Ghoul
Alert
Resource
Type
Power to Feast
Gains Boons from Casualties
As a leader, after winning an encounter, use this power to gain a boon for each casualty the opposing fleet suffers.
Legacy: After winning in combat, leaders gain boons equal to the number of casualties their opponent suffers, in addition to normal rewards.
A being unknown to be alive or dead, the Ghouls stick to the shadows, revealing themselves when they spot a tasty soul to snack on. What exactly they eat is unknown, but those that fall into the warp after being consumed find that they are never quite the same once revived.
Leader: Encounter
Mandatory
Wild Flare
As a leader, after winning an encounter, you may discharge this flare to gain a boon for each enemy that suffered casualties this encounter.
Leader: Encounter
Super Flare
As a foreward, after your fleet wins an encounter, you may discharge this flare to use your power.
Leader: Encounter
Modifications
- Ghoul’s legacy gives everyone a taste of Ghoul’s power, only restricted to the opponent’s casualties, not the entire enemy fleet. Primarily, it gives the defender some reward for winning, as opposed to simply the benefit of not being punished. Invaders may want to target bases with more stationed ships, in hopes of getting more boons. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Similar to Void and Fungus, Ghoul’s power applies to all ships in the opposing fleet, not just the leader’s. Ghoul can rack up a ton of boons if opposed by many enemies, but it has no inherent combat power.
- While it is still risky to oppose Ghoul with many ships, it is much less risky than Void or Fungus, as Ghoul doesn’t punish its opposition.
- Ghoul can play a little fast and loose with its ships, since any single victory can gain many of them back, as either invader or defender.
- Ghoul needs to win encounters to get boons, meaning a double loss won’t cut it. It also needs to destroy enemy ships to get anything, so peaceful victories are no good either. Ghoul is a fan of inflicting massacres, so be wary about Ghoul coming to negotiate. One backstab is usually all it needs.
Development Notes
- The same as the original, my version of Ghoul does not gain rewards if the opposing ships are captured or vaporized instead of destroyed, as casualties have to be destroyed. I find this important with Ghoul for thematic reasons, as Ghoul is consuming the souls of its defeated enemies to gain new ships and pods. If the bodies are vaporized or not even destroyed, the souls won’t be present to consume.
- As a fellow boon earner, Ghoul can most easily be compared with Mercenary, the power that gains boons from any victory. The powers have two key differences: role and choice. Ghoul’s spoils are leader-only and determined by the number of enemy ships, meaning it gets more from enemy sponsors and doesn’t have much choice in this matter. Mercenary chooses how many boons it will receive from winning, and it always gets them regardless of its role. Thus, one Ghoul victory can earn more boons than several Mercenary victories, but Mercenary may end up with more boons in the long run if Ghoul can’t get a big win.
- I was thinking over what exactly makes this alien red alert, while Mercenary is green and Fungus is yellow. I think it’s because of the sheer number of boons this one is capable of earning that can catch a new player off-guard. Boons allow drafting from the dark forge, which requires greater knowledge of those pods to deal with.
- Suppose Ghoul is sponsored by Super Void and defeats Warpish who sent an envoy. What happens? Due to the timing rule, Ghoul’s power resolves first, gaining boons for souls. Then Super Void vaporizes all the casualties. Then Warpish gains compensation for lost ships. If Super Ghoul sponsors Void, Void will vaporize the casualties before Ghoul can feast, meaning no boons. According to official Federation rules, a massacre results in compensation equal to casualties, so the same amount of compensation is paid out either way.
- One of the main issues I wanted to resolve with this power was the abstract nature of gaining “boons.” Feasting on the souls of defeated enemies makes enough sense in the same vein as Grudge or Reincarnator, but why does that translate to ships or pods. Reviving fallen allies by feasting on souls makes enough sense, but the framing I’ve gone with for pod drafting seems to involve Federation permission to some degree. Then again, the process for pod drafting extends to things like Masochist and Mutant, who draft their own pods using their own special methods. Converting souls or spirits or the energy released from death into the energy needed to draft a pod does make enough sense for me to rationalize it.