FTA3 Ethos & Politics

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Ethos

Ethoses define what your nation is and what it stands for. Some Ethos are naturally somewhat antagonistic, while others really do not impact others’ perception of your polity. Each Ethos generates tokens for its player state to use. A player chooses four ethos to represent their polity. These ethos selections, in game terms, generate tokens, give you a particular attribute or ability, and provide Casus Belli for War Economy.

One of your ethos should be identified as your dominant ethos, which gives you a second benefit. Your dominant ethos is arguably the single core value of your society.

You can change one non-Dominant Ethos every five years.

Conditions

Every Ethos has a Condition. When a polity fulfills the aspirations of their ethea society is buoyed by their sense of purpose, resulting in rewards during the Year in Review process. If they don’t fulfill their conditions, they may have minor penalties during YiR. Flagrantly disregarding the character of your nation can make things worse.

Triggered Ethos Change

An event (player activity generated, there’s no coups in the gacha) or egregious out-of-Ethos behavior can result in a Triggered Ethos Change, confronting the polity with the choice to either use their free Ethos change or take an immediate -3 Stability (-5 for Dominant) penalty across all their Territories. The penalty Triggered Ethos Changes can also be incited by Espionage or imposed by military intervention.

Multiple Triggered Ethos Changes may happen in one turn, but the Stability penalty to refuse more than one Triggered Ethos Change does not stack beyond the highest value.

Triggered Ethos Changes that bring the Stability in the Capital Territory down to 3 may result in an Event.

It is very hard to have a Triggered Ethos Change. Not fulfilling one of your ethos conditions (especially if you’ve gotten the other three just fine) is not going to be a problem. Triggered Ethos Changes in the context of fulfilling ethos changes is “This player is acting against all rational sense and his total national character for a prolonged period of time and we need a mechanic to rein them in.”

Casus Belli

Players can start conflicts as they please, but justification to mobilize the economy and make sacrifices for war requires a cause the people will stand for. Every Ethos reacts to one or more concrete game actions with a Casus Belli, each of which generates a point for military mobilization (see economy). The first Territory occupied by enemy forces in a war always provides 1 Casus Belli.

Antagonistic Ethea

Some ethos are considered Antagonistic, in the sense that they have a natural mirror image that other polities may espouse. You generally are going to have some problems getting along with someone who’s ethos build is antagonistic to your own, and they often have Casus Belli against each other’s activities.

Ethos List

Open Palm vs. Hegemony

Open Palm
Dedicated to the ideas of multilateralism and open diplomatic communications, in the spirit of the original Open Palm Federation or the first human successor state. Antagonistic to Hegemon.

• Generates: 1xUnity, 1xDiplomacy, 1xEconomy
  
• Conditions: Always defend an NPC at Allied relations or above from aggression. Always have some diplomatic action (such as diplomatic investment or Soft Power Pull) ongoing with at least one polity, NPC or PC, in a budget year.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point for hostilities against an Ally and 1 point for the first allied Territory occupied by enemy forces in a given war.
  
• Ability: Eating Out of Your Hand! The first token you spend to invest in a minor NPC has its effect doubled.
  
• Dominant Ability: Dancing in your Palm! Upon diplo-annexing another territory, one non-matching ethos is switched for free.
  

Hegemon
Dedicated to the idea of “might makes right” and Imperial authority. Antagonistic to Open Palm.

• Generates: 1 Diplomacy, 1 Military, 1 Espionage
  
• Conditions: Always take Territory or Liberate Territory after a victorious military campaign. Never surrender Territory to an enemy.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point against either an NPC or the instigator if your diplomatic investment in the NPC is reduced for any reason, 1 point against either an NPC or an instigator if the NPC changes an Ethos you used to share.
  
• Ability: Hard Power! You may deploy a credible military threat on a Node owned by an NPC for at least two quarters to change one Ethos in the target Polity’s Culture to another of your choice.
  
• Dominant Ability: We Lead, Everyone Follows! You may turn Blood Brothers into Satrapies, retaining their independence by the rules of diplomacy on the Grid but funneling their resources to your leadership.
  

