Clone
Alert
Resource
Type
Power to Duplicate
Keeps Own Encounter Pod
As a leader, after payout, you may use this power to duplicate your encounter pod. Add the copy to your cache and leave the original in your exhaust.
Legacy: All pods are discharged twice.
An egotistical race believed to have originated from a single individual, the Clones found their freedom to propagate through self-replication constricted due to ethical concerns. Finding no merit in the criticisms of the unenlightened, they now apply their know-how in combat, aiming to seize the stars, along with the rules that govern them.
Leader: Payoff
Optional
Wild Flare
After discharging an artifact, you may discharge this flare to reclaim it.
Any: Any
Super Flare
As a leader, after arrival, you may discharge this flare to double your engaged ships this encounter, exceeding gate limits. Ships gained by this flare are vaporized during the bookeeping phase.
Leader: Arrival
Modifications
- Clone is a very simple power. There isn’t much to change about it without fundamentally modifying what it does, but I did make one significant change to give it that extra bit of flavor. Instead of keeping the pod and pretending the original vanishes into the ether due to realistic limitations, I decided to take advantage of modern innovation and have the pod literally duplicate. My version of Cosmic assumes a digital environment for play, so literal duplication of pods can be done with a simple Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V. What I like about this change aside from the thematic benefit is that it helps to prevent Clone from becoming a mindless robot when it gets a 30 or 40. Every time it copies that 40, its aur will go into the forge, increasing the total number of 40 pods in the economy. The more times Clone duplicates, the more 40s will end up in play. And just on a base level, a game of Cosmic with 4-5 40 pods in the deck does add an additional level of intrigue.
- I also slightly modified the super flare in the hopes of having it make some more logical sense and match my system of determining compensation count. The original super flare only had a double compensation effect. I made it so the ships simply duplicate, getting destroyed by upkeep to be in keeping with flares causing short-term gain. This doubles both combat and compensation potential.
- Clone’s legacy causes all discharged pods to be discharged twice, both encounter pods and support pods. For some pods like Cosmic Zaps or negotiate pods, this has no effect, but for pods like Plagues, distress pods, and attack pods, this can make a major difference. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- A Clone with a 30 or 40 is a force to be reckoned with. A Clone in this state can prime the same pod every encounter with virtually no drawbacks. It makes Clone predictable, but without a strong combat power, there is little recourse against it. Since compensation cannot take pods from the exhaust, Clone is actually incentivized to play its strongest pod every encounter, as it will be vulnerable any encounter it does not.
- In the same vein, Clone only has the ability to protect one pod. If Clone has both the 30 and 40, it would be wise to keep playing the 40 at all times unless you choose to play an N for compensation. Clone cannot run out of encounter pods so long as it keeps playing the 40. In my Cosmic, the only drawback to this strategy is that it creates more 40 pods in the forge for others to use, so Clone has to be mindful of how much other aliens are gaining new pods. Depending on the other powers in play, this could be a major issue or a non-issue.
- If Clone does not have a strong pod, it is not a considerable threat. However, players should be wary of a weak Clone, as it will be hungry for compensation. Beware of Clone if you have a strong pod as well.
Development Notes
- The original super flare is a power that activates only when Clone loses an encounter, but it has good synergy with the base power and is also decently thematic. The expansion I made gives it both a combat and compensation bonus, to support the theme while also supplementing the power. The combat bonus helps Clone pass the “Human Test” of +4 might, while the compensation bonus gives Clone a better chance to get good pods.
- In my view, the less abstraction is needed for a power, the more immersed the player can get in the role. The original power lets Clone keep its original pod instead of scrapping it, implying the cloning process destroys the original. This is a reasonable explanation for it, but I find it more interesting to let the original get scrapped as normal and duplicate the original. This fits the “Clone” theme a little closer while also allowing powers like Filch and Fido to operate against Clone, providing more options to counter it when it gets a strong pod. Cosmic has two M pods, but there aren’t any effects which produce multiple 40 pods, giving Clone an interesting design space to fill despite the simplicity of its power.