Empath
Alert
Diplomacy
Control
Type
Power of Harmony
Changes Attack to Negotiate
As a leader, after contact, if either fleet is an envoy, you may use this power to transform the other fleet into an envoy.
Legacy: If either leader sends an envoy, a negotiation always occurs.
Hailing from a world of rainbows and sunshine, the Empaths claim that every alien deserves a voice in this big, wide Cosmos. Utilizing their power to make others feel as they do, they’ll make sure universal peace is attained by any means necessary.
Leader: Contact
Optional
Wild Flare
As a leader, at the start of negotiation, you may discharge this flare. If the deal is successful, aliens that cancel no demands receive three boons.
Leader: Negotiation
Super Flare
As a leader, after contact, if your opponent’s fleet is an envoy, you may discharge an attack pod from your hand. Transform your opponent’s driver into that attack pod.
Leader: Contact
Modifications
- Original Wild Empath rewards successful deals instead of punishing failed ones. I liked the idea of the Wild flare allowing Empath to give their opponent a “change of heart” and turning a failed deal into a successful one.
- Original Wild Empath also has a “classic” version that forces a player to refer to other aliens as “Sir” or “Ma’am” for the rest of the invasion or lose a ship each time they don’t. My Cosmic doesn’t have flare variants, though it’s possible they could be added later.
- Empath’s legacy makes it dramatically easier to have negotiations instead of combat. Either side can force the negotiation, which may burn through negotiate pods at a faster rate. It also effectively removes compensation from the game, which harms compensation powers like Hacker and Ethic. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Similar to Pacifist, Empath’s power is limited by its supply of negotiates. They are best saved for encounters that would otherwise result in certain loss.
- Empath is much more threatening as the invader, where it has leverage over its opponent by putting their base at risk. Empath can send a small number of ships and play an N to reduce its losses if the opponent quashes the deal. As the defender, Empath can turn a losing encounter into a peaceful loss, gaining some benefits in the process. Or it can quash the deal to block the enemy from getting a base.
- Avoid letting your home base count dwindle too low with Empath around. When invading, Empath can threaten and destroy your base at the cost of its own encounter.
Development Notes
- Since I changed the Emotion Control artifact into the Therapy distress pod, Empath is one of the only effects in the game that can force an enemy to negotiate. Since negotiation works differently in my Cosmic, the effect is similar to Pacifist. Unlike the Emotion Control artifact, which can come from anyone at any time, all aliens will be aware of Empath and know to avoid getting into a position where Empath can force you to accept a deal. This makes it much fairer as an aspect to deal with during an encounter. The lack of the Emotion Control also makes Empath’s effect more unique.
- Empath’s unique interaction with Warhawk makes it so that Warhawk always trumps Empath’s power. If Empath is the invader, Warhawk will make both sides 00. If Empath is the defender, Warhawk will remove all negotiates before Empath can activate its power. Because of this interaction, invading Empath can remove the drivers from the equation, while defending Empath essentially has no power against Warhawk. Warhawk’s legacy also neutralizes Empath’s legacy, since all negotiate drivers are 00s.
- Because of the timing of this power, the Therapy distress pod can get around Empath’s power to gain compensation.