; Copyright (C) 1991 by Ken Cox. Distributed as Freeware. Permission is ; given to copy, modify, and distribute this material freely provided this ; notice is retained. ; PRISONER POWERS ; version 1.0 June 1991 ; version 1.1 Dec 1991 ; added one-shot flares; major modification to the Slaver, ; minor mods to several other powers and flares; changed ; Star Disc to Prison throughout to reflect Mayfair equipment ; ; This file can be input to ce-conv to produce PostScript suitable for ; use with the header files. ; Define origin string for these powers #Pr Prisoner Expansion BASTILLE [M:Pr:P] WINS OPPONENT'S PRISONERS You have the power to storm. Whenever you win a challenge as a main player, in addition to the normal challenge outcome the tokens in your opponent's Prison that belong to you and your allies are freed to their owners. You then receive the remaining tokens in your opponent's Prison and put them in your own Prison. History: The simian Bastilles have an extremely high level of species solidarity. In any conflict, they devote a part of their force to the rescue of any of their comrades that are held by the enemy -- and the seizure of other prisoners to further their aims of Cosmic dominance. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: When you win a challenge as main player, all of your tokens held in your opponent's Prison are freed to your bases. Super: When you win a challenge, you and your allies receive your tokens that are in the Prisons of your opponent's allies. Other tokens in their Prisons remain imprisoned. This is in addition to your normal power. Wild1: When you win a challenge as main player, all of your tokens held in your opponent's Prison are freed to your bases. Super1: When you win a challenge, you and your allies receive your tokens that are in the Prisons of your opponent's allies. Other tokens in their Prisons remain imprisoned. This is in addition to your normal power. ; As you might expect, Bastille is generally able to get allies when he ; wants them. He also gets a lot of prisoners by capturing those that his ; opponent holds, which is actually somewhat of a negative (people tend ; to gang up on him). BRAWL [M:Pr:P] MUST BE GUARDED You have the power to riot. Each player who holds your tokens in his Prison must set aside an equal number of his own tokens from bases as "guards". Guard tokens may not be used in challenges, nor do they count as a base. When the number of your tokens that a player holds in his Prison increases, that player must immediately either set aside one guard for each new token or release all the new tokens to the Warp. When the number decreases, the player returns an appropriate number of guards to any of his bases (or to the Warp if he has no bases). A player holding your tokens in his Prison may release any or all of them to the Warp at the beginning of his challenge. History: The Brawls recently gained their freedom from a cruel race that had enslaved them for centuries. Any reminder of their long confinement drives the Brawls into a frenzy. Their Cosmic captors often find it simpler to dispatch their captives than to devote the resources needed to restrain them. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: At the start of each player's challenge, if that player has any of your tokens in his Prison you may call "riot". That player must either put one of his tokens into the Warp or release one of your tokens from his Prison to the Warp. Super: Between challenges, you may take all of your tokens from any one player's Prison, along with all the guard tokens that player has set aside, and put them in the Warp. Wild1: Between challenges, you may call "riot" and indicate any player. That player must either put as many of his tokens from bases into the Warp as he has prisoners in his Prison, or release all of the tokens he holds in his Prison to the Warp. Super1: Between challenges, you may take all of your tokens from all Prisons, along with all the guard tokens the other players have set aside, and put them in the Warp. ; Brawl penalizes his captors; you could compare it to the Vacuum. The ; restriction on when a captor may release Brawl tokens to the Warp is ; to prevent players from using the Brawl to rearrange tokens ("Gee, I ; took three Brawls. Guards from _these_ three bases. Now I'll release ; three Brawls, and return guards to _those_ three bases."). ; Super used to be "each token requires two guards", but that didn't ; extend well to one-shot Flares and was a little messy to implement. ; This new version ties in a little better with the "riot" idea. CLAUSTRO [O:Pr:P] CHOOSES WARP OVER PRISON You have the power of freedom. Whenever any of your tokens would be imprisoned, you may instead choose to send them to the Warp (or eradicate them, if your opponent is the Void). History: The cursorial Claustros run freely across the vast plains of their home world. Confinement is abhorrent to them, and they often say (in a sentiment shared by other races) "Give me liberty, or give me death!" Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: At the start of each of your challenges you may take one of your tokens from any player's Prison and put it into the Warp. Super: Whenever any of your tokens would be imprisoned, you may instead return them to bases. Wild1: At the start of your turn, you may take one of your tokens from each other player's Prison and put it in the Warp. If a player does not hold any of your tokens, you do nothing for that Prison. Super1: Whenever any of your tokens would be imprisoned, you may instead return them to bases. ; Some overlap with the Brawl and Houdini. Several playtesters have ; said it's not a very interesting power -- very little strategy, since ; they always send their tokens to the Warp instead of prison. It is ; effective, since it can avoid losing tokens to Prison; but Houdini ; is generally preferable. CONCESSION [O:Pr:P] COMPROMISE RELEASES PRISONERS You have the power of good faith. In any challenge, any time before cards are revealed you may call "gesture". When you do this, if either main player reveals a Compromise card, after the outcome is determined that player receives all of his tokens that are held in his opponent's Prison (including tokens acquired during the challenge). Your power also applies if both players play Compromise cards, in which case they try to make a deal before the prisoners are freed. Players under Emotion Control are treated as having revealed Compromise cards. History: The benign Concessions are always looking for ways to increase harmony and understanding. When any of their Cosmic opponents offers to negotiate, they release that Alien's prisoners as a gesture of good faith. Other species, shamed by the magnanimous Concession, match their generosity. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: Whenever either main player in any challenge exposes a Compromise card, you may free one of your tokens that is held in his opponent's Prison. Return it to your base. Super: When you call for a gesture, your own tokens are also freed from a player's Prison if his opponent reveals a Compromise. You may wait until cards are revealed to use this Flare. Wild1: Whenever either main player in any challenge exposes a Compromise card, you may free all of your tokens that are held in his opponent's Prison. Return them to your bases. Super1: When you call for a gesture, your own tokens are also freed from a player's Prison if his opponent reveals a Compromise. You may wait until cards are revealed to use this Flare. ; When Concession calls for a gesture, a player can play a Compromise ; and get back his prisoners but risks losing the challenge. This leads ; to some very interesting mind games. In particular, note that when ; Concession acts in a capture challenge, the offensive player can ; (ab)use this with especially nasty results; by deliberately losing ; with a Compromise, he gets back the tokens he lost in the challenge, ; gets his other tokens from the opponent's Prison, gets consolation, ; AND causes his allies' tokens to be imprisoned. ; The defensive player can do much the same thing, but of course he may ; lose a base. ; The power is quite effective at reducing the strength of Prisoner-using ; powers such as the Enthrall, Inquisitor, and Outrage. ENTHRALL [M:Pr:P] ADDS PRISONERS TO TOTAL You have the power to brainwash. As a main player or ally, you add the number of tokens in your Prison to your side's total. History: The Enthralls are ruled by a dictatorship which uses advanced techniques of brainwashing -- sensory deprivation, drugs, television advertising -- to utterly control all behavior. Using the same hideous techniques, they turn captured prisoners into mindless machines that battle their former comrades and advance the Enthralls' sinister plans for Cosmic control. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: As a main player, add the number of your opponent's tokens that you hold in your Prison to your total. Super: As a main player or ally, add double the number of tokens in your Prison to your total. Wild1: As a main player, add the number of your opponent's tokens that you hold in your Prison to your total. Super1: As a main player or ally, add double the number of tokens in your Prison to your total. ; Enthrall is somewhat like the Warpish. He doesn't give up prisoners ; voluntarily. On the other hand, he's an obvious target for a Jailbreak ; Ruling, and suffers the usual problems when he faces Anti-Matter, ; Judge, or Loser. He's also a popular ally. ; Note the section in the rules on counting prisoners. FELINE [M:Pr:P] CAPTURES LOSING OPPONENT You have the power to capture. When you win any challenge as main player, you seize the tokens that your opponent lost in the challenge (including Zombie tokens). Immediately propose any legal deal in which you return the tokens in exchange for random cards, Lucre, other prisoners, and/or a base. If your opponent accepts the deal, he gets the tokens back and may put them on any of his bases. If he refuses, put the tokens in your Prison. The tokens of his allies go to the Warp or your Prison depending on the challenge type; you do not deal with the allies. You must propose a deal, and your opponent must respond, even if one of you is Silenced. History: The carnivorous ancestors of the Felines captured their prey alive, taking delight in its helpless struggles. Modern Felines use the same techniques in battle, seizing their losing opponents and using them as pawns in deadly games of power politics. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: When you are not a main player, if the main players fail to deal you may seize the tokens that they lose as penalty. Dictate a new deal for the two players. If they agree to the deal, they get their tokens back; otherwise put the tokens in your Prison. Super: When you win a challenge as main player, you capture your opponent and all his allies. Deal with each in turn, clockwise starting with your opponent; return or imprison each player's tokens separately. You must complete each deal before continuing with the next. Wild1: When you are not a main player, if the main players fail to deal you may seize the tokens that they lose as penalty and put them in your Prison. Super1: When you win a challenge as main player, you capture your opponent and all his allies. Propose separate deals to each player. Each player writes down (without consulting with the others) whether or not he accepts the deal, and all answers are revealed and implemented simultaneously. ; Feline always gets prisoners when he wins. The big benefit is the extra ; deal; under the right circumstances (a token-poor opponent, for example) ; Feline could get two bases in a challenge. ; The one-shot Super is fun and can lead to Prisoner's Dilemma situations, ; e.g., Feline offers to each of three players their tokens for a base; ; if only one accepts, that player comes out ahead of the others, but if ; all four accept... GAOLER [O:Pr:PL] KEEPS OTHERS' PRISONERS You have the power to confine. Whenever any player acquires new prisoners (but not when they are transferred from one Prison to another), you may demand all tokens other than your own. The player can either give you the tokens, which you then place in your own Prison, or pay you one Lucre and keep the prisoners. History: Horrified at the barbaric conditions in Cosmic prisons (especially those of the Wrack), the Gaolers resolved to ameliorate the situation. They have constructed large, sanitary facilities where prisoners are maintained in comfort. The Gaolers now present their Prisons as a useful and humane service for which all Aliens should be grateful. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners and Lucre! Wild: At the start of each of your turns, you may demand a payment of one Lucre from each player whose tokens you have imprisoned. The player must either pay or give you all of your tokens that he has in his own Prison. Super: When you use your power, you may refuse to take Lucre and instead take the prisoners. Wild1: At the start of your turn, you may demand a payment of one Lucre from each player whose tokens you have imprisoned. The player must either pay or give you all of your tokens that he has in his own Prison. Super1: When you use your power, you may refuse to take Lucre and instead take the prisoners. ; Gaoler is the Extortionist of prisoners. The payoff was originally two ; Lucre but that turned out to be too many (at least with Eon Lucre rules); ; I also dropped his ability to demand his own tokens. Like Concession, ; good for cutting down other Prisoner powers. GENEVA [B:Pr:P] SALVAGES AND CHANGES RULINGS You have the power of rulings. Whenever any other player plays or discards a Prisoner Ruling, you take it for your own hand. In addition, whenever you play a Prisoner Ruling, you may change it into any Ruling you name. After you play a Ruling, you must discard it. History: Feared by other races, the Geneva have in the past performed acts which implied near-omnipotent abilities. If they ever used even the tiniest part of their power, they could instantly seize control of the Cosmos; but for their own inscrutable reasons they only act in a few rare circumstances. Perhaps the Geneva view other races as children, whose behavior must be overseen until they mature. