Name:

The Kathonians

Gameplay:

This faction is focuses in slowly mingling with the senate of other factions through politics. This doesn't make like other proposed factions (like Etherions by Genobeesrage), that can make other factions declare wars or things like that. What they do is slowly change the political affinities of other factions with an accurate knowledge of their senate.

To better explain my idea, I'll put examples of what can happen to the "victim" faction:

• Fisrt: image you're next to Cravers. You want to enact militarist or industrialist laws, but for no obvios reason your senat has benn turning to pacifists/ecologist sinthe last 60 turns... (If you look at the GDD it may leave you without enough support to enhace any militarist/industrialist law).
• You've been pursuing a Science victory sinc mid game. But.. wait... Hell! Last 100 turns in an unnoticeable way your peolple has turned inte religious science-haters. And you didn't noticed that until your main pro-science law has lost its support!

Explained that, have to say that you can do this abruptly, but had to do it slowly, like changing an 1% per turn or less. And this is not for free, all that will cost you money, dust and a chance to be caught on single player (I didn't play multiplayer, so left to you what if player has to figure it or recive and advice). All cost will raise if you want a rapid change or a drastical change, and of course will the chance to be caught, giving the "victim" faction a discount on influence if wants to declare war on you!

As long as game progress you also will unlock techs allowing you to have better knowledge of other faction politics and techs that will allow you doing thins like forcing elections, or specifiacally support/drown one candidate.

And now go for specificis:

Faction affinity:

Influential politicians: Allows you to slowly change the ideologies of other factions senate. Costs will rise sith shorten times and bigger changes, but will lower with succesful undetected manipulations. Also allows you to know the composition o other faction's senate from game start. Suggested costs are from one election to another, as follows:

- Influence : 1 point per pop  change. Be careful, bigger changes on bigger empires will raise your cost.

- Dust : (target empire total pop ) / (10*(turns until next election)). So pop/200 if you plan from election to another, but pop/10 if want insta-change.

- Chance to be caught, yet tothink about it... complicated formula, but greater with shorten time and bigger change. If caugt no cost on influence declaring war on you at this time.

Faction traits:

Permanent intrigue: Kathonian pop produce +1 influence  per turn.

Gossip addicted: +1 inflence  /turn for each minor faction pop  in your empire and +2 per each major faction pop in your empire.

At hell with work: Penalties to industry  or food  depending your main ideology, at max of -10% to food with industrias (no penalty to industry) and -10% to industry with ecologists (no penalty to food), have intermediate penalties with other ideologies. This is empire-wide.

Meritocracy: Bonus to dust  and science  depending on your main ideology, at max of +10% science with scientists (no bonus to dust) and +10% to dust with religious (no bonus to sicnce), have intermediate bonus with other ideologies. This is empire wide.

The Great Chanber: +1 law slot.

Faction ideology:

Pacifists

Specific techs:

Basic spionege: Allows you to look at any empire senate screen. Early game tech.

Advanced spionage: Allows you to know all details about politics at sistem/node level in any known node. A mid game tech.

Magnicide: Forces the target empire to immediately go to elections (well you killed their leader...). Counts as you're caught manipulating their senate.

Interestellar bribery: Favours one candidate in a faction election (like if the faction has done itself).

Stablished influences:  Receive a 5% dicount on influence  and dust cost  in succesive manipulations of the same faction, as long as you're not caught. Early game tech.

Description:

The kathonians were small soft creatures, something close to six-legged monotremas (see in the wikipedia), living in a placid planet, with a non-hostile climate. Theyenjoyed playing with people relations, gossip and politics, that make them flourish with science and commerce, but at the price of despicing all manual work, making them bad in agriculture and industry.

Long ago their planet was invaded by slavers, who seeng their lack of phisical strenght, converted then into hose-slaves or in worse cases intelligent pets. This was a mistake. It put them close to all slaver leaders, and by slowly whisperig int hteir ears, manipulating their fears, and after very long time, made all this aliens start a cruel civil war which killed almost all of them, at the point nobody ever knew who they were.

Now raising slowly from this slavery, kathonians are eager to expand, interact with oter peoples, and if necessary manipulate them to never be slaved again. And if this is the case and everything fails, now they're prepared to raise an army, avoiding errors from the past (no panalties or bonus with war)

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And that's all. But time to some disclaimer:

Not having time to read all previous propositions, if you found something similar, leave to devs the decision to take out my proposition. Still I have been thinking with this idea since I know the senate GDD, and there's one post with original idea in the ol amplitude web (hope can be found when web is finished).

Not being a english-born speaker, pleasy don't hesitate in correcting my grammar/orthography and any typpos you found.

An intriguing proposal. I like the ideas here. And how you build so strongly on the new senate politics being added in ES2. Cool stuff.

At first glance, they may be frustrating (not fun?) to play against. Will other factions have a way to counter the ideology manipulations these guys enact? 

Keep it up! good luck!