Stellaris Dev Diary #200: The Custodian

[TrotBot]

Have liberation wars been strengthened to make the custodian more of a threat to the slavers if it's a fanatic egalitarian?

Little things like, choosing which of your ethics to impose (maybe I don't want to force spiritualists to adopt my materialism but I want them to be egalitarians?). Or having more espionage options to force ethics changes? Ability to provoke a revolt to back your liberation invasion? At the moment liberation wars require essentially the same level of victory as annexation, and that's a bit much. Like, I'm actively hurting myself by not just annexing them at that point, considering how long it takes to occupy every planet.

 

[Tamwin5]

Reading this diary through a second time with thought I have to say I find myself slightly dissapointed. Becoming the custodian, the shield of the galactic community, should really be a thing that comes with great powers but also with great responsibility. These responsibilities should naturally be impactful enough so that becoming a custodian is not trivial and likewise the powers granted to the custodian should be impactful enough that other members have to consider if they want to grant those powers in the first place. Key word here is impactful. If the resolutions, like the anti-piracy initiative, are only miniscule number adjustments that you won't even notice then no1 is going to care if they pass or not. Where's the fun in that? And if you don't want to get into all the responsibilities of the Custodian you can just stay at the council level and support/oppose any1 who wants to become a custodian.

I know it's too late to propose any changes as the DLC is probably fairly close by now, but here's atleast some concepts and ideas that came to mind (all numbers only rough estimates showcasing the potency the resolutions should have).

Custodianship​

Custodian War Effort (5 resolutions)​

Border Patrols: -10% alloys, energy and fleet cap for all GC members, these resources are instead given to the Custodian. Custodian gets +25% dmg against crises.
Auxiliary Fleets: -20% alloys, energy and fleet cap tax, Custodian gets +50% dmg against crises.
Support Fleets: -35% alloys, energy and fleet cap tax, Custodian gets +75% dmg against crises.
Battle Fleets: -50% alloys, energy and fleet cap tax, Custodian gets +100% dmg against crises.
Titan Fleets: -65% alloys, energy and fleet cap tax, Custodian gets +125% dmg against crises.
Custodian dmg buff against crises would of course also apply for GDF as it is under control of the custodian.

Galactic Defence Force (5 resolutions)​

GDF Patrol Duty: GDF upkeep increased by 20%. GDF fleet power causes scaling Piracy Suppression on all traderoutes of GC members. The bigger the GDF fleet the bigger the suppression.
GDF Fleet Excercises: GDF upkeep increased by 40%. Gives GDF ships small monthly exp gain and new ships added start at Experienced level.
GDF Rigid Training Program: GDF upkeep increased by 60%. Gives GDF ships moderate monthly exp gain and new ships added start at Veteran level.
GDF Elite Task Force: GDF upkeep increased by 80%. Gives GDF ships large monthly exp gain and new ships added start at Elite level.
GDF A.E.G.I.S. initative: GDF upkeep increased by 100%. Gives GDF ships huge monthly exp gain, +20% sublight speed, +10% hull points and +25% fire rate in GC space, admiral assigned to a GDF fleet can't be removed and they gain a special A.E.G.I.S. trait (-33% damage received from Crisis ships).

Getting through the entire GDF resolution path should result the GDF being the embodiment of entire galaxy's martial might, its finest and most motivated voidsmen and admirals, ships and engineers specifically trained to fight the horrors of the void.

The Custodianship mechanics​

Make the custodianship take a page out of EU IV's HRE mechanic: Custodian accumulates Galactic Peace (GP) pts (similiar to the new resource that Become the Crisis collects).
Custodian has to defend GC members in defensive war against some1 who is not part of GC.
Killing non-GC member's ships in such a war grants GP as does liberating occupied GC member's planets. GC member losing the war reduces GP pts.
GP can also be gained by killing hostile spaceborne aliens, pirates, marauders, crisis ships etc.
GP is also gained passively every month, depending on how large % of GC members are at peace.
Custodian should keep a certain stock of GP as having low amount of it reduces empire's happiness and trust cap with other GC members (as having low amount means you're not taking your custodian responsibilities seriously) and having it high gives +to Diplomatic Weight.
GP are mainly spent to propose Galactic Peacekeeping resolutions:

Galactic Peacekeeping (10 resolutions)​

Custodian Legates: +2 Envoys, +25% trust growth and +50 trust cap for the custodian with all GC members.

