Joel_Anderson's page

That is exactly why the awakened empire allowed the Azlanti to retain their autonomy and not dismantle their government for exactly this reason, (thus the invasion of their homeworld was mostly a demonstration) and gave them an ultimatum instead, so they'd have everything to lose should they decide to get cocky and act out of line.

What exactly would the details of this ultimatum be? Like, what concessions are they demanding, and what do they plan on doing to do if the Azlanti refuse? It has to have enough teeth to the Azlanti specifically to make them back down. Or, you could always go that this is the turning point of the Azlanti, government reformed, and the supremacy problems slowly disappearing over the centuries.

Also what ships? By the end of the "war" the azlanti had lost over 80% of their entire navy and star yards.

Still leaves 20% of their fleet, with weapons, out there. Only takes one to go on a terror spree. That particular example was more of a scorched earth policy, to keep them from taking the planet, to be used during the war, depending on how the war went.

Hmmm, alright. I suppose the biggest question is, what do you want to make of the Azlanti Empire after this war? Are they becoming a reformed society, or are they keeping to their old ways, burdened by the ultimatum, but more secretive about it? Once you know where you want it to go(if it matters), it's easier to plan the steps in between, and their reactions.

I have yet to win a game of Stellaris, it takes so looooong TnT

Anyway, I see two different categories of Azlanti's, the fanatists, and the pragmatists. The fanatics are going to go into battle mostly straightforward and believe that their superiority is going to win it for them. This is likely going to be the most populous group of such a society, and there isn't going to be too much to plan for them, it's the pragmatists that are worrisome.

I agree with Hazrond, with the pragmatists going to ground and implementing guerilla tactics. The fact that they're outmatched technology wise is just going to make them that much more desperate to survive. While their shields may protect them, it is unlikely they'll have the shields up 24/7 unless they're reactionary. And if guerilla tactics don't work, they might go down to outright terrorist actions.

Depending on exactly how evil you want to portray these guys, there are some possible ploys. While the fallen empire may be well protected, their motives are to free the oppressed of the Azlanti Empire. If the Azlanti found that out, they would use that against them. Rig bombs to their cities or threaten to fire on them from orbit with their ships to prevent the others from attacking. If already conquered, bomb events where the fallen empire is helping the local citizenry, make them afraid to accept help from the invaders. Or just kill citizens for every day that the invaders occupy the planet.

The pragmatists are also the most likely to stifle their pride, and potentially try to redirect two fallen empires to attack each other. They believe in their superiority as a whole, that ultimately they will win, despite any missteps on the way. And the best way to kill a giant is to convince another giant to kill it.

Still reading through the book, so just throwing out some general ideas

Personally don't like the idea of Wisdom replacing Dexterity for Initiative checks, doesn't make sense to me. It seems good to me. Wisdom is the awareness, which allows to start reacting quicker(Acting in a Surprise Round), while Dexterity is how fast you react once you are aware(the Initiative).

I like the idea of Charisma replacing Wisdom for Will saves, as I attribute Charisma to 'force of personality,' so you're counteracting someone's attempt to influence it, with the force of it. Wisdom is more general awareness.

The main problem with Charisma is that it's not a stat stat. It's more of a qualitative than quantitative attribute, and it relates directly to how we play our character. We don't roll Charisma skill checks between PCs because that would be one sided to the guy who decided Cha wasn't a dump stat. We roleplay out our interactions. Someone mentioned earlier that it is up to the GM to increase Cha importance through the situations they're put in, and I agree. Cha should mainly affect PC-NPC interactions. I really like the idea of group social checks so that somebody doesn't do something wrong. But, GMs could apply Cha to change the story, an immeasurable, yet interesting effect, as well as character backstories. I'm going to pick on the soldier a bit because it seems like the classic Cha dump. You want your soldier to be a badass on the field, but he could be socially inept and not even know it. In a military setting, it could keep him from getting promoted, because nobody likes him. Yeah, he's strong on the field, but people consider him more of a meat shield than a comrade. They don't want to hang out with them outside of work, could think he's a blowhard/gloryhound, etc, etc. Let the player play how he wants to play the character, but the Cha could really affect how NPCs can perceive them.

On a more stat basis, I'd rework the Intimidate rules somehow so that Charisma plays a more significant role in defending against an Intimidation check. That Shaken condition that can be applied to a PC can really mess them up. In addition, perhaps add a Leadership skill, or a feat tree that could add certain benefits in combat/social situations. For example, removing Shaken, reducing terrified, coordinating attacks for improved tactical options. I think it would be really cool to have some sort of leadership/telepathy combo to help someone else with a will save. Don't know if this would step on Envoy's toes though, sooooo, maybe.

Solarian seems to be having some problems from what I'm reading here.... Well, an option that pops out to me is, why not simply add to the Solarian weapon feature that they may use Charisma instead of Strength when adding damage? Would allow the Solarian to focus more in the Cha stat, reduce the ability spread, and provide a competitive edge to lower levels that phases out at higher levels when someone said Solarian damage gets better. Similarly, with the armor, use Charisma instead of Dex for AC.