In Cosmic Encounter, you are the leader of a powerful alien race. You have wagered several of your home planets in the hopes of gaining for territory for your empire by competing against three to seven other alien races in a match of Cosmic Encounter an ancient sport used to civilly settle disputes between alien races. To achieve victory, your objective is to establish one foreign base for each of your wagered home planets, generating enough power for you to take control of the territory.

Setup

Every Cosmic Encounter begins with setup. Setup consists of four steps.

• First, the aliens participating in the encounter are chosen. Participating aliens are determined randomly. These powers remain shrouded in each alien’s nexus until they are first used, at which point they become public. Aliens with mandatory powers must reveal them when the timing is appropriate.
• Next, the forge and gate are manifested based on the encounter specifics. Aur is added to the forge based on the chosen pool, and destiny charges are set in the gate based on the chosen alien colors.
• Then, each alien receives their starting equipment from the Federation which consists of a cache of 8 pods from the forge, 2 lucre, 4 ships placed on each home planet, and any special aspects established by dimensional rules such as space stations or tech. Each alien is designed a different color to identify their planets and ships. The eight usable colors are red, blue, yellow, green, purple, orange, white, and black.
• Finally, each alien activates any aspects of their power listed in a “Setup” clause. After setup is performed, the Cosmic Encounter begins, following the Invasion Protocol until the match is decided.

Invasions

The Cosmic Encounter system is performed through a series of alien invasions. Participating aliens in a Cosmic Encounter take turns acting as the invader. As the invader, you get an opportunity to invade another system in hopes of establishing a foreign base on one of their planets. An alien may establish one base on a planet by landing one or more ships on that planet. Each alien may only have one base on each planet, but any number of aliens may have a base on the same planet. If the base is in your system, it is a home base. If a base is in another alien’s system, it is a foreign base. In order to win a Cosmic Encounter, you must get one foreign base for each of your home bases, determined at the start of the match.

If there are four aliens participating in the match, each alien wagers four home planets. If there are five or more aliens participating, each alien wagers five home planets. Consult the next section for detailed info on the Invasion Protocol.

Combat

Winning and Losing

After the winners and losers are determined, the “crash” causes the loser to endure casualties, unless the winners won peacefully. Any surviving ships from the losing fleet are rebounded, returning to existing bases. Winning ships are entitled to rewards, depending on their role in the encounter. If an invader or foreward wins, they use their committed ships to establish a base 0n the target planet. If they already have a base on that planet, they add their ships to that base.

An invader may continue their campaign as long as they have both their flagship and remaining fuel. The flagship is destroyed as a penalty by default if an alien loses an encounter, along with all committed ships. A new flagship will be manifested during the next orientation.

Bases

In Cosmic Encounter, bases represent the power of your empire. A base is indicated by one or more ships stationed on a single planet. Any number of ships may be stationed in a base, but there may only be one base per planet. If all ships are removed from a base, the base is destroyed.

There are two types of bases: home bases and foreign bases. Home bases are on your own planets while foreign bases are on the planets of other aliens. Each alien begins with 5 home bases, one on each planet. In a 4-alien match, each alien wagers 4 planets and starts with 4 home bases instead. Each home base grants an alien 1 authority, which is utilized for negotiation and power preservation. Bases can be difficult to retrieve if lost, so it is important to protect them.

Foreign bases are gained primarily by winning invasions and supporting invaders. Foreign bases grant no authority. Instead, each foreign base grants 1 dominion. In Cosmic Encounter, the win condition is to gain 5 dominion (4 if 4 or fewer aliens in the match). The lose condition is to lose all authority, which will result in elimination. 3 authority is required in order to maintain use of your alien power. If multiple aliens obtain enough dominion at the same time, all of those aliens win together.

Elimination

If an alien has no remaining home bases, they are eliminated from the game, regardless of how many foreign bases they have. After being eliminated, that alien’s destiny is removed from the pool, and aliens may not target that system for future invasions, even through alien powers like Will. Any foreign bases currently in that system remain and continue to provide dominion, and foreign bases can be directly established in the system through powers like Disease or Grump.

After an alien is eliminated, they activate their “legacy”, an alien-specific aspect which applies to all remaining aliens for the remainder of the match. The legacy of an alien is written on their alien bio sheet.

Powers

Alien powers are at the core of what makes Cosmic so infinitely replayable. Each alien has their own unique alien power. The same power cannot exist twice in the same match and has been structured to avoid such a situation. Each power has its own timing that allows it to activate, based on role, phase, and condition. For instance, Virus’s power activates during the encounter phase when Virus is a leader. The power is mandatory, meaning it always activates whether or not Virus chooses to do so. Contrarily, Machine’s power activates during upkeep when Machine is the invader. That power is optional, meaning Machine has the choice to activate it or not.

Every power has one more “use” clauses, which are italicized in the alien bio as either “use” or “may use”. A “use” clause means the power is mandatory, while a “may use” clause means it is optional. The “use” clause denotes the times when a power is being “used,” which is important to know because these are the only times when a power can be zapped. Some aliens have supplemental aspects of their power which cannot be zapped directly, such as Macron’s ships having 4 might and 4 size. While these aspects cannot be zapped directly, when a power is deactivated, all aspects of it are deactivated. So if Macron is zapped while using its power, its ships will not have 4 might and 4 size until the power is reactivated.

At the start of a match, all alien powers are hidden from other aliens, with the nexus hidden from view. The “nexus” is where the alien bio is stored, along with other aspects related to the power such as Warrior’s experience and Miser’s hoard. When an alien “uses” their power for the first time, their power becomes public, along with their nexus.

An alien’s power and name are synchronized, meaning if you have one you have the other and vice versa. This is important to note when dealing with flares and power-stealing powers. When a flare is utilized, the alien will either use the wild flare or the super flare depending on their name. If their name matches the flare, the super flare will be used. Otherwise, the wild flare will be used. For instance, Loser will use the Super Loser flare but the Wild Parasite flare. Plant uses the Wild Parasite flare as well, but if it uses its power to steal Parasite’s power, it will use the Super Parasite flare instead, as the name is stolen along with the power.

Alien powers require authority in order to maintain, meaning aliens need to keep their home bases alive. An alien with 2 or less authority has its power deactivated during upkeep. An alien can regain their power by getting back to 3 or more authority. An alien that has lost their power also loses its name, meaning it can only use wild flares.