Police the Frontiers: -25% influence cost for building outposts, +20% dmg against pirates, marauders and Khan for all GC members, Custodian gets -50% and +40% respectively and also a unique interaction to threaten Marauder factions to cease all piracy and raiding against GC members. Depending on custodian's Fleet Strength relative to marauders, and also a bit on the RNG, marauders might just agree to succumb and thus only raid non-GC members (with increased frequency) or decline in which case Custodian gets a choice to either to go to war against the marauder empire they threatened (war goal is to annihilate all marauder stations, results the Custodian getting GP and opinion and trust boost with GC members), if Custodian chooses to remain passive it results in loss of GP, trust and opinion with all GC members.
If all marauder empires have either been destroyed or have agreed to not raid GC members, then the Custodian gets a +15% Diplomatic Weight bonus.

Intervention Act: Custodian can threaten a war between 2 GC members to cease immediately, results in a white peace if both sides agree and gets GP. If one side declines Custodian joins on the side that agreed. If both decline custodian gets a choice to either to go to war against both empires (war goal is Show Superiority, results in the first war to end in white peace and Custodian gets GP), if Custodian chooses to remain passive it results in loss of GP, trust and opinion with all GC members.

Fortify the Frontiers: -15% cost and +15% speed to upgrade starbases on border, +10 Trade Protection for all GC members, double effects for the Custodian. GC member hiring/having Marauder Mercenary fleets or leaders if at war with another GC member cause being in Breach of Galactic Law. If Custodian has a Starbase on every border they gain +10% diplo weight bonus.

Watchpost System: All GC members gain +5% trade value and +5% sublight speed in GC space. The Custodian gains a special Megastructure they can build; A watchpost. Costs 1000 alloys and can be constructed in any GC member's space. A watchpost acts as a shipyard but for repairing only, it doesn't produce any ships. It also gives the Custodian sensor information as if it was part of their empire (so the system + all the adjacent hyperlanes jumps depending on their tech level). Once the Custodian has established one Watchpost for every member in the GC they get +15% diplo weight bonus.

Peacekeeper Act: All GC members become allied to the Custodian. If a GC member declares war on another GC member then the Custodian joins on the defending side. All GC members also gain max +10 stability on planets scaling on the % of GC members at peace. The Custodian gets a +25% diplo weight scaling on the % of GC members at peace, and the passive GP gain is doubled.

Leviathan Termination Initiative: +15% dmg against leviathans for all GC members, doubled for the Custodian. The Curators enclave gives all their information about leviathans for free for all GC members, and also gift the Custodian a special ship component (think of something cool here). If no Leviathans exist in the galaxy then all GC members get a permanent +10% happiness/job output boost and in addition the Custodian gets permanent +15% diplo weight bonus.

Consolidate Power: All GC-members become vassals to the Custodian. The vassalage is special one (Grand Sectors or something) where the Custodian can't integrate any subjects. Grand Sectors can expand and retain their diplomatic independence to other Grand Sectors but not to other non-Grand Sectors. Grand Sector that is in offensive war against another Grand Sector is in Breach of Galactic Law. They are also protected by the Custodian but are not called to Custodian's offensive wars. Grand Sectors gain +20% dmg against Crisis. Custodian gets +5% diplo weight from each loyal Grand Sector.

Establish Galactic Administration: +1 influence, +1 envoy, +20% diplo weight, +60% Administrative Capacity, +25% trust and opinion growth, +50 trust cap for the Custodian with GC members.

Reform the Galactic Senate: All GC members are integrated into the Custodian empire. Launches an Event to decide the government form and civics for the new empire (can also just keep the old ones). Temporary happiness bonus for pops of empires that had high trust and opinion with the Custodian prior to integration, happiness malus for those who didn't along with high stability debuffs. Strong roaming pirate fleets (representing rebels against the new empire) might spawn in areas of unhappy empires and if too many empires had bad opinions on Custodian the Event might trigger a civil war where those unhappy empires immediately break off and declare war of independence / war against tyranny


