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 Star Dynasties is a strategy game published in 2021 by Iceberg Interactive, charting the struggles for power amongst the scattered colonies of humanity following 'the Collapse', a disastrous breakdown of civilisation following the accidental destruction of Earth. Although clearly taking many influences from the Crusader Kings series, Star Dynasties has a number of unique ideas, particularly in how emotions, honor, reputation, and justice are handled in the game. In my opinion, this game- developed by a very small design studio called Pawley Games, headed by Glen Pawley- is a very solid and very enjoyable platform for political intigue and empire-building amongst the stars. I am using the Bloodlines DLC, as well as the 'official' Reading Ruler mod by Glen Pawley, and the two mods I have authored, The Weight of Duty and Plastic Riches, both of which I developed while consulting directly with Glen Pawley to ensure compliance with setting lore. At the height of the post-Collapse dark age, the Goodman Kingdom is overthrown and the Weiss Guild founded, and House Weiss is left to attempt to arrest the slide of their region into collapse... Spoiler Policy There are many strange and wondrous events in the galaxy, and much dark history. General discussion of gameplay mechanics, 'public knowledge' setting information, and speculation is very welcome. Spoilers on events we have not seen is not. Participation Policy I am actively soliciting readers to take the roles of major members (particularly council members) within House Weiss, who can offer their counsel, request information and reports suitable to their station, and propose courses of action and projects they wish to pursue if they are council members. Readers who have not claimed a major House member can still request roles as members of minor noble Houses on Vega or as members of House staff or other representatives of the commoner population of Vega. Tip Jar I have a tip jar, if you wish to support me in my writing, at Patreon. Official Recognition From Pawley Games https://twitter.com/StarDynasties/status/1534811373489860613 Updates Early 2500- Down With the King! Early 2502- Rocky Beginnings Early 2504- A Good Man Early 2506- Glimmers of a New Prosperity Early 2508- A Bitter Rivalry Early 2510- The Fall of the Wang Collective Early 2512- The Birth of the Weiss League Early 2514- Two Houses As One Early 2516- The Eden Ship Early 2518- Lamb's Labors Lost Early 2520- The End of Bella Garcia Early 2522- The Rise and Fall of the Floyd Collective Early 2524- The Final Fate of the Patton Quadrant Early 2526- Fit to Print Early 2528- The Fall of Homam Early 2530- An Error of Judgement Early 2532- The Foresight of Doctor K Early 2534- Side Effects May Include Sweating, Chills, Muscle Aches, and Homicidal Insanity Supplemental Updates and Lore Early 2500- Selected Reactions to the Revolt in Vega Early 2500- What Goes Into Designing a New House Early 2502- The Modern Way of War Early 2504- Diet and Intoxication in the Colonies Early 2506- The Wars of the Stars: A Defiant Hope- Part 1 November 2509- Fire Support November 2509- Fire Support 2 (courtesy of Groetgaffel) Early 2510- Bloodlines Upgrade Paths Early 2514- Social Classes of the Colonies Early 2520- Leagues of the Known Colonies Early 2520- Artificial Intelligence Early 2522- Witchcraft and the Work of the Devil Early 2524- The Collapse Early 2524- Entertainment and Recreation Amongst the Commons December 2525- The Festival Early 2528- The Death of Homam Early 2528- The Opportunity Early 2532- The Tale of King-Heir Stella Early 2532- House Weiss Genealogy Early 2532- "That's Where Liberty Comes From" (courtesy of General Revil) Early 2532- Orion Industries and NovaCorp Early 2534- Noble Education Topics Early 2534- Coriolis Sickness nweismuller fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Apr 12, 2024 |
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Down With the King! For over three hundred years, chaos has gripped the colonies, and much that humanity once enjoyed was lost. The details of how Earth was destroyed remain unclear to this day, but the outcome cannot be denied- humanity was brought to the very brink of extinction, with colonies struggling against the encroaching failure of systems as the trade networks that were once the lifeblood of the colonies were lost. A brief and glorious empire forged by House Khalil maintained order during its short flowering, but as the great warships once used to project power failed and as the strains of maintaining long-range communications became more and more apparent, this empire fell, and House Khalil was lost to history. Now, in 2500, with the colonies devastated by constant violence and with the understanding of much of the technology once used by humanity lost, humanity is, perhaps, at its lowest ebb since the days of the Collapse itself.   As with all the other dozens of colonies of humanity, the colony at Vega consists of sealed habitats and installations in a system devoid of any life outside the sealed colonial environments, although Vega is unusual in that the bulk of its estimated 150,000 population dwell in installations in the extensive asteroid belt of Vega. The Vega colony, once a major regional headquarters for Orion Industries, is relatively prosperous by modern standards, although, as elsewhere, much of the infrastructure of the colony no longer functions. As with other colonies, Vega is largely self-sufficient, with small workshops for needed industries, its own hydroponics, a simple space port that handles traffic for military vessels and civilian shipping and painfully slowly manages repairs and construction of new ships, and mining for common ores and for 'viridium', the term now applied to several rare and precious metals (particularly vanadium and iridium) needed for high-performance alloys for use in ship engines, high-strength structural elements, and armor alloys, now the basis of the monetary system used by the nobility and the traders, House staff, and skilled artisans that make up the upper ranks of the commoner class. The semi-free serf class that forms the bulk of the population may well never see viridium money, dealing instead in local House scrip exchanged for water, for food, for rent, and for other necessities from the holdings controlled by the nobility, and exchanged for simple services and barters amongst the serfs themselves. Poverty, debt, and lack of access to money that can be spent in any other colony holds the serfs in place. In addition to the common necessities needed to keep a colony functional at all, Vega retains access to a major hydroponic farming facility which provides for a fairly comfortable margin of food surplus, a network of offices linked to a large bank of computing equipment which has proved an effective headquarters for House administrative and logistical staff, and a major station in close orbit of Vega itself with extensive solar collectors powering a hydrocarbons refinery used to create fuel for chemical power generators elsewhere in the colony, allowing for an unusually stable supply of energy in the Vega colony. Each colony in the game has a number of installations present, which may either be functional or non-functional. The technology to create new installations and new colonies no longer exists, but non-functional installations in a colony may be repaired with sufficient resources, and colonies abandoned during the game due to systems failure may be restored and repopulated. Each installation provides benefits to the colony's baron and may possibly provide effects in a radius. Amongst the most important benefit of installations is Wealth, which provides an income for the colony's baron and determines the base size of military forces which can be supported at that colony.  