Militarist vs. Pacifist

Militarist
Not explicitly Imperial, but a state that takes its military exceptionally seriously and invests heavily into it. Antagonistic to Pacifist.

• Generates: 2x Military, 1x Espionage
  
• Conditions: Never back down from a military confrontation and always maximize DI utilization.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 “free” point regardless of cause every two years, but you must engage in a large military conflict in the same turn or else you will have violated the Conditions of Militarism.
  
• Ability: Military-Industrial Complex! Spend one Military Token to create an additional 25% temporary DI that year.
  
• Dominant Ability: Glory to Heroes: Whenever you declare war or win a significant military engagement, increase stability in each territory with a Capital Landmark by 1. You May Sword! If you win a significant victory, earn a refund of Tokens used for operations in the Year in Review.
  

Pacifist
Peace is the goal, nearly whatever the cost. This doesn’t mean this state is defenseless-it’s a dangerous galaxy-but the use of force is never the first-or second or third-option. Antagonistic to Militarist.

• Generates: 1x Diplomacy, 1 x R&D, 1x Unity
  
• Conditions: Never start a military conflict without Casus Belli from an Ethos and never take Territory from an existing polity outside of diplomacy.
  
• Casus Belli: Get 1 point continuously for each turn an enemy occupies one of your territories.
  
• Ability: With Branches of Olives! Unable to use supply to raise stability. Can convert domestically generated Diplomacy tokens into Unity tokens and vice versa.
  
• Dominant Ability: Peace Dividend! Can convert domestically generated Military tokens into any combination of two diplomacy or unity tokens. Cannot build military token generators. (A General token is not a Military token.)
  

Hierarchy vs. Egalitarian

Hierarchy

• Everything and everyone has their place in the order of things. Antagonistic to Egalitarian. Generates: 1xUnity, 1xMilitary, 1xEspionage
  
• Conditions: Hierarchy can not be replaced with the free Ethos change.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point against a state or revolution attempting to change the Hierarchy ethos to any other, by any means, 1 point against any state which can be credibly accused with injury of a hierarchical leader or interfering in a hierarchy’s internal transfer of power via Espionage.
  
• Ability: Harmony is Policy! Spend one Unity Token to guard your polity or an Allied Polity against Ethos changes for one year.
  
• Dominant Ability: High the Spire! Your territories with a Capital landmark do not suffer stability decay due to being above your state’s normal resting point.
  

Egalitarian
No man stands above another. Free and equal societies tend to encourage learning and new development. Antagonistic to Hierarchy

• Generates: 1xUnity, 1xR&D, 1xEspionage
  
• Conditions: You must hold an Election Event at least once every four years and you can not use Supplies to raise Stability.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point against any state that has raised Stability with Supplies or suppressed dissent with Military Police units and Espionage. 1 point against any state which can be credibly accused of interference in government via Espionage.
  
• Ability: Defenestrate! Change any one non-dominant Ethos in a Snap Election (or other transfer of power) to regain 2 Stability across all your Territories that are below your resting Stability.
  
• Dominant Ability: Ballot Boxing! Start with one Election Token and generate another, two years after the last use. When you use an Election Token you gain the minor ability of any other Ethos until the next election, (overwriting the previous election) and +1 Stability across all your Territories.
  

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Individualism
While no sophont is an island, it is important to protect and recognize the supremacy of the individual. No conditions for slaves, no causes for masters. Antagonistic to Collectivism.

• Generates: 1x Economy, 1x Diplomatic, 1x R&D token.
  
• Conditions: You must change ethos, create a new ship design, engage in both piracy and commerce protection, or raise or lower your stability by at least 2 points once, each two years, or you will have violated the conditions of Individualism.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point against polities that practice slavery or polities that enable it. 1 point against a polity that takes any action to inhibit ethos change.
  
• Ability: Independent Investors! Can spend domestically generated Economy tokens as if they were Espionage, Military or R&D tokens.
  
• Dominant Ability: Rapture! At the start of the year, gain 1 General Token if your capital’s Stability is under your Resting Point and an additional General Token for each level you are under it by, so long as it is still above 1.
  

