Remora
Alert
Resource
Type
Power to Cling
Gets Pods and Ships with Others
Whenever another alien drafts a pod, you may use this power to draft a pod from the same source.
When another alien revives a ship, you may use this power to revive a ship.
Legacy: When another alien drafts a pod(s), except due to this aspect, every other alien may draft a pod from the same source.
The Remora tired of wasting all their energy producing their own resources. They found it much simpler to simply skim off the top of what others get. With their natural stealth, they can take advantage of the avarice of others to earn more for themselves. And they’ll be gone long before the bill is due.
Any: Any
Optional
Wild Flare
Whenever another alien discharges a flare, you may discharge this flare to draft a pod.
Any: Any
Super Flare
Whenever one or more other aliens establish foreign bases, you may discharge this flare to withdraw one lucre per base.
Any: Any
Modifications
- Minor modification to the base power to let Remora fabricate dark pods when other aliens do. Since Remora was made before the dark forge existed, it resulted in a loophole that many choose to close with this house rule.
- Shortened the super flare to simply gain lucre, also granting the option to gain dark pods.
- Remora’s legacy greatly increases the amount of pods drafted in general. If multiple aliens receive bounties in an encounter, each alien drafts an additional pod for each of those aliens that drafts pods. When an alien receives a resupply, every alien drafts a pod from the forge. Aliens with mandatory pod-drafting aspects aren’t a fan of this legacy, while Hacker can’t get enough of it. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Remora gains more the more other aliens gain. It’s based on other aliens getting fed, rather than the number of resources gained. Remora’s ideal is for many aliens to gain one pod or ship at a time, as it means it gains the most overall. For instance, if three different aliens each fabricate a pod, Remora fabricates three. If each alien fabricates four pods, Remora still fabricates three.
- A subtle aspect of Remora’s power that may not be apparent from the description is that it is the power which revives a ship every regroup phase. This allows Remora to play faster and looser with its ships, though not to the same extent as Zombie.
- Rewards that Remora gains will stack along with its power, but it gains nothing extra for its own gains. As long as there are supporters, Remora can earn pods or ships any time the defender wins.
Development Notes
- Remora gains nothing for its own gains, as this would cause an infinite loop. This is also why we can’t have two of the same aliens in the same match. Aliens like Plant, Mask, and Changeling have been specifically designed around this limitation.
- A remora is a parasite, and this power is debatably more suitable to Parasite’s power than Parasite. I made Parasite more deleterious to its leader in order to help with this thematic discrepancy. I view it like Remora is latching onto the Federation, rather than other aliens.
- The existence of lucre makes Remora even more potent, requiring aliens to be careful about their gains. Remora does not gain lucre when someone else gains lucre, as this would mean it would likely gain again after the lucre is spent. This is why lucre is not “drafted” as regular pods are, since there is no lucre forge.
- Since Remora drafts pods from the same source as its target, it is one of the only aliens capable of pulling cards from Mutant’s personal pool.
- When other aliens gain bounties, Remora is beholden to their whims. If they take ships, Remora gets ships. If they take pods, Remora gets pods. Same with dark pods, since Remora’s power cares about the source. The power is also optional, to prevent Remora from being forced to accept pods when it may not want them, and it makes sense that a Remora doesn’t have to cling to an undesirable host.