Every alien possesses a “mark” that acts as an identifier for their alien power. Marks are often used to indicate aspects of an alien’s power or keep track of a number, such as who Grudge commissioned during an invasion. In FFG Cosmic, “cosmic tokens” were used for such a purpose. I wanted to make it feel a little more organic, using an icon or symbol to act as a “mark” of one’s power. 

Alien powers are divided into 9 different types based on functionality. Alien powers can be classified by more than one type:

• Combat: Power designed to gain might or reduce the opponent’s might in combat. To qualify as a combat power, the alien has to pass the “Human test.”
• Control: Power designed to restrict the choices of other aliens or give the user more control.
  
• Diplomacy: Power designed to gain advantages in negotiation or compensation.
  
• Destroy: Power designed to destroy caches, ships, bases, planets, pods, aliens, etc.
  
• Essence: Power that makes use of the essence mechanic.
• Info: Power designed to gain information.
• Invasion: Power designed to gain more dominion or invasions than normal.
• Meta: Power designed to affect alien powers and/or legacies, or to disrupt the normal phase cycle.
• Resource: Power designed to gain pods and/or ships.
• Support: Power designed to assist other aliens, gain sponsors, or gain invitations.

Pods

Pods are the primary weapons utilized by aliens during an encounter. Pods are divided into three types: encounter pods, support pods, and lucre pods. Encounter and support pods are collectively called action pods, distinguishing them from lucre pods.

Encounter pods are the type of pods which may be primed as drivers during approach. They are primarily utilized to gain advantage during encounters and have little use outside of encounters.

• Attack Pods: Red pods which have a numerical value. Using an attack pod will turn a fleet into a brigade. Attack pods have might equal to this value.
  • 2-D Attack Pods: Special attack pods with two numerical value. If a hazard occurs, its might is equal to the right value. Otherwise, its might is equal to the left value.
  • Flex Attack Pods: Special attack pods in the forge. When discharged or scrapped for an effect, the user may choose any value between 0 and the specified value on the attack pod to be the might of the pod this encounter. Most aliens will opt for the maximum value, but certain aliens can get additional value from the flexibility these provide.
  • Slime Attack Pods: Special attack pods unique to the mutant pool. Slime attack pods remain in the flagship during the invasion they are primed and add their might to the user’s next invasion when acting as the leader. They are scrapped after applying their might in the second invasion.
• Negotiation Pods: Green pods which have a value of N. Using a negotiation pod will turn a fleet into an envoy, allowing it to receive compensation if destroyed in combat or negotiate with an opposing envoy.
  • Special Negotiate Pods: Negotiate pods obtained from the dark forge which add additional advantages to the user. Each special negotiate has one effect that applies during combat and one that applies during negotiation. They come in five different flavors:
    • Renowned
      • Combat: Can request a resupply instead of compensation.
      • Negotiation: Gain 2 additional influence during negotiation.
    • Crooked
      • Combat: Opponent must pay additional compensation equal to your lucre.
      • Negotiation: Can discharge lucre to gain 1 influence per lucre.
    • Stubborn
      • Combat: Your flagship and ships are impervious this encounter.
      • Negotiation: Your demands cost 1 additional influence to cancel.
    • Innocent
      • Combat: Gain double compensation.
      • Negotiation: Your first demand this negotiation does not cost influence.
    • Aggressive
      • Combat: Your opponent suffers casualties equal to your casualties instead of paying compensation.
      • Negotiation: Your opponent suffers double casualties if they quash the negotiation.
• Poison Pods: Purple pods which have a value of P. Using a poison pod will turn a fleet into a trojan. If a poison pod is in a leader’s cache during arrival, that alien must destroy one of their ships. Consult the alien Poison in My Aliens and the info about trojans in Invasion Protocol below for more information about poison pods.
• Morph Pods: Rainbow encounter pods with a value of M. Using a morph pod will produce a value which matches the printed (aur) value of the opposing encounter pod. Morph pods can give a fleet any nature.
• Intimidate Pod: Gray encounter pod with a values ranging from -09 to 39. An intimidate pod may be primed by any actor during arrival. If so, the pod is primed in addition to the driver. If the enemy leader sends a brigade against the intimidate pod, the intimidating fleet becomes a brigade. Otherwise, the intimidating fleet becomes an envoy.

Support pods cannot be primed as an alien’s driver, unless an aspect permits it. Instead, they are discharged during other phases. The timing depends on the specific pod.

