I was in a post-Rebels Season Finale glow, thinking about the "rivalry" between the Ghost crew and Inquisitors, when I had a thought. The game is structured broadly along factions regardless of era, i.e., you can field Luke, Ezra, and Poe all in a single list. These eras also typically have paired "rivals" introduced in the same wave: Luke & Vader (OT), Kanan & Kallus (Rebels), Poe & 'Omega Ace' (TFA).

This got me thinking, what if factions or era-rivals uniquely affected each other? Or, perhaps more practically since most pilots/rivals already exist, it was an upgrade card?

EPT: Personal Enemy 3pts

(Rebel and Imperial Only)

At the start of your first activation phase declare one non-scum opponent a "Personal Enemy" and assign both ships feud tokens.* When attacking the other, the attacker gains a focus. When defending against such an attacker, gain a stress.

*EPT comes with two unique "targeting lock" style feud tokens to designate the feuding combatants.

3pts because, so long as you and your opponent have Imperial/Rebel lists (good odds), you're likely going to get some play out of this card and it is rather influential. Making it personal can add concentration but it can also distract, hence the negative consequence. Also, both ships potentially benefit or suffer to simulate how "it takes two to feud."

Now for Scum a different version of the card can exist to go along with the bounty hunter theme:

EPT: Bounty 4pts

(Scum Only, Limited)

At the start of your first activation phase declare one opponent a "Bounty" and assign both ships bounty tokens.* When attacking the bounty, gain a focus.

*EPT comes with two unique "targeting lock" style tokens to designate the bounty hunter & bounty.

This is decidedly more one sided for the Scum. This reflects that 1) they have no true opposite faction and 2) that bounty hunting is "only business, nothing personal" so there are no negative consequences. It's 4 pts because you're always able to pick a target (no faction limitations) and there are no drawbacks. That's also why it's limited or else you could field fleets of bounty hunters busting sh*t up with abandon.

Both versions feature the text "At the start of your first activation phase..." to limit the card to one use per game. Otherwise it sort of dilutes the whole concept if you feud all over the place/say everybody is your bounty. Plus for Scum their version risks becoming OP if you can just keep applying it.

Thoughts? I readily admit that costing is not my strong suit so feel free to critique. I'm sure bounty themed cards have been suggested already. But I think it's neat finding a way for all three factions to have a way to "make it personal"/target specific opponents.

I was considering making my pilot ability be triggered by fighting against scum faction.

I like the idea of a rival card.

I would make it after squads are revealed before setup so your opponent has a chance to protect the target after you declare it (gives it a cool theme aspect to it as your other ships become escorts).

I would also make it a two sided card. One side effects "an chosen opponent's ship of a different faction" the other side does something else when facing your own faction. That way you're not spending points on a card that could be potentially useless.

I would make "Bounty" a whole other card for scum only.

I like the idea in general. The effect is similar to Kallus, but since it's symmetrical, I'm not sure if it should be 3 points (after all, the ship it's on will be getting stress and handing out focus to your opponent too). Obviously, careful selection of your rival will help mitigate the impact, but I'd throw on a "once per round" so that TLTs can't double stress, etc.