Graviton
Alert
Combat
Control
Type
Power of Gravity
Alters Gravity to Warp Drivers
As a leader, after approach, you may use this power declare “light” or “heavy” gravity. If declaring light gravity, the might of all drivers become equal to their ones digit. If declaring heavy gravity, the might of all drivers become equal to their tens digit. For instance, a 13 becomes a 03 in light gravity and a 01 in heavy gravity.
Legacy: By default, light gravity is in effect during every encounter. If a hazard is in effect, heavy gravity is in effect during the encounter instead.
When objects interact, they apply force upon one another. Such is the natural state of reality. However, there are some objects which are more forceful than others, which can cause quite a few problems for sentient life. Graviton doesn’t see what the big deal is. If the force is too strong, just lower it.
Leader: Approach
Optional
Wild Flare
As a leader, after arrival, you may discharge this flare to declare “light gravity” for this encounter. The might of any revealed drivers will be equal to their ones digit.
Leader: Arrival
Super Flare
When using your power, you may discharge this flare to declare “super heavy gravity.” Attack drivers become equal to the tens digit minus the ones digit. For instance, a 09 becomes -09.
Leader: Approach
Modifications
- Though only a superficial change, the original Graviton does not specify “light” or “heavy” gravity. Instead, they just specify “ones” or “tens.” I made this change to keep it in line with the theme and seem less gamey.
- Original Super Graviton can have its power only affect one fleet. I deemed this effect too potent while also creating a sense of false choice. There’s little reason why you’d ever choose light gravity if only the opponent gets affected. I modified it to give Graviton a fourth choice, to really keep its opponent guessing.
- Graviton’s legacy alters the gravity of encounters for the rest of the match, making encounter pods much less useful. Aliens which can get use out of weak encounter pods, such as Volt and Mirror, can make good use of this one. Aliens like Clone and Filch, which get their power from obtaining strong encounter pods, are less enthused about it. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Graviton dramatically reduces the potential gap that can be created through encounter pods alone, making reinforcements and sponsors much more potent.
- Heavy gravity is much more potent at reducing the value of pods than light gravity. Even if the opponent plays the maximum value by burning their 40 pod, it will only be 4 more than the minimum value of 0, a difference that can be closed by a single sponsor.
- When opposing Graviton, make sure you have more sponsors if you are concerned about the power being activated.
- Graviton’s power renders all strong attack pods 20 or higher effectively worthless. If ones is declared, they will have no value, and they aren’t worth playing for the 1-3 extra points they give normally.
- Graviton’s main power comes from the choice it has in using its power. It can operate with normal, light, or heavy gravity, keeping everyone guessing. Since other aliens will not know which Graviton will pick, they will likely avoid playing their strongest pods. This makes it generally safe for Graviton to play a 20 or higher without fear of the opponent doing the same, assuming they haven’t done it already that match.
Development Notes
- A “graviton” is a hypothetical concept in quantum gravity. It’s what theoretically mediates the gravitational force between two objects. In terms of naming, it works so much better than having an alien named “Gravity.” I keep wanting to call it “Gravitron,” like it’s some kind of gravity-based robot. I’m sure that helped inspire the artwork.
- Graviton is the sort of power that really makes me consider the framing of the combat. It’s a power that makes a lot of sense mechanically from that sort of anime shonen perspective, a creature that can alter the gravity around them so both fighters are floating around or can barely move due to it. Both of these effects would naturally result in lower combat potential if they were fighting with swords on solid ground, but it means less in the context of two fleets of ships shooting lasers in space.
- Mechanically, Graviton is most similar to a power like Mirror or Calculator, a combat effect that alters all attack drivers by playing around with the numbers, and it is activated after drivers are already primed. The two numbers are determined independently of one another, making it more like Mirror. However, it is the complete opposite of Mirror in terms of the effect, dramatically reducing the difference between drivers instead of increasing it. If Graviton’s power is active, the difference between drivers is guaranteed to be 09 or less, which has interesting synergy with powers like Daredevil that are looking for close calls. Graviton is a pretty effective counter to Spiff, especially with heavy gravity.
- The key difference between light and heavy gravity is the degree to which drivers will matter. With light gravity, they can still make a difference. With heavy gravity, 99% of encounters will end up with drivers with might of 00 or 01.
- Graviton does have its own attack pod economy like Mirror does, but it’s much simpler. The 09 pod is the most valuable, and the 00 pod is least valuable. Pods higher than 09 have value equal to their ones digit, since drivers can basically be disregarded in heavy gravity. This makes the 15 the strongest pod in the tens digit, and it is only about half as strong as the 09, making it a questionable pick when opposing Graviton.
- I like the idea of super heavy gravity much more than letting Graviton only target its opponent with heavy gravity. There isn’t much that can be done to counter the latter, while the former adds more potential for mind games. The 09 is the strongest in light gravity, but it’s the weakest in super heavy gravity. With super heavy in effect, most attack pods will result in negative values, which puts aliens at risk of being unable to attack if they are not careful. As with heavy gravity, the strongest pod is the 40, resulting in a might of 4. However, it is still risky to play the 40 against Graviton due to the possibility of light gravity.