Galactic Doorstep buff suggestion : The Black Throne and the Black Key

[Morchaste]

With the upcoming Teachers of the Shroud origin, it would seem that Galactic Doorstep is about to become completely obsolete.

For those who don't know, Teacher of the Shroud will give you contact with the new psionic enclave, and the possibility to build the new "Shroud Beacon" module on one of your starbase (plus an event chain, and the Mind over Matter ascension perk).

This will allow you to create a psionic wormhole between said beacon and the psionic enclave's system. That means it will probably give you a new way for expansion way earlier than Galactic Doorstep without any of the bad effects, for the price of some alloys and rare crystals.

Yes, TotS requires spiritualism. Yes, GD allows you to create a gateway network in your frontiers way earlier than any other empire. And yes, we don't even know all of the details about TotS yet. The event chain might surprise us.

But beside the flavor and the early gateways, Galactic Doorstep is objectively a worst choice than even the two other non-DLC origins, aka Prosperous Unification and Lost Colony.

GD will not only harm you for the meager benefits it gives you compare to PU and LC, but activating the Black Crown either remove a district from your capital forever, or spawns an fleet to kill you. Yay. Your "special gateway" doesn't even lead anywhere special.

I think a buff is needed. And here are my suggestions :

• You receive the Gateway Activation technology entirely researched once the science ship comes back from the Black Crown.
• No more negative events upon activating the Black Crown. Instead a new system would be revealed/created (like the Precusor homeworlds) somewhere in the galaxy, named the "Black Throne". It would be linked to the hyperlane network. The Gateway inside would be named "The Black Mirror".

About the Black Throne :

• This system would be the nest of the Gateway Vermins that slipped throught the Crown earlier in the event chain. Since you'll have to fight them pretty early, their fleet power should not be over 1K.
• After killing them, you would discover that the Black Throne is a weird pocket of space lost in time. It would be a carbon copy of your homesystem, from a distant apocalyptic future.
• Inside the Black Throne, you would find your "homeworld", named Janus (after the Roman god of "beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings").

About Janus :

• On Janus, you would find 4 of your pops, who regressed to the stone age stage, with some Settled Ruins and City Ruins blockers.
• Your specie would have the Homeworld habitability bonus on it (+30%).
• After finishing a project with a science ship on the planet, the primitive pops would explain to you what happened to them (a great cataclysm, the "Blue Flames" mentionned by your scientist's logs), but they would still be pretty ellusive about it (oral transmission is not that reliable).
• They would then gift you the Black Key, and You'ld have the choice to integrate them in your empire (without any Stellar Culture Choc), make them a vassal, or leave them alone.

About the Black Key :

Passive Effects :​

​

• -50% Gateways and L-Gates activation cost
• -50% Gateways construction cost

​

Triumph (cost 3000 energy and 1250 alloys, cooldown 900 days) :​

​

• Instantly reactivates a random dormant Gateway somewhere in the Galaxy
• If no dormant Gateway exists, instantly finishes one of your Gateway Construction Sites

What do you think ? I tried to keep it as vanilla as possible, since it is a non-DLC origin. I don't think it would be "meta", but at least it won't punish you for completing the storyline, and it would make your gateway feel more special.


Edit : Added a new relic as an additional reward, thanks to Pancakelord's feedback.
Rewrote most of my OP for more clarity.
Modified the Black Key's Triumph effect, thanks to Tamwin5's feedback.

 

[Pancakelord]

The problem with galactic doorstep is it's mostly a narrative experience. And a good one too. But once you've experienced it, there is little incentive to replay it.

A mirror home system would definitely be powerful (particularly if it mirrored it when you open it, so you get a developed and populated world - it's the pops that are the real treasure later on when growth slows down), but I don't think it would be as good as an early game benefit, due to the nature of snowballing (and somewhat goes against the whole progenitor theme in the current story).

In my opinion it needs to offer an earlygame gameplay-shakeup / advantage to justify using it repeatedly.

When I first heard about the origin, I was excited because I thought it might mean we'd be primarily exploring the galaxy through gateways. I.e. using them extensively in earlygame. But you really don't get much use out of the gateway early on.

I think that it permitting early gateway use, is the kind of change needed to justify buffing the origin.

• Roll forwards gateway activation to the 2210/20s (say you found the Rosetta stone for gateways or something) and
• Add an artefact/relic/edict that lets you remotely activate / dial in to other dormant gateways in the galaxy.

That'd give GD empires a very different play-style. Rather than expanding in a blob, you could have outposts across the galaxy.

It'd be particularly useful for overlords, federation builders or even megacorps looking to broker communications quickly.

 

[Morchaste]

The problem with galactic doorstep is it's mostly a narrative experience. And a good one too. But once you've experienced it, there is little incentive to replay it.

