Random idea I got while playing the United Empire in Endless Space. Not going to affect Laurel, just letting out some creative energies/thoughts on running a politics type game.
The basic concept for this game is players represent various factions on an advisory council. Voting is done using Influence, while Wealth can be used to bribe each other or NPCs. Assets give players additional tools to try to garner more wealth and influence.
Influence:
Influence represents a player’s soft power. Each turn players gain influence points equal to their Influence, which they can then spend to do various things, Influence Points cannot be saved.
The primary things to spend influence points on are to Propose a Resolution, and Additional Votes.
Proposing a basic resolution costs 1 influence point. Resolution posts must be stand alone posts that cannot be edited, or else they become invalid. Resolutions can be as formal or casual as the player wishes. Every player gets 1 free, publicly known vote on every resolution, but they can spend Influence Points to add additional votes. (These additional votes can be made secret if wealth is spent on them) If a Resolution passes, I will take them into account for future developments, and the player who proposed the resolution earns an Influence.
Additionally, influence points can be used to invest to expand Influence, for oneself or another. If spent influence points equal the influence level + 3, then at the next turn the Influence level increases. However, if the spent influence points do not meet this threshold, the amount spent is reduced by (1, by half, by 25%, whatever). Overspent influence points do not save. Influence points can be spent to expand another player’s influence, and players can make deals to coordinate. However, the actual exchange is kept secret - if you reach the threshold, influence increases and the investment cleared. If you do not, influence point investment decreases.
Lastly, you can burn influence to gain additional influence point. When you burn a level of influence, you gain that number of influence points immediately. I.e. if I go from 5 to 4, I get 5 IP. This can be repeated to generate additional influence, but this would usually generate a comment in the update.
Wealth:
Wealth can be banked and is something that can be generated through assets or traded between players. Unlike influence point expansion, traded wealth (or lack thereof) is known to the person receiving said wealth. Wealth is used primarily for 2 activities: making influence point votes secret, and buying minor faction votes.
It costs 1 wealth to make any number of influence points used to vote on one resolution secret. A player can publicly vote on one side of the resolution, and use their wealth to secretly vote on the other side.
Each minor faction will have different price for spending wealth to buy their votes. If multiple players are trying to buy their votes in different directions, the side with more wealth wins all the votes. If a tie occurs, all wealth is spent but no additional votes are awarded. The identity of bribing factions is kept secret, but the minor faction votes will be cast publicly.
Wealth can also just be kept around. The wealthiest players gain some influence level expansion for free, representing minor factions cozying up to them.
Voting is done simultaneously, and additional votes cast by Influence done secretly. You cannot make a contingency plan (i.e. I vote X if Y sends me wealth).
Assets:
Some assets are developed individually, others are won or contested through resolutions. Assets can also be seized by resolution.
There may be some “auctions” for players to bid wealth or influence to “buy” assets from time to time.
Vetos:
If a passed resolution is considered harmful to the integrity and dignity of the collective, a veto might occur. Instead of +1 Influence, the player whose resolution was veto’d gets -1 Influence. A player with 0 influence can be exiled or destroyed at any time, and an attempt to seize their made by any other player.
United Empire Starting Styles:
Noble House: 3 Influence, 5 Wealth. Asset: Homeworld Manor, +1 Influence Point investment own Expansion per turn
Conglomerate: 1 Influence, 1 Wealth. Asset: Homeworld Enterprise, +2 Wealth per turn.
Faction Vox: 1 Influence, 0 Wealth. Asset: Faction Lobby, 1 free resolution proposal per turn.
Mechanics for Endless Space:
I'll check in every 5 turns/5 Years for new resolutions. Otherwise I'll play as Emperor and anything not covered by resolution I can do as I please. However, interesting/urgent crisis would generate a special session.
There'll be a period to propose resolutions, and a further deadline for secret orders to be sent. There would be first an update on the results of voting, and then a following update on the game play changes.