Another thing that has distinguished Vega is its unusual profusion of local Houses. As the old political structures from before the Collapse were swept away, those who could muster strength to hold control of facilities and resources formed the seed of the new nobility, with small holdings by minor Houses dominated by a single baron over each colony. Up until mere weeks ago, Vega supported no fewer than eight Houses, the ruling House Goodman which had forged the realm of the Goodman Kingdom out of surrounding colonies and seven minor Houses which controlled their own patchwork of holdings within the colony. This changed with the disastrous reign of Emmanuel Goodman, the last head of the Goodman Kingdom. Sadistic, inconstant, irrational, given to hunting serfs in the colony slums and to nerve whipping nobles on a seeming whim, Emmanuel served as the catalyst to join all the minor Houses of Vega in consensus- his rule could no longer stand. Alice Weiss, head of House Weiss, spearheaded the revolution with her husband, Harold, serving as its primary military leader. When the blood was wiped from the floors and walls and the bullet holes began to be painted over, much of House Goodman was dead and the remainder had fled as far from Vega as their resources could take them, but Alice Weiss had taken critical wounds, dying shortly thereafter. Her last act was to proclaim the realm to now be the 'Weiss Guild' and to urge the barons of the other colonies of the Goodman Kingdom to follow her daughter Jane. For now, the Weiss Guild has held together under its new ruler, although many openly doubt the legitimacy of the rule of these upstart usurpers. House Weiss is considered an upstart ruler of its faction and an upstart ruler of its colony as of game start, having no claim to the rule of either. As an upstart factional leader, betrayal by our vassal barons is considered less dishonorable, as is action taken against us by rulers of other factions. As an upstart baron of our own colony, we get a significant increase to how quickly unrest builds up in our home colony, with unrest accumulating to 100 leading to an internal revolt in the colony which must be put down if our rule is to survive. Claims may be 'credible' (weak) or 'rightful' (strong), with only a rightful claim to rule of our home colony entirely eliminating unrest increases for a poor claim. If we manage to survive long enough, we'll gain a credible claim to being the baron of Vega in 20 years and a credible claim to the throne of the Weiss Guild in 25 years, with each turn in-game being half a year. Although we have no claim to rule of the Weiss Guild, the Weiss Guild itself has a rightful claim to be the master of all its systems but one. If the Weiss Guild has no claim to rule over a given baron, that further increases local unrest building up and further reduces the hit to reputation for betrayal by that baron or action by other factions to pull that colony from us.   The Weiss Guild rules over the colonies of Kapteyn's Star, Kajam, Beta Eridani, and Miaplacidus as well as Vega itself. All of these save Kajam were members of the Goodman Kingdom since its founding, while the petty independent colony of Kajam was forced to submit by Emmanuel Goodman shortly before he was overthrown and lacks any real history of rule from Vega. As far as history records, no colony was ever founded at the star Lalande 21185, which serves as a lonely and uninhabited waypoint between Vega, Beta Eridani, and Miaplacidus. Kajam, Beta Eridani, and Miaplacidus enjoy relatively rich deposits of radioactives which provide cheaper fuel for fission reactors in their colony, providing relatively abundant energy. Kapteyn's Star and Kajam support more extensive chemical industries than other colonies, while Beta Eridani supports extensive hydroponic farms which help provide greater food yields like those at Vega. Starlanes which permit faster-than-light travel between stars with the proper drive systems connect the Weiss Guild directly to the McCoy Dominion, a small realm of three colonies, the Garrett Confederation, a relatively strong collection of six colonies, and the nine systems of the Patton League, Yardly Patton of the Patton Quadrant serving as archon to the league and master of the realm of the Wang Collective. Diplomatic relations with the Weiss Guild's immediate neighbors are, as of the moment, relatively stable, but the situation could change rapidly. It is perhaps fortunate that uncolonised systems provide something of a natural buffer on all three of the Weiss Guild's borders. House Weiss has some awareness of some colonies and realms beyond its immediate neighbors, but it is certain that there are realms House Weiss has never even heard of. Systems are connected by starlanes, with power projection from a colony falling off for every lane jump beyond its own colony. The military forces of the modern era are made of small craft initially intended for local defense and patrol forces, and the logistics of sending forces beyond their star are demanding and complicated. There are many uncolonised stars on the map that cannot be colonised and serve only as empty buffers that increase the distance between colonies. Colonies may have special traits marked on the map- Vega, built in an asteroid belt, increases military losses for all sides involved in combat there, while Beta Eridani, Kajam, and Miaplacidus are 'mineral rich', a description that Glenn agrees has become less appropriate since the introduction of the installation system in the game which models particular rich mining resources as actual installations in a colony. We discussed the possibility of 'radioactives rich' as a possible renaming and reflavoring of the system trait, which he appears to be considering for a future update. Factions are collections of colonies ruled by a 'duke'- although perhaps the ruler titles might be more various than that- while a league may be formed by one faction becoming the master of one or more other factions, with that faction's ruler becoming an 'archon'. Vassal factions within a league are displayed striped in their own color and the color of their master faction, and are contained within the border of their master. With how starlanes are arranged, we can currently potentially interact with/send forces to Nusakan in the Garrett Confederation, Beta Librae and Albali (the capital colony) in the McCoy Dominion, and Ross 128 and Haldus (the capital colony) in the Wang Collective. Although there is no colony between our holdings and Alsiaukat, it's too many jumps away to project power to at *all*, and the uninhabited buffer stars on all our borders will make military action more complicated for attackers in either direction. On the bottom bar, we can see our current treasury, our vassal limit, and the remaining action points we have- most activities we can start doing require some of the ruler's time and attention. We currently have 38 viridium in our treasury, although not all of this is necessarily viridium money at any given point in time- many taxes are paid in kind, and treasury also represents stocks of spare food, supplies, basic ores, et cetera. We currently have four vassals, and can manage up to six given our current income, Administration score, Technology score, and presence or absence of special bonuses. We have 2 remaining action points after setting up our starting council, enough to take one more action on this first turn. Starting action points per turn will vary from 8 to 16, centering on 12, depending on how happy our ruler was last turn. Happiness makes you more energetic with more action points, improves your general reputation as you're more pleasant to be around, increases the rate at which you gain skills, and makes characters other than the ruler more effective in their assignments, given their greater energy and motivation. Unhappiness does the opposite.  