Tentacle
Alert
Combat
Type
Power to Squeeze
Squeezes Extra Might from Drivers
As an actor, during a clash, use this power to “squeeze” one of the drivers. Add each digit of the driver’s effective value to your fleet’s might.
Legacy: During a clash, each fleet adds the digits of their driver’s value to their fleet’s might.
Millions of years ago, the Tentacles reached their way into our dimension and started pulling everything they could find into their realm. After figuring out how to communicate with them, the Federation was able to quell their rampage somewhat. It is unknown if these powerful appendages belong to individual creatures or are all attached to one being.
Actor: Clash
Mandatory
Wild Flare
When you would gain boons or collect compensation, you may discharge this flare to discharge a distress pod from your cache and gain or collect an equal amount of boons or compensation.
Leader: Arrival
Super Flare
When using your power, you may discharge this flare to squeeze both drivers instead of only one.
Actor: Clash
Modifications
- Originally the power of “appendages”. Changed to the power to “squeeze” to give it more of an action verb.
- Original Tentacle specifies that morph pods count for digits that Tentacle can use. To clean up the bio text, I specify effective value instead of aur value.
- Tentacle’s provides a minor benefit to certain pods over others. While the 08 and the 10 pods are generally very similar, this legacy turns 08s into 16s and 10s into 11s. Comparatively, 20s are only worth 22, making them only a little more valuable than 08s. The legacy is advantageous for aliens who can gain a considerable number of pods, since 06s and 08s are fairly common. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Tentacle can choose which driver to target after drivers are revealed, allowing it to always choose the best pod. This means that playing high-value pods like 06s and 08s is much riskier if Tentacle is on the enemy side. The 09 and 18 pods are the best pods from the normal forge for Tentacle’s power.
- The best pods to play against Tentacle are double-digit pods with typically low numbers. 10s and 12s only give Tentacle a small amount of combat bonus, while 20s and higher are difficult for Tentacle to counter without using a similarly powerful attack pod.
- Playing low pods like 04 pods can also reduce Tentacle’s combat power, but it is generally an ineffective strategy since Tentacle can target its own pod while playing something like an 08.
- Tentacle’s power can be about as effective as a guaranteed reinforcement pod in combat. Using your own reinforcement pod can help to even the playing field.
Development Notes
- Discovered in the Venture Galaxy, Tentacle is a very basic combat power that uses the numbers on a pod to gain more might. It is similar in concept to Mirror and Graviton, utilizing individual numbers on the pod to influence the effective value. Unlike those powers, it only affects its own pod and provides an effect that is much less impactful, but it can easily pass the Human Test with most pods it plays.
- Tentacle can be a deceptively dangerous threat due to its ability to use its power as an actor. It effectively gains passive combat might ranging from 1 to 9. It can be a strong mid-range combat bonus comparable to Vox or Symbiote. It is the type that operates on full power right from the beginning but lacks the long-term scaling of something like Warrior, Scholar, or Villain.
- Tentacle gets most of its power from 09 and 18 pods, of which there are only one in the forge. It is similar in that regard to Mirror, who also gets the most value from those pods. However, Mirror notably provides both aliens a much stronger bonus with its power. Tripler also gets more value from single-digit pods than most double-digit ones, gaining even more than Tentacle. However, Tentacle retains the value from the stronger pods like the 18, 21, and 40. In a direct matchup, all three will value pods differently and be able to compete with one another in combat. If Volt and Tentacle both play a 09, Volt will destroy Tentacle. If Volt and Tentacle both play a 12, Tentacle will destroy Volt.
- Since Tentacle is forced to use its power in a clash, it can have trouble intentionally losing to aliens like Anti-Matter or Loser, as well as not losing by too much against Spiff. Since Tentacle uses effective value instead of aur value and activates during a clash, it can end up getting more or less value from squeezing might if its 09 is equalized into a 04. If Tripler plays an 08 pod, Tentacle would get 6 might from it instead of 8, while getting 9 might out of a 06 pod that becomes an 18. Graviton can put a world of hurt on Tentacle by specifying the tens digit, which does make sense. That much gravity will make it difficult to squeeze something.
- Another alien worth comparing to Tentacle is Symbiote, who gains a small combat bonus from allies as an actor. In a standard match, Symbiote can gain up to 3 allies at once, making its ships as strong as Macron’s. It is a 12-might combat bonus with 4 ships, which can overwhelm Tentacle’s max. However, since Symbiote is dependent on both allies and ships, Tentacle’s power can more consistently pass the Human Test. Symbiote also increases its ceiling when more aliens participate, while Tentacle is locked at its base values.
- Tentacle could have just as easily been called “Squid” or “Octopus” given its theme, but Tentacle gives it a different connotation. It’s the idea of a creature who only is seen by its tentacles, like a Cthulhu beast sticking its appendages through another dimension. Similar to Claw, we don’t know what the creature actually looks like, only that it has tentacles. We don’t even know if it’s a bunch of tentacles from different creatures or one single beast, which adds to its mystique. It’s interesting to imagine a bunch of spaceships being piloted by giant tentacles from another dimension.
- I think the power is fairly well balanced based on the spread of pods in the forge. While 06 and 08 pods provide Tentacle with a considerable combat bonus, many of the double-digit pods
- I went with the power to “squeeze” over the power of “appendages” to add some imagery to what is happening with this power. Tentacle is using its powerful grip to squeeze additional might out of one of the drivers to charge up its own fleet. The pods have variable might based on their effective values, which can be abstracted to mean that 09 pods have more attackk power
- Tentacle can interestingly counter its own negative pods, gaining 7 might from a -07 to have 0 base might, though it will likely still lose without further support.
- I like how Trader’s legacy turns everyone into sleazy dealers who want to pass off the worst junk to their opponents in hopes of earning gold in exchange.