Edit: adding a little commentary here on the Galactic Peacekeeping resolution path and reasoning for certain effects. As the Custodian's purpose is to act as the protector for the Galactic Community they should have means to lessen the chance of coming to blows with GC members (example; being directly attacked by a GC member) which where the 1st resolution comes to play. Having the envoys to throw around keeping up good relations to other GC members lets the Custodian to focus on external threats.
2nd resolution helps GC to fill in the empty expanse and fight off marauder raids while having a strong Custodian can stop any raiding towards GC members (making belonging to GC more enticing).
3rd resolution gives the Custodian power to act as a referee in disputes between 2 GC members. Having members waste their fleets in petty wars is surely dumb when Fanatical Purifiers are at the border, right? While agreeing to white peace might be disadvantegous declining the Custodian's intervention is a risk, since if the other side of the conflict agreed to it then you suddendly have also the Custodian to fight...
4th resolution helps GC members to stabilize their borders with bastions and trade protection helps with smaller trade routes. Disallowing use of mercenaries against other GC members brings stability and predictability in GC power balance.
5th resolution helps communication and travel across the galaxy but also enables the Custodian to build a vast logistics and intelligence network. The Custodian can keep up with the fleet movements across the galaxy and deploy their peacekeeping forces safe in the knowledge they'll have a front-line station to repair at.
6th resolution increases stability within GC as any agressor has to account the Custodian being on the opposing side. +10 stability is a nice bonus which further entices GC members to avoid wars, while Custodian getting big +diplo power buff is another reason for them to try safeguard peace.
7th A carrot to get rid of remaining Leviathans, supported by the Curators. Having cleansed the stars from gargantuan beasts and fearsome constructs the population across the galaxy will sleep better trusting the fleets of the GC to keep them safe.
8th GC members lose their diplomatic independence outside of GC, though they can still do it within GC (in wars the Custodian is still on the defending side). Let the Custodian handle all that is outside of GC borders. Also everyone gets some buff against Crisis so its a good deal, right? What could possibly go wrong?
9th blatant powergrab. Preparation for the last resolution, very much a step no1 but the Custodian wants to take. But can the senate stop them anymore at this point?
10th big payout for a long and difficult journey. No one wanted the Custodian to get here but at some point it became impossible to stop. If the Custodian played their cards right their empire sprawls across the galaxy, but if they were too hasty in their rise to power they might see it immediately splinter as rebel ships, leaders, planets, fleets and entire sectors break off to oppose them.

Overall the Custodian resolutions should give the feeling that a proper Custodian brings universal stability, unity and peaceful prosperity to the galaxy, but be careless giving them power and they might end up having so much diplomatic weight from all their accomplishments, the finest fleet (GDF) in the galaxy and such web of alliances that you can't stop them. Not in the senate, not in the field of battle.

Diplomatic Victory​

If the Custodian manages to pass Reform the Galactic Senate resolution, all "rebel fleets" have been destroyed, all civil war empires have been defeated and integrated and a Crisis has spawned and been defeated then the Custodian wins a Diplomatic Victory. (Since Become the Crisis already introduced a Monument Victory I think we can add more options, especially the kind that rely more on the politics side).

Basically make all the Galactic Peacekeeping resolutions be something that makes the custodian(s) and the GC members to want to progress them to a certain point but also make the non-custodians wary of giving in too much as the Custodian can really start getting out of control with the extra diplopower from the resolutions.

I'd definitely like to see some more extreme measure tied to the custodian and the GDF. Rather then just a funneling of a resources to the Custodian, I think it would be better if the ships were built by the other nations. So you'd have a chain of proposals making it cheaper/faster to build GDF fleets, but slower and more expensive to build regular fleets. The final stage could make it a breach of galactic law to construct non-GDF ships (either ever, or during a crisis). To make things more interesting, I think it would make sense if donating ships gave you influence, so there is a direct incentive to funnel the Custodian beyond what might be a smart idea.

Also some proposals which have significant penalties to the civilian side of thing in exchange for military buffs should be a thing. Trade long term gain for extra firepower right now, massive happiness penalties for increased alloy production, reduced research and unity for fire rate buffs. That sort of thing. There also should 100% be a proposal making being at war with another member of the Community a breach of galactic law (again, wither ever, or only during a crisis).

Rather than "Galactic Peace" points, I think they should be "Galactic Security". The reason for this, is that if the galaxy is at peace with no threats, why would you need a custodian? So having no threats would be a significant loss of GS monthly, but having a threat which is contained and doing no damage would be a benefit. Now, there would be a resolution, or chain of resolutions with a final, which would eliminate that passive loss if everything is dealt with. But I really like the story of a Galactic Custodian not actually dealing with something because they want to stay in power, and if they actually killed the threat they'd be making themselves obsolete. Of course, this has the potential to end badly, when that "contained" Fanatic Purifier suddenly punches through the defensive perimeter with several star eaters you'd given them the time to build up.

Now I'm not sure how the system currently works, but what I think would make sense is that even if the Custodian gets vote out/killed/their term ends, all of the custodian proposals stay passed, but inactive, similar to how the GDF sticks around. You could then later choose to elect a new custodian, or disband the GDF, which would reset all of the proposals as well.