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: You may use this Flare as any Prisoner Ruling you name. Discard after use (if Geneva is in the game, he does not pick it up). Super: You may keep Prisoner Rulings after you use them. You may use each Ruling card only once per challenge. Wild1: You may use this Flare as any Prisoner Ruling you name. If Geneva is in the game, he does not pick this Flare up after you discard it. Super1: From the time you play this Flare until the destiny pile is next shuffled, you may keep Prisoner Rulings after you use them. You may use each Ruling card only once per challenge. ; The deadly Vulch-Mesmer! But he's not really that strong: there aren't ; many Rulings in the deck, and they don't affect anything other than ; prisoners. From playtesting, he tends to generate General Amnesty ; and Jailbreak rulings to free his own tokens, and Victory or Death ; rulings to prevent them from being captured. HOUDINI [M:Pr:P] ESCAPES FROM PRISONS You have the power to escape. At the start of each challenge in which you are the offensive player, remove all of your tokens from other players' Prisons and return them to your bases. History: Able to convert themselves from matter to energy and back at will, the Houdinis are difficult to catch and harder to keep. More than one of their Cosmic adversaries has confidently sealed Houdini prisoners into a special prison, only to find it empty when they next looked. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: Whenever any player flips his own color, all your tokens held in that player's Prison escape to bases, or to the Warp if you have no bases. Super: For each Prison from which you escape at the beginning of your challenge, take one token of the Prison's owner from any of his home planets. Place these "captured guards" in your own Prison. Wild1: When a player flips his own color, all your tokens held in that player's Prison escape to bases, or to the Warp if you have no bases. Super1: For each Prison from which you escape at the beginning of your challenge, take two tokens of the Prison's owner from any of his home planets. Place these "captured guards" in your own Prison. ; And now the Zombie. The delay between capture and escape means that ; prisoner-using powers will have a chance to exploit him, but not much ; of a chance. INQUISITOR [M:Pr:P] GAINS INFORMATION FROM PRISONERS You have the power to interrogate. As a main player in a challenge, after allies commit but before cards are played you draw one card from your opponent's hand for each of his tokens that you hold in your Prison. Look at the cards, then return them to your opponent. Further, if any of the cards you draw are Challenge cards, your opponent must play one of those cards in the challenge if he can. History: During millenia of tribal warfare the Inquisitors developed highly effective techniques (mostly involving small bits of hot metal) for wringing battle plans from captured warriors. United now in a quest for Cosmic rule, the Inquisitors continue to use their skills to glean information from their adversaries. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: As main player in a challenge, if you hold tokens belonging to your opponent on your Prison after the prisoner exchange, you may ask him if he holds a specific card (e.g., Attack 10, Wild Plant, Mobius Tubes). He must answer truthfully. Super: You may use your power once per challenge, looking at cards taken from either main player whose tokens you hold in your Prison; if you draw any Challenge cards, he must (if able) play one of those cards. You may not tell other players the values of the cards you pick. Wild1: As main player in a challenge, if you hold tokens belonging to your opponent in your Prison after the prisoner exchange, you may look at his entire hand before cards are played. Super1: When you use your power, if you draw more than one Challenge card from your opponent you may select any one of the Challenge cards that you drew. Your opponent must play that card in the challenge if he can. ; An information power. Inquisitor basically has two ways to go: get a ; lot of prisoners and try to be a Mind, or keep exactly one prisoner of ; each color and be a sort of Laser/Oracle. The latter has proven to be ; the better strategy since (unless he gets a lot of prisoners, which ; makes everyone his enemy) he doesn't make a good Mind. ; We briefly experimented with changing the timing to "anytime before ; cards are played", but that seemed to make him too strong (using the ; Laser/Oracle approach). This way, he has to decide on allies before ; getting an idea of what his opponent will play. KNIFE [O:Pr:P] GETS CARDS FOR PRISONERS You have the power of sacrifice. As a main player in a challenge, any time before cards are played you may put any of the tokens in your Prison into the Warp and draw one card from the deck for each. The cards you obtain in this way do not reduce the number you may buy with Lucre. The cards are not subject to the Extortionist (you "officially" obtain them one at a time). History: Backward and savage by Cosmic standards, the Knives hold bloody rituals in which captured prisoners are sacrificed to their goddess of battle. Other races would scoff at their beliefs -- except they seem to work. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: When you must propose a prisoner exchange, show your opponent this card and propose any exchange in which you give him (or he gives you) specific prisoners for an equal number of cards (e.g., "You give me a red and two blue prisoners for three cards"). He must accept the proposal. Super: When you sacrifice a token, you may randomly draw a card from its owner's hand instead of from the deck. Wild1: When you must propose a prisoner exchange, propose any exchange in which you give your opponent (or he gives you) specific prisoners for an equal number of cards (e.g., "You give me a red and two blue prisoners for three cards"). He must accept the proposal. Super1: For each token you sacrifice during the current challenge, you may either draw a card from the deck or a random card from the hand of the token's owner. ; This one wants to take lots of prisoners, but he puts them back into ; circulation (or at least the Warp) fast; most players simply exchange ; all their prisoners for cards at the earliest opportunity, though there ; are cases where a little more strategy is in order. It's also really ; fun to role-play this one. OUTRAGE [O:Pr:P] THREATENS PRISONERS You have the power of atrocities. Once per challenge, you may give an order to any one player who has a token in your Prison. If the player obeys the order, give him one of his tokens from your Prison; if he refuses, eradicate one such token (as per the Void). You may order a player to: invite or not invite a particular other player to ally; accept or reject an invitation to ally; use or not use an optional power, giving the order immediately after he decides whether to use it or not; or not use a specific Flare, Edict, or Ruling (returning it to hand) immediately after he tries to use it. You only order one action per challenge, and the order lasts to the beginning of the next challenge. If a player attempts to obey your order but then is prevented from doing so (by the Magnet, Cosmic Zap, etc.) he still receives a token. History: The Outrage hive-mind finds the attachment of other races to their life-units incomprehensible. Its inability to understand "individuality" does not prevent the Outrage from using the concept to compel behavior it desires from its Cosmic opponents. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: When you must propose a prisoner exchange, show your opponent this card and demand that he give you all of your tokens that he has in his Prison in exchange for nothing. If he rejects the proposal, eradicate one of his tokens from your Prison. Super: You do not have to free a prisoner when a player obeys your order. Wild1: When you must propose a prisoner exchange, demand that your opponent give you all of your tokens that he has in his Prison in exchange for nothing. If he rejects the proposal, eradicate one of his tokens from your Prison. Super1: If a player refuses your order, you may play this Flare. The player may then change his mind and accept your order, but if he still refuses it you must eradicate all of his tokens that are in your Prison. ; Despite initial misgivings, the balance on this power seems about right; ; the only area where it may still be too strong is the ability to order ; players to use or not use powers, but there have not been any great ; problems. Comparable to Negator or Silencer in the scope of the effect, ; but needs prisoners to function. SLAVER [O:Pr:PL] BUYS AND SELLS PRISONERS You have the power to peddle flesh. Before the start of each challenge, you may propose to one other player an exchange of prisoners for Lucre. You may either offer to sell the player tokens from your Prison, or buy tokens from his, but not both. Stipulate which tokens are involved, and the amount of Lucre; you may not specify more Lucre than the buyer has. The other player must either accept or reject your offer. If he accepts, implement the exchange immediately. If he declines to sell tokens to you, nothing further happens. If he rejects an offer to buy tokens from you, you may allow any of the other players to purchase the tokens for the requested price (if several players wish to buy, you choose one). If no one wants the tokens, or if you do not want to sell them to other players, you may put the tokens into the Warp and draw one Lucre from the box per token. History: The Slavers view life as a resource like any other, to be exploited for their own profit. Their flesh-peddling is both a blessing and a curse to their Cosmic opponents, who can sometimes recover lost comrades but often find the moral stain (and the price) too great. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners and Lucre! Wild: Between challenges, you may give this card to any other player and purchase any or all of the prisoners he holds, paying him one Lucre per prisoner. The other player keeps this card. Super: If a player rejects your offer to buy tokens from him, you may purchase an equal number of tokens from the Warp for the price that you offered, paying the Lucre to the box. You may select any of the tokens in the Warp other than your own; put the tokens you buy in your Prison. Wild1: Between challenges, you may purchase any or all of the prisoners held by one other player, paying him one Lucre per prisoner. Super1: If a player rejects your offer to buy tokens from him, you may purchase an equal number of tokens from the Warp for the price