CLOUT
In this game, players take on the role of leaders of nations or factions in a world. They must strive both against external forces and internal political struggles, aiming to achieve dominion or union of their realm.
Players start with a faction composed of 10 units of Infrastructure, a government and two allied minor NPC factions, 4 Might and 12 Wealth to get them started (upkeep is free for the first turn). Players may determine their starting government and the names and approximate cultural identities of the allied NPC factions (but not their governments, which are semi-randomly determined).
INFRASTRUCTURE & RESOURCES
There are three types of Infrastructure that produce three types of Resources.
Economic Infrastructure produces 2 Wealth per turn.
Military Infrastructure allows for 1 Might to be build per turn, per unit.
Social Infrastructure generates 1 Influence to be allocated per turn.
Wealth can be stored, and is spent on construction or upkeep for Might and Social Infrastructure. It costs 6 Wealth to build any type of Infrastructure. Captured or built infrastructure is not functional until the following turn (so built Economic Infrastructure will not produce Wealth until the next turn, captured Social Inf will not provide more Influence to assign that turn).
Might represents military assets. It can be recruited by spending Wealth on a 1-to-1 ratio and appears instantly, but a faction can only produce a maximum amount of Might per turn equal to its total Military Infrastructure. Might costs 1 Wealth per turn in upkeep to sustain (and can be disbanded before upkeep is paid to avoid costs).
Might can be used in conflicts and to capture or raze infrastructure. Armed conflicts are simple affairs; every Might deployed in the battle will neutralise one opposing unit of Might and be neutralised itself in the process. The victor is whomever still has Might left at the end of the fight.
It costs 1 Might to capture or raze 1 unit of enemy Infrastructure. Captured infrastructure is added to faction infrastructure and becomes operational the following turn. Razed infrastructure is destroyed and 3 Wealth added to the treasury of the victor. It costs nothing to raze one's own infrastructure, but it can only be accomplished before an invasion attempt (during an invasion, the infrastructure is considered occupied territory).
Might can finally be used to suppress Unrest on a 1-to-1 ratio. This is a passive use of Might and does not expend it (but Might used this way cannot be used to resolve conflicts). Upkeep must still be paid as normal for this Might.
e.g. Albion has 3 Military Infrastructure. It spends 3 Wealth to hire 3 Might. The next turn it pays another 2 Wealth to hire 2 more Might. It takes its 5 Might and uses it to invade nearby Bulmeria. Bulmeria has an army of 4 Might, so Albion loses 4 Might in the invasion and then spends its remaining Might to capture one of Bulmeria's Economic Infrastructure units.
Cataan then attempts to invade Albion with 5 Might. Albion tries to recruit more Might, but can only produce 1 more Might that turn because of its limited Military Infrastructure, even though it can afford more. It does so and is crushed by the invading Cataanite force, but the sacrifice does mean that Cataan then only captures 4 units of Infrastructure from Albion instead of 5.
Influence is transient and is generated like power each turn by Social Infrastructure. It does not carry through from turn to turn and excess is wasted. Influence is assigned each turn to different uses; unless the allocation is changed, the budget is assumed to the the same as the previous turn's.
It costs 1 Wealth per turn to maintain each unit of Social Infrastructure, which generates an equal amount of Influence.
The primary use of Influence is to foment and suppress Unrest. Each point of Influence generates or suppresses one point of Unrest in a target faction (one's own or another's).
Influence can also be used to trigger social change. Every 4 points of Influence aimed at causing social reform in a target faction increases the Clout of a power base by 1 point per turn. An equal amount of Influence (in blocks of 4 points) may be used to oppose such reforms. With time and investment this can be enough to change the primary power base of a faction.
Finally, Influence can be used to directly adjust the attitudes of power bases in factions toward targets (including the influences). It costs a total of invested Influence equal to the total Clout of a power base to improve or damage their attitude toward a target by one step. Attitude toward the leader of a faction affects how much Political Capital (PC) a power base grants him per turn. Attitude toward foreign powers affects the willingness of a primary power group to accept alliances and unions. Influence can be used to negate these effects on a 1-to-1 basis as well.
Players and NPC factions may freely trade Resources (except Influence) and Infrastructure between themselves at whatever rates of exchange they deem fair. Fractional Resources (e.g. 0.5 Wealth, 0.2 Influence) cannot be used except where special discounts apply.