 

[Nicolya]

Hey, I'm not sure where I would need to go to ask this so I figured I'd ask this here, if I were trying to use certain parts of Stellaris for a novel I was writing, what would I need to do in order to get permissions I guess

 

[Calvax]

Hey, I'm not sure where I would need to go to ask this so I figured I'd ask this here, if I were trying to use certain parts of Stellaris for a novel I was writing, what would I need to do in order to get permissions I guess

IANAL, but a vast number of the features in stellaris are common science fiction tropes. Single-biome planets, hyper lanes, sentient machines, psychic dimensions, eldritch horrors, megastructures, mind uploading, force fields, space fauna etc etc.

Unless you’re directly copying something unique to stellaris, like writing about space whales exactly like the ones in the game, you should be fine.

 

[TrotBot]

Hey, I'm not sure where I would need to go to ask this so I figured I'd ask this here, if I were trying to use certain parts of Stellaris for a novel I was writing, what would I need to do in order to get permissions I guess

if it's just "similar scifi" it's fine. if it's literally set in the stellaris universe you might be looking for licensing.

 

[EccentricJoe]

Will crisis ai be fixed? Too many games end with the crisis durdling and not being a real threat. All these systems to deal with them will feel extremely. Underwhelming if they aren't a real threay

 

[CaptainGrimlock]

Will crisis ai be fixed? Too many games end with the crisis durdling and not being a real threat. All these systems to deal with them will feel extremely. Underwhelming if they aren't a real threay

I think, as other people have mentioned, that Stellaris is being developed with a multiplayer focus. So the Crisis AI may be fixed at some point, but I wouldn’t hold your breath, especially with the ability to become the crisis in this expansion.

 

[SeraphAscending]

Reading this diary through a second time with thought I have to say I find myself slightly dissapointed. Becoming the custodian, the shield of the galactic community, should really be a thing that comes with great powers but also with great responsibility. These responsibilities should naturally be impactful enough so that becoming a custodian is not trivial and likewise the powers granted to the custodian should be impactful enough that other members have to consider if they want to grant those powers in the first place. Key word here is impactful. If the resolutions, like the anti-piracy initiative, are only miniscule number adjustments that you won't even notice then no1 is going to care if they pass or not. Where's the fun in that? And if you don't want to get into all the responsibilities of the Custodian you can just stay at the council level and support/oppose any1 who wants to become a custodian.

I know it's too late to propose any changes as the DLC is probably fairly close by now, but here's atleast some concepts and ideas that came to mind (all numbers only rough estimates showcasing the potency the resolutions should have).

Custodianship​

Custodian War Effort (5 resolutions)​

Border Patrols: -10% alloys, energy and fleet cap for all GC members, these resources are instead given to the Custodian. Custodian gets +25% dmg against crises.
Auxiliary Fleets: -20% alloys, energy and fleet cap tax, Custodian gets +50% dmg against crises.
Support Fleets: -35% alloys, energy and fleet cap tax, Custodian gets +75% dmg against crises.
Battle Fleets: -50% alloys, energy and fleet cap tax, Custodian gets +100% dmg against crises.
Titan Fleets: -65% alloys, energy and fleet cap tax, Custodian gets +125% dmg against crises.
Custodian dmg buff against crises would of course also apply for GDF as it is under control of the custodian.

Galactic Defence Force (5 resolutions)​

GDF Patrol Duty: GDF upkeep increased by 20%. GDF fleet power causes scaling Piracy Suppression on all traderoutes of GC members. The bigger the GDF fleet the bigger the suppression.
GDF Fleet Excercises: GDF upkeep increased by 40%. Gives GDF ships small monthly exp gain and new ships added start at Experienced level.
GDF Rigid Training Program: GDF upkeep increased by 60%. Gives GDF ships moderate monthly exp gain and new ships added start at Veteran level.
GDF Elite Task Force: GDF upkeep increased by 80%. Gives GDF ships large monthly exp gain and new ships added start at Elite level.
GDF A.E.G.I.S. initative: GDF upkeep increased by 100%. Gives GDF ships huge monthly exp gain, +20% sublight speed, +10% hull points and +25% fire rate in GC space, admiral assigned to a GDF fleet can't be removed and they gain a special A.E.G.I.S. trait (-33% damage received from Crisis ships).