• Artifact Pods: Blue support pods which have different effects and different timings depending on the specific artifact type.
  • Cosmic Zap: An artifact pod that zaps another alien. Can be discharged during any phase, but only when a power is being used.
  • Flare Zap: An artifact pod that zaps a flare, scrapping it. Zapped flares are not automatically recharged. Can be discharged during any phase, but only when a flare is being discharged.
  • Ship Zap: An artifact pod that vaporizes a specific ship in any system. Can be discharged during any phase.
  • Cache Zap: An artifact pod that forces any player to scrap their cache and receive a resupply. Can be discharged when an alien is in their own system.
  • Omni Zap: An artifact pod that can use the effect of any other “zap” artifact. The user must destroy one of their ships to activate this pod. Can be discharged at any time it is valid to use their chosen “zap” artifact.
  • Warp Key: An artifact pod that revives all ships in the warp. Can only be discharged by the invader during warpfall. Called “mobius tubes” in the base game.
  • Force Field: An artifact pod that can target and remove any or all sponsors from either fleet, rebounding those sponsors’ ships. Can only be discharged during arrival.
  • Ionic Gas: An artifact pod that negates all boons and compensation this invasion. Can be discharged whenever alien(s) would receive a boon or compensation.
  • Paradox: An artifact pod that scrambles destiny, consuming the charge that was manifested. Can only be activated during destiny. May be activated a second time during the same destiny phase, before getting scrapped.
  • Plague: An artifact pod that targets one alien. That alien must scrap one pod of each color and ravage three of their ships. Can only be discharged during launch.
  • Grime: An artifact pod that reduces an alien’s influence by two during a negotiation. Can only be used at the start of a negotiation.
  • Finder: An artifact pod that allows an alien to search any other alien’s cache for a specific pod. Can only be used during launch.
  • Space Junk: An artifact pod that can claim an exhausted pod from the forge. Can only be used during warpfall.
  • Rebirth: An artifact pod that allows an alien to establish a new base on any home planet. Can only be used during warpfall.
  • Solar Wind: An artifact pod that reverses rewards for invading and defending fleets. Can only be used during payoff.
  • Boon Permit: An artifact pod that gives the defender a boon as if they were a backward. Can only be used during payoff after the defender wins an encounter.
  • Third Eye: A Mutant-specific artifact that lets a user shroud drafted or snatch pods in stasis and draft or snatch the same number of pods again. The user chooses either the pods in stasis or the new pods to return to the source. The other goes to their cache Can be played whenever the user drafts or snatches pod(s).
  • Prehensile Tail: A Mutant-specific artifact that lets you snatch one pod from your opponent. You may scrap that pod to snatch one more. Can only be used during arrival.
  • Restless Leg: A Mutant-specific artifact that repairs an invader’s flagship and provides one fuel. Can only be used during upkeep by the invader if their flagship is destroyed.
  • Snot Rocket: A Mutant-specific artifact that turns any attack pod into a slime attack pod. Can only be used during encounters.
  • Cloudy Mind: A Mutant-specific artifact that keeps your primed pod shrouded until the end of the encounter. Can only be used during contact.
• Flare Pod: Yellow support pods which each contain a fragment of power from a given alien. An alien whose power does not match the flare’s will use the Wild Flare effect. An alien whose power matches the flare’s will use the Super Flare effect. An alien can only play one flare per invasion, and each flare may only be played once per invasion. During upkeep, flares in exhausts are automatically recharged instead of being exhausted.
  • Burnout Flare Pod: A sub-type of flare that is not recharged during upkeep. Burnout flares go to the exhaust of their source alien instead of the user, if that alien is participating in the match. When placed in the exhaust of their source alien, they change from wild to super, meaning they are no longer burnout flares and recharge as normal.
• Distress Pod: Pink support pod, which may be primed during combat in order to request emergency assistance from the Federation during the encounter. Any actors may prime distress pods for their fleet only. Distress pods are discharged before combat/negotiation begins. Any number of distress pods may be primed. There are four types of distress pods.
  • Reinforcement: Provides additional might to the specified fleet. After discharged, will add a random amount of might, ranging from 03 to 08. Compensation is increased by 1 for each reinforcement played against an envoy.
    • Special Reinforcement: Provides additional might based on a dynamic aspect, such as number of ships in the warp.
  • Escape: Attempts to escape one’s own ships from the encounter, gaining no rewards or penalties. If opponent has a brigade, user suffers one casualty for every 10 more power the opposing fleet has than the fleet.
  • Therapist: Converts your own fleet into an envoy.
  • Assassin: The fleet’s leader snipes committed ships from either fleet, up to the number equal to the user’s authority.
• Kicker Pod: Orange support pod which may be primed by a leader during approach alongside an encounter pod. Kicker pods multiply the value of primed encounter pods.
• Rift Pod: Black support pod with a value from 01 to 05.  Can be played during any warpfall to revive ships, gain pods, or establish colonies equal to the pod’s value. If a rift is taken from an alien’s cache and not immediately scrapped, the rift detonates. A detonating rift forces the holder of the rift to scrap ships of their choice equal to the rift’s value and scrap the rift.
• Essence Pods: Unique support pods owned by certain aliens as part of their power. Stored in a secret area separate from the main cache to prevent other aliens from seeing or tampering with them.

The Forge

The “forge” is the primary source of pods within a match of Cosmic. When pods are drafted or extracted, as well as when resupplies are handed out, the pods are constructed in the forge and gifted to aliens as appropriate.

The forge has a set “pool” of aur that determines which pods can be drafted. When drafting a pod, a random chunk of aur will be chosen to make the pod. Once that aur is out of the forge, that specific aur cannot be used to make more pods until the pod is scrapped. At that point, the aur returns to the pool and be used to make a new pod. This means that holding onto a pod will keep it out of play, while getting rid of it means that someone else can potentially obtain it.

In the case where the pool is completely consumed and someone needs to draft a pod from the forge, no pods will be drafted. This design choice is different from original Cosmic, where a “cosmic quake” will occur, returning all pods to the forge to give everyone new caches.

Lucre

Lucre (LCR) is the primary form of currency in the Cosmos. When resources are lacking, lucre can be spent to get more. Lucre is stored outside of an alien’s cache. Since lucre is fungible, it is indicated by a counter. Lucre is primarily only received through resupplies and boons, making it more scarce and valuable as a resource for aliens that lack resource powers. Lucre can only be spent by actors during upkeep. It can also be primed after arrival as an attempt to bribe the opponent into throwing an encounter. It can be used to provide emergency resources during a campaign when running low or get additional resources ahead of time. In a standard match, each alien starts with 2 lucre, and one additional lucre is obtained from each backer boon.

Once per invasion, during upkeep, aliens can spend one lucre to gain a boon. You can also spend three lucre to request a random voucher and four lucre for a free resupply. You must still have no encounter pods to request the free resupply. Vouchers are shrouded in your nexus and can be discharged at any time. Vouchers are always random. One alien getting a voucher does not influence what voucher another alien will get, as there are an infinite amount of all voucher types available. The following 10 vouchers can be obtained by spending lucre:

• Antique Voucher – Manifest an artifact pod of your choice.
• Attack Voucher – Manifest a random 2D-attack pod. The pod will have two random values ranging from 00 to 42.
• Diplomacy Voucher – Manifest a negotiate pod of your choice.
• Emergency Voucher – Manifest a distress pod of your choice.
• Inspection Voucher – Probe another alien’s cache. This voucher can be used while snatching to target specific pods.
• Invasion Voucher – Immediately ambush an alien of your choice.
• Nuclear Voucher – Manifest a random untethered flare.
• Payment Voucher – When your cache would be targeted by an aspect, you may use this voucher to zap that aspect.
• Protection Voucher – When your ship(s) would be lost, you may use this voucher to make all of your ships impervious until upkeep.
• Reload Voucher – Request a free resupply. This voucher may be used from any system.

When paying compensation, an alien may pay with lucre instead of pods, at a rate of one lucre per pod. If an alien doesn’t have enough pods to pay compensation, they must pay with lucre instead. The lucre that would be paid is determined before pods are snatched, so if any aspect removes pods from the cache such that they don’t have enough pods to snatch, no additional lucre needs to be paid.

To perform an invasion, the invasion follows the Invasion Protocol, the system of etiquette which all aliens abide by. The protocol consists of a series of eight phases that are carried out in order by the invader. Those phases are: Warpfall, Destiny, Launch, Rally, Approach, Encounter, Payoff, and Upkeep.

