Moth

Alert

Resource

Type

Power to Flicker

Claims Discharged Flares

Whenever another alien discharges a non-burnout flare, you may use this power to claim that flare.

When you would receive a resupply, you may display all flares in your cache in stasis until upkeep.

Legacy: Whenever a flare is discharged, it is vaporized.

Since the flare’s inception, no alien has taken such a shine to the technology as the Moths. Drawn to the bright light of the radiation, their flamelike bodies appear from the ether and vanish just as quickly with the flare in tow. Sadly they do not go away so easily once they invade your system.

Any: Any

Optional

Wild Flare

As an actor, after contact, you may discharge this flare. Each alien in your fleet may prime a flare as a distress pod. The first primed flare adds 20 might to your fleet, and each subsequent flare adds 10 might. If at least one alien scrapped a flare, this flare gains burnout.

Leader: Arrival

Super Flare

As a leader, during a clash, you may discharge this flare. Immediately recharge this flare. Add 3 might to your fleet for each flare in your cache.

Leader: Clash

Modifications

Original power is named Inferno. Changed to avoid the theme clashing with my Pyro.
Originally the power to “flare”. Very fitting name for the power given the mechanics, but I needed to change it to match my theme.
Since FFG Cosmic has flares immediately return to their cache, Inferno distinguishes burnout flares by only letting its power work if the flare would return to the user’s cache. Mine just specifies it works with non-burnout flares.
In FFG Cosmic, there is a rule that states each flare can only be used once per invasion. I make this rule more visually clear by putting discharged flares in the exhaust until upkeep. Since Moth claims the flares
Original Super Inferno is an alt-win effect that automatically wins the match if you have at least five flares including the super flare. Changed to remove alt-win effects from the game.
Moth’s legacy makes all flares single-use, including tethered burnout or super flares. This legacy is especially punishing toward Reactor, since it drastically reduces the leverage they can earn from offering an alien their super flare. It’s also punishing against Chrysalis, lessening the impact of it starting as the super version of an alien. Notably burnout flares don’t lose any of their value, making them comparatively more valuable than the average flare with this legacy. If enough time passes, all of the flares will eventually be vaporized, resulting in a match with no flares. Original Cosmic has no legacies.

Tips

With Moth in play, all flares are effectively burnout. Each flare can only be used once, and then it will go to Moth.
If you get a useful flare, consider how valuable it will be if given to Moth afterwards. It can be worth saving it for later if Moth is in a dominant position or the effect might be very powerful against you. It might even be worth not using the flare at all if using it against you would be worse than the value of you using it.
Moth never has to scrap any of the flares it obtains due to its ability, making its power increasingly useful over the course of the match. However, it makes Moth a gigantic target for compensation, since it can stack up 5+ flares in its cache with a good chance of grabbing one. If Moth gets a flare that can mitigate or reduce compensation, it can become even more dangerous.
As with other flare-based aliens, the strength of Moth is contingent on the flares it obtains. If it can’t find any flares and no one plays any, it has no power. However, it can at least gain the passive advantage of preventing other aliens from using their flares even in that circumstance.

Development Notes

The original alien power of Inferno presented a unique logistics error with my Pyro, and also to the original Fire Dancer. If you have a creature made of fire, why can they not bypass the fire created by Pyro/Fire Dancer like that alien can? While you could potentially explain it away as the flames being special in some way due to them working despite the lack of oxygen in space, I think it’s simpler to change the power theme to not be specifically about fire.
I needed to make sure it is clear this power cannot be used if the flare is zapped or scrapped, such as via Insect’s power. The flare needs to be discharged, and Moth immediately takes it in that moment. It doesn’t need to wait until the pod recharges during upkeep.
Moth is essentially Vulture but with flares. Given that’s the case, I thought it was most appropriate for the power to have an animal theme to make a nice thematic parallel. While both animals are very different from one another, they are both flying scavengers that eat things that are otherwise discarded. Moths will eat animal corpses just like Vultures, as well as other things like nectar, clothing, and waste material.
Moths are perhaps most known for their unusual behavior to fly toward light sources regardless of the danger. The expression “like a moth to a flame” refers to something that is attracted to something despite the danger it carries. The expression applies to this power in an inverted sense, as every alien that discharges a flare will end up gifting it to Moth. Also, the flavor of Moth suggests how the alien is attracted to the light source of flares being activated to snatch them while they are discharged.
I think it makes sense that Moth’s power doesn’t work with burnout flares, since the light from the flare’s radiation “burns out”, drawing Moth’s attention away from it. It suggests that the light from using flares lasts for a considerable amount of time in-universe. At least enough time for Moth to arrive to take it.
My version of Wild Vulture’s power is notably very similar to Moth’s power. However, it lets a user swap a flare instead of taking it outright. It is fitting that these two powers have such a connection given their mechanical and thematic similarities.
I really like the double meaning of the power name “to flicker”. Flickering refers to rapid fluttering of a moth’s wings and also the unsteady movement of a flame. The Moth is being drawn to the flares and uses its erratic movement to snatch them away and disappear, as if its body itself were made of flames.
I designed Moth to resemble a creature made of flames, but it’s actually just camouflage. Like moths in real life that resemble leaves or wood, Moth looks more impressive than it actually is. It is a reference to the “like a moth to the flame” line and acts as a subtle nod to the original power name Inferno.