Collectivism
The needs of society must come paramount over the needs of the individual. Antagonistic to Individualism.

• Generates: 1x Unity, 1x Espionage, 1x Economy
  
• Conditions: Your Stability must not fall under the Resting Point.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point against any polity attempting to change the Collectivism ethos to any other by any means, including self-induced Ethos change.
  
• Ability: To Each According to Their Ability! You produce an additional General token every year.
  
• Dominant Ability: One People - You may spend Unity tokens to ‘lock’ your stability for the turn at one node; it will neither increase nor decrease. This costs a minimum of 1 Unity token and if your stability exceeds resting, the token cost is 1 per stability level above resting.
  

Star Patrol vs. Flag of Freedom

Star Patrol
The Orion Spur depends on you to restore security, lawfulness, and responsible government. Antagonistic to “Flag of Freedom”.

• Generates: 1x Economy, 1x Military, 1x Diplomacy
  
• Conditions: Do your best to keep all Polities you have diplomatically invested in at or above Resting Stability.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point if any Trade Sector you have Territory in has a Piracy allocation over 300 Weight and 1 point if you lose 100 Weight in ships assigned to Commerce Protection in a year.
  
• Ability: You gain additional bonus income when trade in a sector is raised above 110% and have invested an economic token. You receive less bonus income when trade in a sector is reduced below 90% having invested an economic token. The weight of ships you can allocate for free to commerce protection/anti-piracy missions in a sector is doubled.
  
• Dominant Ability: Proactive Policing - The supply cost to raise stability is reduced from 150 to 100 and you may do it once per Node per year in your Territories or in any Polity that grants you permission. The first use per node each year has no domestic political consequences for Polities with Star Patrol.
  

Flag of Freedom
Freedom is the right of all sentients, each should be able to actualize themselves without having to obey the diktats of narrow-minded bureaucrats and enforcers. Antagonistic to Star Patrol

• Generates: 1xEspionage, 1xEconomic, 1xMilitary
  
• Conditions: Have some sort of military, espionage, or piracy operation underway against any Polity with Hierarchy, Star Patrol, Collectivism, Open Palm, and Hegemony.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point towards a target of another player’s choice if they trade you at least a token for it. 1 CB against any Polity if all Flag of Freedom polities sing a song and agree.
  
• Ability: Rebels Without a Cause! Allows you to ignore the negative impacts of stability level 3. The weight of ships you can allocate to piracy missions in a sector is tripled. Your nodes are immune to stability loss if trade in their sector is reduced below 90%, and receive more bonus income in this state if you’ve invested an economic token (representing black market shenanigans and what have you)
  
• Dominant Ability: Chaos is a Ladder! You may spend supply to attack the stability of any Node. This can be justified how you like, possibly along the lines of all that supply actually being drugs. Doing so costs 10 supply per CI in that Node and returns a profit of 1D6 x $10 per point of CI.
  

Neutral Ethea

These ethea have no conflict either with each other or antagonistic ethea, and as a result can mix freely without restriction. Also states that have similar antagonistic ethos but different non-antagonistic ethoses are going to have an easier time getting along than vice-versa.

Prosperity
Dedicated to economic development and commercial ties

• Generates: 2x Economy & 1x Diplomatic token per year.
  
• Conditions: Always have at least one economic investment such as CI growth, DI growth, or Trade investment underway in a budget year.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point against any State that can be credibly blamed for acts of Espionage or Piracy that result in loss of your commercial activity
• Ability: Globalization! When you direct invest in a territory, you have the option to generate a mil, econ, or R&D token for the investee at the cost of -1 stab to the target node. If you get at least 75% of the returns from a direct investment, you also gain +1 CI in a territory of your choice that does not contain a capital landmark of any type.
  
• Dominant Ability: Apple of my Eye! You can use an Economy token to raise another Polity’s CI growth ceiling to 4% or DI growth ceiling to 15% for one year, and using an Economy Token in this way counts as a diplomatic token investment for the purpose of alliances or NPC wooing.
  

