparables, with Warpwalker getting the focus on the +1/-1 dominion.