Orientation

Before an invasion officially begins, the Orientation phase occurs at the beginning of an invader’s turn. Since it only occurs once per turn and not once per invasion, it is technically not part of the invasion protocol. During this phase, the invader receives two fuel cells and gains access to the Gate. if necessary. During this phase, an invader may also choose to voluntarily end their campaign before it begins, ending the invasion and moving to the next alien in the cycle.

Warpfall

To signal the beginning of an invasion, warpfall occurs. The warp partially deteriorates for the invader, reviving one of their ships.

Destiny

Once the invader has fueled up their flagship, the gate uses its Destiny matrix to determine who will act as the defender in the current invasion. Destiny will manifest a color. The defender prepares their flagship and receives access to the gate. In addition, each color has three charges that must be manifested before destiny resets.

• Color: The defender will be the alien whose color matches the one shown. Destiny will never produce the invader’s color.
  • Wild: Wild destiny is a unique rainbow color which allows the invader to choose any alien to be the defender, except themselves. In contrast to other colors, wild destiny only has two charges before a reset.
• Hazard: If a hazard manifests, it will remain in effect this invasion. Hazards can affect specific game aspects, but they generally are only relevant in the Hazardous Dimension. One out of three of each color will manifest a hazard, except wild destiny.

Launch

With both the invader and defender prepared, the invader aims the gate to determine the target planet in the defender’s system. Only planets in the defender’s system may be targeted, unless the invader wishes to target their own system.

During this phase, leaders with no encounter pods may request a resupply. This should ensure that both the leader and defender have enough pods during the encounter. The invader can only request a resupply while in their home system, which is generally only the first invasion. The first two resupplies are free. Subsequent resupplies require the user to abandon one of their bases to pay for it. Alternatively, they can spend lucre during upkeep for a resupply.

Rally

After the chosen system is decided, the invader and defender may call upon the remaining aliens for assistance. First, “commission” occurs. The leaders select the colors of the aliens they wish to commission to join them, granting them access to their side of the gate. Then, “sponsorship” occurs, where each invited alien may choose to sponsor one of the fleets that invited them. During sponsorship, each alien is only aware of which leaders commissioned them. They are not aware of which other aliens were commissioned by them. Sponsorships are revealed at the start of the next phase.

Approach

The approach phase begins with “arrival”, where the invader and all sponsors (on both sides) enter the target system. This is when sponsors reveal who they supported and how many ships they committed.

After arrival, the invader and defender each choose an encounter pod from their cache and “prime” it, shrouding it in their flagship. These primed pods are the leaders’ “drivers” and will determine the intent of their fleet, as well as greatly affecting their fleet’s might. If a leader cannot prime a driver due to lack of resources, they must reveal their cache in order to continue to the next phase without a driver. Their fleet becomes a disorganized “stooge” that will mimic the intent of the enemy fleet, with 0 total might if opposing a brigade. Actors may also prime lucre during this phase to bribe the opponent to either throw the encounter or make a deal. The lucre will be rebounded unless the opponent loses or a successful deal is made.

Encounter

The encounter phase begins with “contact”, where the drivers primed during the approach phase are revealed, confirming the intent of the fleets. The encounter takes a different form depending on the two types of fleets deployed:

• • • Brigade vs. Brigade: A clash occurs. The fleet with the higher might wins. If the winning fleet wins peacefully, the losing ships are rebounded. Otherwise, they are destroyed as casualties.
    • Brigade vs. Envoy: A massacre occurs.
    • Envoy vs. Envoy: A negotiation occurs. See section on negotiation for more info.
    • Brigade vs. Trojan: A clash occurs. Trojan’s driver morphs into an attack pod equal to double the opponent’s cache size.
    • Envoy vs. Trojan: A negotiation occurs. The envoy receives bonus influence equal to its committed ships, and the trojan cannot quash the negotiation.
    • Trojan vs. Trojan: A cataclysm occurs. Both fleets lose.
    • Morph vs. Morph: A cataclysm occurs. Both fleets lose.
    • Stooge vs. Stooge: A slapfight occurs. Each leader destroys one ship in their fleet for each ship in the enemy fleet. Fleets with ships remaining win. Fleets with no ships remaining lose.
• Regardless of the combination of fleets, the encounter will take the form of either combat or negotiation. If combat, both fleets may prime distress pods as a means of calling for help at the last minute. If any member of either fleet primes at least one distress pod, all aliens will be made aware of it, but the value of the distress pod(s) will be private until the end of combat.
  • • Combat: Fleets with might attack one another.
      • Clash: Higher might wins the encounter. Lower might loses the encounter. If neither fleet has more than 0 might, the invader wins peacefully. Otherwise, if the might is the same, the defender wins. 
      • Massacre: Brigade wins the encounter. Opposing fleet receives compensation equal to ships lost.
      • Cataclysm: Both fleets automatically lose.
    • Negotiation: Leaders take turns making demands, spending their influence for each one. Negating a demand must be done in response to a demand. When a negotiation fails, both sides lose the encounter, and only the leader ships are lost. An alien can choose to quash a deal, cancelling all demands. If they do, that alien will suffer casualties, with the opponent’s ships and sponsor ships being rebounded. No backer boons are granted regardless of the outcome of a negotiation.
      • When negotiating, valid demands that can be made include:
        • Revive 1 ship – Costs 1 influence.
        • Draft 1 pod – Costs 1 influence.
        • Probe opponent’s cache – Costs 2 influence.
        • Request 1 specific pod from opponent – Costs 1 influence.
        • Peaceful victory – Costs 1 influence plus 1 per dominion. (Invader only).
        • Remove a sponsor from the encounter – Costs 1 influence per that alien’s sponsor ships. (Defender only)
        • Special Offers – Consult alien bio.
        • Request the opponent’s technology – Costs 1 influence for each ship on the tech. (min. 1)
        • Request the opponent’s space station – Costs 3 influence.
        • Negate a demand – Costs 2 influence.
• The encounter phase ends after the winner(s) and loser(s) are determined.

Payoff

After the encounter is over, the winner(s) of the encounter receive rewards and the loser(s) of the encounter receive penalties. The winning invader and sponsors establish new bases, and other surviving ships are rebounded. Rebounded ships return to any existing home bases, or foreign bases belonging to eliminated aliens. The payoff phase begins with “crash” where the losers’ ships are destroyed as casualties and compensation is paid out. Then, the winner(s) receive any rewards they are entitled to obtain, including bases, bounties, or any terms agreed upon during a successful negotiation.