Getting through the entire GDF resolution path should result the GDF being the embodiment of entire galaxy's martial might, its finest and most motivated voidsmen and admirals, ships and engineers specifically trained to fight the horrors of the void.

The Custodianship mechanics​

Make the custodianship take a page out of EU IV's HRE mechanic: Custodian accumulates Galactic Peace (GP) pts (similiar to the new resource that Become the Crisis collects).
Custodian has to defend GC members in defensive war against some1 who is not part of GC.
Killing non-GC member's ships in such a war grants GP as does liberating occupied GC member's planets. GC member losing the war reduces GP pts.
GP can also be gained by killing hostile spaceborne aliens, pirates, marauders, crisis ships etc.
GP is also gained passively every month, depending on how large % of GC members are at peace.
Custodian should keep a certain stock of GP as having low amount of it reduces empire's happiness and trust cap with other GC members (as having low amount means you're not taking your custodian responsibilities seriously) and having it high gives +to Diplomatic Weight.
GP are mainly spent to propose Galactic Peacekeeping resolutions:

Galactic Peacekeeping (10 resolutions)​

Custodian Legates: +2 Envoys, +25% trust growth and +50 trust cap for the custodian with all GC members.

Police the Frontiers: -25% influence cost for building outposts, +20% dmg against pirates, marauders and Khan for all GC members, Custodian gets -50% and +40% respectively and also a unique interaction to threaten Marauder factions to cease all piracy and raiding against GC members. Depending on custodian's Fleet Strength relative to marauders, and also a bit on the RNG, marauders might just agree to succumb and thus only raid non-GC members (with increased frequency) or decline in which case Custodian gets a choice to either to go to war against the marauder empire they threatened (war goal is to annihilate all marauder stations, results the Custodian getting GP and opinion and trust boost with GC members), if Custodian chooses to remain passive it results in loss of GP, trust and opinion with all GC members.
If all marauder empires have either been destroyed or have agreed to not raid GC members, then the Custodian gets a +15% Diplomatic Weight bonus.

Intervention Act: Custodian can threaten a war between 2 GC members to cease immediately, results in a white peace if both sides agree and gets GP. If one side declines Custodian joins on the side that agreed. If both decline custodian gets a choice to either to go to war against both empires (war goal is Show Superiority, results in the first war to end in white peace and Custodian gets GP), if Custodian chooses to remain passive it results in loss of GP, trust and opinion with all GC members.

Fortify the Frontiers: -15% cost and +15% speed to upgrade starbases on border, +10 Trade Protection for all GC members, double effects for the Custodian. GC member hiring/having Marauder Mercenary fleets or leaders if at war with another GC member cause being in Breach of Galactic Law. If Custodian has a Starbase on every border they gain +10% diplo weight bonus.

Watchpost System: All GC members gain +5% trade value and +5% sublight speed in GC space. The Custodian gains a special Megastructure they can build; A watchpost. Costs 1000 alloys and can be constructed in any GC member's space. A watchpost acts as a shipyard but for repairing only, it doesn't produce any ships. It also gives the Custodian sensor information as if it was part of their empire (so the system + all the adjacent hyperlanes jumps depending on their tech level). Once the Custodian has established one Watchpost for every member in the GC they get +15% diplo weight bonus.

Peacekeeper Act: All GC members become allied to the Custodian. If a GC member declares war on another GC member then the Custodian joins on the defending side. All GC members also gain max +10 stability on planets scaling on the % of GC members at peace. The Custodian gets a +25% diplo weight scaling on the % of GC members at peace, and the passive GP gain is doubled.

Leviathan Termination Initiative: +15% dmg against leviathans for all GC members, doubled for the Custodian. The Curators enclave gives all their information about leviathans for free for all GC members, and also gift the Custodian a special ship component (think of something cool here). If no Leviathans exist in the galaxy then all GC members get a permanent +10% happiness/job output boost and in addition the Custodian gets permanent +15% diplo weight bonus.

Consolidate Power: All GC-members become vassals to the Custodian. The vassalage is special one (Grand Sectors or something) where the Custodian can't integrate any subjects. Grand Sectors can expand and retain their diplomatic independence to other Grand Sectors but not to other non-Grand Sectors. Grand Sector that is in offensive war against another Grand Sector is in Breach of Galactic Law. They are also protected by the Custodian but are not called to Custodian's offensive wars. Grand Sectors gain +20% dmg against Crisis. Custodian gets +5% diplo weight from each loyal Grand Sector.