ALLIANCES & UNIONS
NPC (and to a lesser extent player) factions may become involved in alliances with other factions. Allied nations are expected to provide military or economic support in the event of a member of the alliance being attacked, which makes them very useful for defence. NPC nations whose attitudes toward the alliance member requesting help are generally positive will almost always lend help. Players may choose to not provide assistance at the cost of breaking the alliance and souring relations with the NPC nation.
Establishing an alliance between players is as simple as an agreement between them. Establishing an alliance with NPC factions is more difficult. In order to get the NPC faction to accept the alliance offer, their primary power base must be at least 'Friendly' with the player faction.
Unionisation incorporates one faction into another. The leading partner in the Union effectively gains all of the lesser partner's infrastructure and resources. To get an NPC faction to accept union as a lesser partner, their primary power base must be 'Fanatic' toward the player faction. Players who willingly accept union as a lesser partner effectively concede defeat for that round and cease playing. In return, if the leader of the new union wins the current round they will start out in a better position than other players on the round following.
It is possible to absorb part or all of a player faction in union against their will. By bringing relations with the primary power base in the faction to 'Fanatic', one may try and force them to coup the player, triggering a revolution. Once the revolution is resolved, however much of the faction ended up in the allied power base's hands joins the player faction in union. Since revolutions are not all-or-nothing, the unfortunate player who was just couped may still have a faction to rule over afterward.
Diplomacy of this sort requires no Political Capital, though engineering the conditions to allow it does.
CLOUT, POLITICAL CAPITAL & POWER BASES
Unless your government is autarchy (absolute despotism), you need political capital to take actions. It costs 1 Political Capital (PC) to spend a unit of Wealth, recruit or deploy a unit of Might or reassign a unit of Influence (exception: assigning unbudgeted Influence costs nothing).
In an Autarchy there are no power bases beyond the direct servants of the despot. Autarchs need no approval to act as they wish and gain none of the benefits of decentralised government or a primary power base.
All other governments must deal with internal politics of some sort. Depending on the type of government, a leader has between 10-40% of the Clout in a faction and thus generates between 10-40% of the faction's total political capital per turn. PC stacks and may be hoarded, so rulers may accrue PC for multiple turns before spending it all in a massive frenzy of action (such as a war).
Clout is representative of internal political influence. The total Clout of a faction is equal to the sum of all its Infrastructure (of all three types). Each point of Clout generates 1 PC per turn. As mentioned above, the leader has a certain amount of Clout automatically. The rest is divided up amongst one or more power bases.
Power Bases contribute a fraction of their total Clout in PC each turn to the leader, based on how friendly their relations with the leader are. Only Fanatic power bases contribute 100% of their Clout per turn. Very unhappy power bases might not provide any PC at all.
When one power base in a faction has a clear plurality of Clout (compared to other power bases), it provides special benefits to the faction and nominally controls the government as well.
e.g. Albion is a monarchy with 10 total Infrastructure. The king has 4 Clout, the aristocracy have 4 Clout and the church (theocracy) have 2 Clout. Because the aristocracy have a plurality of Clout, they grant the nation bonus stability, bonus wealth generation and reduced recruitment costs for Might.
Next turn, political meddling changes the distribution of Clout so that the aristocracy have 3 Clout and the church have 3 Clout. Since there is no clear hegemon, the nation is absorbed in a power struggle and loses the benefits granted by having aristocracy as a primary power base.
The turn after that, the church's power play succeeds and they end up with 4 Clout to the aristocracy's 2 Clout. The nation then gains the benefits of a theocracy instead; high bonus stability and a big bonus to influence generation.
COUPS & GOVERNMENT REFORM
In order to reform the government peacefully, the leader must spend PC equal to the total Clout of the faction. The change in government then takes effect on the following turn.
To reform the government less peacefully, the leader may spend less than the total Clout of the faction in PC. Then that proportion of the total Infrastructure and Resources of the faction will come into his hands and the rest will fall into the hands of rebels. The leader must then resolve the coup either by force or diplomacy and the resulting faction will either have the intended government type (if the leader wins) or a new random government type (if the leader loses). Players retain control of their factions after a failed coup, but their PC from personal Clout is halved for three turns and the primary power group will dislike them.
Instead of reforming the government, players can also coup to change the primary power group to one more favourable to them, under the same conditions as a governmental coup. Otherwise, they can only peacefully change the primary power group through Influence or special actions.