Upkeep

All uncharged pods return from exhausts to the forge, and charged pods return to their owners’ cache. It is determined whether the invader will continue their campaign or if the gate will transfer to the next alien in the cycle. Determine whether aliens will be active or inactive next invasion based on their current prestige. If the invader continues their campaign, they continue from their current system. Dominion check also occurs during this phase, to determine if any aliens are capable of performing a takeover and winning the match. Aliens can spend their lucre during this phase

Technology

Technology (or tech) acts as a mechanic to make ships more valuable and scarce as a resource. It is generally only found in the hi-tech dimension. When technology is in play, every alien receives three techs during setup, shrouding them in their nexus. Aliens may only interact with one tech once each warpfall, performing one of three actions:

• Research: Aliens may jump one of their ships to the tech to research it.
• Develop: If they have as many or more ships as the tech’s cost on the tech, they may rebound their ships to “develop” the tech, activating its effect and then scrapping it. Some technology can be developed during other phases. If so, it does not consume one of these three actions.
• Abandon: Aliens may also rebound their ships to abandon the tech, scrapping it without using its effect. 

Tech may be requested as part of a deal, costing authority equal to the number of ships on it (or 1 if none). When receiving a tech via a negotiation, the new owner places as many ships on it as the previous owner had. Stable technology is a variant that remains in-play after it has been developed for the remainder of the match. If not stable, technology is scrapped after use. There are 40 different technologies in my Cosmic, ranging in cost from 0 to 8.

• Lucky Charm – 0 cost – When developed, draft another tech. During any warpfall, revive one ship.
• Brainwave Tracer – 2 cost – After any arrival, snatch a pod from another alien. Gift this tech to that alien instead of scrapping it.
• Cosmic Field Generator – 2 cost – Can be developed during any phase. You may develop this tech to zap any alien’s power, including your own.
• Nanite Mining – 2 cost – When developed, draft another tech. When requesting a resupply, draft an additional pod. 
• Vacuum Turbines – 2 cost – Extract four pods. Add any or all of them to your cache and scrap the rest.
• Destiny Flux – 3 cost – When developed, draft another tech. After destiny is manifested, scramble destiny.
• Flare Projector – 3 cost – When developed, draft another tech. You may discharge any number of flares. Stable.
• Power Radiant – 3 cost – When developed, draft another tech. Can be developed during any phase. You may scrap an alien’s flare to zap that alien.
• Warp Master Key – 3 cost – Revive all of your ships.
• Quark Battery – 3 cost – When this tech is developed, shroud a pod from your cache in this tech. As a leader, after contact, you may scrap this tech to scrap your driver and replace it with the pod in this tech.
• Xenon Lasers – 3 cost – As an actor, after contact if this tech is developed, you may add or subtract 1 might from your fleet. Stable.
• Collapsium Hulls – 4 cost – As a defender, when you lose a combat by 5 might or less, you may develop this tech to make one of your ships impervious this encounter. 
• Energy Cloak – 4 cost – As an invader, you may develop this tech to prevent the defender from commissioning any sponsors this invasion.
• Enigma Device – 4 cost – Every alien scraps their cache and receives a free resupply.
• Genesis Bomb – 4 cost – Manifest a planet in your home system. You may immediately create a home base on this planet using any of the ships used to research this tech.
• The Qax – 4 cost – As a leader, after this tech is developed, gift this tech to another alien when commissioning them to force them to sponsor you at maximum capacity. They do not have to abandon bases to do so. Stable.
• Station Dock – 5 cost – Manifest a random space station.
• Lunar Cannon – 5 cost – When developed, this tech is stationed between two of your home planets. Add 10 might to your fleet when one of these two planets is the target planet and you are an actor. When wild destiny is manifested, you may jump this tech in between any two planets. Stable.
• Zap-O-Tron – 5 cost – Zap an alien. Shroud this tech in your nexus instead of scrapping it.
• Infinity Drive – 6 cost – You may develop this tech during any upkeep. Ambush another alien of your choice.
• Plasma Thrusters – 6 cost – Increase your gate capacity by 1. As the defender, you may jump one of your ships to the target planet after launch. Stable.
• Battleship – 7 cost – Manifest a battleship and station it on one of your bases. Battleships have 4 base might.
• Omega Missile – 8 cost – Vaporize a planet of your choice and destroy all ships on it.
• Precursor Seed – 8 cost – Manifest a random power. That power becomes your sub-power this match.
• Cosmic Catapult – X cost – Can only be developed during any combat if a hazard destiny is in effect. During combat, add 3 to a fleet for each research ship on this tech. Then, destroy all research ships on this tech.
• Gluon Mines – X cost – As the defender, after approach, you may develop this tech to destroy one committed ship in the enemy fleet for each research ship on this tech. If there are no committed enemy ships remaining, you win the encounter.
• Nuclear Missiles – X cost – Can be developed at any time if a hazard destiny is in effect. Target a planet. For each research ship on this tech, destroy one ship on the chosen planet. Then destroy all research ships on this tech.
• Strange Attractor – X cost – Can be developed at any time if a hazard destiny is in effect. Reveal all flares in other aliens’ caches. For each research ship on this tech, snatch one of those flares. Then, destroy all research ships on this tech.
• Tech Scrambler – X cost – Can be developed during any phase. Zap another tech with equal or less cost as the number of research ships on this tech, rebounding all of the research ships on the zapped tech.
• Thorium Rod – X cost – Can be developed at any time if a hazard destiny is in effect. Target another alien. For each research ship on this tech, scrap a pod in that alien’s cache. Then, destroy all research ships on this tech.
• Treasure Drones – X cost – Can be developed at any time if a hazard destiny is in effect. Reset the forge. Then, for each research ship on this tech, draft a pod. Destroy all of those ships.

Space Stations

Space Stations offer additional bonuses to aliens for as long as they can maintain a home base on the specific planet where the station is located. If space stations are enabled, every alien receives three space stations during setup and chooses one to station on one of their home planets. The remaining are scrapped. Space stations generally only exist in the defensive dimension.

Space stations may be exchanged as part of negotiations, with a flat cost of 3 influence. When receiving a space station from a negotiation, the new owner places the station on a home planet of their choosing.  Some space stations are marked as “accessible”, which means that any alien with a base on that station’s planet gains access to the station’s effect. 

There are 35 different space stations in my Cosmic.