No Ponzi Schemes!: Econ Tokens generated by Globalization cannot be spent on further Direct Investment.

Spiritual
Dedicated to religious or philosophical enlightenment and understanding that should be brought to all Sophonts; The definition of what exactly enlightenment or understanding is very broad. Not all religious states would be considered Spiritual by ethos build, this represents states that are rather more evangelical (either peacefully or not) than typical.

• Generates: 1xUnity, 1xDiplomatic and 1xEspionage token per year.
  
• Conditions: Actively spread your convictions, through the construction of temples, investment of tokens, or other such methods.
  
• Casus Belli: One of your temples is destroyed or captured, or your token investment in NPCs is undone. (Representing a Counter-Reformation or some other similar type of effort)
  
• Ability: Convincing Conviction! Whenever you establish a Cult in a polity for the first time, gain a Diplomacy token.
  
• Dominant Ability: Have You Heard the Good News! You may build Temples in any territory that is at neutral or better relations with you. Temples give the builder a small amount of income (which the host may demand that they share) and provide some benefits to the host while giving the builder considerable leverage. They may spawn events.
  

Science!
Dedicated to the understanding of the universe and the recovery of the glories of fallen civilization

• Generates: 2xR&D, and 1xEconomic token per year.
  
• Conditions: Always unlock a relic as soon as able.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point whenever a polity destroys an OPF landmark or relic, or sabotages scientific progress through espionage
  
• Ability: High on Potenuse! Gain a free roll on the Relic Activation Chart when you recover OPF relics.
  
• Dominant Ability: We Dream of Flight! Your ground units can pick the SCIENCE! trait slotless. You get the preparation bonuses on exploration without paying $.
  

Low-Key
Your polity specializes in using the oblique approach to problem solving.

• Generates: 2xEspionage and 1xDiplomacy token per year.
  
• Conditions: Always have at least one Agency tasked with an active Operation in a given year, regardless of diplomatic pressure or military intimidation to cease activities.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point for one Early Warning from Espionage in a budget year and 1 point against a state that burns through the Deniability Clock investigating your activities.
  
• Ability: Who Done Did It? You gain the ability to apply the Deniable trait to your escort and cruiser mass ships, as well as your ground units (this does not take one of their two trait picks).
  
• Dominant Ability: DHS Maskirovka! Your agencies have uncapped asset limits and do not suffer diminishing returns when spending multiple tokens in a year. Agencies can also be assigned to other Agencies as assets. Additionally, when you want to launder posts you may request that another player rather than a GM post it on your behalf (a GM can still ask them on your behalf). The accepting player has a chance to get a Plot Token if they do so promptly.
  

Transsophont/Advancer
More comfortable with the merger of organic and technology than most societies of this time, utilizing some of the same esoteric technology that underpins the remaining Server-Towers and other Overculture supertech.

• Generates: 1xMilitary, 1xEconomic, 1xR&D
• Conditions: Any landmarks you discover must be brought to your Territories as soon as possible or claimed as Territory.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point against any state that has attempted to stop your Landmark movements.
  
• Ability: Moving Mountains! You may relocate any non-system-wide landmark you control as though it were mobile to one of your territories after it’s been restored.
  
• Dominant Ability: Flesh and Blood! Your ships gain the Regeneration trait. Constructed and Open Palm Landmarks you control count as Forward Operating Bases for all purposes. They may only be upgraded or claimed as Territory after they have been fully restored.
  

Starbound
Your society is always looking beyond the system it calls home and is committed to expansion (peaceful or otherwise) across the Local Volume, reclaiming the legacy of the OPF.

• Generates: 1xDiplomatic, 1xMilitary and 1xR&D token
  
• Conditions: Always have at least one Exploration or Survey underway per turn.
  
• Casus Belli: 1 point each time a State denies Freedom of Navigation.
  
• Ability: We Choose to Go to the Moon! Your first token spent Surveying in the year allows you to survey two nodes instead of one. Additionally, pick two additional world types to treat as favored.
  
• Dominant Ability: This Land Is Your Land! For each node, the first time you upgrade a Supply Base to a Territory there, it gains 5CI instead of 1CI.
  

