Fan Designed Cosmic Expansion Set Discussion

Bill Martinson: And actually, I think I would like it better if the replacement card and my original card actually swapped places ... a Cosmic shell game! (Changes in ALL CAPS below.)

You have the power of Trickery. As a main player, after encounter cards are selected but before they are revealed, you [*may use*] this power and discard an artifact or flare from your hand to EXCHANGE your encounter card with any encounter card from the discard pile, placed facedown. Other players may not look through the discard pile until after cards are revealed. If there are no encounter cards in the discard pile, you must keep your original encounter card. At the end of the encounter, remove WHATEVER CARD YOU END UP REVEALING from the game instead of discarding it.

Note how this adds the interesting strategy of playing a good card, swapping it out, and then swapping it back in again on a later encounter -- IF nobody beats you to it!

Jefferson Krogh: Bill, that's brilliant. It gives LOKI a very cool card-stashing gimmick that's unlike Miser or Claw. Simple, subtle twist!

Bill Eberle: Interesting, Bill. Tricks hidden inside of tricks.

Bill Martinson: Flare suggestions:

WILD LOKI: Once per encounter, you may take one card at random from another player's hand. Add it to your hand, then give that player a card of the same type (even the same card, or this flare) from your hand.
(As Any Player) (Any Phase)

SUPER LOKI: When using your power, instead of replacing your encounter card you may exchange any one non-encounter card from your hand (or this flare) with another card of the same card type from the discard pile or the reward discard pile.
(Main Player Only) (Planning)

Bill Martinson: LOKI is a specific character, and one whose nature is generally in opposition to that of his peers. So it doesn't really fit the Cosmic “vibe” as an alien name. Could this be called the GRIFTER ... a “practitioner of confidence tricks”?

Jefferson Krogh: GRIFTER. You have the power to con. Works for me. I agree with the concern about the “Loki” name, by the way. Another possibility is TRICKST...er, never mind.

Mark Hawkinson: I like that version. :)

Jack Reda: Back to Joker: If it's going to have Wild Cards, I would suggest that they are encounter card with mid-range values, like Attack 6 and Negotiates (or even special negotiates that maybe give a player less compensation). The idea being that when other players get these cards, they have to use them, but they aren't that good. When Joker gets them, they are potentially great.