Autarchs do not need to coup themselves to reform their governments. They simply declare the new type of government and what power base they will grant authority to and the following turn they make it so.
UNREST & REVOLUTION
Large factions and unpopular leaders generate unrest. Each point of Infrastructure in a faction creates 0.2 Unrest (only whole figures count toward the effects of unrest, so having 4 Infrastructure means no Unrest penalties). More decentralised governments reduce or negate the effects of Unrest from size and with the right power bases may even reduce additional unrest.
Every point of Unrest reduces the leader's generated Political Capital that turn by 1, so even if one cannot produce enough Unrest to force a revolution it can still hamper an opponent. Unrest still negates PC even if it does not exceed Stability.
When Unrest exceeds the Stability rating of the faction (based on government type), a Revolution will occur. This functions as a coup, in that the faction is split into loyalists and rebels and the leader must resolve the conflict for the nation to re-unite. Unlike a deliberately triggered coup, the faction will typically split along the lines of the Clout possessed by different power groups within it. If the revolution succeeds, players retain control of their government but see it drastically changed as if they had lost a coup.
DIPLOMATIC TIPS
It costs political capital (unless you're an autarch) and resources to take actions. It costs nothing to make threats. Before you launch all of your Might in a surprise invasion, see if you can blackmail the target nation into concessions with the threat. If it works, you still have all of your Might to use on another invasion and don't leave yourself open to counter attacks by opportunists.
CRISES AND OPPORTUNITIES
As a general rule there will be at least one special crisis or opportunity that arises each turn affecting a faction in the game. Players can take advantage of these for special rewards or because of exposed weaknesses.
VICTORY
The round ends when one player is victorious, either by domination or diplomatic union of all other player factions. NPC factions need not be eliminated for victory to be achieved.
Domination: The victorious player wipes out the Infrastructure of all other player factions.
Diplomatic Union: Players form an alliance and then absorb or wipe out all other player competition. The alliance members unanimously pick one of their number to be victor and the factions all merge into one union. The leader of the union wins that round and begins the next round with a hefty starting advantage. All of his unionised allies also start out with lesser advantages in the following round.
Let's try to redesign these using slightly better design principles. First of all, I (the developer) decide that I want, broadly, three tiers of government based on decentralisation, plus autarchy.
Tier Zero
AUTARCHY
0 Stability
Actions are free
No power bases
This should be the base government type. One big bonus, two big flaws. Big bonus is not having to deal with internal politics. Big flaws are lack of bonuses from a power base and no stability. The penalty for playing an autarch is having to devote Influence to suppressing Unrest, and an opportunity cost versus power base bonuses. When designing the power bases and other governments therefore, there should be sufficient incentive to want to avoid waiting to build up PC, plus sufficient disincentive to some of the power base or government types.
Tier One
MONARCHY
6 Stability
Leader gets 40% of Clout.
20% Discount on Might Recruitment
The big advantage of Tier One governments (comparatively) is a huge chunk of the Clout. We want this to be shared, so we're going to make the Oligarchy have that same advantage. Monarchy gets a big initial stability bonus; unrest overrides at 30 Inf. Very large monarchies will have trouble remaining stable and unrest will cut into PC before then, but for small factions it's very helpful.
I'm tempted to leave it at that, but I want to start differentiating between the imperial and social governments. Imperial governments should be getting either less upkeep cost on Might, lower recruitment cost or cheaper infrastructure purchases. The latter is fairly big and for tier one we want bonuses to be quite small. We go with a lower recruitment cost that should synergise well with the later upkeep discount from Aristocracy - Monarchy and Aristocracy are made for one another.
OLIGARCHY
2 Stability
-0.1 Unrest/Inf
Leader gets 40% of Clout.
20% Bonus to Influence Generation
Oligarchic government, I decided, is basically the same as monarchy but with a table full of people at the top instead of one. Compare and contrast Hegemony, where there are several tables with one person at the top of each. Oligarchy gets a small base stability but suffers less unrest. Unrest will override Oligarchy at 20 Inf, but a larger faction will require less Influence or Might devoted to keeping the peace than a Monarchy.
Oligarchy is a social government choice, so they get a bonus to either/both Wealth or/and Influence. Wealth is very, very powerful, so I want for this early government to stick with social powers. They get a boost to Influence production that should pay out in larger oligarchies.
Tier Two
In the Tier Two governments we surrender more control in exchange for more power. We also start seeing inherent complications arising from decentralisation, so for each two advantages there's a penalty.
