Sneak
Alert
Invasion
Type
Power to Infiltrate
Sneaks Into Invading Systems
As a defender, when one of your home bases is destroyed as a casualty after combat, use this power to establish a base on any planet in your opponent’s system using the ships suffered as casualties. Persistent.
Legacy: When a defender’s home base is destroyed as a casualty, that alien drafts four pods.
These masters of stealth have the ability to squeeze themselves into the smallest of crevasses and an uncanny talent at playing dead. They are known to fake their deaths and board enemy ships in secret to establish new planets for the mighty Sneak empire right under their conquerors’ noses.
Defender: Crash
Mandatory
Wild Flare
As the defender, after a crash where you suffer casualties, you may discharge this flare. Probe your opponent’s cache and abduct one pod.
Defender: Crash
Super Flare
When using your power, you may discharge this flare to gain a boon for each of your casualties.
Defender: Crash
Modifications
- Original Super Sneak can establish two bases with its power when losing at least two ships as casualties, with the flare then burning out and going to another alien of Sneak’s choice. I modified the flare’s effect since I
- Sneak’s legacy allows every alien to benefit from losing home bases. Aliens that specialize in losing less like Vacuum and Diver can take great advantage of this legacy. Aliens with persistent powers can also gain more resources from it. Benefactor can be greatly punished from this legacy, since every alien is only one loss away from getting resources back. Invaders will also have a much easier time gaining bases, since defenders will be less eager to win. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Sneak’s power allows it to “passively” gain bases as defender while actively gaining bases as invader. Invaders who establish bases in Sneak’s system are gifting Sneak a free base as well.
- Since Sneak gains more from losing as defender than winning, it should save its best pods when acting as invader and sponsor. When acting as a defender, it should be wary of enemies aiming for compensation, since they may not wish to give Sneak a free base.
- Aim for planets in Sneak’s system that have already been conquered if you do not already have a base there. It will prevent Sneak from gaining another free base if you win.
- N pods are incredibly valuable for Sneak due to their ability to throw encounters. Sneak can take advantage of this tendency to bait the opponent into playing one, since the opponent isn’t expecting Sneak to attempt to win as defender. However, Sneak is also notoriously bad at negotiating, since it is designed to lose home bases and doesn’t like the invader getting peaceful victories. Quashing deals won’t get Sneak a base, preventing it from using negotiation for free bases.
Development Notes
- “Sneak” is often used as a verb, but it also refers to a sneaky or underhanded person. For the theme of this alien, I wanted to capture that slyness and deception that distinguishes it from other stealthy aliens like Ninja and Assassin. Sneak is specifically designed around the power to get into places where it shouldn’t be, like a cat burglar or secret agent. Spy is another alien that could work with this theme, but I think an alien called Spy would need to be an Info type rather than pure Invasion.
- While my Sneak is essentially the same as the original, my changes to deals make it possible to establish bases in Sneak’s system without giving them a free base, via peaceful victories through negotiation. With base Cosmic, Sneak can act somewhat like Pacifist, and play N pods for a free colony. I made sure that Sneak cannot activate its power by quashing a deal, making it less incentivized to do so. Sneak is likely to be at a disadvantage in negotiations due to the nature of its power, which makes for an interesting counterbalance to the ability to gain free dominion.
- Aliens like Pacifist that can win peacefully are perhaps Sneak’s greatest foes, since Sneak can’t benefit from losing those encounters. If Sneak plays its own N to force a negotiation, it might result in a peaceful victory for the invader regardless. Quashing the deal won’t get Sneak anything, since the loss of the base wasn’t done through combat. I intentionally preventing Sneak from being able to do this so it couldn’t essentially guarantee a win with 4 bases by playing an N. Since Ns are so valuable to Sneak and are also so predictable, it makes sense for them to also carry some risk.
- Sneak is most comparable to Diver, another alien that gains a benefit from losing a home base. Sneak is notably home bases while Diver is all bases, but most bases Diver will want to lose will be from its home system. Diver gains a free pod of choice, while Sneak gains a base directly. It’s an interesting Virus vs. Warrior situation, since it might seem like Sneak is a direct upgrade over Diver. However, other aliens will be more willing to give Diver a free pod than give Sneak a free ship, and they will also be more likely to invite Diver as a sponsor. Sneak’s biggest weakness comes from it being a stronger base effect, allowing the social factor to auto-balance it. Unlike Virus, Sneak cannot win in combat on its own if everyone turns against it. If it solely relies on its own power, other aliens might beat it to the finish line before it gets enough turns as defender to sneak out a win, especially with other aliens repurposing planets and playing N pods against it.