A mirror home system would definitely be powerful (particularly if it mirrored it when you open it, so you get a developed and populated world - it's the pops that are the real treasure later on when growth slows down), but I don't think it would be as good as an early game benefit, due to the nature of snowballing (and somewhat goes against the whole progenitor theme in the current story).

In my opinion it needs to offer an earlygame gameplay-shakeup / advantage to justify using it repeatedly.

When I first heard about the origin, I was excited because I thought it might mean we'd be primarily exploring the galaxy through gateways. I.e. using them extensively in earlygame. But you really don't get much use out of the gateway early on.

I think that it permitting early gateway use, is the kind of change needed to justify buffing the origin.

• Roll forwards gateway activation to the 2210/20s (say you found the Rosetta stone for gateways or something) and
• Add an artefact/relic/edict that lets you remotely activate / dial in to other dormant gateways in the galaxy.

That'd give GD empires a very different play-style. Rather than expanding in a blob, you could have outposts across the galaxy.

It'd be particularly useful for overlords, federation builders or even megacorps looking to broker communications quickly.

An already developed and populated world be... Maybe a bit too much. That would make it a better On the Shoulders of Giants. But I get what you mean.
The aim of the Black Throne was to at least make sure that the first system your gateway leads to is unclaimed and with a few goodies (rare deposits and a third guaranteed habitable planet).

But I agree with your relic idea. I had thought of something relatively similar back then, but since relics are rare (linked to endgame crises) in non-dlc stellaris, I wasn't sure it was fair to give GD one. But that's how it should be.

The relic, which would be found after your science vessel scans your mirrored homeworld (archeology digsite maybe ?) would be called the "Black Key" (original, I know).
The passive effect would allow you to use temporarely activate deactivated gateways (L-Gates not included), claimed or unclaimed. Maybe even during wartime ? Mechanically speaking, the GD empire would consider gateways always opened to them, but not the borders (Pompous Purists synergy ?).
The Triumph effect (cost 500 energy, cooldown 900 days) would give a 10 days project to the Black Crown allowing you to send a science ship to a random deactivated gateway that you haven't discovered yet.

I redid the maths. Giving us 85% of the tech instead of 45% should make the Gateway Activation tech cost around 3600 Physics (Empire Size tech increase not included). That puts it between the most expensives T1 techs and the less expensives T2s. Which by that time (around the 2015s) should be researched fairly quickly.

I will modify my original suggestion to add all that.

 

[Grobb]

I like the idea of turning Galactic Doorstep into the "Stargate" origin, quickly unlocking new and unusual gate destinations as the game goes on. More origins need to think about what kind of gameplay effects someone would want from them, and less about just throwing events and storylines at people.

 

[Foxosaur]

Its a very likeable origin to be honest for immersion/roleplay, so doing more with it, would be really nice ^^

 

[Daurien]

I love the new flavor additions with the mirror homesystem. I especially like that the question of how you find your own homesystem again is never resolved, adding just one more mystery to the galaxy.

 

[Tamwin5]

I'm not sure about the mirror home system, mainly because I tend to use the Gateway origin for some various RP, which the mirror system wouldn't make sense with. I love the idea of the Black Key though, and I do think that the origin should get much earlier access to gateways.

Here is how I'd handle the black key. When you get it, you get automatic low intel on all systems with a gateway in them. A "map of the galactic gateway network". This would allow you to then send science ships there with subspace navigation later on. The passive effect of the Black Key could be anything. +2 codebreaking? Research bonuses? Monthly minor artifacts? The active effect would cost 2000 EC and 1000 Alloys, and allow a science ship to activate any one gateway for "free". So in effect, you pay around a third of the cost for activating a gateway. This could either be used on your own gateways, or on gateways you find out in the galaxy. Maybe using it on an already active gateway would pick a random unactivated gateway, so you don't need to send your science ships out with subspace navigation.

 

[Morchaste]

Hello again. With the reveal of the new Slingshot to the Stars origin today, Galactic Doorstep now has another rival.

For those who don't know about it, SttS gives you a ruined Quantum Catapult (and the technology to repair it, apparently) instead of one of your two guaranteed habitable worlds, allowing your fleets to jump in a certain radius around an open system.

While I think it will most likely be used for early quick wars of subjugation and conquest against neighbors, the fact it could make you start with Mega-Ingineering is insane. It also conforted me in the idea that giving a mirror homesystem from an apolcalyptic future (aka a third guaranteed habitable world) was not a bad idea. It's on the right path, but I think it needs a bit more. So...

Here are some addons to my previous suggestions :

• You receive the Gateway Activation technology entirely researched once the science ship comes back from the Black Crown.
• The Black Throne, your mirror homesystem, contains your mirror homeworld named Janus, after the Roman god of "beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings" (which is very fitting).

