Usurper

Alert

Control

Resource

Destroy

Type

Power to Dethrone

Dethrones Opponents

As the invader, after destiny, you may use this power to dethrone any alien with fewer ships in their home system than you. Swap systems with that alien, transferring all aspects except your nexuses. Then, your opponent ravages one of their bases and you establish a new home base (if possible). Continue your invasion from your new system. The dethroned alien becomes the defender.

Legacy: The alien(s) with the most dominion are deactivated, unless they also have the least dominion.

The self-proclaimed rulers of the Dominion Galaxy, the Usurpers reject the notion that they are mere pretenders to the throne. According to their legends of old, whosoever sits upon the throne shall be named its true master.

Invader: Destiny

Optional

Wild Flare

At the start of another alien’s orientation, you may discharge this flare to probe their cache and snatch one pod. Then, gift that alien this flare.

Bystander: Orientation

Super Flare

When using your power, you may discharge this flare to snatch your opponent’s cache instead of swapping it with yours.

Invader: Destiny

Modifications

I gave the power of FFG’s Usurper to Emperor after recontextualizing it. This power is based on the original idea of Pretender, though it also serves as the representative for the design space of original Swindler since my Scammer replaced it.
With original Pretender, play continues as normal after swapping. Since my Cosmic doesn’t allow you to target yourself, my Usurper disregards destiny and targets the dethroned alien.
Wild Usurper is mostly the same as Wild Pretender, only that power requires you to name a type of pod and have them gift you what they consider their best pod of that type. Given the burnout nature of the flare, I added the information gaining to make it more potent.
Super Pretender’s original power prevents it from swapping caches when using its power. Since the power is so situational, I made it more potent, allowing Super Usurper to simply take the opponent’s cache outright.
Usurper’s legacy punishes the alien that currently has the most dominion, denying them access to their power unless everyone is tied for first (such as at the start of the match). It captures the spirit of the original power by performing a reversal of fortune on those that take the lead. This legacy is incredibly punishing to aliens like Machine since it prevents them from gaining several encounters in a row, though it is also unfavorable to any alien that tries to use their power to make a mad dash to victory. It has an interesting dynamic with Tortoise, since it stops Tortoise from being able to win alone with its power.

Tips

Any alien can avoid Usurper’s swap by making sure they have more ships in their system than Usurper does. Keep a close eye on their ship count and make sure you don’t unnecessarily risk your ships.
Aliens with persistent powers can make themselves less attractive to Usurper by destroying more of their bases. Usurper’s power will only give it one back, which isn’t enough to grant its power back if its target has one base.
The biggest target for Usurper to dethrone is the alien with the most dominion. It can also target aliens with large caches or more home bases.
Having more foreign bases means fewer ships in your own system. This makes Usurper more dangerous when it is behind in dominion. If this is the case, the ships in the warp will determine the difference, which can make the warp key incredibly dangerous in Usurper’s hands.
After dethroning an alien, you immediately invade them. You can take advantage of the home base you just ravaged and attack the empty planet or target one of their remaining bases to punish them further.
Usurper will likely have a tough time swapping with aliens like Zombie or Horde, aliens capable of preserving their ships count. Even if it can, it might only be because they have lost their power and aren’t worth dethroning.

Development Notes

Usurper’s theme falls into the same category as other “ruler”-type characters like Dictator, Emperor, and Oligarch. Unlike those aliens, a “usurper” carries the implication of one who is not a rightful ruler. It is one who steals the throne from the rightful ruler. The original power of Pretender is based on stealing the “seat” of the target, the equivalent of a throne. It seemed like a perfect fit for Usurper instead.
The power of “swapping seats” with another player was first introduced by FFG’s Swindler. The power of Identity Theft is difficult to balance, since it inherently takes agency away from another player from the beginning. The Swindler can effectively do nothing the whole match and wait for their “mark” to have four bases, then swap seats with their mark and completely reverse their positions. Pretender is a more balanced version of the ability since it is an invader-only power that can only be used up to twice per cycle, but I added the “more ships” restriction to give other aliens agency against it. Since Usurper is swapping seats to an alien with fewer ships in its home system, I had Usurper “steal” a base from the target to compensate. It means Usurper can technically dethrone an alien with no power and end up preserving its own power. It also means Usurper isn’t as disadvantaged when it comes to using its power again.
I like the subtle bit of Dictator injected into Usurper, with the ability to ignore destiny for itself if it can use its power. It doesn’t override destiny in the same way since it is limited by aliens with fewer ships than itself. It also might not want to swap, since it could be in first place.
The way I imagined Usurper, it isn’t easy for it to bully one other alien without them being able to combat it. Since it can use its power two invasions in a row, it could dethrone the same alien twice in a row. In fact, such an occurrence is likely possible due to how it steals a base from its target. However, it’s not very useful for Usurper to do. Suppose it had 3 bases and the opponent had 4, with 10 ships vs. 9 ships in the home system. When it swaps, it ends up with 5 bases, and the opponent now has 2. If Usurper decides to swap back, it would end up with 3 bases, and the opponent would have 4. Both aliens would end up right back where they started, only both aliens will likely have more ships since they both got a fresh base of four ships. Even if the goal were to do something like burn the opponent’s best pod, it would carry a risk, since they would be stuck in their current throne if they lose their invasion.
Since Swindler and Pretender don’t exist in my Cosmic, there are no comparables to Usurper who specialize in swapping seats. Usurper is the only one capable of such a power, making it impossible for it to directly replace another alien.
As established with Swindler, it is difficult to make use of this design space without making the game unfun for either the user or the opponents. I think the way I set it up, the power is at least more deserving of its reward if it can pull it off. Despite being an invader-only power, Usurper is more of a defensive alien by nature, since it has to protect its home bases in order to use its power most effectively. Unlike original Pretender, if Usurper goes first, it won’t be able to use its power unless it starts with something like a plague artifact. It can potentially swap if it wins its first invasion, but it would have little motivation to do so unless swapping with one of its allies that just got dominion alongside it. I suppose it could want to play the long game and give someone free dominion so it can gamble on being able to swap back later, and I’m glad that extra dimension exists for the power.
Another idea I considered for Usurper is to make the power win-based. After Usurper wins, it swaps with the opponent and then establishes a base in its old system. I determined the power is too situational if Usurper can only target its opponent. Destiny could match Usurper up against the player in last place, or any alien with fewer bases than itself. They could have a terrible cache as well, which could make them not worth swapping with on its own. It works much better with something like Void or Winner, where the benefit is not so situational. A win-based, invasion-only alien should always get something for winning. Applying an extra condition will result in the power rarely seeing use, if ever.
I considered if Usurper’s power counts as a meta power. Powers are the one aspect that Usurper doesn’t directly touch, and it doesn’t exactly disrupt the normal phase cycle either. I concluded that it only qualifies as a control alien, similar to Trader and Vortex.
I considered making Usurper’s power persistent, but it seems like it could have potential for abuse. Usurper can intentionally stack up all of its ships onto one base and then swap with another alien to rob them of their power. Realistically, Usurper won’t be using its power more than 2 or 3 times in a match at most, and if it can preserve its ships into the late game and keep its power active, it likely deserves the swap.
Usurper definitely qualifies as a red-alert alien. Aside from the complexity of swapping seats, every alien needs to know how to properly manage their ships in their home systems. A match with both Assassin and Usurper would be appropriately dangerous, since every alien would need to commit as many ships as possible to their foreign bases while keeping as many ships in their home bases as possible. It’s a fitting pair, combining the dark Usurper king and their contracted Assassin.