According to House legend, House Weiss is descended from some of the executives stationed in Orion Industries' regional headquarters on Vega, who maintained a strong position in the colony following the Collapse but were in no position to claim actual rule of the colony compared to the warlords with a stronger background in the exercise of force- legend holds House Goodman descended from officers of the Interstellar Authority which enforced the law of the League of Starfaring Nations across the colonies. Regardless of the truth of these legends, House Weiss has certainly maintained a strong focus on teaching the fundamentals of financial management and accurate bookkeeping, and has reasonably strong ties with the independent traders who maintain the trickle of intercolonial trade that yet endures. Between Director-General Jane Weiss and her siblings she has on her council, House Weiss maintains relatively strong teams to handle affairs of administration, production, and logistics in Vega and across the Guild, as well as a fairly effective medical, scientific, and technical staff. Her father Harold's abilities are more or less single-handedly responsible for competent management of the fleets and military peacekeepers used to keep crime and dissent under control. Diplomatic and security staff, unfortunately, are in a far more dubious state at the moment. The bulk of House Weiss's income comes from Vega itself, although it collects a small portion of the revenues of the barons of the four other colonies of the Guild for its own use, in the form of viridium, food, chemicals, ores, and other supplies. Each House maintains ratings in five skills, giving different benefits to the House for its rating, which is derived from the abilities of the House's ruler and its council member for that position. Administration, symbolised by a yellow file folder, increases the income of your home colony and increases the value of taxes collected by half the amount it boosts home colony income (this is a direct bonus to the value you collect, which does not increase the amount your barons pay from their own accounts), as well as allowing one extra vassal to be effectively managed for every full 50 points of House rating in Administration. You only ever truly directly rule one single colony- every other colony in your faction is ruled by a baron who counts as a vassal, or is a member of a vassal faction whose duke is one of your vassals. Military, symbolised by three red ships, significantly increases the strength of your own colony's forces beyond the baseline set by how much of a force can be permitted by its Wealth, and provides a bonus to overall strength of fleets led by your House to reflect tactics, leadership, and so on. Diplomacy, symbolised by green clasped hands, increases the public reputation of the all members of the House- the greatest amount for the House head, followed by a smaller boost for 'important' House members, and a yet smaller boost for other House members. Security, symbolised by purple handcuffs, sets the base chance of discovering secrets present in the colony and reduces the effect of hostile covert actions. Finally, Technology, symbolised by a blue Star Wars-esque healing tank, sets the chance of House members falling ill, recovering from illness, or having bad childbirths, affects how quickly House members gain skill points by performing assignments or by serving as ruler, sets the base rate at which 'Expedition Points' are gained (more on these in a later update), and allows effective management of an extra vassal for every full 75 points of House rating in Technology (reflecting effective use and maintenance of FTL message drones to keep effective interstellar communications working). On an individual, rather than on a House, these skills influence how effective that individual is in performing assignments associated with that skill, and how much they contribute to the House rating as a council member or as ruler. House Weiss has the 'Bean Counters' special trait, giving a 20% bonus to earned income due to very careful financial management. This is a powerful (and expensive!) trait that can be chosen during setup customisation.  Alice Weiss was a brilliant woman deeply immersed in the house culture of House Weiss, and her children exemplify both her strengths and her flaws, none more so than her eldest child and the new Sovereign Director-General of the Guild, Jane Weiss. At the young age of 25, Jane is already a competent adminstrator of colonial functions, logistics, and finances, and has a remarkably solid foundation in what remains of knowledge of the sciences, although she is at best incompetent at diplomacy and subterfuge. Keenly intelligent and possessed of a strong moral sense of justice, she would be more admired for her qualities if not for the fact that she is also painfully retiring and introverted, and- when she does engage with others socially- appears to be more interested in scientific, administrative, and historical minutia than anything most others would consider even remotely interesting, leaving her shy and awkward in her role as ruler despite her intelligence and strong sense of duty. Her complete lack of interest in men was noted by her mother as she grew, and Alice arranged a marriage for her that she believed that Jane could possibly be happy with, counting on Jane's younger siblings to produce heirs to the House. Jane has since fallen in love with her wife, and has begun to make halting efforts to win her wife's heart. Jane has four personality traits- Intelligent, Honorable, Reserved, and Dull. Intelligent, shown by a blue-green brain, improves all skills of the character by 5 from their base value, with skills bounded from 0 to 99. Intelligent, like most 'positive' traits, increases the opinion of characters sharing the trait by 14, the opinion of most characters by 7, and reducing the opinion of characters with the opposing trait (Stupid, in this case) by 14. Honorable (represented by a blue-green medal) is a positive trait opposed by Rulebreaker; it increases Diplomacy by 20 but reduces Security by 20, and makes the character have a stronger emotional reaction to moral and immoral acts, as well as encouraging AI characters to be less likely to perform immoral acts. Reserved (represented by a red tent), like most negative traits, improves the opinion of others sharing the trait by 14 and reduces the opinion of others with the opposed trait by 14, just like most positive traits- but characters with neither trait instead have their opinion *reduced* by 7. Reserved also reduces Diplomacy by 20, improves Technology by 20, and reduces the emotional impact of contact with others or lack thereof, given the shy and retiring nature it provides. Dull (represented by some poor red figure being put to sleep by listening to a Dull person talk) is part of a unique pair of positive and negative traits, which don't influence opinion of those with the same or opposing trait but have a particularly strong (+ or -14) reputational impact on most characters. Dull characters are boring nerds, and particularly hard for most others to endure listening to. Dull provides a +10 to Administration and Technology, but a -10 to Diplomacy. Jane also happens to be gay, and will only ever be attracted to female characters. Same-sex marriages can be made in game if at least one member of the marriage is gay or bisexual.  