HEGEMONY
4 Stability
-0.1 Unrest/Inf
Leader gets 20% of Clout.
20% Discount on Might Recruitment
10% Decreased Upkeep on Might
20% Increased Upkeep on Social Infrastructure
Hegemony sees power devolve from one man with a crowd of supporters to a handful of men with their own crowds of supporters. The government still has the stability perks of imperial government but reduced unrest as well from better management. Being a imperial government style they are still well-suited to maintaining the military-industrial complex, so I'm giving them monarchy's recruitment bonus and aristocracy's upkeep bonus combined. Since these stack, an aristocratic hegemony will be able to sustain quite large armies on its income.
There should be a penalty, though, and a Wealth penalty hits harder than an Influence penalty. When in doubt, go for the more punishing option. On the other hand, an economic penalty would simply negate the might bonus and punish them overall. Instead we'll focus on the inherent social division in a hegemony and give them a penalty to Influence production. That way they still suffer an economic penalty that can be avoided by focusing on their military to the detriment of their society.
BUREAUCRACY
2 Stability
-0.1 Unrest/Inf
Leader gets 20% of Clout.
20% Bonus to Influence Generation
10% Bonus to Wealth Generation
25% Increased Upkeep on Might
Bureaucracy takes the 'committee rule' model of oligarchy and extends it down a few levels as well, entrenching a class of mandarins whose duty it is to run the faction. Although the reins of power are still in the hands of one group of men at a table, the mules have simply become more stubborn.
Bureaucracy is a social choice, so industry and culture flourish from relative autonomy. The bonus wealth should support more social infrastructure in the long term, adding to oligarchy's existing bonuses to influence and reduced unrest. Civil interference in the military causes tensions and funding for social and industrial projects is heavily favoured over defence. Bureaucracies have to spend hard to sustain large armies.
Tier Three
Tier Three sees full or close to full decentralisation. Autonomy means flourishing economies but less direct political power. Flaws do more than just partly negate bonuses.
EMPIRE
6 Stability
-0.1 Unrest/Inf
Leader gets 10% of Clout.
30% Discount on Might Recruitment
20% Decreased Upkeep on Might
30% Increased Upkeep on Social Infrastructure
1/3 Increased Cost to build Social & Economic Infrastructure
In theory, an Empire is run by one supreme autocrat. In practice he delegates control to a vast number of subordinates and ministers, all of whom are answerable to him but who possess remarkable autonomy. The ultimate imperial government has a military that runs like clockwork, but internal corruption is rife and the economy favours stagnation. In addition to the decreased interest in social programs from hegemony, empires do not favour peaceful expansion. Bribery and other special taxes are applied to any civilian construction work and the market is staunchly anti-competitive.
FEDERATION
2 Stability
-0.2 Unrest/Inf
Leader gets 10% of Clout.
20% Bonus to Influence Generation
10% Bonus to Wealth Generation
10% Decreased Upkeep on Social Infrastructure
1/3 Decreased Cost to build Social Infrastructure
25% Increased Upkeep on Might
25% Increased Cost on Might Recruitment
Federations have limited tolerance for unrest but are extremely good at satisfying their citizens under normal conditions. The faction is divided into several autonomous states, akin to a hegemony but usually ruled by their own oligarchy or bureaucracy. The states are then unified under a single federal government with nominal powers. The freedoms extended to citizens result in great economic and social prosperity, and social programs are particularly cheap under a federation. A strong central military is distrusted both by citizens and the member states as a threat to autonomy, so it is expensive to both raise and maintain armies under a federation.
Now let's look at power bases. I want them all to be broadly beneficial, but most should have penalties in addition to the opportunity costs.
THEOCRACY
Stability: +4
-0.2 Unrest/Inf
10% Bonus to Influence Production
10% Penalty to Wealth Production
Stability is the big advantage in the theocracy. A theocratic government alone can negate the size penalties for a monarchy. With almost any other government it actually becomes somewhat resistant to foreign intervention and a theocratic federation is basically impossible to start a revolt in. This is a significant advantage, but mostly defensive. It still needs a penalty and I don't want to discourage imperial governments from using it. We give them a wealth penalty instead of a social one (the church takes its own private tithes in addition to tax).
The wealth penalty is bigger than the gain, though, so we'll balance it out some more. The small advantage of bonus influence favours theocracies as a political and spiritual force, but not to the level of media institutions. That seems good for now.
