Warphole

Alert

Support

Resource

Type

Power to Open

Creates a Fissure in the Warp

As an invader or sponsor, when committing ships during launch, you may use this power to “open” the warp. Revive your ships and commit them to your fleet, not exceeding gate limits.

As a leader, after commission, you may use this power. Any alien that sponsors you may open the warp this invasion.

Legacy: When committing ships to the gate during launch, aliens may revive one of those ships from the warp.

An ancient race whose existence dates back to the warp itself, the bottom-feeding Warpholes have always lived off the deceased and detritus that finds its way into the warp. In modern times, they have evolved a higher degree of sentience, and now they leverage their talents for their own benefit.

Invader or Sponsor: Launch
Leader: Commission

Optional

Wild Flare

As a sponsor, after committing ships during launch, you may discharge this flare to revive the same number of ships and commit them, exceeding gate limits.

Sponsor: Launch

Super Flare

As a leader, after arrival, you may discharge this flare to target any actor with ships in the warp. Revive up to four of that alien’s ships and commit those ships to that alien’s fleet, exceeding gate limits.

Leader: Arrival

Modifications

Originally named Wormhole. Changed to Warphole for the thematic conflict with Warpish and specific focus on the warp.
Originally the power to Translocate. Changed to a new term to better reflect the power name and expand on the concept of “warpfall”.
Warphole’s legacy effectively gives every alien a warpfall phase whenever they participate in an invasion. It benefits aliens like Scholar and Parasite who can benefit from participating in more encounters and gain power from ship advantage. It punishes aliens like Assassin or Cudgel who benefit from destroying enemy ships, though destroying bases is still as powerful as ever. Original Cosmic has no legacies.

Tips

While Warphole cannot protect ships, it can commission sponsors with ships in the warp to join it without risk. Aliens looking to support it can be more carefree with their ships.
Warphole’s ships are essentially always available to it, unless affected by a power like Fungus or Void. It does need to worry about losing too many ships at once, since losing its power will cut it off from revival.
Consider not using your power as a leader if the aliens your sponsoring gain a considerable boost from ship advantage. Aliens like Kamikaze or Scholar could go out of control if given infinite ships.

Development Notes

I ultimately decided to rename Wormhole to Warphole for the thematic clash between Warphole and Warpish. Warpish is based around a religious order surrounding the warp, and Warphole acts as a blasphemous being that wants to keep the warp “pure”. The similarity to the term “wormhole” makes it act more as a play on words instead of a direct connection, since a wormhole lacks personification, similar to how Arcade isn’t as personable as Gamer. I drew Warphole beneath the warp to contrast with Warpish looming above it.
I considered basing the theme of this power around an animal that cleans its environment, such as a sponge. However, I couldn’t square such a decision with the “taxi service” that Warphole provides to its sponsors. Warphole opens a portal that allows aliens to revive their ships directly from the warp. It is more fitting for such a power to be focused on the utility of ship revival than the cleanliness of the warp, especially since Warphole doesn’t decide whether the ships are removed from the warp.
Warphole’s power is optional since it doesn’t have to revive ships to commit them. In addition, it may not want to offer potential sponsors the option to revive their ships if ship advantage makes them dangerous.
Mechanically, Warphole can be most compared to Observer and Zombie. Of the three, Warphole was the only one I did not modify mechanically, and it was the only one I changed thematically. Observer offers other aliens protection instead of revival, though it works as both sponsor and leader. Warphole is highly attractive as a leader, but it offers no incentive to commission it as a sponsor other than getting on its good side. Meanwhile, Observer offers both but doesn’t provide might from its ships. Zombie is the purely selfish version of Warphole that revives its own ships every encounter. Zombie can always commit four ships since it will always get them back after a loss. Warphole can theoretically do the same, but it will always have at least a few ships in the warp if it never wins. Most notably, Warphole struggles more when it loses as the defender, the one case where it cannot revive ships when participating. It also struggles more when it is not commissioned as a sponsor often, while Zombie is unbothered by how social it is. The three aliens participating in the same encounter is interesting, as the other aliens would be looking to decide whether Observer or Warphole makes a better ally.
Warphole can be incredibly punishing against Warpish and Sadist, but everyone would need to join forces with Warphole for the warp to end up consistently empty. Everyone siding against one alien is already pretty punishing regardless of powers.
Warphole is a great example of the original problem with lucre being too easy to obtain or too easily spent. Since one lucre can be spent to revive one ship, any alien that specializes in obtaining lucre can simply use it as a substitute. It essentially allows any alien to become Zombie, which makes both Zombie and Warphole weaker as aliens, as well as any other alien that purely focuses on ship advantage. My version of Cosmic redesigns most aliens that focus purely on reviving or protecting ships, allowing Zombie, Warphole, and Observer exclusive control over the design space.