Faction Affinity: Deep Sympathies

• Cannot declare war.
• Can construct "counselor" ships. These ships have several abilities. Firstly, they are immune to blockades in neutral territory, though not enemy territory. Secondly, they can spread a special effect, called "sympathy," to systems. Dust and a full turn must be spent for this to happen.
• Sympathy gives an initial bonus of +5 happiness (subject to balance) to a system. If the empire that owns that system declares war on The Aggregate, that bonus is removed and replaced with a penalty of -1 happiness. That penalty grows by 1 per turn until it reaches -50 happiness (subject to balance).
• Further, The Aggregate have two "wonders" they can build later on that add additional effects. The first improves the attitude of an AI nation toward them based on the number of systems they own with "sympathy," while the second gives them a minor bonus to science based on the number of systems with "sympathy" that are owned by other players.

Faction Description (196 words):

The Xolanite Aggregate is actually made up of a number of different races, with the Xolani making up the majority. The Xolani are an old race of storytellers, originally with little ambition. However, a great Seer named Altansari rose up among them and prophesied the doom of all civilization: a great enemy coming from beyond the galaxy. Now driven, they united the minor races on their home planet and began to reach outward to the stars.

The Xolanis’ original desire to stay on their home-world expresses itself even now in their design. Starship materials are made to mimic the elegant timber and leaves of trees that their home planet was famous for, and larger ships often have bio-domes and bio-rooms full of plants and occasionally animals that remind them of home. Members of The Aggregate, whether Xolani or otherwise, are required to travel to the home-planet at the age of young adulthood to visit the temple of Altansari.

The core tenant of The Aggregate as they travel the stars is to build up, rather than tear down, and prepare for the coming storm. Their passion and tradition of great speakers inspires great sympathy for their cause.

Great idea. I'm intrigued! My main concern however is one I have with the other faction submissions where the faction cannot declare war. How then could the Xolanite reconquer lost systems or expand? Is there an alternative? Second, it's not clear to mea why the Xolanite would spread "sympathy" before they build the wonder that gives them bonus science, as it helps other factions but not their own. And my third concern is with the wonder that can be build that improves AI factions attitudes, as this is useless in a multiplayer game. Is there a way to keep this idea but change it so that it is useful when playing against human players?

Also, I want to know more about their traits. What makes them strong or weak? For instance, in my submission, the faction has weaker ships but improved diplomatic demands.

Keep it up!