So, for those who may not know, a series of events are unlocked when bordering a Marauder clan. These events typically provide some nice buffs, but also mention relatively constant skirmishing across the border between the forces of your empire and the Marauders. While a very nice piece of setting detail, this could also be tied into gameplay using the existing piracy system.
As a postulation: what if 'pirates' (hostile nonaligned military forces) appeared on an empire's border when one of a few conditions were met.
Further systems could be layered on top of the spawning of pirates, such as policies or edicts that change the strength of fleets 'spawned' by an empire-or more accurately, spawned across an empire's border. (On a side note, tying this into the political system could also be used to discourage pacifist empires from sinking to their foes' levels by boosting or even allowing raiding fleets through their policies.) Another idea, which would most conveniently be tied into a system of unrest, civil conflicts, and new diplomacy options would be the idea of being able to support raiding groups that show success, much in the same way EU4 has a mechanic for supporting rebels where they become allies if you declare war while they're on campaign.
This proposed system would have some particulars to hash out, such as what exactly the raiders do to a system if they take it. For simplicity's sake, I think it would be most convenient if they destroy the starbase, letting the rival swoop in and claim the system. Other options could, naturally, turn out to be easier or more fun to implement.
The TL;DR of it is that piracy really stops being a major threat before one's out of the early game, and I rarely if ever experience a second pirate spawn after the introductory one. Adding in border skirmishes using the pirate system would hopefully be an interesting use of existing mechanics already coded into the game (although really fleshing it out would obviously require a higher investment in dev or modder resources).
As a postulation: what if 'pirates' (hostile nonaligned military forces) appeared on an empire's border when one of a few conditions were met.
- When that border is shared by a Marauder clan.
- When that border is shared with a Determined Exterminator, Devouring Swarm, or Fanatical Purifier
- When that border is shared by a rival empire.
Further systems could be layered on top of the spawning of pirates, such as policies or edicts that change the strength of fleets 'spawned' by an empire-or more accurately, spawned across an empire's border. (On a side note, tying this into the political system could also be used to discourage pacifist empires from sinking to their foes' levels by boosting or even allowing raiding fleets through their policies.) Another idea, which would most conveniently be tied into a system of unrest, civil conflicts, and new diplomacy options would be the idea of being able to support raiding groups that show success, much in the same way EU4 has a mechanic for supporting rebels where they become allies if you declare war while they're on campaign.
This proposed system would have some particulars to hash out, such as what exactly the raiders do to a system if they take it. For simplicity's sake, I think it would be most convenient if they destroy the starbase, letting the rival swoop in and claim the system. Other options could, naturally, turn out to be easier or more fun to implement.
The TL;DR of it is that piracy really stops being a major threat before one's out of the early game, and I rarely if ever experience a second pirate spawn after the introductory one. Adding in border skirmishes using the pirate system would hopefully be an interesting use of existing mechanics already coded into the game (although really fleshing it out would obviously require a higher investment in dev or modder resources).
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