Jane's wife, Mariko, is the young sister of Lady Belicia Fardell, head of Vega's minor House Fardell. Mariko, by nature sweet-tempered, gentle, and loyal, was well-suited for an education as a diplomat, and has been appointed since her marriage into House Weiss as a member of its council and the head of House Weiss's diplomatic team. Although Mariko was at least willing to marry a woman, she found the earlier years of the marriage tedious at best, although her gratitude for appointment to the council has begun to soften her attitude towards her wife. Sometimes Mariko despairs of most of her new family having any concept of diplomatic behavior, although she hopes to be able to begin to salvage their reputation to what extent she may. Mariko is Kind (represented by a blue-green angelic figure) a positive trait opposed to Cruel which gives a +10 to Diplomacy, but a -10 to Military and Security. Kind characters are more happy about those they like being happy, more unhappy about those they like being unhappy, less happy about those they like being unhappy, and less unhappy about those they like being happy. They're also less likely, as the AI, to take actions that cause pain to other individuals. She is also Loyal (represented by a blue-green dog head), a positive trait opposed by Fickle. It gives a +10 to Diplomacy, and has similar effects to Kind on the emotional reaction of the character to characters they like, while having no effect on their reaction to characters they dislike. It also makes the character less likely to rebel, and more likely to help their friends. She is bisexual, and can be attracted to either male or female characters. The assignments associated with Diplomacy are Acquire Claim, which (at a cost of 15 viridium) allows us to create a credible claim for the Weiss guild to rule over a colony it has no claim on, Frame Someone, which (at a cost of 15 viridium) attempts to falsely implicate somebody in an injustice to ruin their reputation, Improve Relations, which improves the opinion of another character towards us over time, and Spread Dissent, which (at a cost of 30 viridium) attempts to create a spike of unrest on a colony to encourage revolts. Only non-ruler characters take assignments (the ruler has 'running the faction' as their full-time job), and, although any character can take any assignment, those with a high skill in the associated assignment will handle the assignment much better and/or faster. Characters also improve skills in the assignments they're assigned, which makes it a good idea to have council members do assignments associated with their position, so they'll improve in their abilities as a council member.  Jane's father, Harold Weiss, the military hero of the revolution and the last member of a distant branch family to House Weiss, is perhaps the most respected member of the House. If not as clever and subtle as his wife or most of his children, he has a well-known sense of honor and justice and a fierce bravery that ensured he led his forces from the front as they stormed House Goodman's complex within the colony. He is staunchly committed to ensuring the safety of the Weiss Guild and the safety of his children, meeting threats head-on as admiral of House Weiss's fleets and general commander of its peacekeepers. Harold is Brave (represented by a blue-green clenched fist), a positive trait opposed to Cowardly which grants +20 Military, +10 Security, reduces the emotional impact of threatening events, and increases the AI's willingness to take choices that lead to conflict. He's also Honorable, which we've already discussed. With no icon representing his orientation, Harold is heterosexual, and will only be attracted to characters of the opposite sex. The assignments associated with Military are Hide Fleet Movements, which makes it less likely that calling forces from a colony will tip off the target so they can begin mustering reinforcements, Improve Defenses, which increases fleet strength for battles on a colony we control, Plan Attack, which slowly increases our fleet strength for battles on a colony we do not yet control, and Quell Unrest, which costs one viridium per turn but which sharply decreases unrest on a colony we control, based on the military skill of the character on assignment, as well as helping the ruler of that colony like us more for the help.  Harold and Alice's second child, Thomas, is, like his older sister, a skilled administrator, and has been raised to the position as executive director of House Weiss's administrative staff. Like his father and older sister, he has an iron-hard moral core, and, like his older sister, is both painfully tedious to most people and sharply intelligent. He is somewhat less shy and retiring, and so is at least mildly more socially adept than Jane. As House Weiss's line of succession passes to its oldest child and Jane remains childless, he is next in line of succession, with his two tiny daughters, Rebecca (age 2) and Emily (age 1) following after him. Thomas is Intelligent, Honorable, and Dull, all of which we've seen before. The assignments associated with Administration are Assist Tax Collection, which provides a bonus to the tax revenue we gain from a vassal with no penalty to that vassal's own income, Rebuild Colony, which (at a cost of 240 viridium and eight action points to start the assignment, rather than the usual two) allows a colony on our borders abandoned due to damage during the course of the game to be rebuilt and resettled as part of our faction, with only its Main Settlement installation functional to start, Rebuild Fleet, which increases the rate at which military ships are rebuilt at a colony up to the support limit of the colony, and Repair Installation (at a variable viridium cost defined by the installation) which makes a non-functional installation at a colony functional so it can grant its benefits and slightly reduce unrest generation on the colony due to more living space and more opportunities for advancement in the jobs associated with the installation.  Thomas' wife, Oriole, is the younger sister of Sir Javen Nichols, head of the minor House Nichols in Vega. On top of her training in security and espionage, her courage and thirst for challenge has led her to occasionally participate in the power bout, a popular and dangerous sport involving hand to hand combat between contestants in armored exoskeletons, attempting to disable each other's armor rather than cause permanent injury or death. It is a time-honored distraction from the difficult and squalid lives of the serfs. As commissioner of House Weiss's security teams, Oriole is responsible for the personal safety of House members, investigation of criminal matters that are not immediately resolvable by military peacekeepers, and cultivation of information sources within and without the colony, both to stay abreast of the general situation and- hopefully- to ferret out secrets that might be of advantage. Oriole is Brave, we already know this one. The assignments associated with Security are Assassination, which (at a cost of 15 viridium) attempts to kill a character (an aside on Assassination and how assignments work, by the way- all assignments are reduced somewhat in effectiveness if the character running the assignment can't travel to the colony the assignment is targeted