Trader
Alert
Resource
Info
Control
Type
Power to Exchange
Trades Cache With Opponent
As a leader, after arrival, you may use this power to swap your cache with your opponent’s cache.
Special Offer: Swap caches with your opponent for 1 influence.
Legacy: After arrival, leaders swap caches with one another.
Though their ways are considered old-fashioned by modern business standards, the enigmatic Traders know how to make a deal. Having expanded their trading network to the furthest reaches of the Cosmos, they soon plan to unload their wares for the low, low cost of a universal monopoly. Buyer beware.
Leader: Arrival
Optional
Wild Flare
As a leader, after arrival, you may discharge this flare to snatch one pod from your opponent’s cache. Then gift your opponent a pod from your cache.
Leader: Arrival
Super Flare
When using your power, you may discharge this flare to swap caches with an alien other than your opponent.
Leader: Contact
Modifications
- Changed the power name from the power of transference to the power of exchange. Wanted something a little punchier and more in keeping with the theme of commerce and trade. This causes a later conflict with Converter, but I’ve considered what to do about that separately.
- Added an additional clause that lets Trader offer its power as part of a negotiation. Fitting to the theme that the power can affect negotiation in some way, and this prevents overcomplicating the power by incorporating a second mechanic.
- Trader’s legacy forces leaders to swap caches after arrival, making it pointless to increase the strength of one’s cache. Instead, aliens will want to make their cache as worthless as possible to gain advantage. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Trader cannot swap part of its cache. It has to trade the whole thing. This means it should avoid swapping for as long as it has good pods, unless it thinks the opponent has better ones.
- Trader’s ability to target a specific alien is restricted by destiny. This means that it is unpredictable for both Trader and the opponent.
- Trader’s power allows it to know what pods its opponent is holding, but the inverse is also true. The act of trading itself can backfire if Trader ends up with the worse hand, as it allows the opponent to play as the Mind.
- Trader is not a fair dealer. If you have ten pods, and Trader has one, you will end up with one, and Trader will end up with ten. Aliens should avoid building strong arsenals, especially ones with a large number of pods.
- Trader’s power is absolute when it comes to swapping supplies. When fighting against Trader, you want to make your arsenal look attractive when it’s bad and vice versa. If Trader takes your awful cache and replaces it with their mediocre one, it may very well be an upgrade. The worst case scenario is for Trader to take your really powerful cache.
- When Trader is an opponent, do not concern yourself with hoarding pods unless you have a power like Miser or Cryo that lets you store pods outside of your hand. Use your strong pods as quickly and effectively as possible before Trader can take them.
Development Notes
- Though the flavor text and theme might suggest Trader engages in voluntary trade, its power is more like that of a swindler. However, I elected to keep the name of “Trader” because of the double-meaning, with Trader literally trading supplies between aliens. It’s easy to interpret this as Trader being so skillful at negotiating that it can always convince its opponent to make the trade, which is why I elected to add an extra effect to the power that affects negotiation.
- In terms of the negotiation offer addendum, I like adding extra effects that add more options for negotiation. Part of the reason I changed the negotiation process so drastically is that they tend to be very samey and result in the boring “one-for-one” result with everyone else in the encounter getting left out in the cold. Making a deal with Trader to give them the win in exchange for the cache that Trader just took gives aliens an interesting choice if they can trigger a negotiation.
- 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.