It's proving consistently tricky to have a randomized world that remains indifferent to the player character while also keeping things fair without too much hand-holding.
Documentation might be a bit of a help. I'm playing as an Outcast, and it takes almost 100 weeks for the Opposing Aristocrat to wipe me out!
EDIT: My longest run was 200 weeks. I think I managed a "draw" by having the colony disintegrate around me. Then I tried another character.
Speaking of documentation, here is what I've gathered about "Winning Cycles"
1) It appears the only way to win a cycle is to gather all pieces of the artifact. All other win conditions have been removed.
2) When society collapses, artifact pieces stop appearing. Society is collapsed when population drops below 100 colonists. However, it can be reversed: Society is no longer collapsed when the colony has more than 100 colonists.
I should also point out that if all the territories are destroyed, then the cycle is over with both sides losing the cycle. If the player is captured by the enemy, the other side wins the cycle. I haven't seen an option to capture the opposition (being both Renascents, death is inconvenient).
While this doesn't mean that the player has to chase down the artifact as their only goal, since the game never really ends, it does mean that the player should be trying to obtain the artifact most of the time. The opposing side tends to get rather menacing if it gets artifact after artifact after artifact.
The player's Stats are determined by where they start out in the hierarchy, with Outcasts having the best stats and Governors having the worst. This is interesting because Stats are what gets the player the artifact pieces. An Outcast who obtains a base can potentially start getting their pieces with just their starting companion, whereas the Governor either needs to resign themselves to paying for the artifact pieces with merits or needs to hire 3-4 companions to do the dirty work for them.
I can even theorize the following would tend to be true as to how each tier obtain artifact pieces:
Outcasts: Companion and player go it alone
Adventurer: Hire/rescue another Renascent, and the three of them go for the pieces
Merchant Venturer: Hire some Renascents and have them get the pieces
Governor: Trade in your merits for the pieces
As for exploring the territories themselves, the Outcast generally has half the territories identified prior to obtaining their base, whereas the Governor uses Reconnaissance-in-force. The Adventurer dives in themselves and tries not to die too much, whereas the Merchant Venturer hires someone cheap to do the exploring.