Parasite

Alert

Support

Invasion

Control

Type

Power to Infest

Supports Without Invitation

As an bystander, after commission, you may use this power to join either fleet, whether or not you were commissioned. If you sponsor a fleet, your ships’ might subtract from your fleet’s might during combat instead of adding to it.

Legacy: Bystanders may sponsor leaders without being commissioned.

Though born as weaklings in a universe that only recognized the strong, the insidious Parasites came to find that their greatest strength did not lie within themselves. By piggybacking off the victories of their peers, they found a way to turn anyone’s victory into their own.

Bystander: Commission

Optional

Wild Flare

After upkeep, if another alien’s power is inactive, you may discharge this flare to establish a base on any planet in that alien’s system using any of your free ships. Burnout.

Any: Upkeep

Super Flare

After using your power, you may discharge this flare. This encounter, your ships’ might subtract from the enemy fleet’s might instead of yours.

Sponsor: Combat

Modifications

The original Parasite does not subtract from the fleet it joins, when using its power or otherwise. I added this as a minor tweak for thematic purposes, as I wanted the theme of a parasite to harm its host rather than benefit it.
Modified the wild flare to be burnout to prevent abuse with the specific terminology. The original flare refers to “losing a power due to too few home colonies” instead of the ‘disconnected’ keyword, which I find too wordy. The original wild flare prevents abuse by making it so the flare only works when the power is initially lost due to too few home colonies, which means the flare is useless if an alien has already been disconnected for multiple encounters. The original flare can be used multiple times if an aliens reconnect and disconnect again, but this brushes up a little too close to having to remember past information for my taste. Realistically, players that get disconnected are not likely to reconnect, and it is not common that multiple aliens in a game get disconnected, so this flare is unlikely to see more than one use anyhow.
Since sending more ships is inadvisable with my Parasite, I modified Parasite’s super flare from its original function of being able to send up to 20 ships as a sponsor. Instead, I allow Parasite to turn the tables and subtract from the enemy instead, using that stolen energy to fuel Parasite’s side. It lets Parasite contribute to its side while keeping its deleterious nature.
Parasite’s legacy makes invitations meaningless. Everyone will sponsor whomever they wish, making defenders the only ones who cannot gain dominion each invasion. With this legacy, ship preservation becomes that much more important, as ships are the only resource needed to piggyback onto victory. Original Cosmic has no legacies.

Tips

Parasite becomes a significant threat when it gains an advantage in dominion. As long as it has more foreign colonies than everyone else, it can always send one ship to the offense to prevent anyone else from ever closing the gap. The only way to stop a Parasite in this state is to either take the lead back when Parasite is on the defense or shut down Parasite’s power. Avoid letting Parasite take the lead.
Parasite can join either fleet at will, which means it can really take advantage of one-sided matchups. To avoid letting Parasite take the lead, the offense may need to throw some encounters that Parasite joins.
Parasite’s greatest weakness is getting chosen by destiny. If Parasite is in danger of becoming a threat, turns when Parasite’s system is under fire are the best times to strike. Parasite has no inherent combat ability, so it can generally be overpowered. On the other hand, Parasite doesn’t particularly need to care about its offense turns as much as other aliens, so it can save its best encounter pods for the vulnerable defensive encounters.

Development Notes

Parasite is another beautiful harmony of theme and gameplay working together to make a spectacular alien. Parasite is the ideal representation of an unwanted guest, someone who takes without giving. My only issue with its effect was the fact that parasite makes its host stronger, which breaks the technical definition of a parasite since the host is benefiting from it. It would be more appropriate to name it something like Leech, Mooch, or Piggyback. To avoid changing the original name, I elected to have Parasite literally sap the strength of the side it joins, but only when using its power. This decision is a minor nerf to Parasite, -2 might with one ship and -8 might with four. It makes Parasite less likely to send multiple ships when using its power. It also creates a strange dynamic with the leaders sending invitations. It incentivizes leaders to invite Parasite, as otherwise Parasite will hurt their might if they join. However, even if invited, Parasite can needlessly use its power to subtract instead of add.
I wanted to make the might subtraction only occur when using the power to give Parasite some choice in the matter. If it always subtracts, there’s little reason for Parasite to ever send four ships. However, if it only subtracts when it uses its power, game theory indicates both leaders will always commission it, making the subtraction clause meaningless. Making the ships always subtract simplifies the power somewhat
The way I set up Parasite gives it the option to weaken a side that it doesn’t want to win by -8. This decision costs four ships and a victory, so it’s not particularly amazing unless it’s very important that a specific encounter go a certain way, such as a player being about to win. It makes Parasite one of the only aliens that might want to commission someone that needs one dominion to win when they themselves don’t have it.
For thematic reasons, my Super Parasite is just a little stronger than base Cosmic’s regular Parasite. It’s not because I perceive base Parasite to be too strong, but I think the thematic benefits outweigh the mechanical disadvantages. Just like how Volt’s power doesn’t mechanically need the effect that cuts strong pods by 1/3, it makes the power more interesting, which is one of the primary goals of my design.
The change I made to my Parasite doesn’t affect encounters involving Anti-Matter, since subtracting negative might will add it, and Parasite joining can potentially be beneficial if Loser is involved.