Establish Galactic Administration: +1 influence, +1 envoy, +20% diplo weight, +60% Administrative Capacity, +25% trust and opinion growth, +50 trust cap for the Custodian with GC members.

Reform the Galactic Senate: All GC members are integrated into the Custodian empire. Launches an Event to decide the government form and civics for the new empire (can also just keep the old ones). Temporary happiness bonus for pops of empires that had high trust and opinion with the Custodian prior to integration, happiness malus for those who didn't along with high stability debuffs. Strong roaming pirate fleets (representing rebels against the new empire) might spawn in areas of unhappy empires and if too many empires had bad opinions on Custodian the Event might trigger a civil war where those unhappy empires immediately break off and declare war of independence / war against tyranny


Edit: adding a little commentary here on the Galactic Peacekeeping resolution path and reasoning for certain effects. As the Custodian's purpose is to act as the protector for the Galactic Community they should have means to lessen the chance of coming to blows with GC members (example; being directly attacked by a GC member) which where the 1st resolution comes to play. Having the envoys to throw around keeping up good relations to other GC members lets the Custodian to focus on external threats.
2nd resolution helps GC to fill in the empty expanse and fight off marauder raids while having a strong Custodian can stop any raiding towards GC members (making belonging to GC more enticing).
3rd resolution gives the Custodian power to act as a referee in disputes between 2 GC members. Having members waste their fleets in petty wars is surely dumb when Fanatical Purifiers are at the border, right? While agreeing to white peace might be disadvantegous declining the Custodian's intervention is a risk, since if the other side of the conflict agreed to it then you suddendly have also the Custodian to fight...
4th resolution helps GC members to stabilize their borders with bastions and trade protection helps with smaller trade routes. Disallowing use of mercenaries against other GC members brings stability and predictability in GC power balance.
5th resolution helps communication and travel across the galaxy but also enables the Custodian to build a vast logistics and intelligence network. The Custodian can keep up with the fleet movements across the galaxy and deploy their peacekeeping forces safe in the knowledge they'll have a front-line station to repair at.
6th resolution increases stability within GC as any agressor has to account the Custodian being on the opposing side. +10 stability is a nice bonus which further entices GC members to avoid wars, while Custodian getting big +diplo power buff is another reason for them to try safeguard peace.
7th A carrot to get rid of remaining Leviathans, supported by the Curators. Having cleansed the stars from gargantuan beasts and fearsome constructs the population across the galaxy will sleep better trusting the fleets of the GC to keep them safe.
8th GC members lose their diplomatic independence outside of GC, though they can still do it within GC (in wars the Custodian is still on the defending side). Let the Custodian handle all that is outside of GC borders. Also everyone gets some buff against Crisis so its a good deal, right? What could possibly go wrong?
9th blatant powergrab. Preparation for the last resolution, very much a step no1 but the Custodian wants to take. But can the senate stop them anymore at this point?
10th big payout for a long and difficult journey. No one wanted the Custodian to get here but at some point it became impossible to stop. If the Custodian played their cards right their empire sprawls across the galaxy, but if they were too hasty in their rise to power they might see it immediately splinter as rebel ships, leaders, planets, fleets and entire sectors break off to oppose them.

Overall the Custodian resolutions should give the feeling that a proper Custodian brings universal stability, unity and peaceful prosperity to the galaxy, but be careless giving them power and they might end up having so much diplomatic weight from all their accomplishments, the finest fleet (GDF) in the galaxy and such web of alliances that you can't stop them. Not in the senate, not in the field of battle.

Diplomatic Victory​

If the Custodian manages to pass Reform the Galactic Senate resolution, all "rebel fleets" have been destroyed, all civil war empires have been defeated and integrated and a Crisis has spawned and been defeated then the Custodian wins a Diplomatic Victory. (Since Become the Crisis already introduced a Monument Victory I think we can add more options, especially the kind that rely more on the politics side).

Basically make all the Galactic Peacekeeping resolutions be something that makes the custodian(s) and the GC members to want to progress them to a certain point but also make the non-custodians wary of giving in too much as the Custodian can really start getting out of control with the extra diplopower from the resolutions.

I really like the thought and effort you put into this.
Generally, i agree with most points.