MULTI-MEDIA
10% Decreased Upkeep on Social Infrastructure
20% Bonus to Influence Production
If the news networks are running the government (or vice versa), you have a lot of control over hearts and minds. The bonus to influence production steps it up higher than Theocracy and the reduced upkeep on social is just an added edge. Should play well with oligarchies or take the edge off hegemonies.
DEMOCRACY
Stability: +2
-0.1 Unrest/Inf
10% Bonus to Wealth Production
25% Increased Might Upkeep
A polarised power base, this. Social freedom limits unrest and favours stability and internal business, but creates great distrust for standing armies. The upkeep cost should discourage imperial governments and standing armies, although an actual Empire could play well with a democratic power base.
PLUTOCRACY
10% Bonus to Wealth Production
Money, and that's it. Plutocracy comes with an opportunity cost rather than a penalty, but bundled with a bureacracy you'll still have an economic powerhouse that doesn't invalidate democracy as a choice.
STRATOCRACY
10% Reduced Cost for Might Recruitment
10% Reduced Upkeep for Might
1/3 Increased Cost to build Economic Infrastructure
Stratocracies should favour large, cheap standing armies. The complete disregard for the civilian economy is a big penalty to peaceful growth, but a military junta (stratocratic hegemony) or absolute monarch (stratocratic monarch) will probably be focused on capturing infrastructure rather than building it anyway.
ARISTOCRACY
Stability: +2
-0.1 Unrest/Inf
10% Reduced Upkeep for Might
Aristocracies are stable and favour cheaper standing armies. They combine well with monarchy and have opportunity costs over penalties.
CORPORATE
+0.1 Unrest/Inf
10% bonus to Wealth Production
1/3 Decreased Cost to build Economic Infrastructure
25% Increased Cost for Might Recruitment
1/3 Increased Cost to build Social Infrastructure
Corporations are extremely good at making money and developing new markets, but bloated defense contracts make recruiting new militaries expensive and insurance-based healthcare limits social care. The relative lack of ethics and continual price fixing and market manipulation stirs extreme resentment in the population to boot.
TECHNOCRACY
1/3 Decreased Cost to build any Infrastructure
10% penalty to Wealth Production
Rule by the literati favours academia and expensive research over day to day business. On the other hand, constant innovation paves the way for expansion and new machines are always available to develop the faction's resources further.
PLATOCRACY
10% Reduced Cost for Might Recruitment
10% Bonus to Influence Production
Rule is managed by an elite of scholarly soldiers, the ideal 'Guardians' or philosopher kings who manage the state not for their own profit but out of duty to the greatest good. Such a state can easily levy soldiers when needed and has the political influence of knowledge and philosophy on their side.
KLEPTOCRACY
Double income from razing Infrastructure
20% Reduced Cost for Might Recruitment
When you are ruled by clans of raiders, not only is it cheap and easy to get troops quickly, they tend to be extremely good at looting. The main penalty to kleptocracy is the opportunity cost.
A SAMPLE STARTING FACTION
La Republica de las Bananas
This peaceful little republic is kept peaceful through ruthless force by its ruling council of generals.
Government: Oligarchy
Primary Power Base: Stratocrats
4 Economic Infrastructure
4 Military Infrastructure
2 Social Infrastructure
10 Wealth, 4 Might
Projected Income: +2.4
Economy: +8 [+8 @ 100%]
Might: -3.6 [-4 @ 90%]
Social: -2 [-2 @ 100%]
Influence Budget: 2.4 [2 @ 120%]
Suppress Unrest: 1
Unassigned: 1
Social Order
Stability: 2
Unrest: 0 (-4)
+1 from 10 Inf (+0.1/Inf after perks)
-1 from Influence
(-4 while Might used for peacekeeping)
Perks
-0.1 Unrest/Inf
Leader gets 40% of Clout.
20% Bonus to Influence Generation
10% Reduced Cost for Might Recruitment
10% Reduced Upkeep for Might
1/3 Increased Cost to build Economic Infrastructure
Power Bases
Ruler: 4 Clout (+4 PC/turn)
Stratocrats: 6 Clout. Neutral to Ruler [25% PC]. (+1.5 PC/turn)
Unrest Penalty to PC: None
Current Political Capital: 5.5 PC
Allied Factions: The Principality of Thrice, The Hobart Corporation
Author
Topic: Clout: Round One, Turn 3 - The Philosopher King (Read 13836 times)