on- and council members and the ruler are not able to travel from our home colony- but Assassination in particular is rendered completely ineffective if the character isn't physically present. It's assumed that working remotely on an assignment, you're working through reports and orders to the team of assistants you'd have with you doing the assignment in any event.), Cover Up Secret, which (at a cost of 30 viridium), tries to make the secrets created by various actions more difficult to discover (for assignments, framing characters, spreading dissent, and assassination all create damaging secrets), Provide Personal Protection, which reduces the effect of assassination attempts against a character over and above the penalty to these attempts provided by House Security rating, and Run Spy Network, which (at a cost of 15 viridium) helps discover secrets present in a particular colony, makes it more likely you'll detect fleet movements at that colony, and may provide exploitable opportunities for skullduggery on the colony. On our home colony, it reduces the effectiveness of other spy networks and can occasionally let us disrupt hostile operations, while on other colonies it can let us order reports on the colony which let us gather more information on what the House there is up to, what their treasury is like, and what exactly is there and going on.  The next Weiss sibling, Jessica Roach, although shy and retiring and having inherited her mother's intellect, is by far the least boring of the siblings, which made her a relatively attractive prospect for the younger son of Baron Xenon Roach from the distant colony of Atlas. She has moved to this distant colony, in a region of space that the rest of House Weiss has only the vaguest of concepts of. The marriage into a baronial family provides a small degree of prestige for the House, but the strengthened relations with such a distant colony are of minimal political use.  The youngest Weiss sibling, Prudence, is the least intelligent, but nonetheless her detail-oriented and inward-turned personality has allowed her to excel in the sciences. Lacking the awareness that Thomas' and Jane's intellect provide or the admiration afforded to their senses of justice, Prudence is generally disliked by most other than her immediate family, although she is a capable advisor to Jane in the sciences and a capable head of House Weiss's scientific and technical staff. She has one child, Malachi, a son of age 1, although she and her son fall after Thomas and his daughters in the order of succession. Prudence is Dull and Reserved, which means her general reputation is pretty terrible. The assignments associated with Technology are Monitor Vassals, which a single character per faction can do at any given time, improving its vassal limit by 1 to 3, Provide Medical Attention, which increases the chance of recovery from illness, reduces the chance to fall ill, and increases the odds of conceiving and successful birth for female subjects, Shift Fleet Composition, which retools the balance of a colony's fleet between bombers, interceptors, and frigates, and Train House Member, which helps a character improve one of their five primary skills.  Prudence's husband, Romeo, is one of the younger brothers of Lady Devon Kelley, head of the minor House Kelley in the Vega colony. He has displayed an unusually keen mind, although his reputation has been marred by his greedy and grasping nature. Although he manages to get along with most of the Weiss siblings, he can barely stand his wife, who he finds lacks the insight to make her boring ramblings worth listening to. He generally works in Thomas' administrative division of the House staff, helping to direct staff of a less exalted lineage. Romeo is Intelligent and Greedy. Greedy (represented by a red grasping hand) is a negative trait opposed by Satisfied, which grants a +10 to Administration and a -10 to Diplomacy, and makes the AI more interested in increasing its wealth and territory. The Weiss Guild is the newest of the realms of the post-Collapse world, untested and perhaps ready to stumble over its own inexperience. Nonetheless its central leadership is filled with a stern determination to see the Guild endure, and prosper beyond its current humble conditions. All adult members of House Weiss other than Jane Weiss herself are available for claiming; on claiming a character, feel free to request specific information on some topic or a personalised briefing suited to your role in the House. Suggestions from House members on policy and projects will be accepted. Let's see if we can't survive and thrive in the colonies, starting from what may be the point of their lowest ebb. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Apr 3, 2022 |
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Mar 21, 2022 04:14
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A new nweismuller LP that looks geared up for lots of audience participation? Instant bookmark. I'll have more comments after I have a chance to read this in the morning.
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Mar 21, 2022 08:36
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It's good to finally be back to writing, and to share a game I have sunk an embarrassing number of hours into. If anything is unclear to anybody, please just ask. And, again, I strongly encourage people to get involved and claim House members. Jessica Roach is probably less viable, since she's no longer part of House Weiss and is very far from where our action will be.
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Mar 21, 2022 11:27
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Just realised I totally forgot to comment on House Weiss's 'Bean Counters' trait in the update; I've added a line in the update. For those of you who've already read it, Bean Counters is a powerful and expensive special trait which can be purchased for a House during start of game customisation; it adds a 20% bonus to earned income due to very careful financial management.
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Mar 21, 2022 13:00
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Oh, this seems neat. Won't be claiming any characters just yet since I have no clue how to actually play this game, but I'll be following with keen interest.
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Mar 21, 2022 17:43
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Theantero posted:Oh, this seems neat. Won't be claiming any characters just yet since I have no clue how to actually play this game, but I'll be following with keen interest. I will reply with my usual, 'game knowledge not strictly required, especially if you take up a council character I'll do my best to get you up to speed on relevant considerations for your position'.
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Mar 21, 2022 18:11
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[quote]Jane's Weiss, Mariko, is the young sister of Lady Belicia Fardell, h[/b] 99% sure that's meant to be Jane's wife. Will read the other half of the update when I finish work. So this is like Crusader Kings in space?
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Mar 21, 2022 22:43
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Veloxyll posted:So this is like Crusader Kings in space? Yes it is. And thanks for the catch, now fixed.
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Mar 22, 2022 00:51
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 Also I'm going to grab Oriole if no one else has yet, which I'm sure will not lead to disaster at all. 
