Vaulters Major Faction

It's probably not going to be implemented, but this idea has been banging around in my head for a while, so I'll just write it down.

Major Faction: Vaulters

Gameplay Affinity: Aperture Travelers

Vaulters can construct Apertures on systems and in ships that allow for instant travel. They do not gain  through research, instead increasing the  limit on Apertures.

Population:

Political Ideology: Scientists

Scientist events generate more Scientist opinion

Militarist events also generate Pacifist opinion

Pacifist events also generate Enviromentalist opinion

Population Boni: 

+5% Manpower effectiveness on System during Siege

+3 Science on Happy

Collection Boni:

10: +Scientist Opinion

20: +10% Improvement Cost Reduction on Systems with Vaulter population

50: +2 Strategic Resource Deposit Value on Systems with Vaulter population

Visual Affinity / Story:

Starting Planet: Liubuz, Snow

Starting Government: Republic

Story:

'The tales say that no planet shall be a home to the Vaulters for eternity. Even Auriga, our mother, we had to leave as she died, making our way into a galaxy under the grasp of Empires greater than we ever believed. Where can we claim a home, when so many planets have been taken already? After generations of wandering, searching and the endless pursuit of those stronger than us, the clans have gathered again. The world they chose for the meeting is cold and nearly lifeless. Petrov Istvanka named it Liubuz, after a fortress of the old legends, and her clan is already digging and building to make it a home for all of us, no matter how temporary.

The clan leaders argue and fight, knowing that today, they had to decide the future of their people. Zolya Tulela speaks first, with the anger and decisiveness that marks her heredity: "If our enemies show us only force, then we should do the same. Let us turn Liubuz into a fortress worthy of the name. Let us build ships, and for once, don't just turn tail and flee when they try to take our world. Let us stand, fight, and carve our place in this galaxy with the only language it speaks!"

Some nod, but many clans seem tired and weary. They turn to Tenekech Attjla, who shakes his head, laughing. "You are like your mother, and her mother before her. You Zolyas never think of anything but war", he challenges her, "But what if it fails? Will you turn Liubuz into our grave? I say, let us go into the void with open arms. Let us invite the people to live with us, share our gift with them, and they will do the same. A world shared is richer than one destroyed to call it your own."

"Go and play war, or peace, if you like", snorts Petrov Istvanka, shaking some snow out of her coat, "But if we are to have a future, we shouldn't rely on others to get a livable world. Remember what saved the Vaulters when Auriga died, remember what allowed us to live in her most unwelcoming places as the winters grew longer. We are a people of science, not diplomacy or war. Let us learn how to make our own worlds, beautiful worlds, instead of wasting our time with outsiders. Auriga died, but under our care, Liubuz shall bloom."

As the debate goes on, it becomes clear that it is those three who could lead us through this time of change, but who shall it be?'

While the initial choice should be three-pronged, follow-up choices might just involve decisions between peaceful/militaristic and expansionist/isolationist lines. Some ideas for rewards:

• An engine module allowing for conventional movement at acceptable speeds.
• An improvement reducing unhappiness and increasing food production on Cold planets
• Terraforming cost reduction
• An improvement increasing FIDSI based on the number of different populations on planets

Traits:

Remnant Citizens

Starting Tech: N-Way Fusion

Starting Tech: Xenobiology

Starting Tech: Xenolinguisitics

Rational Minds II

Optimal Defense I

Social Chameleons

Black Thumb I

Explanations:

The main characteristic of the Vaulter has, in my opinion, always been their teleportation, which turned them into a strong defensive faction. It would be impossible to implement that properly as a minor faction, so major it is.

Their science bonus in ES 1 and EL always felt tacked on to me, since it doesn't mesh at all with the teleportation mechanic and is just there to provide a goal to work towards. So I made their main population bonus another defensive one.

The population bonus works by slowing down the manpower drain, as if the manpower was larger by that percentage. So a population of 10 Vaulters gives a 50% bonus, slowing the speed  to 2/3, so the siege takes 50% longer.

Their political ideology is meant to represent the "peace through superior firepower" that their gameplay supports. They'll have fleets, but mostly to fend off whoever is trying to encroach on their territory.

The Apertures are the main mechanically different part. As usual, a Vaulter planet can construct an Aperture, which allows instantaneous travel to and from it to all other Apertures of the same player, using up all remaining movement points.

Apertures have a  limit, which counts ships both received and sent via it during a turn, and causes it to refuse further travel if the limit is reached. This limit increases with the research of the technologies in the Science&Exploration tree that usually give movement speed, and if all tech trees are researched with the same speed, then it stays at about two fleet's worth of  throughout.

An Aperture can also be added to a ship in a support slot, with only one per ship. These provide a  limit based on tech level of the module, worth about 1 fleet. They cost high amounts of strategic resources, making them rare and valuable to the Vaulter player and priority targets to their enemies. Activating and deactivating such a ship-based Aperture takes a turn and prevents the ship from moving until it is deactivated.

This way, while a Vaulter can easily defend their territory, since they can send fleets instantly to whereever the attack happens, they are weak when it comes to being on the offensive. As they lack high-tech engines, flying to an enemy system takes time, giving the enemy a chance to prepare. However, if they manage to get a foothold with Aperture ships, they can quickly bring the rest of their fleets in position.

The limit on the Aperture uses is to prevent them from being overpowered, since otherwise one always has to face the entirety of the Vaulter military at once. This way, there is a bottleneck that encourages a more traditional fleet building and placement.

The three political affinities correspond to the three leaders you can back in the story, chosing between either a strong defensive backbone to keep the peace, strong science, or the peaceful coexistence with minor factions.