u/Alpsten

Hello again, fellow terraformers!

This is the very early start of a possible fan expansion idea, depending on how much time and energy I end up having for it. The working title is World Building Expansion.

The original idea was quite simple. I wanted to make some fan-made cards that featured more corporate logos and mentioned corporations in the flavour text, just to make the world of Terraforming Mars feel a bit more alive.

For me, this is still the most important part of the idea. These cards should visibly include the corporation’s logo, or at least something strongly connected to that corporation, somewhere on the card. Mechanically, this is not strictly necessary, but it is the main world-building element that made me want to start this project in the first place.

But the more I thought about it, the more I started wondering:

"Would it be fun if certain cards gave an extra bonus when played by a specific corporation?"

That is where the idea became really interesting to me. It could be a way to make some under-performing corporations more appealing without directly changing the corporation cards themselves. I know the simplest solution would be to buff weaker corporations officially, or just use house rules, but I thought this could be a more thematic and interesting way of doing it.

For example, weaker corporations like UNMI or Sagitta could maybe have several corporation-specific cards in the deck, while stronger corporations like Point Luna, Vitor, or Manutech might only have one or two. Another possibility could be to use these cards as part of the normal deck, or maybe as a small separate deck during drafting. This is still something that would need a lot of testing and tinkering.

The cards I have made so far are only early ideas and are definitely not final. I mainly wanted to share the concept and get feedback on possible problems, balance concerns, or suggestions.

There is only one planned “new mechanic" in this expansion, because I personally think the game is already close to perfect and does not need many more mechanics:

IF YOU are playing as [corporation]...

The idea is that the card still works for everyone to play, but the player who plays as the named corporation gets an extra thematic bonus when playing it. The question mark at the cost is just a place holder, since I have no idea about balancing!

Please make your own cards if you think this is a good idea, because I am not sure if I have the time and patience to follow through with it, but thoughts and feedback are very welcoming please, please, please!

PS. I am not sure if this "new mechanic" has already been thought of, please link me to that post or ’creator’ in that case. Thanks.

I have been thinking about making a fan-made corporation for a while now, and it is harder than it looks. There are several things to keep in mind:

- It needs to be balanced with the current corporation pool, including edge cases like Merger.
- It should be interesting, memorable and thematic.
- It should not introduce too many new rules, niche cases or timing questions.
- The wording needs to be as clean as possible.
- It should not break the game or prevent other players from playing normally.

I have probably seen over 100 fan-made corporations. Some are great, some are interesting but hard to balance, and some feel a bit bland. This idea is something I have not personally seen before. It has some possible issues, but I would love feedback.

I will start with what I think works well, and then list the problems or questions I see.

Positive
- The theme feels strong. Thalassa is a sea goddess in Greek mythology, and the name also connects well to Poseidon, which already exists in the game. Thalassa is also one of Neptune’s moons.
- The basin markers represent future ocean sites or build sites. Thalassa marks where future seas may form, and then profits if oceans are placed there.
- The idea could create new board states and interesting decisions. Other players may choose to use the marked areas and gain from them, ignore them, or deliberately block them.
- There is already some precedent for placing oceans in unusual areas, such as Artificial Lake. This corporation would expand on that idea in a different way.
- It gives every player something to think about when placing oceans. Do you take the extra bonus and help Thalassa, or do you block the marked area with another tile?
- I chose silver cubes instead of player markers because Arcadian Communities already uses player markers. This matters especially in Merger games, where using the same marker type for both corporations could become confusing.
- Silver cubes also fit the reward mechanically, since the main ocean trigger gives 5 M€. A silver cube can simply be taken from the board and placed among the player’s megacredits when triggered.

Possible problems / questions
- I am not sure about the balance yet. Starting resources and exact rewards are open for discussion, but I thought 5 M€ for the ocean trigger could be a good core value.
- It might be too fiddly, depending on how many markers end up on the board.
- It could make the board feel smaller. If several oceans are placed on basin marker areas, some normal ocean spaces may never be used. This should not prevent the game from ending, since oceans still get placed, but it could make some reserved ocean spaces irrelevant.
- Other players can still place any other tile on a basin marker area. If that happens, Thalassa gains 1 steel and removes the marker, then the game continues normally.
- After all oceans are placed, the action can still be used, but it would only function as a possible 1 steel fallback when another tile is placed on that area. This may or may not be worth keeping.

Current wording

THALASSA PRIME
You start with 38 M€ and 5 steel. As your first action, place 2 basin markers on empty non-reserved areas.

Action: Place 1 basin marker on an empty non-reserved area.

Effect: Oceans may be placed on areas with your basin markers. When an ocean tile is placed on such an area, remove that marker and gain 5 M€. If another player placed that ocean tile as their action, they gain 3 M€. When any other tile is placed on such an area, gain 1 steel and remove that marker.

Flavor text:
Where others saw dry land, Thalassa Prime marked the basins of future seas.

Clarification
Basin markers are represented by silver cubes. They are not player markers and do not reserve areas. Any player may place a tile on an area with a basin marker. If the tile is an ocean, the ocean placement is allowed even if the area is not normally reserved for ocean. If the tile is not an ocean, Thalassa Prime gains 1 steel and removes the basin marker.

Happy of all feedback and discussion!