Changing Ethos

Normally, the ethos culture of your polity is not something that can shift radically in short periods of time. Specific, significant events must occur in order to shift the ethos build of your state, and is up to moderator discretion.

Stability

Stability is a mechanic that basically reflects how functional your government’s control over a region is and how happy the sentient population is with you. Stability level is constant across all of the territories in a single node-the political conditions that determine stability in the suburbs of your planetary capital aren’t going to be significantly different than on the gas scoop complex orbiting the gas giant the next planet out, given OPF communications and transportation technology.

The default resting point of stability is 5. Every game year, your state’s stability will move one step towards five, regardless of if it’s higher or lower, as a default value. Obviously player action can mitigate this to maintain a higher stability level, but this represents the inherent inertia that exists in a state towards the resting point.

Stability tracks by node for each player. It is possible that multiple players sharing the same node may have different stability.

While stability effects only change at whole numbers, there are some mechanics and events that can raise or lower your stability by a fraction of a point. In this case, your stability “counts” as whatever the nearest whole number is rounded, for the purposes of Stability Effects only. Your “real” stability is the fractional number for the purposes of further gain/loss.

Effects of Stability

• 0: Civil War: Landmarks that produce goods do not operate. Local militia will not fight invaders in an organized fashion. Your CI in territories at S0 produces no income, Landmarks don’t function.
• 1: Rebellion: If your capital system is at stability 1, produce one less General token per year; roll an additional negative event if any territory is at S1.
• 2: Major Riots: Military assets burn 25% of their base supply level in operations to keep a minimal level of order. Lose one investment token in each NPC you’ve invested in for each full year your capital territory is at Stability 2 or below.
• 3: Riots: CI in territories at S3 produce $5 less income.
• 4: Grumbling: No effect, either positive or negative.
• 5: Indifference: All players begin the game at Stability 5. No effect, either positive or negative.
• 6: Calm: No effect, either positive or negative.
• 7: Civic Involvement: CI produces $5 more income.
• 8: Patriotism: When fighting in the high stability node, your ground forces have +0.5 TL.
• 9: Dawn of a New Era: Receive one roll on the OPF Gacha table if your capital territory is at Stability 9 at the end of a year.
• 10: Golden Age: If your capital system is at S10, generate an additional general token.

You can in fact get your stability above 10. It does nothing special for you over the S10 rewards. Your people are doing lines of hyper-coke off the fur of catgirls. Congratulations.

Ways to Gain Stability

Stability can be increased via event, Landmark effects, moderator action, etc. The other, surefire way, to increase stability (by one point) is to spend for it. You can spend a unity token to immediately raise your stability by one. You can spend $1000 to increase stability by one. You can also spend 150 supplies to increase stability, representing a ‘law and order’ type sweep. Depending on your ethos, that may have consequences. Whatever your method of raising stability through spending, each step after the first costs double whatever resource would otherwise be required. All of these actions raise the stability in all the territories of one of your nodes by one step.

Culture

The OPF was an extremely long lived polity, with over a hundred thousand years of mediating disputes between cultures, societies, and even species. As a result, culture conflicts in FTA are more about broad overreaching ethos-driven debates more than menu choices or clothing.

Your territories are generally assumed to have the same culture as you do, as well as any new colonies you establish over the course of the game. What is different, however, is when your polity absorbs the territory of another state, either through peaceful diplomatic overtures, military conquest, economic domination, or some other means. Each NPC, no matter how big or small, has its own mix of ethos that defines, in practical terms, that state’s Culture.

A newly integrated territory requires token expenditure to settle the population down and align them with your values. For every ethos from the Antagonistic category that a new territory has, that is different than your own culture, you must spend one unity token and one token of a type that the ethos you’re swapping it to can generate. If the ethos is naturally antagonistic to one your polity possesses (hierarchy to egalitarian, for example), the cost is two unity tokens and one token of the type you’re switching it to produces.

For every non-antagonistic ethos a state has, you must spend a token of a type the ethos you’re switching it to produces.

