Braggart
Alert
Triumph
Destroy
Type
Power to Boast
Talks a Big Game
As an actor, after arrival, you may use this power to declare your victory. Your opponent may choose to either surrender, allowing you to win peacefully, or doubt your claim. If the opponent doubts, double the casualties lost by either you or the opponent.
Legacy: After arrival, leaders must brag about the pod they are about to prime in the public chat. During a clash, an alien that plays a lower attack card than their opponent has one of their ships ravaged.
The Braggarts are the most powerful alien species in all of the Cosmos, or at least that’s what they’ll say if you ask them. Rumors of their achievements stretch far and wide, so much so that no one’s actually sure how powerful they really are.
Actor: Arrival
Optional
Wild Flare
As a leader, after launch, you may use this flare to declare your fleet to be superior. Aliens must ravage a ship to join the enemy fleet. If you lose the encounter after bragging, all aliens in your fleet suffer an additional casualty.
Leader: Launch
Super Flare
When using your power, you may use this flare to name a number from 1-20 (regardless of how many ships you have). The losing fleet suffers casualties equal to that number (or as many as possible).
Actor: Arrival
Modifications
- Originally Skeptic, with the power to Doubt.
- Skeptic’s Wild flare allows an alien to decide to ally last regardless of turn order. This doesn’t really work in my Cosmic since sponsorship happens simultaneously and secretly.
- Braggart’s Legacy demands that all leaders brag about the pod they are about to play, either stating what it will be or simply talking it up. If both sides play an attack pod, the side playing the lower attack pod loses a ship, even if they win. This legacy gives everyone an ego and punishes everyone that can’t deliver. Aliens like Clone that can recycle strong pods aren’t as bothered, but aliens that struggle to get strong pods may find it more damaging. Mind games can also be played with the bragging, as lying about your pod is acceptable as long as you don’t show it to anyone. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Braggart’s boasting doubles the casualties, meaning it is more punishing when the opponent has more ships. By sending fewer ships, Braggart suffers fewer losses, but this could also weaken Braggart’s combat potential if opposing 4 ships.
- The best times to boast for the Braggart are when the enemy has a weak cache and not much support. Being able to wipe out 8 ships in a single encounter can be a massive game changer. Whichever alien it happens to may be in danger of losing its power or being eliminated.
- Targeting Braggart’s planets with 4 ships can dissuade it from using its power. By removing ships from its bases to have fewer on each base, Braggart can better threaten potential invaders.
- Though Braggart only targets leaders, it can boast as an ally as well. Inviting Braggart can be an effective tool to make the opponent surrender, but it could also push the opponent into using their strongest card on defense.
- Braggart does not punish its allies or enemy sponsors, so there is no major risk in sponsoring someone against Braggart.
Development Notes
- Braggart is similar in theme and function to Mite, another power that can earn a free peaceful win by threatening the opponent. However, Mite uses a considerably weaker power than it alleges to have in order to dupe the opponent into backing down. Braggart boasts about the might of its fleet, insisting that they will win no matter what. Mite’s power is a facade, while Braggart’s may or may not be depending on the strength of its cache. Braggart doesn’t threaten the enemy so much as assert it has already won.
- Braggart is also comparable to Gambler, another risk-taking power that can potentially lose double ships by gambling. Gambler can go half-and-half, winning the encounter but losing the bluff, resulting in both sides losing an equal number of ships. Braggart takes the concept and makes it all-or-nothing. The loser loses double ships, which is weighted by the number of ships they committed. More ships means more ego, and that pride comes before the fall.
- The original “Skeptic” theme didn’t quite sit well with me. I would interpret a “skeptic” alien to be more like original Martian from CEO, an alien that disproves the existence of other aliens or otherwise doubts their existence. It’s a somewhat meta explanation for a power that disbelieves in supernatural powers so much that they stop being real. For a power that antes up like this, I thought it fit better to have a power that asserts its confidence by talking up how great it is. Everyone knows that a braggart experiences the most shame when they lose, and this power really captures that feeling. It follows the same principle as snapping in Marvel Snap. If both players are confident they will win, one of them is wrong.