About Janus :

On Janus, there will be 4 of your pops, who regressed to the stone age stage, with some Settled Ruins and City Ruins blockers.​

After finishing a project with a science ship on the planet, the primitives will gift you the Black Key. You'll have the choice to integrate those pops in your empire (without any Stellar Culture Choc), make them a vassal, or leave them alone.​

About the Black Key :

​

Passive Effects :​

• -50% Gateways and L-Gates activation cost
• -50% Gateways construction cost
• Inactive Gateways are considered active for the owner' ships

​

Triumph (cost 500 energy, cooldown 900 days) :​

• Gives a 10-day Science ship project to the Black Gate, allowing the ship to travel to any undiscovered gateway in the galaxy

What do you think ? I will edit my OP later, but I think that second batch of changes should put the Origin in a good place.

 

[Tamwin5]

Hello again. With the reveal of the new Slingshot to the Stars origin today, Galactic Doorstep now has another rival.

For those who don't know about it, SttS gives you a ruined Quantum Catapult (and the technology to repair it, apparently) instead of one of your two guaranteed habitable worlds, allowing your fleets to jump in a certain radius around an open system.

While I think it will most likely be used for early quick wars of subjugation and conquest against neighbors, the fact it could make you start with Mega-Ingineering is insane. It also conforted me in the idea that giving a mirror homesystem from an apolcalyptic future (aka a third guaranteed habitable world) was not a bad idea. It's on the right path, but I think it needs a bit more. So...

Here are some addons to my previous suggestions :

• You receive the Gateway Activation technology entirely researched once the science ship comes back from the Black Crown.
• The Black Throne, your mirror homesystem, contains your mirror homeworld named Janus, after the Roman god of "beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings" (which is very fitting).

About Janus :

On Janus, there will be 4 of your pops, who regressed to the stone age stage, with some Settled Ruins and City Ruins blockers.​

After finishing a project with a science ship on the planet, the primitives will gift you the Black Key. You'll have the choice to integrate those pops in your empire (without any Stellar Culture Choc), make them a vassal, or leave them alone.​

About the Black Key :

​

Passive Effects :​

• -50% Gateways and L-Gates activation cost
• -50% Gateways construction cost
• Inactive Gateways are considered active for the owner' ships

​

Triumph (cost 500 energy, cooldown 900 days) :​

• Gives a 10-day Science ship project to the Black Gate, allowing the ship to travel to any undiscovered gateway in the galaxy

What do you think ? I will edit my OP later, but I think that second batch of changes should put the Origin in a good place.

I'm still not a fan of the mirror world concept. It's also important to know that due to gameplay concerns, you can't have any system that is only linked by a gateway (since it would be unconquerable in war). The whole concept doesn't work. The ability to move through inactive gateways also has to go. Not only does it make activating gateways irrelevant (unless you are trying to get an ally to you), it actually is a net negative to activate gateways in many instances because Fallen/Awakened Empires can traverse through active gateways freely (even while at war with you). It also doesn't make sense how you could travel through an unpowered gateway. The triumph is really only useful early game, which I think is bad design. Once you've found all the gateways, it's useless. So I'd make the triumph be something that is always useful (an ability to a activate gateways also in your territory, for example)

 

[Morchaste]

I'm still not a fan of the mirror world concept.

Yes, I read your previous message. To be fair, the whole "mirror homesystem" thingy was just to make the Black Throne more interesting (and filling the plotholes it would create in the storyline). But it could also just be a normal system. The aim of the Black Throne is to make sure that you land in an unoccupied part of space after activating the Black Crown, but I guess a line of script making the Black Crown open an unowned gate in priority would have the same effect.

It's also important to know that due to gameplay concerns, you can't have any system that is only linked by a gateway (since it would be unconquerable in war).

No no no, sorry if I wasn't clear enough, but the Black Throne was never supposed to be an "unreacheable system". What I imagined was a system popping somewhere in the galaxy, like a Precursor homesystem. It would be linked to the hyperlane network.

The ability to move through inactive gateways also has to go. Not only does it make activating gateways irrelevant (unless you are trying to get an ally to you), it actually is a net negative to activate gateways in many instances because Fallen/Awakened Empires can traverse through active gateways freely (even while at war with you). It also doesn't make sense how you could travel through an unpowered gateway. The triumph is really only useful early game, which I think is bad design. Once you've found all the gateways, it's useless. So I'd make the triumph be something that is always useful (an ability to a activate gateways also in your territory, for example)

Well, you're not wrong about that one. But you already gave the solution, so it's not hard to fix :

About the Black Key :


Passive Effects :

• -50% Gateways and L-Gates activation cost
• -50% Gateways construction cost

Triumph (cost 3000 energy and 1250 alloys, cooldown 900 days) :

• Instantly reactivates a random dormant Gateway somewhere in the Galaxy
• If no dormant Gateway exists, instantly finishes one of your Gateway Construction Sites

With that, you'll still be able to use it later in the game, and it will only become useless once you have no more Gateways to build.