I started making special Tech cards that all players can research. These are dealt face up to one side (one per player in the game), and during regroup, a player can research a Communal Tech or they can research their own "secret" Techs per normal play.

All Communal Techs require a constant ship presense in order for their abilities to be active (in other words, you have to leave the proper number of ships on the Tech at all times if you want to use their abilities). Below are the first batch I created:

- Ablative Shield : (2) You may retain up to two non-encounter cards when drawing a new hand.
- Agfom Potent-Shot : (2) You may draw two destiny cards on your encounters, and choose which one to attack. The other card is placed at the bottom of the destiny deck.
- Suspensor Beam : (5) As a main player, your opponent's ships lost to you in an encounter are removed from the game for as long as your Suspensor Beam is active. If it becomes inactive, those ships go to the warp.
- Ballisticules : (2) Any reinforcement you play is increased by 2.
- Barytrine Field : (4) As offensive player, you may move any planet containing ships of the defensive color indicated by destiny into the defensive system (it still counts as a foreign colony for that player, but he or she must now defend it).
- Biolution : (6) Draw an additional alien power, which you control as long as your Biolution is active. If it becomes inactive, the additonal power is also inactive.
- Cephalic Pattern Door : (2) You may remove any or all of your ships from the hyperspace gate before cards are revealed in an encounter.
- Columbiad (4) You may add the value of all of your ships in the system being attacked when you are a main player.
- Cortical Stack (5) You can not lose the use of your alien power from zap or loss of home colonies.
- Deep-Radar (3) You may see what encounter card a main player that invites you to ally intends to play before accepting his or her invitation.
- Geodynes (3) You may make a second encounter if you lost your first as offensive player.

Additionally, I have created a variant where certain normal game conditions are no longer "free" for players. They must have a ship on the proper Communal Tech (in order to be used). So far I am only dealing out one card per the number of players in a game (so in a 4 player game, use only 4 of the Modernization Techs).

- Communications : (1) You may invite other players (or be invited by other player) to ally in an encounter.
- Recycling : (1) You may raise a ship from the warp as offensive player during each regroup.
- Aviation : (1) You may bring more than 1 (up to the normal limit of 4) ships into the hyperspace gate.
- Momentum Drive : (1) You may make a second encounter if your first encounter as offensive player is successful.
- Special Forces : (1) You may receive rewards from the Rewards deck instead of the normal encounter deck.
- Archeology : (1) You may play artifact cards.
- Militia : (1) You may play reinforcement cards.
- Genetics : (1) You may play flare cards.

This is a very neat idea, especially the Modernization Tech.