Psionic Ascension Rework: No More Workers

[Dementor4]

Elevator pitch: give psionics the unique identity as the empire that doesn't use workers, replacing those jobs with more efficient specialist variants. This represents mind-over-matter disciplines replacing the need for brute force.

Reasoning: Both of the other Ascension paths have built into them, or synergize with, ways to increase pop growth via pop assembly. A psionic empire has no cloning vats and, even if they aren't spiritualist to begin with, will inevitably develop a spiritualist faction that hates robots. To make matters even more uneven, synthetic and biological empires both have extremely efficient basic resource harvesting while psionic empires don't

This suggestion resolves this issue by replacing most worker jobs with specialist jobs: a mining district will provide a psionic empire with 1 "geokineticist" specialist job instead of 2 miner worker jobs. Farmers and technicians would be similarly replaced. These specialist jobs would produce twice as many resources as the worker equivalent. Clerks would probably remain worker positions as their function seems to be little more than unemployment prevention in most empires.

Thoughts?

 

[Bezborg]

I like it.

It would make my space elves even more elvish. Nuff said.

I generally think all ascension paths should be way more extreme, MUCH more unique and bold in their concept, and all leading to a post-scarcity civilization.

Balance be damned, tbh.

 

[GhostDanny]

To make matters even more uneven, synthetic and biological empires both have extremely efficient basic resource harvesting while psionic empires don't

To be fair, psionic pops do have boosts to energy production.
And a +5% happiness to make workers just that slightly more happy.

 

[Nevars]

Your suggestion would means that authoritarian empire should not psionic ascend cuz it would waste one of their ethic bonus which doesn't make sense.

Thematically authoritarian and psionic fit, not to mentioned the chosen one has event that support that authoritarian and psionic go hand in hand too.

So regretfully even though I want psionic to be buff I would have to disagree with this.

 

[GOLANX]

Your suggestion would means that authoritarian empire should not psionic ascend cuz it would waste one of their ethic bonus which doesn't make sense.

Thematically authoritarian and psionic fit, not to mentioned the chosen one has event that support that authoritarian and psionic go hand in hand too.

So regretfully even though I want psionic to be buff I would have to disagree with this.

I never liked Authoritarian's worker bonus. Your workers are much less happy with few rights or paths from poverty that is only somewhat overcome by Enforcers having the ability to crack the whip. The effect should balance out with the player encouraged to add more whip cracking enforcers as opposed to satirist (entertainers).

This said I might suggest as part of this suggestion that a switch is added in to the policies to turn on the specialist jobs, or to continue relying on slaves (workers).

 

[Dementor4]

Your suggestion would means that authoritarian empire should not psionic ascend cuz it would waste one of their ethic bonus which doesn't make sense.

Thematically authoritarian and psionic fit, not to mentioned the chosen one has event that support that authoritarian and psionic go hand in hand too.

So regretfully even though I want psionic to be buff I would have to disagree with this.

In the lategame, that 5/10% bonus is pretty negligible. The biggest problem with authoritarian playthroughs lategame is unhappiness and the stability issues it causes because worker pops are miserable. This feature would tip that scale, making an authoritarian psionic empire among the happiest: you'd still get the big leader happiness buff and political power from stratified economy, but without the mass of workers bringing it down. This increase in stability for an authoritarian regime would make up for the loss of that 5/10% and then some.

 

[GOLANX]

In the lategame, that 5/10% bonus is pretty negligible. The biggest problem with authoritarian playthroughs lategame is unhappiness and the stability issues it causes because worker pops are miserable. This feature would tip that scale, making an authoritarian psionic empire among the happiest: you'd still get the big leader happiness buff and political power from stratified economy, but without the mass of workers bringing it down. This increase in stability for an authoritarian regime would make up for the loss of that 5/10% and then some.

Yeah but there is a point of flavor to consider, telepathic Slavers are just as potent as telekinetic miners. That's why I suggested having it as a policy, you can both have what you want and a different experience with different empires.

 

[Dementor4]

Yeah but there is a point of flavor to consider, telepathic Slavers are just as potent as telekinetic miners. That's why I suggested having it as a policy, you can both have what you want and a different experience with different empires.

That's a fine idea. I would even go so far as to make it a planetary decision. That way you could have your core worlds full of your own main pops (and where you need all the pops you can spare for research and alloy production) running the fancy TK mining specialists, while on your fringe worlds full of xeno slaves (who you maybe haven't gotten around to making psychic yet) you'd let them toil in the mines in a traditional way.