Switching an ethos lowers the stability of a territory by one. This can be bought off by other means.

Newly acquired territories with different ethos to your own produce less resources in some fashion until they are integrated properly. Consult this chart below to see what penalties the territory suffers. These effects are cumulative, that is, a territory with four mismatched ethos suffer from all four effects. (obviously when two values exist, go with the lower one)

1. of Mismatched Ethos: Effect
2. 1 CI produces 10% less income.
3. 2 Resting Stability at 4. DI Production reduced 50%
4. 3 Resting Stab at 3; Token Generators do not produce tokens.
5. 4 Resting Stab at 2; No Landmarks function; CI produces 30% less income.

Diplomacy

Non-Player States (NPC)

Minor NPCs can range from roughneck asteroid settlements on the fringe of a red dwarf all the way up to the governments of entire solar systems. This variety is represented by the NPC’s Development Level, which can range from 1 to 10 and will be part of the initial writeup provided. This is also a functional shorthand for what this NPC can do in terms of power projection, economic might, etc.

All NPCs have the following things in common, which differ from player polities.

• 2 general tokens representing their more modest government efforts
• 1 token landmark of a moderator-determined type.
• $3000 military in initial military +$1000 more per level of development. This military is purchased from the Generic Unit List.
• 20 CI per level of development
• 10 DI per level of development
• NPCs at Tier 6 or above have more robust development, and as a result, also get the following:
• $2k of military per level of development instead of $1K
• A second token generator
• Some other piece of infrastructure as a landmark.

As a broad guideline, Tier 1-3 NPCs have one territory, Tier 4-6 have two, and Tiers 7-9 three. There are exceptions but they’re exceptions usually for some obvious reason.

NPC states do not get ethos-generated tokens (their ethos represent their culture here).

Moderators will generate NPC OOBs as required, and, do not be surprised if they are very cookie cutter.

Establishing Relations and “Relations” With NPCs

The discussion of integrating territory in the previous section naturally leads to the question of how one acquires it in the first place. Obviously military conquest is an option, but the Open Palm Federation did establish a successful multispecies polity for longer than homo sapiens sapiens existed, and diplomatic expansion is something we expect and anticipate being a thing. Which begs the question of how do you get there?

Maintaining diplomatic relations between player states is no big deal-the major Polities are normally expected to have embassies with one another, and all player states have embassies on the chelonian and TKK homeworlds. Establishing more than transient relations with a Minor NPC, however, requires some expenditures. To establish a relationship, you must first spend a diplomatic token to open up high level multilateral relations. This only has to happen once, and then you’re considered to have the necessary infrastructure in place.

After that (and a game year), you then gain the ability to invest one token per year into an NPC state. NPC states, as part of their base stat line, have an ethos build just like a player state, representing their culture. You can allocate a token of any type produced by the Minor state’s ethos as part of this process, representing further multilateral connections between your state and theirs.

What is important now is the level of development of the NPC, as this is the ‘meter’ one uses to determine what your token investment accomplishes. Each token invested (after the initial Diplomacy token expenditure) raises your relationship with an NPC by one point. When you’ve reached relations equal to half the NPC’s development, you’ve become Allies of that NPC. That NPC will generally work in your best interests, will cooperate on military ventures, and so forth.

Once you’ve reached at least 100% of the token expenditure to Development Level, you’re considered Blood Brothers (Name tbd). At this point, if you have the highest relation of any PC with the target NPC and your respective cultures have at least two matching ethea, you can absorb the state diplomatically through the expenditure of half the diplomatic tokens relative to the Development Level, rounded up. This then integrates the NPC’s territory into your Polity and you shift to the rules for stability and culture for further assimilating your new citizens to their new government.

When assimilating an NPC in this fashion, you generally don’t acquire all of the state’s starting military. For every ethea that doesn’t match, the state loses 25% of their military force to retirement, defection, whatever. Furthermore, 25% of the forces in service to a state convert to the new territory’s standing militia, representing the establishment of these forces as part of your polity. You will have discretion over the forces turned into militia (ie, you’ll get to pick what you’re retiring) but won’t have control over the percentage leaving service all together.