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Mar 22, 2022 04:32
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All right, Oriole officially claimed by Vee. I've passed a Security briefing on with information relevant to her department's operations.
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Mar 22, 2022 05:22
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Claiming Harold.
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Mar 22, 2022 16:41
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Harold claimed; Military briefing provided.
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Mar 22, 2022 17:16
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Selected Reactions to the Revolt in Vega from a message from Coordinator Walt Wang of the Wang Collective to Yardley Patton, archon of the Patton League and duke of the Patton Quadrant posted:My archon, I know it is early yet to judge, but I feel nonetheless that these new developments within the Goodman Kingdom may be a threat. The rightful king of House Goodman overthrown with bloody slaughter, a new power consolidating, new banners hung across the kingdom. The thought of rightful lords being cast down sends chills down my spine. And who knows to what lengths these upstarts will reach now they have a taste of power? I urge that you take more concern for the border at Ross 128- should these scoundrels take action I have little doubt but that they will do so there. I also once again commend to your attention the matter of... Walt Wang is Individualistic (a neutral trait opposed by Tribal, making him less family-oriented than usual but having no skill effects and no opinion effects on those neither Tribal nor Individualistic), Cowardly (a negative trait opposed by Brave, which gives -20 Military, -20 Security, +10 Administration, and +10 Technology, which has predictable effects on emotions from conflict and threats and makes his AI more conflict-averse), and Fickle (a negative trait opposed by Loyal, which gives -10 Diplomacy, reduces the emotional impact of the happiness or unhappiness of characters the Fickle character likes on the Fickle character, and which makes the AI more likely to rebel and less likely to help friends).  Baron Mckale Ritter of Beta Eridani, in council session of House Ritter posted:If nothing else, maybe this new 'Guild' won't raise the taxes as high as they used to be. And wouldn't that be a treat? Mckale Ritter is Forgiving (a positive trait opposed by Vengeful, which grants +10 Diplomacy, reduces the emotional impact of the happiness and unhappiness of characters the Forgiving character dislikes on the Forgiving character, and makes them less likely to take aggressive actions against enemies) and Greedy.  song heard in Vega slums posted:King Manny raised his voice to shout- At the current rate of unrest gain, assuming nothing changes, we have over 23 years until we have to resist a revolt in Vega. Improving Vega's economy and living space by repairing installations will slow down the rate at which unrest increases, as will improving our ruler's reputation. We can also undo accumulated unrest when necessary via using Quell Unrest to crack down on crime and dissent. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Mar 24, 2022 |
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Mar 22, 2022 19:50
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Here's another point for audience input- I'm taking 'duke' as common but not universal as the actual title used for a factional ruler. For instance, I've presented the title used for the lord of the Wang Collective as 'Coordinator'. What do people think the title for the ruler of the Weiss Guild should be? If we change it, I'll edit initial posts to be consistent with the change. Two candidates that come immediately to mind are 'Duke' (as per standard) and 'Director-General', but I'll certainly accept other suggestions for consideration.
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Mar 22, 2022 20:21
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My suggestion is the full title being "The Sovereign Director-General Jane Weiss" with the truncated, and used in most circumstances outside maximum pomp being Director-General, with Director being the informal title used by her inner circle and peers.
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Mar 22, 2022 22:20
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Guildmaster / Guildmistress would be my suggestion
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Mar 23, 2022 02:22
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I'm away from my save game and waiting for some more people anyhow, giving a decent time for people to sign up and for those who sign up to be able to advance proposals and arguments, but while I'm here, I might as well talk a little about... What Goes Into Designing A New House When starting a game, you choose a difficulty level- Easy, Medium, Hard, Challenge, or Custom. The only thing difficulty level (other than Custom) determines is how many customisation points you get for your House and for your starting ruler, with Easy giving you 10 points for each, Medium giving 5 points for each, Hard giving 0 points for each, Challenge giving -5 points for each, and Custom allowing an unlimited number of whatever perks you want for the House and ruler, and giving you 100 more 'family customisation points'. House Weiss is built on a Medium difficulty. You must also select a succession law, with options being oldest child, oldest son, oldest daughter, youngest child, youngest son, youngest daughter, oldest sibling, oldest brother, oldest sister, closest relative, closest male relative, and closest female relative. House Weiss went with the bog-standard 'oldest child' law. House customisation points can be spent on various things that affect the House itself or your home system, as well as being able to be used to influence how many family customisation points you get. Amongst the things House customisation can choose at this stage are 'poor infrastructure' or 'great infrastructure', with 'poor infrastructure' starting you with two fewer total installations and one fewer repaired installations to start in your home colony, and with great infrastructure giving you two extra total and one extra repaired installation in the colony. You can pay points to guarantee that a particular installation (chosen from a limited list populated by a number of the more powerful and expensive installations in the game) is one of the installations in your home system. You can get various system specials, like asteroids or mineral rich, or get various advantages or disadvantages that apply to the House itself rather than the home system. Finally, you, by default, start with 90 family customisation points, used to create your starting family members- you can gain up to five House customisation points by reducing this total, at a cost of 5 family customisation points per House customisation point, or spend up to five House customisation points on family customisation points, at the same rate of exchange. As such, starting family customisation points can range from 65 to 115. House Weiss spent its five starting House customisation points as follows: Great infrastructure (2) Home system guaranteed installation- corporate tower (2) Home system- asteroid belt (-1) (Having an asteroid belt that increases losses in combat is considered a disadvantage- amongst other things, it makes dealing with rebellions in-game harder on your military forces.) Upstart duke (-2) (This guarantees having neither a claim on your faction nor a claim on your home colony to start, and definitely can reduce stability until you've survived long enough for claims to form.) 85 family customisation points (-1) House- Bean Counters (5) (This is one of several very expensive House abilities, all of which are major advantages but which hammer your budget.) Then, you customise your ruler themselves. On top of choosing your sex, orientation, name, and customising your appearance, you also