Shattered Ascension (SA) is an extensive community redesign of Twilight Imperium 3 (TI3), an epic board game of galactic conquest, politics and trade, from Fantasy Flight Games. Its main objective is to improve the game's balance, dynamics, strategic depth, and tie mechanics closer to the concept and lore. In short, to make the game it was meant to be, through a few pillar design principles.

Dynamic And Decisions

The game should feature exciting dynamic play with constant skirmishes and changing board positions, with no stale fleet build-up and filling up systems with ships and units. Each game should be packed with meaningful choices, interesting decisions and the need to fight and negotiate with the other players from the very first round, and continuing throughout the game in a race against the clock for victory.

Theme And Mechanics

Game mechanics must support concept and lore! The lore of the rich Twilight Imperium universe has been at the center of all the changes in TI:SA. Examples include changing Saar from a stagnant mass producer to an actual nomadic, light-weight and mobile race, and Yssaril changed from a over-powered expansionist to the sneaky and elusive race they were supposed to be.  

Balancing through Asymmetry

TI3 has well known balance issues, with some races being universally recognised as weak (Xxcha) and others as very strong (Yssaril). Instead of bringing all down to a similiar level in every aspect, TI:SA has brought balance by making all of them feel powerful in different ways; strong points and advantages of races and units is further strengthed and more focused, while disadvantages become more pronounced.  An example is the Dreadnoughts, previously well known to be slow ineffective ships not worth their cost; keeping their high cost and limited movement as a defining factor, they instead received a massive upgrade in firepower, sharpening their purpose and role as slow platforms of destruction.

Features

TableTop Simulator Mod

If you want to experience Shattered Ascension without printing anything, you can grab the Shattered Ascension mod for TableTop Simulator. This mod is the result of countless hours of work to provide a high-quality experience with gorgeous models and components, splendid high-resolution redux tiles, as well as minimum setup times thanks to an extensive scripting support. See for yourself in the presentation video of this mod.

Map Database

Tired of stale pie-slice shaped galaxies? Shattered Ascensions features a library of meticulously hand-crafted maps, specifically designed to create urgency, incentivise conflicts and drive the game forward, as well as offering diverse and interesting experiences. Check out the Map Database to take a look at existing maps, or make your own with our online map editor.

Revised and Expanded Action Cards and Political Cards Decks

Shattered Ascension offers fresh and exciting Action Cards and Political Cards, as well as many balance fixes and wording corrections to existing ones, for a total of 157 Action Cards and as many Political Cards. The Political Cards have been specifically modified to be much more impactful than in TI3, where politics was often secondary to the rest of the game.

Community

Shattered Ascension boasts a community of passionate players, from fresh beginners to hardcore veterans, with regular games being played on the TableTop Simulator mod. Join us at our Discord server. You can also get in touch with us on Shattered Ascension's forum.