NPCs generated at nation creation that are designated as hostile begin at a -6 relation to you. NPCs designated as unfriendly or ready to coordinate against you begin at a -3. NPCs not designated as one of these three begin at 0.

Soft Power

After establishing a relationship with an NPC, you may spend ($1,000xNPC Development Level) in a year to try a Soft Power Pull, which if successful will convince their society to change one non-Dominant Ethos. The difficulty will be based on your respective cultures, the level of existing investment, and any military threat you pose to their sovereignty. An NPC can not be compelled to change an Ethos in this way if they have already changed an Ethos less than two years ago, but you can pro-rate towards the next Pull during this period. NPCs & Polity Templates: NPCs do not get polity templates or abilities. The only exception to this is that some NPCs live in World Ships like a Roamer. They do not get the Jubilee ability and it is assumed their economy somehow works without squinting too closely at it as a result.

Example

Bob the Player has opened diplomatic relations with the State of Flapjack. Flapjack is a Development Level 6 NPC. Once Bob has invested three compatible tokens into Flapjack, they’re allies. Flapjack will fully cooperate with Bob’s naval patrols, supply his ships as their own, contribute a squadron to his efforts, etc. Once Bob has spent six tokens, they’re considered Blood Brothers, and Bob decides to welcome them as new members of the Bob Federation. Bob can spend three diplomatic tokens to do so, at which point Flapjack’s territories are considered part of Bob’s polity, subject to the rules for stability and culture detailed above.

Allies

Being an ally gets you certain benefits. An ally’s territory counts as your own for the purposes of calculating supply expenditure. You can call up a squadron of the ally’s ships to support your operations (to a reasonable extent, obviously), and can freely swap tokens with the state on a 1:1 basis.

Losing Investment Levels

You can lose investment levels in a state, due to other player action, events, or your own actions. Using your ally’s ships as cannon fodder, for example, probably will result in you losing investment levels. Acting wildly against the ally’s Ethos interests, probably not good for your token investment. Etc. Other PCs can spend a diplo token to lower the relation of another PC with a given NPC, limited to one decrease per PC/NPC pair per year. All NPC interactions you’ve had must be included in your YiR.

PC Diplomacy

Most PC diplomacy and negotiated trade is freeform and left to the players. The exception is the formation of military alliances. A military alliance has a number of benefits: it allows allied players to treat one another’s territories/bases as their own for supply purposes, it allows full/unpenalized military coordination both in specific tactical actions and as part of huge multi-theatre operations, it removes any potential stability penalties for working with a state of differing ethos (barring truly incredible events such as large-scale warcrimes or being revealed as secretly worshiping some ancient evil AI or whatever) or undertaking open-ended and otherwise-unprovoked or extreme military operations in support of an ally, etc. Conversely, failing to establish a formal military alliance with another PC means the inverse: you cannot share supply, you will suffer extreme penalties when coordinating military actions (generally assume both grievous friendly fire, which may well have secondary political/stability consequences, and serious timing problems such as large gaps in the line, reinforcing fleets showing up days or weeks early/late, or critically botched sigint/encryption), and greatly increased exposure to stability consequences for irrational adventurism and working with filthy stupid foreigners.

It costs 1 diplo token + 2 tokens of any kind(s) from each player to form a bilateral alliance. Other players can join the alliance by spending 1 diplo + 2 any tokens themselves, and each existing member spending an additional 1 token of any kind per alliance member added. Alliances can be declared at any point in the budgetary year (although if you want to have the option after Q1, you have to leave the requisite tokens free post the end-Q1-budget-lock-up). Finally, alliances must be renewed each year. This renewal cost is one diplomatic token for each alliance player, plus two token for each hostile antagonistic ethos they have with the player whose ethos in the alliance has the least overlap and one token for each ethos that isn’t identical.. This may well result in different token costs for players in a large enough alliance.

Violating an alliance will have major stability consequences and significantly reduce your relations with all NPCs. Abandoning a treaty ally in a defensive war will end the alliance immediately and have similar but less severe stability/diplomatic effects.