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The Bene Gesserit from Frank Herbert's Dune are a quasi-religious order of women who influence galactic events from behind the scenes, embedding sisters into major factions to collect information (and desirable genes) and advance the order's own political agenda.
While they do control a few planets overtly, in many respects the Bene Gesserit function more like an organized religious group, such Catholicism in CK or EU, in that they "overlay" the map with their own representatives rather than exist as a nation with its own borders and economy. All major factions across the Dune galaxy have Bene Gesserit representatives interacting with them. Their power is respected by all; they may not command fleets, but nobody wants to cross the Bene Gesserit.
A Bene Gesserit sister is also trained to have superhuman powers of perception and physical control, able to outfight elite soldiers one-on-one, and some retain the memories of all of their female ancestors, making them near-omniscient in knowledge and foresight. But all this is neither here nor there.
Could the Stellaris engine do justice to such an organization?
The problem feels like trying to make, say, the Catholic church a faction in EU or CK, for instance. Not necessarily a human-playable one.
I was thinking of something along the lines of creating "non-state actors" who can make bases on planets owned by other factions who accept them. Spying and diplomacy would be their main tools. They would definitely be doing their own scientific research and have their own leaders. Indeed, they should have a heavy emphasis on individual personalities such as leaders and representatives, rather than fleets. Their influence should be such that other factions have an incentive to be in their good graces.
What do people think?
While they do control a few planets overtly, in many respects the Bene Gesserit function more like an organized religious group, such Catholicism in CK or EU, in that they "overlay" the map with their own representatives rather than exist as a nation with its own borders and economy. All major factions across the Dune galaxy have Bene Gesserit representatives interacting with them. Their power is respected by all; they may not command fleets, but nobody wants to cross the Bene Gesserit.
A Bene Gesserit sister is also trained to have superhuman powers of perception and physical control, able to outfight elite soldiers one-on-one, and some retain the memories of all of their female ancestors, making them near-omniscient in knowledge and foresight. But all this is neither here nor there.
Could the Stellaris engine do justice to such an organization?
The problem feels like trying to make, say, the Catholic church a faction in EU or CK, for instance. Not necessarily a human-playable one.
I was thinking of something along the lines of creating "non-state actors" who can make bases on planets owned by other factions who accept them. Spying and diplomacy would be their main tools. They would definitely be doing their own scientific research and have their own leaders. Indeed, they should have a heavy emphasis on individual personalities such as leaders and representatives, rather than fleets. Their influence should be such that other factions have an incentive to be in their good graces.
What do people think?