must choose between starting as young (age 25) or middle-aged (age 45), select your primary area of training, choose personality traits, and determine whether your character is relatively weak, average, or relatively strong in skills outside their primary area of training, gaining four points back for being relatively weak and spending four points for being relatively strong. You may select up to four personality traits, and blood-related kin will need to spend fewer points to get matching traits and more points to get opposed traits while you're customising your family. It costs no more to make your character young than middle-aged, but middle-aged characters will start with higher overall skills. Based on how point costs go in this, it's not uncommon to end up with one leftover point depending on how you build your character, with not much to do but suck it up. Jane Weiss is a young ruler primarily trained in Administration, with her five ruler customisation points spent as follows: Intelligent (8) Honorable (7) Reserved (-7) Dull (-7) Good skills outside of specialty (4) Remaining family members are designed using simple tools to define parent, child, and marriage relationships, with age freely able to be designated within what would be possible (a parent, for instance, cannot possibly be less than 16 years older than any of their children, amongst other limits), and with point costs for traits adjusted from the costs for rulers (most negative traits now cost points, as the general reputation of random members of your House is significantly less important from your perspective, while many of these negative traits still give useful skills). Very young children can potentially cost 0 points, which another player proved was abusable, but although I have a couple 0-point children... I'm not doing 'over twenty children born to the same parent in the same year'. It also costs points to ensure relations by marriage are to higher-ranking and more valuable partners- there are several good reasons why you might want to be related to an archon. House Weiss, by getting almost all its marriages to members of minor Houses, the lowest-ranking possible marriage relations, only ended up spending five of its eighty-five customisation points on its one marriage of much value, instead focusing on loading its members up with (mostly) valuable personality traits. I ensured that there was at least one House member viable for every council position, and doubled up on good Administration members other than the ruler, to further emphasise administrative gameplay (which is the style I tend to prefer). Glossing over the exact breakdown of costs, I spent my 85 points as follows- 26 on Harold, 9 on Mariko, 15 on Thomas, 8 on Oriole, 11 on Prudence, 8 on Romeo, and 4 on Jessica, leaving 4 more points to be spent on young children, which I used to make Rebecca, Jessica, and Malachi. There's a higher base cost to recruit new blood relatives than spouses, thus the higher costs on all the siblings. Hopefully that's of at least some interest to everybody. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Aug 17, 2023 |
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Mar 23, 2022 05:51
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This seems pretty interesting. I'd be down to fill Thomas' shoes, and keep our infrastructure healthy and make sure whatever ill-advised wars we get into don't bankrupt us.
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Mar 23, 2022 10:18
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EclecticTastes posted:This seems pretty interesting. I'd be down to fill Thomas' shoes, and keep our infrastructure healthy and make sure whatever ill-advised wars we get into don't bankrupt us. All right, I've got you signed up; I'll get you an initial briefing once I'm back with my save.
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Mar 23, 2022 11:12
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Crusader Kings in space sounds pretty interesting. The backstory and concept is also a cool way to enable the static landscape you need for this kind of game. Strategy space games nearly always come with colonization, which would be detrimental to the kind of family aristocracy gameplay of a CK clone. nweismuller LPing this game sounds like a match made in heaven, I've bookmarked the thread
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Mar 23, 2022 12:27
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This sounds really interesting and now I want it so bad
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Mar 23, 2022 15:01
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Is Romeo up for grabs? I'll fill that handsome mustache's shoes
Lady Jaybird fucked around with this message at 16:36 on Mar 23, 2022 |
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Mar 23, 2022 16:32
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dervinosdoom posted:Is Romeo up for grabs? I'll fill that handsome mustache's shoes Sure is. I assume you'll want the Administration briefing?
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Mar 23, 2022 18:00
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I do, thanks!
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Mar 23, 2022 18:29
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Ok this looks cool as hell and right up my alley.
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Mar 23, 2022 22:27
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Following with interest as with all nweis things!
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Mar 24, 2022 03:36
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Administration briefings sent off via forum private message to Thomas and Romeo. I'll still accept proposals to claim Mariko and Prudence, but opening Council discussions now and will briefly handle Mariko and Prudence if nobody claims them.Director-General Jane Weiss, in session of the council of House Weiss posted:It's a shame Mother didn't live to see this, but I hope we can live up to what she would have expected of us. We have an opportunity and a duty to make something new here, and hold to higher standards than the old king ever did. I trust everybody has had time to familiarise themselves with their departments by now? I'd like to hear your reads on our position now, and your counsel on how I should guide the Guild going forward. We have a great deal to rebuild ahead of us. I hope we can ensure our House and the Guild ever prosper.
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Mar 24, 2022 07:28
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Incidentally, this is very different from my usual fare, but I'd like to cross-promote General Revil's The Spirit Engine 2 LP. It's a game I love being LPed by somebody who's a personal friend of mine, with me serving as co-host on the videos. Check it out, or not, but maybe some of you might be interested.
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Mar 24, 2022 07:47
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I've played this game a bit and can confirm it is fun. I am not any good at it though. I don't have time necessarily for much participation in the Weiss family shenanigans, so I'd ask to claim Duke Walt Wang as my alter ego, just for entertainment purposes if that is ok. The number of characters that the game has means I would struggle to keep up with the LP probably, so I will just keep an eye out for what Duke Walt Wang does, if anything of interest shows up. No need to focus on his actions otherwise. 
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Mar 24, 2022 09:02
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SlightlyMad posted:I've played this game a bit and can confirm it is fun. I am not any good at it though. Coordinator Walt Wang claimed! Just feel to toss in comments occasionally, and if you have questions from the Coordinator's perspective, I can provide information on his home colony, his vassals, his opinion of other characters, whatever. As long as I can actually see it in-game.
