Musketeer

Alert

Combat

Support

Type

Power of Camaraderie

Fights Best Together

As an actor, after arrival, you may use this power to declare “one for all”. Then, your fleet’s leader may prime a reinforcement pod as their driver. After contact, if a reinforcement pod is the driver, it transforms into an attack pod equal to its value, and each alien in your fleet may declare “all for one”. Aliens who declare it may prime an attack pod from their cache as a reinforcement pod this encounter.

If you declared “one for all” this encounter and not all aliens in your fleet declared “all for one”, the fleet will suffer double casualties.

Legacy: Manifest 6 reinforcement pods and add them to the forge. Reset the forge.

When acting alone, the Musketeers are only marginally stronger than your average alien soldier. However, when united with the power of their close comrades, they become much more powerful than the sum of their parts.

Actor: Arrival

Mandatory

Wild Flare

As an actor, during a clash, you may discharge this flare to discharge an attack pod from your cache as a reinforcement pod if it has the same effective value as either driver.

Actor: Clash

Super Flare

After declaring “one for all”, you may discharge this flare if your leader’s driver is not a reinforcement pod. Aliens in your fleet may still declare “all for one”.

Actor: Arrival

Modifications

Original alien named Bubble. Changed the theme due to the unusual idea behind the original theme.
Originally the power to “pop”. Changed in an attempt to give the power some more coherence as a theme.
Original Bubble has no penalty for using only part of its power. Designed to encourage more teamwork instead of mindlessly using the power, so it doesn’t become pointlessly optional.
Original power requires saying “let’s pop!” or making two popping noises instead of “one for all”. No equivalent of “all for one”.
Musketeer’s legacy adds 6 extra reinforcement pods to the forge, resetting the forge as well just to make sure they are shuffled. The legacy makes reinforcement pods much more common, which can be a huge help for aliens that specialize in gaining pods or Original Cosmic has no legacies.

Tips

If Musketeer has a reinforcement pod, it can guarantee the use of its power. However, it can be worth saving your reinforcement for when you have many sponsors to maximize the value of it.
Musketeer can actually use its power to sabotage its own fleet by committing one ship and calling “one for all” when it knows its leader has no reinforcement pod. This can be a risky strategy, since it will dissuade aliens from commissioning Musketeer again in the future.
Musketeer’s combat power can be incredibly strong with many allies. With the average pod being a 06 or 08, even 3 allies can get a total of 18-24, plus the committed ships and 02 to 08 value of the reinforcement.
If you have a reinforcement pod, try to get Musketeer on your side if possible. It will give you a major combat advantage and the ability to prune your cache.
Though Musketeer’s power is potentially very strong, it is dependent on how many allies and reinforcement pods it can snag. Opposing a solo Musketeer is statistically weaker than Deuce.

Development Notes

In my Cosmic, reinforcement pods have variable values ranging from 02 to 08 at the time the pod is discharged. This means the driver for this power will generally be fairly weak in exchange for giving the user a much larger combat power in the form of each alien in the fleet becoming Cavalry.
I determined the original power to be pointlessly optional. It gives its fleet’s leader the option to use the power and carries no downside by activating it. The only possible reason would be if it doesn’t want its leader to be able to use its power, which would only hurt its own side combatively. I thought the power being mandatory seemed boring and unfitting, so I instead decided to give the power a downside if it is used.
I specifically designed the downside of Musketeer to be avoidable by the super flare, which is mechanically the same as original Bubble. The downside only matters if the fleet loses the encounter, meaning it will double casualties if the leader betrays the fleet and goes for compensation. However, it will also give the leader double compensation, which could potentially make betrayal more enticing. In most cases, the downside is unlikely to actually happen, since Musketeer is unlikely to use its power if its leader doesn’t have a reinforcement, and allies have no reason to not discharge an attack pod unless they don’t have one. Even if they don’t, it’s unlikely for Musketeer to lose when using its power, unless opposing a strong combat power like Virus. However, because of this downside, the “one for all” declaration is much more of a telegraph that the attack is coming. It gives the opposing fleet the knowledge to either prime a very strong attack pod or surrender.
I have a hard time understanding the original theme of Bubble. It feels more like an inside joke. A bubble popping generally results in it being destroyed. If it were referencing the act of “popping off” due to the strong combat power I could understand it, but saying “let’s pop” and then being able to prime a reinforcement pod as an attack pod seem completely unrelated. Are the other aliens in the fleet becoming bubbles and also popping by discharging attack pods as reinforcement pods? Who is popping in this context, and what does that mean? It seems too unclear even if there is a rational explanation, and I prefer the teamwork-centered theme of my Musketeer.
A musketeer is a type of soldier from the 1800s, a precursor to the rifleman. They typically fought with muskets, which is what their name is derived from. However, the term is most heavily associated with the group known as the Three Musketeers, a trio of inseparable soldiers from a novel written in the 1800s. In the modern day, they are commonly depicted wielding fencing swords instead of muskets and are most known for their motto “One for all and all for one.” This motto is indicative of the trio’s collective responsibility to one another, as well as their bond.
“One for all” means one individual supports the group. “All for one” means that the whole of the group support the individual collectively. This motto is reflected by the alien power in how the pods are utilized. The “one”, acting as the leader, discharges a reinforcement pod to facilitate the power. Then the “‘all”, the entire fleet including the leader, discharges attack pods to support the leader’s efforts. While the power can be used by the Musketeer by itself, it is much more potent when used with a team of others.
My idea with Musketeer’s theme is to signal a team attack, similar to Captain America calling out “Avengers Assemble”. It’s the vibe I get from the original power, and I think it fits the motto of the Musketeers. If the team attack fails, it deals extra damage to the aliens that attempt it, providing an appropriate risk in exchange for the reward.
Musketeer can fittingly be compared directly to Cavalry, another type of soldier who fights on horseback instead of on foot. Cavalry are typically stronger than footsoldiers due to their mobility, but they were vulnerable to the firepower of armed soldiers. When Musketeer can use its power, it is much stronger than Cavalry, but Cavalry can use its power as a sponsor more consistently. Musketeer is limited by the number of reinforcement pods it and its allies can find. Without reinforcement pods, the power can do nothing.
Musketeer could also be considered a weaker version of Crystal. Instead of getting a massive combat bonus from having a duplicate of a specific attack pod, Musketeer gets a strong combat bonus for having a reinforcement.
The way Musketeer is designed, it is entirely dependent on the number of reinforcement pods in the forge. In a standard match, it has 6 (8 in larger matches with 7-8 aliens). The dark forge provides 3 more potentially. Even if Musketeer doesn’t get any reinforcement pods, other aliens who have them become more incentivized to get on Musketeer’s side. It’s a power that makes others seek its aid, which effectively captures the power of camaraderie.
There are several aliens themed around teamwork and several individuals to become stronger than they can be on their own. The ones that come to mind are Symbiote and Neighbor, who were both reworked mechanically in my Cosmic while keeping their original names, the reverse of Musketeer. Symbiote gains power from any allies. The more it gets, the stronger it will become. Neighbor specifically benefits from its left and right neighbors, and it only needs them to not side against it.
Camaraderie or comradery is a mutual trust and friendship among a group of individuals. I designed the power to reflect the comradery and teamwork. If the teamwork is respected, aliens do well. If the teamwork is rejected, everyone suffers more.