COSMIC 1830


This variant of 1830 is recommended only when the players are too drunk to play the game properly. To play, the power cards from Cosmic Encounters are needed. Play of 1830 proceeds normally, except that each capitalist is secretly controlled by an alien intelligence, and can use his or her powers to alter play of the game.

Some examples follow:

Amoeba: He can shift his station markers freely.
Anti-Matter: He wins if he goes bankrupt.
Aristocrat: He starts the game with double the normal money.
Calculator: He is the only player allowed to use one.
Clone: He can sell shares without having to discard them!
Crystal: He determines how many shares any one player can hold in any one company, once per share-dealing round.
Dictator: Determines runs of other players.
Diplomat: He can put a third station marker down in full, two-marker cities.
Doppelganger: He can possess one railroad per operating round.
Gambler: He can only buy and sell futures as well as shares.
Grudge: If other players don't invest in his railroad(s), and they're profitable, other players must match dividends paid out by the Grudge's railroad(s) to the Grudge.
Judge: Arbitrates all disputes over rules, he does.
Machine: Any engine he owns is a diesel.
Macron: His station marker stops are worth four times normal.
Magnet: He can make other players buy or sell shares in any one company once per share-dealing round.
Mind: He can check the treasuries of other players and companies.
Miser: Never buys new engines nor pays dividends.
Mutant: When he sells a share in one company, he pulls another one from any other player's hand at random.
Oracle: Buys low, sells high--always.
Philanthropist: Can freely move money from any controlled company, or his pocket, anywhere he wants.
Plant: He can sap the powers of any player he shares a city with.
Seeker: He can ask binding questions about players' future tile plays.
Skeptic: He can cause one company's stock to drop three levels, once per share-dealing round.
Sorcerer: He can trade directorships with other players.
Trader: He can buy and sell stock directly with other players, rather than through the bank pool.
Virus: He multiplies the nominal $ value of a station by the # of the engine stopping there. (Diesels count as infinity)
Void: When he sells stocks, they permanently disappear.
Vulch: When anyone sells a share and puts it in the bank pool, he picks it up for free.
Will: Ignores track--his engines go to any station they want.
Zombie: His old engines never go obsolete.

And folks--that's just for starters! Enjoy!

More Cosmic 1830
by Russell deCastongrene

Zombie -- retains certificates after selling them
Mesmer -- makes a certificate look like any other RR for buying or selling
Amoeba flows around tokens -- never shut out of an area
Miser -- starts with an extra $400 that he must keep separate. Functions as a separate player.
Warpish (Poolish) -- owns all certificates in the bank pool
Assassin -- may kill any tile during his turn
Doppelganger -- uses other railroads' trains (doesn't need to buy one)
Filth -- no one may play a token in a city where he has one
Filch -- steals money from other RRs to make purchases
Loser -- before assets are totaled, may declare that person with the least cash is the winner
Trader -- swaps cash on hand with any other player
Demon -- may take over directorship of a RR temporarily
Crystal -- may force another RR to put a tile down
Machine -- not limited to one stock purchase. May buy until money exhausted
Healer -- can restore stock prices after a sale
Vacuum -- when his stocks drop in price, can make others drop
Laser -- makes someone blind when buying or selling -- pick a certificate at random
Sorcerer -- Swaps stock certificates with another player (eg PRR for C&O)
Assessor -- collects a $10 tax for every tile a train runs through
Antimatter -- buys 6 trains and progresses backwards to 2s

And $100 bills work as Cosmic Zaps.

[As usual, some are workable and some aren't. But that's half the fun. I'd say go far the Vacuum, but if Trader's in the game....]

Updated 14 Jan 08.

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