-65% Energy alone would probably destroy any AI economy. That is not realistic. Even -40% would probably be devastating.
And maybe the damage bonus should not apply to the custodian, but exclusively to the GDF. - Not sure about that though. I feel like the idea (of other gc empires) is to fund the fight against the crisis. Not to fund Lord Emperor Uberfriend Blorg.
Maybe it could also changed to "65% of energy surplus" instead of "-65%" energy. i mean let's assume you have 4 empires with a healthy economy and a custodian with a stronger economy (let's say 4 times stronger). If we gave them 50% of all other empires economy they would be crippled and soon cease to function, while for the time being the custodian would have 6 times the economy strength at the very start and soon closer to 4 times again, because the other empires economies just fail very quickly. Nobody has a surplus equal half of all their production - especially the AI. That is absurd.
Changing the mechanic to target surplus would still limit the other empires growth while giving the custodian a significant boon to their economy. And the boon would last longer than 6 months. It would probably result in a much higher total of resources gained by the custodian within only a few years, because his suppliers don't die of starvation.

Maybe the diplomatic Victory you envisioned should also look a bit different.
Instead of integrating all of the other empires, vassalisation might be better. Because i feel like it's possibly not even in the main empires interest to integrate all the other empires - imagine you are xenophobe or authoritarian enslaving all other/new species. Congratulations you just earned yourself 100 planets of exclusively slaves whose economy you can't run. Happy micromanagement to get that running again.
Given your rework it would be a lot more beneficial if you were just to go with the bonuses you get from being custodian than deal with that.

 

[CiderMuffin]

I am not that interested in playing genocidal empires so the "become the crisis" showed off last week didn't really interest me. However I was looking forward to this week's reveal of the "good guy" side. At first I was excited about the idea of a galactic custodian, but the more I read the more underwhelmed I became. What I don't see is how game play will be different with a custodian in play. Either as the custodian yourself or with an AI controller (I only play SP). As many have already noted most of the associated resolutions are pretty weak and at best only tangentially related to fighting a crisis.
At least the Become The Crisis material gives you some new things to play with and do.
Right now I see little reason to get this DLC, which is big disappointment. I have been an early adopter of most DLC since I got into Stellaris in 2017.
However I remain excited for the free update coming and the changes to planetary management, pop growth and resettlement, first contact and intel.

This is my opinion to the point, I've been buying every Stellaris expansion but to add another "be the bad guy" mechanic, something we see with every DLC released, makes me kinda just want to skip on this. I was hoping the new expansion being something like "you can make tech to the level of a fallen empire and it can have fun events or consequences" but instead it's just

Hey all, we did it again, another fascist genocider mechanic.
Like here is the thing, you could be considered a crisis with stuff like criminal syndicate and driven assimilator as like "your power is so strong it's devastating the galaxy" like one time I managed to create a criminal empire so big every surrounding empire to me was riddled with crime on every world and I was building fleets on the level of FEs to intimidate half the galaxy to be my subsidiaries, no war needed, just weakened them with crime and became top dog. That to me is a crisis, instead the mechanic used is solely to be a war hungry genocidal empire.

It's just so boring at this point and the mechanic is so one sided.

I long for something on the level of megastructures again where it's meant for everyone.

 

[TrotBot]

This is my opinion to the point, I've been buying every Stellaris expansion but to add another "be the bad guy" mechanic, something we see with every DLC released, makes me kinda just want to skip on this. I was hoping the new expansion being something like "you can make tech to the level of a fallen empire and it can have fun events or consequences" but instead it's just

Hey all, we did it again, another fascist genocider mechanic.
Like here is the thing, you could be considered a crisis with stuff like criminal syndicate and driven assimilator as like "your power is so strong it's devastating the galaxy" like one time I managed to create a criminal empire so big every surrounding empire to me was riddled with crime on every world and I was building fleets on the level of FEs to intimidate half the galaxy to be my subsidiaries, no war needed, just weakened them with crime and became top dog. That to me is a crisis, instead the mechanic used is solely to be a war hungry genocidal empire.

It's just so boring at this point and the mechanic is so one sided.

I long for something on the level of megastructures again where it's meant for everyone.

i think this is unfair because we haven't seen everything yet. espionage seems to have introduced better liberation war/rebellion mechanics, but they haven't revealed how yet. i do feel you though, i want to be the galactic communist superpower, and I really hope this DLC includes fun dynamics when you do that, not just for those playing slavers. that being said, it does seem like you CAN be a communist crisis, say if the community is mostly slavers, and the points you get for purging and bombing worlds are completely voluntary, you can still get the points for destroying fleets, occupying worlds, and destroying starbases. imagine activating the crisis AP as your third, and switching to mineral fleets in order to build massive armada quick and start liberation wars early!

 

[Dr.Feel]

Question: Does the Custodian receive any... renumeration, for their services?