• Alien Outpost – When you receive this space station, manifest a random power. While this station is active, gain that alien power as a sub-power.
• Artifact Detection Grid – Whenever another alien discharges an artifact, you may gain a boon.
• Big Sky Laser – As a leader, after contact, you may add 3 to your total for each alien with a colony on this station’s planet. Accessible.
• Big Space Laser – As a leader, during combat, you may add 10 might to your fleet if you have no sponsors.
• Burst Targeter – As a defender or backward, after arrival, you may rebound two committed ships of your choice from the enemy fleet.
• Colony Cloak – As a defender, after launch, if this planet is targeted, you may ravage one of your ships here to force the opponent to target a different planet this invasion.
• Cosmic Energy Generator – As an actor, after your fleet wins, place two of your marks on this station. As an actor, after your side loses, remove one of your marks from this station. While you have five or more marks on this station, this station provides one dominion.
• Exhortation – Each alien who does not have a base on this station’s planet has two less influence and must pay two additional pods when paying compensation. Accessible.
• Flare Intensifier – During upkeep, if you have no flares in your exhaust, you may manifest a random flare. Then, if you already have a flare in your cache, scrap one flare.
• Fluxx Capacitor – As a sponsor, after arrival, if you were commissioned by both leaders, place one of your marks on this station. As a sponsor, after approach, you may scrap a mark from this station to switch fleets.
• Golden City – Whenever an negotiation begins, gain two boons. Accessible.
• Hand Additor – When requesting a resupply, draft two additional pods. While this station is online, you may request one additional free resupply.
• High-Activity Staging Zone – As a leader, after launch, target a bystander and one of their home planets. If that bystander sponsors the opponent this encounter, they may only commit ships from that planet.
• Hyperspace Redirect – As the defender, after launch, you may reverse the rewards for forewards and backwards. Forewards receive backer boons and backwards can establish a base on the target planet.
• Icy Mines – During any warpfall, you may scrap a pod from your cache.
• Massive Battery – When you discharge a reinforcement pod, increase its might by the number of ships on this station’s planet.
• Obligatron – As a sponsor, after arrival, you may snatch a pod from any or all sponsor(s) that committed more ships than you did. 
• Observation Platform – As a bystander, after arrival, you may gain one boon.
• Option Cycler – As a leader, during an encounter, if you reveal an attack pod with at least 11 might, you may turn your fleet into an envoy. If your pod had 20 or more might, triple your compensation and double your influence this encounter.
• Orbital Billboards – As an invader, during warpfall, you may publicly display your cache to all other aliens. If you do, double the might of any attack pods you discharge as your driver this invasion. If you double an attack pod with this effect, ravage one ship on this station’s planet.
• Oscillation Overthruster – During any clash, if the might of both fleets combined totals at least 42, you may jump all ships from this station’s planet to the target planet.
• Popularity Monitor – As a leader, during combat, you may add 1 might to your fleet for each point of authority you have.
• Quark Refinery – As a leader, during combat, if your driver’s might is an odd number, you may increase its might by 5. If the opponent’s driver’s might is an odd number, you may reduce its value by 5.
• Recycler – As a sponsor, during any payoff, you may draft a random pod from a random exhaust.
• Rift Enacter – After any alien snatches a pod with an aur value from 01 to 06 from your cache, you may force that alien to ravage their ships equal to the might of that snatched pod. As an invader, during warpfall, you may scrap a pod with an aur value from 01 to 06 to revive your ships equal to its might.
• Shield Generator – As a sponsor, during payoff after losing, you may make your committed ships impervious and rebound them to this station’s planet.
• Shock Trooper Shuttle Pods – When you are not the invader, during any warpfall, you may revive one ship. If you have no ships in the warp, you may ravage another alien’s ship instead.
• Stun Apparatus – As a leader, after contact, the might of your opponent’s driver is reduced by the number of ships on this station’s planet.
• Tactical Array – As a defender, after destiny, you may draft two pods.
• Targeting Depot – As a sponsor, after arrival, you may publicly display a pod from your cache to all other aliens. This encounter, for each brigade, the might of each driver will be the difference between the aur values of your displayed pod and the driver.
• Temporal Matrix – If your flagship is destroyed, you may revive it. As the invader, during destiny, you may reuse the previous destiny charge if you have already done an invasion this campaign.
• Transdimensional Rift Relay – As a leader, after contact, you can commit ships from this station’s planet, exceeding gate capacity.
• Warp Harvester – As a sponsor, during crunch, the value of your fleet’s reinforcements will equal the number of your ships in the warp.
• Zaptimizer – You may discharge any artifact pod in your cache as a card zap.
• Zap Zapper – When a “zap” pod is discharged, you may ravage one ship from this station’s planet to zap that artifact.

Moons

Moons begin the match shrouded, with only the owner of the home system able to probe their effects. Moon effects cannot be utilized until an alien establishes a base there. When a base is established on a moon, the owner of the base becomes the moon’s owner, gaining exclusive right to probing and using moon’s effect. If the moon is unoccupied, the owner of the system becomes the de-facto owner again but still cannot use the effect. If a planet with a moon is vaporized, the moon is also vaporized. There are 9 types of moons:

• Quarter Moon – Immediate effect that activates when a base is stationed on the moon.
• Half Moon – Continuous effect that gets stronger if the owner occupies two or more half moons.
• Full Moon – Continuous effect that affects all aliens.
• Blue Moon – Can be revealed by the owner for a one-time ability.
• Secret Moon – Can be revealed by the owner for a continuous ability.
• Hub Moon – Effect that applies while the owner is negotiating. This type of moon allows any number of ships to station on it.
• Moon Base – Counts as an additional base for the owner, separate from the base on the moon’s planet. Carries a penalty in exchange.
• Cheesy Moon – Silly or chaotic effect.
• New Moon – When revealed, can be any other moon type.

My Cosmic has 90 different moons, ten of each type. Consult the separate Moons tab for the full list of Moons.

