Revenant · Board game rules
Frigate usage gives hidden influence card
Quick answer
Placing your Crew figure on your own Frigate lets you draw Hidden Influence cards (number based on Captain level), keep one, and discard the rest, instead of advancing an Influence track.
Details
When you assign your Crew member as your Main action, you normally advance on the Influence track of the House matching the ship you placed on. However, if you place your Crew figure on your own Frigate, instead of gaining regular Influence you draw a number of Hidden Influence cards determined by your Captain's level, keep one, and discard the rest [p.4 — Main action]. These Hidden Influence cards stay secret in your hand until the end of the game [p.5 — Hidden Influence cards].
The number of cards you draw and choose from scales with your Captain level — higher levels let you see more options before picking one [p.5 — Captain level]. At the end of the game, each Hidden Influence card is revealed and counted as 1 Influence point added to your public Influence total for the relevant House during Final Scoring [p.6 — FINAL SCORING].
Other sources can also grant Hidden Influence cards, such as discarding 3 Corruption tokens from your Frigate board's upper-left slots, or reaching certain Tactics track thresholds (step 8 or higher) at the Hyperjump phase or Final Scoring [p.4 — Corruption; p.6 — HYPERJUMP PHASE; p.6 — FINAL SCORING].
Watch out: Drawing Hidden Influence cards this way does not advance any House Influence track directly — the benefit is only realized when the cards are revealed at the very end of the game, so it's a long-term/secret investment rather than an immediate score boost.