The Outsiders spent a perceived millennia on the threshold of an event horizon, but the pull of the black hole also brought endless technology into their reach. In desperation they communed with dust for knowledge that might save them from the brink of destruction. The Outsiders managed a miraculous escape as an endless artifact shot their home planet across the galaxy to safety. No longer primitives, the Outsiders had become a race of spatially warped beings with access to endless technology, they also learned that to survive the chaotic nature of the universe, all will have to swallow their pride and make sacrifices. Their technology took advantage of the temporal side effects, utilizing properly tuned endless technology to travel between worlds in the blink of an eye. But with all their good fortune their changes left it hard to maintain their race, existing partially temporally and physically made reproduction difficult, but years of research found a way to indoctrinate others into their society, although an ugly truth Outsiders would in time require willing subjects to undergo the same physical changes they did to become a society able to lead the galaxy to peace. 

Faction Affinity

 Temporally Attuned: Outsiders share the same populations across all of their colonized systems however Outsider populations require much higher of amounts of food to be consumed to increase population compared to other populations. (Food is accumulative across the empire much like dust and all systems interact with the same pool. Industry produced is divided evenly across all systems) To gain population Outsiders may request other factions surrender a point of population from one of their systems to them through diplomatic proceedings. (If agreed upon the Outsider faction will gain 1 to their empire population and the other faction will lose 1 faction from the selected system)

Faction Traits

 Good Neighbor: The Outsider’s demeanor and mystifying presence causes them to build diplomatic pressure  in their favor against any factions that they colonize systems adjacent to.

 Bizarre: The process of indoctrinating into Outsider society is highly intimidating, it takes twice as long for propaganda to attract other populations.

 Distinct: The Outsiders' reputation proceeds them, the influence cost effects from badges are increased. (negative effects are more negative, positive effects are more positive)

 Temporal Shipping: Food doesn’t keep well across beacons, systems with no allied systems adjacent to them consume more food.

 Unfathomable: Increased Science production on system, this bonus can be shared across an alliance via proper treaty or declaration. 

 Expressive: Reduces the influence cost of diplomatic dealings in which you trade a research to the other faction. 

 Earthen Gatherers: Increases luxury resources gathered.

 Artifice Fleet: Ships are constructed of mostly endless relics, Outsider Hull health is much lower and ships have more support module specific slots.

Aspects of Gameplay

• Seeks things to offer to other players

• Hard to be wiped out by invasions

• Difficulty interacting with minor factions but higher rewards

Intent

I definitely tried to make something weird a different with a lot of character, i'm not super certain if i've achieved that but i mostly just wanted my submission to focus on a brief introduction to this idea.  I definitely built most of it around trying to balance the faction trait, which is definitely a pretty big change. My hope is that it will get players to get their population up through diplomacy, and if they are successful be able to establish a lead and also encourage them in to focus on diplomatic interactions. I definitely wanted to focus on making them more pacifist but i also wanted to make it so they had a bit of room to grow into defending themselves, sort of like drakken were capable of doing, my hope is i didn't miss the point entirely by doing this. thanks for reading my submission have a nice day <3

carolean7 wrote:

Intent

I definitely tried to make something weird a different with a lot of character, i'm not super certain if i've achieved that but i mostly just wanted my submission to focus on a brief introduction to this idea.  I definitely built most of it around trying to balance the faction trait, which is definitely a pretty big change. My hope is that it will get players to get their population up through diplomacy, and if they are successful be able to establish a lead and also encourage them in to focus on diplomatic interactions. I definitely wanted to focus on making them more pacifist but i also wanted to make it so they had a bit of room to grow into defending themselves, sort of like drakken were capable of doing, my hope is i didn't miss the point entirely by doing this. thanks for reading my submission have a nice day <3

I am concerned how the affinity works because how ES2 handles population different from ES1. Basically, if your faction shares population evenly between all systems, how does that work for minor factions? Are they also "magically" divided as well? Check out my submission for some links to the Game design Documents on population.

thanks! and yeah i had been thinking about that and my initial thinking was populations of other factions would be shared between planets and that's why i nerfed propaganda, so the bonus from this wouldn't get too out of hand.