that you offered, paying the Lucre to the box. You may select any of the tokens in the Warp other than your own; put the tokens you buy in your Prison. ; Another Lucre power. This one has been extensively modified from v1.0 ; due to two complaints: it was using up too much time because he could ; make any number of offers at the start of each challenge; and it was ; not a very good power since (like Lloyd) other players can simply ; refuse to deal with him, thus giving him no real power. This version ; lets Slaver "sell" prisoners to the Warp. ; Also changed "power to enslave" to "power to peddle flesh", due to a ; conflict with the Mayfair Vampire. ; The Super has a subtle use; Slaver can say something like, "I'll buy ; all ten of the tokens in your Prison for one Lucre." The other player ; then has to weigh the consequences if Slaver has the Flare. TOLL [M:Pr:PL] CHARGES FOR USE OF CONE You have the power of fares. In each challenge where you are not the offensive player, you demand a fee of one Lucre from the offensive player when he first puts tokens into the Cone. If he cannot or will not pay (he is allowed to refuse your demand), take any one of his tokens from any base and put it in your Prison. You do not demand a fee from players other than the offensive player, nor do you demand an additional fee from the offensive player if he adds tokens to or removes tokens from the Cone. History: Masters of hyperspace technology, the Tolls have built huge Conic shunts which allow them to control interstellar travel. The Aliens caught in their hyperspeed traps have a simple choice -- pay the Toll or go to jail. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners and Lucre! Wild: As main player in a challenge, if your opponent holds any of your tokens in his Prison you may demand that he "pay a toll" by freeing one to you. If he will not pay, he may not have allies (except the Parasite). Super: You may demand a fee (one Lucre, or you take a prisoner) from each player who puts tokens in the Cone, including defensive allies. An ally may withdraw his tokens from the challenge after your demand and not pay the toll. Wild1: As main player in a challenge, if your opponent holds any of your tokens in his Prison you may demand that he "pay a toll" by freeing all of them to you. If he will not pay, he may not have allies (except the Parasite). Super1: You may demand a fee (one Lucre, or you take a prisoner) from each player who puts tokens in the Cone, including defensive allies. An ally may withdraw his tokens from the challenge after your demand and not pay the toll. ; A version of the Assessor. A little weaker than the Assessor (toll only ; from the offensive player), a little stronger (he selects the toll ; token), and a Lucre power. There's a slight resemblance to the Butler, ; in that you pay him or he messes up your bases. VENDETTA [O:Pr:P] IMPRISONS FOR CONSOLATION You have the power to punish. Whenever you are entitled to consolation from any player, you may take all of the consolation by imprisoning that player's tokens (thus, if you are entitled to a consolation of three cards, you may either take three cards or three tokens for your Prison). If you choose to take tokens, the player selects which of his tokens are imprisoned, taking them from his bases. You are allowed to take full consolation in prisoners even if the other player does not have enough cards to give you full consolation, and vice-versa. History: The Vendetta world was nearly destroyed by a war initiated when one of the parties to a peace conference brutally massacred the other delegates. The Vendetta remain scarred by the incident (radiation scars, mostly) and punish similar betrayals by taking hostages, whose suffering serves as a reminder to their Cosmic opponents of the danger of crossing the Vendetta. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: When you are entitled to consolation from any player, you may take all or part of that consolation in the form of your own tokens rescued from that player's Prison. Super: You select which of your opponent's tokens are imprisoned when you use your power, taking them from any of his bases. Wild1: When you are entitled to consolation from any player, you may take all or part of that consolation in the form of your own tokens rescued from that player's Prison. Super1: You select which of your opponent's tokens are imprisoned when you use your power, taking them from any of his bases. ; Vendetta is a little like Pacifist, in that his power applies when ; he plays Compromise and the opponent plays Attack. The ability to ; choose cards or prisoners is quite nice, and means that the opponent ; can't discount the possibility of consolation just because he has ; bad cards. ; ---- CLEMENT, SLAUGHTER, and PHILOSOPHER ; These three powers are for all practical purposes identical; each ; changes the challenge type, though in slightly different ways. One ; playtester notes that Philosopher is too strong and recommends Clement. ; Slaughter is generally disliked because he can (almost) completely ; prevent prisoners from being taken, thus ruining the prisoner powers. CLEMENT [O:Pr:P] CAUSES CAPTURE CHALLENGE You have the power of mercy. You may convert any regular (non-capture) challenge into a capture challenge before allies are invited. This change may be overridden by the Victory or Death ruling. History: The ethically-advanced Clements are revolted by the waste and destruction of war. Their impassioned pleas for the preservation of life are generally heeded by the war-weary races of the Cosmos. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: Before allies are invited in a non-capture challenge, you may propose changing it to a capture challenge. All players get one vote, and you break ties. Super: When you change a regular challenge into a capture challenge, if you are involved on one side as a main player or ally the other side does not take prisoners if it wins. You do not need to reveal this Flare until the challenge is to be resolved. Wild1: Before allies are invited in a non-capture challenge, you may propose changing it to a capture challenge. All players get one vote, and you break ties. Super1: When you change a regular challenge into a capture challenge, if you are involved on one side as a main player or ally the other side does not take prisoners if it wins. You do not need to reveal this Flare until the challenge is to be resolved. SLAUGHTER [O:Pr:P] CAUSES NON-CAPTURE CHALLENGE You have the power of carnage. You may convert any capture challenge into a regular (non-capture) challenge before allies are invited. This change may be overridden by the Take Prisoners ruling. History: The ethically-backward Slaughters glory in the waste and destruction of war. Their impassioned pleas for the destruction of life are generally heeded by the war-hungry races of the Cosmos. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: Before allies are invited in a capture challenge, you may propose changing it to a non-capture challenge. All players get one vote, and you break ties. Super: When you change a capture challenge into a regular challenge, if you are involved on one side as a main player or ally your side still takes prisoners if it wins. You do not need to reveal this Flare until the challenge is to be resolved. Wild1: Before allies are invited in a capture challenge, you may propose changing it to a non-capture challenge. All players get one vote, and you break ties. Super1: When you change a capture challenge into a regular challenge, if you are involved on one side as a main player or ally your side still takes prisoners if it wins. You do not need to reveal this Flare until the challenge is to be resolved. PHILOSOPHER [O:Pr:P] CHANGES CHALLENGE TYPE You have the power to argue. You may convert any challenge into one of the opposite type with respect to prisoners -- i.e., convert a capture challenge to a non-capture challenge, or vice-versa -- before allies are invited. This change may be overridden by the Take Prisoners and Victory or Death rulings. History: The Philosophers have spent millenia considering the thorny ethical problems of life and death. They are quite capable of droning on for hours and hours and hours on the subject, and when they suddenly shout "Ergo, killing one's opponents is wrong!" most Aliens agree rather than admit they had fallen asleep and missed the point. Amazingly, the Philosophers can do exactly the same thing but end with "Ergo, imprisoning one's opponents is wrong!", which may suggest something about their reasoning. Restriction: Use only in a game with prisoners. Wild: Before allies are invited in any challenge, you may propose changing it to one of the opposite type with respect to captures. All players get one vote, and you break ties. Super: When you change the type of a challenge, if you are involved on one side as a main player or ally, your side takes prisoners if it wins and the other side does not take prisoners if it wins. You do not need to reveal this Flare until the challenge is to be resolved. Wild1: Before allies are invited in any challenge, you may propose changing it to one of the opposite type with respect to captures. All players get one vote, and you break ties. Super1: When you change the type of a challenge, if you are involved on one side as a main player or ally, your side takes prisoners if it wins and the other side does not take prisoners if it wins. You do not need to reveal this Flare until the challenge is to be resolved. ; The Wild Flares differ slightly but result in the same effect; like ; the Wild Dictator, they allow the other players to override the power). ; (Another reason I prefer the Philosopher is that the "power to argue" ; fits nicely with the Flare.) ; The Super Flare (all are identical in effect, if not wording) assumes ; that players would rather take their opponents' tokens prisoner than ; send them to the Warp. Playtesting indicates this is probably true ; of everyone except the Void.