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Mar 24, 2022 09:07
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Space Accountant Thomas Weiss posted:I've had a look over the books, and it seems like we're making a tidy surplus, which means it's time to spend, but we'll need to spend wisely, lest we find ourselves overextended. With the new administration's reputation on rocky ground already, I don't believe we can afford any missteps, here. Now, while I said we're running a solid surplus, the amount is actually rather paltry, in objective terms. As it stands, we can't even afford to repair a single installation in our own space. So any money we spend needs to come back to us, and it needs to bring friends. I propose we prioritize the repair of wealth-generating installations around Vega, in order to provide us with more resources we can use on future projects. Once we've completed that, our second priority should be the repair of all other installations in the Vega system. Vega is our home system, and the one we receive the most direct benefit from. As such, we should ensure that it's operating at maximum efficiency. Our tax rates for our vassals are quite generous, and those taxes should remain low, both to avoid fostering resentment when we're already fairly unpopular, and so that our vassals can work on restoring their lands for us. Not to mention that, if they're not providing much in taxes, they can't reasonably expect us to go too far out of our way to rebuild space that is, frankly, their responsibility. Only once our seat of power is as powerful as can be, should we begin the process of fixing up our vassals' holdings. That said, just because the taxes are low doesn't mean we can just ignore that source of income, so we should send available nobles on missions to assist in tax collection as frequently and aggressively as possible. The tax rate is set at ten percent, and our chosen auditors will ensure we get ten percent. Thank you for your attention. (I haven't actually had the pleasure of getting in on any of your threads before, but hopefully this is what you're looking for, it's my general take on our current economic/administrative policy) EclecticTastes fucked around with this message at 09:30 on Mar 24, 2022 |
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Mar 24, 2022 09:18
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That's great, EclecticTastes, you've got specific proposals on things relevant to your position, which definitely make sense.
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Mar 24, 2022 09:23
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I think I'll also edit the post to make it more clear going forward when I'm posting in-character. Figured I'd go with a verbose tone to reflect the Dull characteristic.
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Mar 24, 2022 09:29
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Partial communication intercept: From: Coordinator Walt Wang to: *******: "I've messaged *** ****** about my concerns regarding Admiral ****** Weiss. My intelligence sources indicate he ** a danger*** fleet commander ***** presence near *** borders poses a risk ** * surprise attack! I need protection from *** ******! I know ***** **** animosity towards the Weiss Guild. Is there anything your *** networks can dig up? Perhaps a covert ****** would be in order? You still owe me from *** **** time. My own re******* ** Haldus are limited in this regard."
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Mar 24, 2022 10:38
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Journal of Space Jr Accountant Romeo Weiss posted:
Email to Thomas Weiss posted:
(I think this is OK since Romeo isn't on the council and Thomas would be running tax collection duties on Vega.)
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Mar 24, 2022 13:44
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From the desk of Grand Exchequer Thomas Weiss posted:Approved. I'm sure you'll do a lot of good in Kajam, Romeo.
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Mar 24, 2022 14:47
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Mercifully for Romeo, this just means he'll be getting letters and recordings, since message drones are far from a real-time connection. So he and his team of people from the Administration department will end up on Kajam, sounds fair.
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Mar 24, 2022 15:05
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 : Firstly, we must be vigilant for any old Goodman loyalists hiding out in the populace, or any other dangerous dissenters for that matter. We cannot expand before our current holdings are reasonably secure and stable. At the same time, we cannot dally for to long. Targets of opportunity like Beta Librae may become far less viable if we wait for too long. Beta Eridani is a vital strategic location if we are to strike at Beta Librae at any point in time. Thus, I suggest, with my dau- Hrm. With the leave of the Director-General, I'll personally oversee efforts to Quell Unrest at Beta Eridani. Further, a legitimate claim on Beta Librae would be a great boon in expanding our realm, if Diplomacy would be so obliged. We did just depose a bloodthirsty tyrant. We must take care not to paint ourselves in the same light, lest some of the populace figure we should be deposed in the same manner. Lastly, many, if not most of the military installations within our domain are in shambles. A strong supply line is the backbone of any military. These need to be brought online as soon as can be afforded. I suggest the Interstellar Authority outpost at Miaplacidus be made the top priority of these. With it restored to function rooting out any remaining Goodman dogs is an easier and faster prospect. Groetgaffel fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Mar 24, 2022 |
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Mar 24, 2022 21:40
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Director-General Jane Weiss posted:Having reviewed our figures for the treasury and our level of income, I believe that I shall have have to concur with Executive Director Thomas and declare that restoration of facilities that directly aid our revenues must take priority for Administration, and, as such, we shall have to delay on putting the Interstellar Authority outpost into operation until such time as our financial situation is more secure. That said and with my deep respect to the Admiral my father, I formally approve his assignment of an appropriate staff and force of peacekeepers to Beta Eridani. Ensure that peace and order prevail under the auspices of House Weiss. I trust and expect that Angelo Beck and House Beck shall extend your staff every courtesy. I also expect that your staff shall travel with a contingent from the Administration team to be overseen by remote report by the Executive Director intended to coordinate with the taxing authorities of House Beck; I anticipate that this shall partially compensate for the two thousand marks per Terra annum that shall be provided as your operating budget. Director-Consort Mariko, your opinion on the request by the Admiral my father regarding Beta Librae? Director-Consort Mariko Weiss posted:Ah, yes, Director-General. A case could certainly be made there, although from my perspective I believe I'd rather focus first on ensuring we have established a case for our rule of Kajam, given how recently the system has been brought under Vega's rule. That would almost certainly help calm some of the tensions there on Kajam down. I could certainly follow that up by laying the case for our rule of Beta Librae- it's straightforward enough. It would likely take me a few years to finish up the first assignment anyhow. Director-General Jane Weiss posted:With the understanding that such diplomatic operations may run to fifteen thousand marks on each system, that would cost us fifteen thousand immediately and, if followed up immediately, fifteen thousand after the initial case is completed. Executive Director Thomas? Your opinion on whether we should lay aside that much budget for Diplomacy at this point in time? Do any of the rest of the council have opinions on the relative merits of Kajam or Beta Librae as a system for Director-Consort Mariko and Diplomacy to focus operations on first? nweismuller fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Mar 25, 2022 |
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Mar 25, 2022 02:10
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