THE EMPYREAN
DESCRIPTION
Introduced in Prophecy of Kings, The Empyrean are a mysterious race who have lived and watched from the outskirts of space with almost no interaction with the other factions. Deciding themselves to be a neutral third party, they feel best suited now to claim leadership over the galaxy. Isolated, slow, and quiet, the Empyrean come across a bit creepy but just want what's best for you.
The Empyrean are fascinating biologically. They don't have the organs or features of other races, and can live indefinitely in a vacuum. They are quite at home in the vast nebulae spread throughout the less-explored regions of space, and seem to navigate them without difficulty. They also seem able to observe and interact with dark energy, a technology they have been very stingy about sharing. Ancient, methodical, and more or less friendly, if not sociable, The Empyrean have several abilities that seem geared to help their allies as much as themselves. |
STARTING UNITS
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FACTION ABILITIES
VOIDBORN:
Nebula do not affect your movement! Which is handy, as you live in one.
AETHERPASSAGE:
You may let other players fly through your airspace! An ability that you should be able to rent out from time to time.
DARK WHISPERS:
You get 2 faction Promissory Notes instead of 1
Nebula do not affect your movement! Which is handy, as you live in one.
AETHERPASSAGE:
You may let other players fly through your airspace! An ability that you should be able to rent out from time to time.
DARK WHISPERS:
You get 2 faction Promissory Notes instead of 1
STARTING TECHDark Energy Tap
Dark Energy Tap is a technology new in Prophecy of Kings. It allows for the exploration of Frontier tokens, which are placed in hexes that have no planets. As the Empyrean are the only faction to start with it, they can have a bit of fun exploring unimpeded for a round or two, and their agent (see below) helps mitigate the counter cost of going into deep space. ANTHEM |
RACIAL TECHSWell...on the one hand, you'll end up with a lot of crappy Promissory Notes. On the other hand, it may prevent all-out war, as no one wants to attack you more than once or twice as they'll have to start giving out the better Promissory Notes.
That's pretty great. There are generally enough anomalies on the board that this should prove very useful. Can you image having this, Cruiser II, the aid of a Gravity Rift, Gravity Drive, and Flank Speed? You could have a cruiser moving at a speed of 7!
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AGENTSeems specifically geared toward letting you explore the dark regions of space without wasting too many tokens.
HEROMaybe middling as far as Heroes go, but a good way to find some Relics in a hurry! And Frontier relics are Wild, so a good chance of getting some Artifacts.
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COMMANDEROne of the better Commanders, imo. Allows for a retaliation or rebuild after an attack.
The Unlock ability is to be neighbors with all other players, so maybe not easy to obtain early on! MECHThe Xxcha are no longer the only faction with the means to block a Sabotage card! This one is tougher to use then the Xxcha Instinctive Training, due to positioning requirements, but also easier to obtain.
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HOME SYSTEMMiddling Production, great Influence. It's in a Nebula, so some extra defense!
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FLAGSHIPDYNAMO
*May spend 2 influence to repair a ship in this OR an adjacent system as soon as it uses Sustain Damage. SUSTAIN DAMAGE Cost: 8 Combat: 5(X2) Move: 1 Capacity: 3 Good attack, good probably hire itself out as an onsite repair ship for friendly factions! |
PROMISSORY NOTES
The Empyrean has 2 faction Promissory Notes, and while neither are complete stunners, they are useful and interesting in that they are both mutually beneficial to the giver and receiver. Other Promissory notes are pretty one-sided!