View attachment 680174

>and the powers that came with the responsibility could be returned.

PLEASE do give us the option to see-off the crisis and, once the Galaxy comes saying, "So, uh, time to give up those emergency powers now", we can turn right back round and say "Nah, you're alright mate", and keep the powers, whether the Galaxy likes it or not.
It would cue SO MAMY "I AM the Senate" jokes.

No, he does it for free!

 

[Tamwin5]

This is my opinion to the point, I've been buying every Stellaris expansion but to add another "be the bad guy" mechanic, something we see with every DLC released, makes me kinda just want to skip on this. I was hoping the new expansion being something like "you can make tech to the level of a fallen empire and it can have fun events or consequences" but instead it's just

Hey all, we did it again, another fascist genocider mechanic.
Like here is the thing, you could be considered a crisis with stuff like criminal syndicate and driven assimilator as like "your power is so strong it's devastating the galaxy" like one time I managed to create a criminal empire so big every surrounding empire to me was riddled with crime on every world and I was building fleets on the level of FEs to intimidate half the galaxy to be my subsidiaries, no war needed, just weakened them with crime and became top dog. That to me is a crisis, instead the mechanic used is solely to be a war hungry genocidal empire.

It's just so boring at this point and the mechanic is so one sided.

I long for something on the level of megastructures again where it's meant for everyone.

Personally, I see the "become the crisis" as a tool to reflect that state. Everyone is pathetic to you, no one could stand up to your might... why should you care about what the rest of the galaxy wants? The button is useful. Admittedly we need to see more information about what all the mechanics actually entail, but I hope that you could play as say, a democratic crusader crisis: you aren't killing pops or cracking worlds, just completely destroying every other government in existence (maybe vassalizing the nice egalitarian ones). But if you get railroaded into using a star eater, not sure how well that story will work.

I'll also add that the reason Nemesis is so underwhelming is that there is a TON of stuff being added as part of the free update. Pop rework, building rework, first contact rework and expansion, the entire espionage system... Even if Nemesis ends up being a poor DLC, I think the update will be fantastic.

 

[CaptainGrimlock]

I think Nemesis looks cool.
I’ll definitely be buying it.
Besides, as others have said (namely, @Tamwin5) the free update is amazing compared to usual.

 

[SeraphAscending]

I'll also add that the reason Nemesis is so underwhelming is that there is a TON of stuff being added as part of the free update. Pop rework, building rework, first contact rework and expansion, the entire espionage system... Even if Nemesis ends up being a poor DLC, I think the update will be fantastic.

^ this

The free update is what i am mainly waiting for. While i will probably get the DLC, it is more intended to support the devs to continue improving this game even further and less because it introduces new paid content that i am super hyped for. (Don't get me wrong, i do think Nemesis looks fun, but the paid content alone is probably not what would get me to invest money pre-sale - at least from what has been released so far.)

I honestly can't wait for the reworks and espionage. They look so promising. As soon as they are out i am going to have a run with them.

 

[gigabytemon]

Will crisis ai be fixed? Too many games end with the crisis durdling and not being a real threat. All these systems to deal with them will feel extremely. Underwhelming if they aren't a real threay

Yes, the crisis AI will be fixed by making the player the crisis.

 

[CiderMuffin]

I'll also add that the reason Nemesis is so underwhelming is that there is a TON of stuff being added as part of the free update. Pop rework, building rework, first contact rework and expansion, the entire espionage system... Even if Nemesis ends up being a poor DLC, I think the update will be fantastic.

Yea that's a fair point, it's nice to see another huge rework around the corner, especially stuff like first contact and expansion. The first contact stuff is what I'm really interested in.

 

[Colonizor48]

and this time it's a diplomatic one.

Diplomacy expansion in nemisis confirmed?

 

[Colonizor48]

Also why not make it so the ai can leave the galatic community if it hurts them enough or becomes too tyranical? perhapse even an event where agroup of empires who have left all join together to defend themselves

 

[CaptainGrimlock]

Also why not make it so the ai can leave the galatic community if it hurts them enough or becomes too tyranical? perhapse even an event where agroup of empires who have left all join together to defend themselves

Wait a minute.
I just had an idea.
If they implement that, maybe as a “controversial law” event giving each and every empire the option to leave at once, then the empires that leave the community would form a second community.

 

[Colonizor48]

Wait a minute.
I just had an idea.
If they implement that, maybe as a “controversial law” event giving each and every empire the option to leave at once, then the empires that leave the community would form a second community.

Either that or a federation.