But tell me, Admiral—what holds true worth? What secures your legacy? Precious metals? Neutronium? No. Favors. And not from just anyone, but from those who hold true power.

During the game you gain Influence with the seven Great Houses that escort the fleet. Your influence with them will earn you Prestige at the end of the game.

You have two sources of Influence: Your position on the seven Influence tracks is public information, and you also have Hidden Influence cards in your hand that you only need to reveal at the end of the game.

Influence tracks

On the Influence board, each House has their own track with steps, numbered 0-8.

When you gain Influence with a House, advance your marker one step on the track of that House. If you are already at Step 8 on a track, you cannot advance further.

Each track has reward tokens on Steps 2, 5, and 8. The first player to reach these steps will get that reward token.

When gaining a reward token, simply take them as normal, except the following two special rewards:

• The Contain Corruption token is discarded immediately after gaining it to contain 1 Corruption from your Frigate board or House ship (placing it on a Void Residue space as normal).

• The Gain Tactics token is discarded immediately after gaining it to then gain 2 Tactics.

Hidden Influence

When you gain Hidden Influence, you draw a number of Hidden Influence cards determined by your Captain’s rank (ranging from 1 to 4 cards for most Captains). If you drew multiple cards, then keep one and discard the rest into a face-down discard pile. There is no hand limit for Hidden Influence cards.

Example: Emily gains Hidden Influence. Her Captain is Rank 2 1, meaning she draws 3 Hidden Influence cards 2, selects one to keep 3, and immediately discards the other two 4.