Hazards

• Black Hole – Any ships that would be destroyed this invasion are vaporized.
• Blood Moon – This invasion, no alien may prime a negotiation pod as their driver.
• Buried Treasure – Extract six pods and shroud them in the forge. The leader that wins this invasion’s encounter may probe those pods and draft any or all of them. If both leaders win, each leader may probe and draft three of the pods. Any pods not drafted are scrapped.
• Cosmic Nebula – This invasion, any powers used are immediately zapped.
• Cosmic Quake – All pods in all caches return to the forge. The aur in the forge is reset, and all aliens receive a free resupply. No pods may be discharged in response to this hazard manifesting.
• Cursed Chest – Extract six pods from the dark forge. The leader that loses this invasion’s encounter may probe those pods and draft any or all of them. If both leaders lose, each leader may probe and draft three of the pods. Any pods not drafted are scrapped.
• Data Breach – Each leader that wins this invasion’s encounter manifests a technology and shrouds it in their nexus.
• Energy Fields – This invasion, after launch, each leader drafts two pods and publicly displays them until after commission.
• Federation Intervention – When this hazard manifests, proceed to the contact phase. Perform a negotiation between all aliens. Starting with the invader, aliens take turns counter-clockwise spending their influence, directed at any alien of their choice. Aliens may cancel requests but no alien may cancel the deal. The invader may still ask the defender for a peaceful victory.
• Gate Malfunction – Each alien that commits ships can only commit ships from one planet in their home system.
• Guilty Conscience – If a leader loses this encounter, their left neighbor must ravage their own ships equal to the leader’s casualties.
• House Arrest – Sponsors that commit ships this invasion must commit ships from their foreign bases.
• Invasion Tax – The invader must gift one pod to each alien whose system the invader has a base in. If the invader does not have enough pods to gift, they ravage one ship from each of their foreign colonies instead.
• Logistics Error – The invader scraps their hand. Each other alien gifts the invader a pod from their caches. Then, every alien drafts a pod.
• Lost in Space – This invasion, the target planet will be a random planet in system other than the invader’s. The invader may consume one fuel to reroll the target planet, as many times as they can afford. 
• Meteor Storm – This invasion, if a clash occurs and the might of both fleets combined is 25 or more, a cataclysm occurs instead.
• Mirror Universe – This invasion, backwards receive a base on the target planet as a reward. and forewards receive backer boons as rewards.
• Odd Comet – This invasion, if one leader’s driver is an odd attack pod and the other’s driver is an even attack pod, the leader with the odd driver blitzes the opponent.
• Psionic Resonator – This invasion, attack pods have double might.
• Psychic Switcheroo – Until the end of upkeep, leaders trade powers, including all aspects. 
• Sargasso Web – This invasion, before flares are rebounded during upkeep, any pods in the exhaust are vaporized.
• Strange Wormhole – This invasion, the invader and defender are temporarily removed from the match. The next available alien starts their campaign with only the remaining aliens. If there are no aliens remaining to invade, the campaign immediately ends. The invader and defender return to the match at the end of the campaign. The rotation continues with the original invader, starting their campaign again from orientation.
• Temporal Anomaly – After this campaign, the rotation proceeds in the opposite direction.
• The Cosmic Guardian – Boss Hazard. All attack cards higher than 20 turn a fleet into an envoy.
• The Danger Zone – Boss Hazard. Manifest a hazard every invasion, regardless of destiny.
• The Entropy Beast – Boss Hazard. Each time a rainbow destiny manifests, vaporize a random planet with the most ships stationed on it, destroying all ships on that planet. If any alien has fewer than three planets due to this effect, all aliens are eliminated.
• The Madness of War – Boss Hazard. If an invader is invading more than once during a campaign, manifest a hazard that invasion, regardless of destiny.
• The New Mandate – Boss Hazard. Bases only grant authority or dominion if they have 2 or more ships.
• The Peace Treaty – Boss Hazard. During encounters, if only one fleet is a brigade, the other wins peacefully.
• The Spirit of Friendship – Boss Hazard. The invader selects another alien and stations one of its ships in that alien’s nexus. Both aliens must always commission one other when acting as a leader. If this hazard is replaced, the original invader’s gifted ship is rebounded.
• The Subspace Emissary – Boss Hazard. Leaders may only commission one other alien each encounter.
• Universe Merge – Every alien manifests two flares and adds them to their caches. 
• Unstable Weaponry – This invasion, if a clash occurs and the might of both fleets combined is 42 or more, a cataclysm occurs and the target planet is vaporized.
• Warp Leak – This encounter, sponsors may commit ships from the warp, not exceeding gate capacity.
• Warp Requiem – This invasion, if the invader wins the encounter, they may revive all of their ships. If the defender wins, all aliens other than the invader may revive all of their ships.

Essence

Some aliens possess “essence” in addition to traditional marks. Essence behaves similarly to marks, but they are not fungible. Each individual essence contains its own unique effect, distinguishing it from the other essence. Both marks and essence generally receive a nickname that links them to a more tangible object when needing to perform a specific function, such as Fury’s “rage” or Nanny’s “consequences.” Aliens have an infinite number of marks, while essence is limited to a number specific to each alien.

An alien with essence has an essence pool containing any number of individual essences. During setup, three of the essences are manifested from the pool. Whenever an essence is either linked or removed from the nexus, another is manifested from the pool to replace it. This cycle continues until only one essence remains in the pool. At that point, the pool is reset, allowing previously used essence to manifest again. This system helps deter against choice fatigue. When an alien has 10+ different essences, it can be tricky to choose one in an expedient fashion. Worst case, the metagame will determine which essences are superior and create a predictable and “optimal” order, making the power less interesting. Having the essences generating randomly with 3 selectable at a time helps provide options while still providing options to the user. Essences are vaporized after being triggered unless otherwise specified. Unless otherwise stated, essence is automatically shrouded when gifted to another alien, preventing them from seeing it. FFG Cosmic’s essence has the same rules as mine, except all essence is vaporized when a power is lost and the pool is reset. Mine works the same as every other mechanic, where the power “freezes” in place when the power is lost, turning off until the alien either gets their power back or the power turns back on. My essence also resets when there is one essence in the pool instead of zero to add a bit more variety to the cycle. In FFG’s Cosmic, the mechanic is called the “essence card cache”.

Scoring System

• Prime Galaxy – 4 points per dominion, 2 points per authority
• Incursion Galaxy – 3 points per dominion, 1 point per authority, 1 point per ship in the warp
• Conflict Galaxy – 4 points per dominion, 3 points per authority
• Alliance Galaxy – 2 points per coexisting foreign base, 1 point per solo foreign base,  2 points per home planet with multiple bases, 1 point per home planet with solo base.
• Storm Galaxy – 1 point per dominion, 2 points per authority, 1 point per pod in cache 
• Dominion Galaxy – 5 points per dominion, -1 point per ship in the warp
• Eon Galaxy – 1 point per dominion, 6 bonus points granted to winning aliens
• Occupation Galaxy – -3 points per foreign base in your system, -1 point per ship in the warp
• Battle Galaxy – X points per dominion, X points per authority. X is the number of cycles that took place during the match.
• Venture Galaxy – X points per dominion, Y points per authority. X is the dominion of the alien(s) with the least amount of dominion. Y is the authority of the alien(s) with the least amount of authority. The minimum for both is 0.
• Frontier Galaxy – 2 points per dominion, 2 points per authority
• Luminance Galaxy – 3 points per dominion, 1 point per authority, 1 point per lucre
• Mutation Galaxy – 3 points per dominion, 1 point per authority.

Score Hunting

• Host with the Most – 1 point – Gain points from this title for each foreign ship in your home system.
• Friendly – 2 points – Gain points from this title for each planet you coexist on.
• Curator – 2 points – Gain points from this title for each artifact in our cache.
• Diverse Investor – 3 points – Gain points from this title for each type of pod in your cache
• Eco Friendly – 3 points – Gain points from this title for each fuel cell in your nexus.
• Stockpiler – 3 points – Gain points from this title for each distress pod in your cache.
• Concentrated Colonizer – 4 points – Gain points from this title for each of your foreign bases with three or more ships on it.
• Moneybags – 4 points – Gain points from this title for each lucre in your cache.
• Warmonger – 4 points – Gain points from this title for each negotiate in your hand.
• Silver Medalist – 5 points – If you did not win the match, gain points from this title for each alien you had more dominion than.
• Luminosity – 5 points – Gain points from this title for each flare in your cache.
• Cheerleader – 6 points – Your left neighbor was one of the winning aliens.
• Fully Stocked – 6 points – Have more than 8 pods in your cache.
• Closing Act – 6 points – You were a leader in the final invasion this match.
• Battle Hardened – 6 points – Have more ships in the warp than free ships.
• Prepared For Anything – 6 points – In your cache, have an attack pod with the highest aur value out of any alien’s cache.
• Strong Supporter – 6 points – Have two or more support pods than attack pods in your cache.
• Enlightened – 7 points – Have no lucre in your cache.
• History Buff – 7 points – Have two or more artifacts in your cache. 
• Good Neighbor – 7 points – At least one of your neighbors coexists with you on at least two different planets.
• Silent Protagonist – 7 points – Do not use the text or voice channels at all.
• Synced Minds – 7 points – Have the same number of pods in your cache as at least one other alien.
• Under Budget – 7 points – Have one or more free resupplies remaining.
• Crowd Favorite – 8 points – Have or be tied for the most influence.
• Cutthroat – 8 points – One or more aliens was eliminated this match.
• Emptiest Mind – 8 points – Have or be tied for the fewest pods in your cache.
• Expanded Borders – 8 points – Have at least two foreign bases in the same system.
• Tour Guide – 8 points – Have or be tied with having the most foreign ships in your system.
• Nameless Warrior – 8 points – Your power is deactivated.
• Warp Explorer – 8 points – Have or be tied for the most ships in the warp.
• Well Traveled – 8 points – Have a base in four or more systems.
• Hoardest – 9 points – Have or be tied for the most pods in your cache.
• Lone Colonizer – 9 points – Have or be tied for the most solo foreign bases.
• Blessed By the Forge – 9 points – Have three or more of the same type of support pod in your cache.
• Out of the Warp – 10 points – Have or be tied for the fewest ships in the warp.
• Professional Fence Sitter – 10 points – You were a bystander in the final invasion this match.
• Living on the Edge – 12 points – Have one base remaining in your home system.
• Little Trooper – X points – If the smallest attack pod in your cache is 10 or less, gain points equal to its aur value.
• Self Disciplined – X points – Gain points from this title equal to half the aur value of your highest attack pod (rounding up)
• Weapon Shepherd – X points – Gain points from this title equal to the combined total of pods in your cache with aur value of 04 or less (min 0).

In addition to the basic rules, there are also special “dimensions” that can be added to modify a match further. Dimensions are modular, meaning they can be added and removed at will to any match, allowing for any combination of them to apply at once. Each dimension has an associated adjective, which refers to the ring where the match will take place. The default Federation-approved type of match is Nuclear Normal.

• Armed: Dual-pod combat in effect.
• Celestial: Moons are in effect.
• Clean: No poison pods in the forge.
• Commercial: Forge Showcase in effect.
• Cursed: Three random legacies in effect.
• Decrypted: Aliens can communicate freely.
• Defensive: Space Stations in effect.
• Expensive: Lucre costs are doubled. Two lucre required to pay for one pod in compensation.
• Familiar: Powers begin revealed.
• Formal: Enable the Federation deck.
• Galactic: 8-alien match. Uses the larger forge pool.
• Garbled: Disable text channel.
• Generous: Provisions and resupplies provide two additional lucre.
• Green: Green-alert aliens only.
• Haunted: Two random legacies in effect.
• Hazardous: Hazard warnings are in effect.
• Heartless: Aliens begin with zero free resupplies.
• Hi-Tech: Technology is in effect.
• Homesick: Only aliens from the current galaxy can participate in the match.
• Huge: 7-alien match. Uses the larger forge pool.
• Illicit: Dark Forge is in effect.
• Large: 6-alien match.
• Memorial: Random legacy in effect.
• Mute: Disable voice channels.
• Normal: 5-alien match
• Nuclear: Flare pods added to the forge.
• Official: Enable Scoring system. Determine which galaxy the match takes place in for specifics.
• Playful: Enable Score Hunting variant.
• Secure: Enable the Praw.
• Shadow: Hidden Options in effect. Each alien starts with two alien powers. They may reveal one at any time to use that power, making it their alien power for the match. Mandatory powers do not have to be activated until the power is used for the first time.
• Silver: Aliens can purchase three boons for three lucre instead of vouchers.
• Stingy: Provisions, resupplies, and backer boons do not include lucre.
• Tiny: 4-alien match
• Toxic: More poison pods added to the forge. (2 per alien)
• Two-Faced: Dual powers in effect. Each participating alien has two alien powers instead of one.
• Unstable: Morphing powers in effect. All alien powers will transform to random other ones at the end of every campaign.
• Yellow: Green and yellow-alert aliens only.

Consult the Moons section under Advanced Cosmic for information on how the moons mechanic works. The following 90 moons can be utilized in my Cosmic: