Galactic Pacification for Dummies

[Peter Ebbesen]

Galactic Pacification for Dummies

a Stellaris Mechanics AAR using my Priesthood Tech Build

Class is in Session
​

Welcome, Class

Over the next several weeks you will be subjected to incredible hardships as you struggle to come to terms with the concept: Galactic Pacification. I will be the gentle but firm hand, that guides you through a simulated Galactic Pacification, and the rules and regulations that you should follow, when it is your time to pacify a galaxy by your own hand, assuming you manage to complete your master's degree.

Take a good look at your fellow students. Proud warriors one and all, with a bachelor's degree in Galactic Conquest. The cream of the crop, tomorrow's conquerors!

In your feckless days as undergraduates you've conquered simulated galaxies as xenophobic and militant morons, bought them as a megacorp, eaten all the real estate as mindless Terravores, and, according to the files listing your accomplishments, six out of ten of you have been tricked by the Destroyer of Hope into committing galactic suicide by ”becoming the crisis” to empower his realm in the Shroud. I'm sure you're still proud of that one.

Indeed, looking at you, squirming uneasily in your seats, I notice a few familiar faces. If my mind doesn't fail me, it seems only yesterday that some of you struggled to cope with the introductory class on World Conquest for Dummies.

It is clear this isn't a class of the best and brightest, the faculty having once again lowered academic standards for short term profit, but make no mistake: This postgraduate class is obligatory, and you will learn or die trying.

Just my little joke.

Galactic Pacification and You​

Now, what is Galactic Pacification and how does it differ from Galactic Conquest? I hear you cry.

The official position of the university is that Galactic Pacification is a peaceful and harmonious way of uniting the galaxy of your choice through diplomatic means for the betterment of all, and that this is an essential skill for any leader of a Galactic Conquest to master to improve his long-term earnings.

Moreover, from an ethical perspective this is the preferential way of treating other galaxies, taking their huddled masses and uniting them in a utopia of universal brotherhood and sisterhood, though frankly that sounds awfully incestuous to me, but who am I to contradict the official bullshit?

Thus, to business.

I shall be showing you the development of a single galactic empire, from its origins as a single-world polity to galaxy-spanning greatness, with minimal use of unnecessary violence.

Rather than dazzle you with my brilliance, I will act sloppily, like a student; I will forget to act on important issues in time, improperly balance resource stockpiles, and in general demonstrate the minimal level of competency required to pass the course.

At the end of each lecture, I will provide you with a save-point allowing you to study the situation on hand before the next lecture, and perhaps even have a go at it yourself. Assuming you've got your console properly configured that is, rather than using it to browse pornography and play games. Or whatever it is delinquent youths do these days.

The Galaxy and the Empire​

These are the settings for the simulation. They are very lenient, mostly default settings, as the Dean insisted anything harder would be beyond you. But they should qualify you for pacifying fluffy bunny paradises, and that's apparently the level of academic excellence our proud institution aims for these days.

One of these simulated empires is that of the Alarians, and they are the ones I will be controlling.

Their background is that the discovery of the hyperdrive triggered world-spanning wars of unification, which were halted just short of nuclear Armageddon by the intervention of the spiritual leader of a priesthood dedicated to universal harmony and a veneration of knowledge, who convinced people that extinction was bad mojo, and would they consider giving survival a chance instead?

People grudgingly accepted that she might have a point, and in no time at all she brokered a peace with herself as dictator in a compromise government, because she was simply that good, just, honest, and beloved by everybody. Just a temporary position until something more permanent and more representative could be agreed upon.

Being the daughter and heir to the ruler of the largest of the contending powers, the After All Clan, which was in possession of the largest army, may have helped a bit.

Now, united in arms and with new allies, the Alarians are looking to spread their colonies across the stars!

Score one for our friends in the department of literature who came up with that whopper, and let us get down to the business of numbers.

2200: The Luminary and her Dictatorship

An Enlightened Ruler, Pious Ascetic, and perhaps a bit Naive, the Luminary is ready to steer the ship of state to foreign shores. Even if the challenges appear insurmountable, the Luminary remains Undaunted After All as the world is finally United After All, as an Exalted Priesthood with Vaults of Knowledge.

The Alarian people are largely xenophile spiritualist pacifists, talented traditionalists who make up for their psychological infertility during wartime with a sex drive that would make a rabbit blush whenever their numbers decline. Their home world is imaginatively named Home After All. This is why we pay the literature department the big bucks.

2200: Home After All

Aiding the Luminary is a small council with a Minister of State, Minister of Defence, and Head of Research:

2200: The Council

Undaunted After All will need more devoted acolytes chosen from amongst the best and the brightest of the priesthood, the world of business, and the clan militaries. Some early contenders for this honour are:

2200: Tech and Leaders

The leaders are a mixed bunch.

Unstudious Conclusion, the head or research, is worthless on the council, but will prove useful for exploration, and Magical Lark, a charismatic genius, is destined for the council once I can afford her.

Unstoppable from the Outset is a great Minister of State, as politicians are my number one priority on the council to ensure things get done in a timely manner, and the recruit Insufferable Bandwagon could prove useful in the fullness of time as a sector governor due to bureaucrat's innate unity focus.

On the other hand, I'll want to keep the number of leaders low until I can easily afford the support of many leaders, so I might pass up on Insufferable Bandwagon after all.

Red Doctor, the Minister of Defence, is sort of useful. The empire doesn't know of many possible edicts yet, but when it does, he will prove helpful if he survives that long.

As for technology, the initial techs for research are great. Both Field Modulation and Hydroponics are top draws, and while Powered Exoskeletons isn't that useful as the priesthood outlaws robotic workers, it still provides a small but valuable benefit to workers.

The Plan​

As I am sure you have learned by now, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, and no long term strategy survives contact with reality.

Which means that any rigid plan is bound to fail, but does not diminish the value of planning at all, so long as you always ready to adapt the plan to the circumstances at hand.

For Galactic Pacification, the Alloys & Science approach, so beloved by undergraduates and morons, is right out. It is a blunt tool, and granted it has its place, but that place is the kindergarten. Rather I shall focus on diplomacy, a strong economy, and unifying the people.

I will, of course, field a fleet if such is needed to defend the Alarians, as even the faculty cannot object to necessary violence. So don't worry. There will undoubtedly be regrettable but necessary bloodshed of epic proportions sooner or later.


These are my three short term goals:

• Improve the economy
• Improve the leaders
• Explore the galaxy

These are my four long term goals:

• Ushering in a psionic fanatically spiritualist/xenophile empire, with Undaunted After All as god-empress, and Ascensionists/Dimensional Worship/Efficient Bureaucracy/Divine Sovereign civics, with Undaunted as a level 10 Enlightened Ruler 3, Pious Ascetic 3, Wise Mentor 1, Naive, Grey Eminence, with <Random Luminary trait from Forgotten> 2 for the final two veteran traits
• Having either the Composer of Strands or the Instrument of Desire as patron; I prefer the power of the Composer, but wimps like you might prefer the safety of the Instrument
• Become the Galactic Custodian and eternal leader of a Holy Covenant consisting of all the people of the Galaxy, united mainly through peaceful means
• Aim to output at least twice as much unity/mth as the highest of society and physics output/mth most of the time

Next lecture I shall show you the first steps of many towards achieving those goals.

One final note. It has come to my attention that Galactic Conquerors these days have increasingly been supplying their pawns with personal teleportation bracelets in defiance of custom. While there are those who claim that this is good strategy, I must point out that it is morally bankrupt, utterly wrong, and that the university cannot and will not condone such actions.

Hence I will simulate this effect by allowing leaders to teleport instantaneously wherever they are needed, so you know what not to do.

Class dismissed.

-------​

The 2200 Save File​

Can be downloaded from this Dropbox link for those who want to look at the situation or play around from this point.

It requires the DLC listed at the end of this post and the Stellar Legions portrait pack to play.

You might be able to play it without the portrait pack, but if so, it'll be with blank portraits.

You'll probably be able to load it without all the DLC, though I haven't tried, but might not be able to play it.

About the AAR's Narrator​

To present this in a slightly less dry form, I resurrected the narrator of one of my earliest AARs, the student-despising professor from World Conquest for Dummies, which I remember fondly as it was a milestone in PDS AAR forum history.

It was not only the second documented world conquest in any Europa Universalis game, ever, (I wrote the first one as well), but more importantly the game that launched a series of every more absurd world conquests in PDS games, starting with the students of the AAR going on a conquest and writing spree, and launching a forum WC AAR tradition that has lasted till this very day, adapted to the circumstances of each PDS game.

The advice the professor gives is usually good, even if it is not optimal, but his opinions are his alone. While the professor might think otherwise, I am pretty sure most of my readers aren't dummies.

Why am I Writing this AAR?​

I noticed a worrying trend through the second tech beta and early 3.11 of people having trouble dealing with the tech nerfs. Given that I considered the nerfs quite mild compared to the amount of buffs to tech progression we had seen over the last few years, I had to wonder why.

That put me in a mood to write a teaching AAR again, something I do only infrequently, and found that I'd have time in April. I'll endeavour to keep this light and (by my standards) quick, so perhaps it'll finish before 3.12. I can dream.

The build I am using is the Priesthood Tech build, which I first conceived the idea of in 3.10 with the introduction of Dimensional Worship to complement the Under One Rule Luminary's Pious Ascetic, but didn't have time to play beyond a few decades.

Then I tried it in the first tech beta with different starting civics, where it turned out to be hilariously powerful as it neatly sidestepped some of the major nerfs and still hit repeatable techs around 2300 with my standard difficulty settings despite everything PDS had done to rein in tech.

For 3.11 it is merely a good build but, as I hope you'll agree with me in time, a fun one.

With regards to the level of optimization, as the narrator noted, I'll be playing sloppily rather than optimizing everything, because this isn't an optimization exercise. I'll be making use of some exploits such as teleporting leaders, but not those I find trivialize the game (such as spamming small vassals early for influence and science campuses).

Most of all, my goal is to show how good strategy, adapting to changing situations, and understanding game mechanics is more than enough to do well on all difficulty levels in Stellaris, given a decent starting position.

I would also dearly love to demonstrate how certain ideas that pervade the Stellaris meta, such as ”alloys and science are most important”, ”engineering is the most important tech discipline”, and ”always focus on science over unity” are misguided. They may well be right for specific builds, but as a general proposition they are not, and never have been.

And if I should happen to convince you along the way that the Diplomacy tradition group is the most powerful in the game, or at least a serious contender for the title, I'll consider that a bonus.

I am not planning on fighting the crisis unless it will be interesting to do so, which it usually isn't because I am either much too strong or too weak, making the outcome a foregone conclusion, with precious little chance of being just strong enough that it could go either way. Then again, if it looks like it might prove interesting with a higher setting (I am starting with the bare minimum for huge galaxies of 1.5x), I can always increase it by editing.

Oh, and with regards to editing. I fiddled a bit with the starting position, using the same save to try out different civic setups to complement Exalted Priesthood as the starting civic for United After All in a series of 15 year playthroughs, before ending up with Vaults of Knowledge as the thematic best fit for this play of my Priesthood Tech Build.

Since I found the starting position good for teaching purposes, I then started a new game with Vaults of Knowledge and copied the stats of the leaders to this save, to get the nice starting position together with genuine Vaults of Knowledge starting stats.

Well, almost genuine. There is one exception. Observant players will notice that Magical Lark starts at level 3 with level 2 stats and one level up pending, while she was originally generated as level 3 with level 1 stats and two level ups pending, as is always the case for level 3s in the internal pool. But I was so eager to see a Spark of Genius + Charismatic + Procrastinator in the starting pool that I added unity, hired her, and had levelled her once to Spark of Genius 2, before remembering I was supposed to save the game without modifications to get an untouched leader pool.

This struck me as funny at the time, so despite it being easy enough to revert the change when transferring the details to this save-game, I decided to keep it. That means that the level 3 traits available when you hire her are the same for all players, whereas normally it would have been the level 2 traits that were fixed, with level 3s generated after picking the level 2 trait.

So she's genuine enough in that she has the right number of traits – you just don't get to pick her level 2 trait.

You can still see remnants of the civics editing and testing in all the save files since the original design had Efficient Bureaucracy and the Vaults of Knowledge is saved as building 16777507 rather than 4.

The most powerful starting civic for this purpose is probably Catalytic Processing for early game power and greater chance of getting the Composer of Strands Covenant, which is what I used for the first tech beta, or Dimensional Worship for faster early physics techs, mainly to boost energy production. If I were trying to do an optimized playthrough I'd probably go with Catalytic Processing/Exalted Priesthood start due to its significant early game power

/Peter Ebbesen

Game Details​

Stellaris v. 3.11.2 to start with, 3.11.3 later on if it looks stable.

UI mods

• UI Overhaul Dynamic (To make good use of a fullHD screen)
• UI Overhaul Dynamic + Tiny Outliner v2 (The default outliner is much too big)
• UI Overhaul Dynamic – Extended Topbar (I like numbers, lots of numbers)
• UI Overhaul Dynamic – Old Ship Designer (I dislike the new one in UI Overhaul Dynamic)
• Light Borders + Swapped Colors + Star Pins (I love this look)
• Stellar Legions (portrait pack with lots of variations for each portrait-theme, which is great as I play with lots of leaders; It does clash with the Stellaris art style, though )
• Stellar Legions – Disable AI (this submod ensures that randomly created empires all use the Paradox portraits)

Gameplay affecting mods: NONE

Spoiler: ”Required DLC:”

• Ancient Relics Story Pack
• Anniversary Portraits
• Apocalypse
• Astral Planes
• Distant Stars Story Pack
• Federations
• First Contact Story Pack
• Galactic Paragons
• Horizon Signal
• Humanoids Species Pack
• Leviathans Story Pack
• Lithoids Species Pack
• Megacorp
• Necroids Species Pack
• Nemesis
• Overlord
• Plantoids Species Pack
• Synthetic Dawn Story Pack
• Toxoids Species Pack
• Utopia

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Reserved for future use.

 

[mrt1212]

Love the setup so far, not just showcasing Unity as integral other pillar of gameplay (like you do) but also Diplomacy as Thee Tool to get things done. And it'll be interesting to see how close the playthrough resembles our own with less whizbang pizzazz and moments of 'I didn't know I could do that like that'.

One of my questions already is how many, if any, subgoals you have here, fluff or strategic? I can wait for my answer through report backs, but I find myself having less and less of strategic ones and more and more fluff ones as the years have passed, like getting a Federation up and running used to be a big honking deal since I was already pretty smitten with Diplomacy Tradition and the unlock was there, and now I find that's not an imperative at all since I've learned my tools a bit more and Diplomacy Tradition stands on its own without a Fed. I currently do have the fluff/strategy imperative of founding 5 Merc Enclaves but that's a clear subgoal and not the point of the overall playthrough - just a fun and helpful thing along the way that I can do.

To what you said and I paraphrase with 'everyone has a plan till they take a punch to the face', are there any kind of small must-dos on your radar or is this really a fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants-and-decide-wisely?

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Now, that was embarrasing.

When I made the screenshot of the game's settings earlier today, I'd forgotten that I had recently run a test to check tech with Difficulty Adjusted Tech Costs turned off, rather than set to normal as is my default.

I have now gone through the game settings from the save file and replicated them exactly, then taken a new screenshot and updated the first post.

...I thought I had doublechecked everything before posting the opening post, but... oops.

-----

@mrt1212

I'll go into more detail about planning in the next chapter, ideally introducing things when they make narrative sense.

But you should know one thing about me: I tend to make plans, plans within plans, and contingency plans, and update them continuously. So most of the things that can happen will have already have a counter within the existing scope of my plans.

In a nutshell:

• I have described my earlier iterations of the Priesthood Tech Build in other posts in the Stellaris forum, mostly in January
• I am largely following the same overall build plan from those posts, as explained in my long term goals, and since I have survived the first 15-20 years in good shape, I am pretty much guaranteed to accomplish those goals
• For federations, since an explicit goal is to end up the eternal god-empress leading a Holy Covenant of all the empires of the galaxy (and being Galactic Custodian to boot), I am most certainly going to be forming a Holy Covenant sooner or later.... but not by splitting off a 1-system minor vassal and granting it independence, just to be able to form a Holy Covenant as soon as possible.
• For traditions and ascension perks, my builds tend to require a core of 4-5 that are fixed unless things go completely off the rails, with the rest context dependent but usually chosen from a subset considered before game start depending on contingency planning
• For this game, I have a core of four traditions that I am guaranteed to take, with one more being almost certain, and two more being more context dependent but likely to be chosen from a subset of three I have already considered; While greater variation is possible, it is very unlikely unless something very strange occurs I haven't anticipated the need to counter. Of All of these, only one tradition has a fixed position in my tradition order, the first one
• Of seven ascension perks, a core of four are certain to be chosen, one more is almost certain, and the remaining three are... well, that depends entirely on how things go and what I feel like. As for order, the first two perks are pretty much decided at start to be two specific from the core (though which of the two goes first depends on circumstances), and the third is ascension path. Everything apart from that depends...
• I have some small must-do's and won't-do's not described in the OP based on the professor's personality, some fluff, some strategic, and I'll be revealing a few of those next chapter; I need these house rules to keep games interesting, since as a mathematician I tend to optimize by default

 

[Shark7]

It's good to see someone actually showcasing a playstyle that isn't a conquering horde. Hopefully newer players will get something out of this to see the game is not as one dimensional as a player such as myself makes it be. It's a different playstyle with different goals.

I will be very interested to see how this turns out though. I'd very much like to see how you go about it and how you deal with the end game crisis when the time comes.

That said however... as a student, I can already foresee failure on my part. I just cannot change my conquering ways.

And I do make plans as well...conquer and exterminate. Only there is no plan B.

And remember: if brute force doesn't get the job done you aren't using enough.

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

That said however... as a student, I can already foresee failure on my part. I just cannot change my conquering ways.

Look at my forum title. Two decades ago, back in the days before people could set their own custom title, Paradox bestowed it upon me for reasons that were self-evident to the forum population at the time.

Look at me now, as I serenely promise Galactic Pacification without unnecessary bloodshed.

If I can do it, you can do it!

And it's not all due to my mental faculties declining with age.

 

[HistoryDude]

Professor, will there be a final?

Are we allowed to steal territory if we are defending ourselves or our allies? How "tall" is this "Galactic Pacification"?

(OOC: WCfD Stellaris style sounds great. This will be so fun.. Also....

The advice the professor gives is usually good, even if it is not optimal, but his opinions are his alone. While the professor might think otherwise, I am pretty sure most of my readers aren't dummies.

I mean, I managed to get my colonies to revolt in Stellaris, which I didn't know was possible, in a game where I was actively aiming for Galactic Conquest, so...)

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Professor, will there be a final?

There will be a test. You will likely be found wanting.

Are we allowed to steal territory if we are defending ourselves or our allies?

As you are an exchange student, allow me to belabour the obvious:

1. You are allowed to do anything you believe justifiable
2. You will, however, be graded based on what I, your professor, believe justifiable

I trust I have made myself clear.

How "tall" is this "Galactic Pacification"?

Five megasmurfs.

(OOC: WCfD Stellaris style sounds great. This will be so fun.. Also....

I mean, I managed to get my colonies to revolt in Stellaris, which I didn't know was possible, in a game where I was actively aiming for Galactic Conquest, so...)

The AI is also capable of making its own colonies revolt and sometimes does so vigorously, so you are in bad company, student.

 

[Chac1]

As a non-player, and an exchange student, I hope the professor will allow me to audit this course. I'm onboard for any class that is part of the @Peter Ebbesen curriculum.

Welcome, Class

Over the next several weeks you will be subjected to incredible hardships as you struggle to come to terms with the concept: Galactic Pacification.

I promise to do all the reading, even the optional selections. And yes, even if it is over my head.

The Alarian people are largely xenophile spiritualist pacifists, talented traditionalists who make up for their psychological infertility during wartime with a sex drive that would make a rabbit blush whenever their numbers decline.

This is why I am onboard with the @Peter Ebbesen curriculum. Despite the hardships promised I know there will be some ribald humor included, whether the professor means to include that or not.

I will, of course, field a fleet if such is needed to defend the Alarians, as even the faculty cannot object to necessary violence. So don't worry. There will undoubtedly be regrettable but necessary bloodshed of epic proportions sooner or later.

I have my Orwellian dictionary ready. It seems this post is filled with worthy entries but the one above was the absolute best. (No, I am not trying to butter up the professor.)

These are my four long term goals:

• Ushering in a psionic fanatically spiritualist/xenophile empire, with Undaunted After All as god-empress, and Ascensionists/Dimensional Worship/Efficient Bureaucracy/Divine Sovereign civics, with Undaunted as a level 10 Enlightened Ruler 3, Pious Ascetic 3, Wise Mentor 1, Naive, Grey Eminence, with <Random Luminary trait from Forgotten> 2 for the final two veteran traits
• Having either the Composer of Strands or the Instrument of Desire as patron; I prefer the power of the Composer, but wimps like you might prefer the safety of the Instrument
• Become the Galactic Custodian and eternal leader of a Holy Covenant consisting of all the people of the Galaxy, united mainly through peaceful means
• Aim to output at least twice as much unity/mth as the highest of society and physics output/mth most of the time

The above is why I have requested to audit the course. Most of this flew right over my head and out the airlock. However, if I am not allowed to audit, I will work very hard at failing. Actually, it appears that will not take very much effort at all.

Looking forward to this... and no I am not a masochist.

 

[Shark7]

Look at my forum title. Two decades ago, back in the days before people could set their own custom title, Paradox bestowed it upon me for reasons that were self-evident to the forum population at the time.

Look at me now, as I serenely promise Galactic Pacification without unnecessary bloodshed.

If I can do it, you can do it!

And it's not all due to my mental faculties declining with age.

You know that saying "Can't teach an old dog new tricks?"

It's not that an old dog like me can't learn a new trick, rather its because the old dog doesn't want to learn the new trick. And since old dogs tend to growl loudly, no one tries to teach them.

I am definitely at that point in life where I am set in my ways. I also have a favorite spot to be...my recliner.

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

As a non-player, and an exchange student, I hope the professor will allow me to audit this course. I'm onboard for any class that is part of the @Peter Ebbesen curriculum.

Your presence will be tolerated, but your actions can and will count against you academically, even when only auditing. So behave.

I promise to do all the reading, even the optional selections. And yes, even if it is over my head.

Undoubtedly an empty promise.

This is why I am onboard with the @Peter Ebbesen curriculum. Despite the hardships promised I know there will be some ribald humor included, whether the professor means to include that or not.

These are precise and accurate description of the behavioural species traits psychological infertility and incubators, not ribald humour!

Already accumulating demerits. You'll fit right in with the other slackers.

I have my Orwellian dictionary ready. It seems this post is filled with worthy entries but the one above was the absolute best. (No, I am not trying to butter up the professor.)

The above is why I have requested to audit the course. Most of this flew right over my head and out the airlock. However, if I am not allowed to audit, I will work very hard at failing. Actually, it appears that will not take very much effort at all.

Looking forward to this... and no I am not a masochist.

If you are trying to be disarmingly "cute", rest assured that that won't work. And masochism is covered in the "Manual POP Resettling 101" course, which is mandatory.

 

[Rensslaer]

Professor: "..and after they do this, we will watch the Alarians... Mister Rensslaer, you seem to be distracted. What is it that has so occupied your attention?"

Rensslaer looks up with a harried expression, his mouth slightly agape. "Err... I'm sorry Professor. I was..." his hands indicated the scattered papers and two books in front of him at his desk. "You mentioned this 'fluffy bunny paradise', but I don't remember hearing anything about this in my undergraduate studies. I've searched through the indexes of the 15 assigned textbooks, and can't find that government type anywhere. Um...." He blinked a couple of times, knowing he was going to sound uneducated. "Could you tell me more about these fluffy bunny paradises? And.... does this have anything to do with the Alarians' sex drive??"

 

[Chac1]

Sorry to disturb the class during the pertinent question from @Rensslaer but as the professor has already correctly discerned, I must be hunting for demerits.

Your presence will be tolerated, but your actions can and will count against you academically, even when only auditing. So behave.

Thank you for allowing me to audit the class, professor. I look forward to the tortures ahead (despite my usual aversions to masochism).

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Professor: "..and after they do this, we will watch the Alarians... Mister Rensslaer, you seem to be distracted. What is it that has so occupied your attention?"

Rensslaer looks up with a harried expression, his mouth slightly agape. "Err... I'm sorry Professor. I was..." his hands indicated the scattered papers and two books in front of him at his desk. "You mentioned this 'fluffy bunny paradise', but I don't remember hearing anything about this in my undergraduate studies. I've searched through the indexes of the 15 assigned textbooks, and can't find that government type anywhere. Um...." He blinked a couple of times, knowing he was going to sound uneducated. "Could you tell me more about these fluffy bunny paradises? And.... does this have anything to do with the Alarians' sex drive??"

Mr. Rennslaer. Fluffy bunny paradises are covered in the first year Introduction to Conquest! course. How did you graduate without learning this?

 

[VILenin]

Er, professor, does this program accept transfer credits earned from the Derivative Realities work study? It's really very similar, I swear! And I have all the core requirements anyway. Well, except for Temporal Logistics that is, but my academic advisor assured me that it's impossible to actually attend the class without creating deterministic paradoxes that mess up the East Wing, so no one bothers.
.
...
I'll just sit down, then.

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Er, professor, does this program accept transfer credits earned from the Derivative Realities work study? It's really very similar, I swear! And I have all the core requirements anyway. Well, except for Temporal Logistics that is, but my academic advisor assured me that it's impossible to actually attend the class without creating deterministic paradoxes that mess up the East Wing, so no one bothers.
.
...
I'll just sit down, then.

How you could possibly expect to qualify for GCfD when Derivative Realities is only two misspellings away from Derivative Relatives I cannot fathom, but the faculty is most insistent that the credits transfer, so I assume the answer lies in the misspelling and that you are the bursar's moronic nephew, about whom she is proud to boast.

So welcome to the class, but know that I am watching you!

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Galactic Pacification for Dummies

Lecture the First: 2200-2210
​

Welcome, Class

After the mellow introduction, it is time for your first lecture. No more lollygagging! That especially goes for you, mister VILenin.

Let me assume for the sake of argument that you have all carefully studied the initial situation of United After All, and have asked yourselves the obvious questions, what traditions would it be wise for them to adopt?

Good question.

Now, if your answer is a 7-point plan laying out all the traditions you want and which order you want them in, as I believe is customary in some undergraduate courses, or 3 or 4 traditions, because you think traditions after a civilization begins its ascension path are so far in the future you don't need to plan as is the custom in most of the rest, that is not how masters of conquest or pacification do things.

Make no mistake: While conquering a galaxy by the seat of your pants or following a rigid plan can be a riot for the easily amused, that is all it is good for. It is something only suitable for dummies and undergraduates. But I repeat myself.

Traditions​

Masters plan traditions in builds, and an easy approach suited to your limited intellects is the CEO model, dividing traditions into three categories:

• Core: These will always be adopted unless the conquest or pacification goes completely off rails and one has to improvise to cover; This should never happen. Core traditions will usually be adopted early
• Extended: these will usually be adopted late, but if the conquest or pacification develops in a completely unexpected direction they might be skipped in favour of something more appropriate, usually chosen from the optional category
• Optional: these are a pool of traditions, of which some are expected to be used to cover different contingencies; it is also used to cover for the Extended traditions, when things get really weird

The order in which traditions shall be adopted is best planned ahead of time, with some room for variation depending on developments.

As can be seen, a simple 7-point plan is merely a masterplan that has been simplified to the point of idiocy by eliminating Extended and Optional traditions as well as flexibility in ordering.

The number of core, extended, and optional traditions in a build differs. Some builds have a larger core and no extended traditions, but for the Alarians I have gone with a conventional 4/2/1 split.

To reach the stated goals, I have concentrated on mostly peaceful high speed expansion with strong diplomacy building up to a highly ascensionist psionic state in a galaxy-wide Holy Covenant, that truly doubles down on unity since the plan is for most of the research to be provided by priests via the Luminary's Pious Ascetic trait and the eventual Dimensional Worship that the Alarians will be guided to in time, as noted last lecture.

• Core: Statecraft, Diplomacy, Psionics, and Harmony. Together these provide superior government, diplomatic power, psionics, and superior planetary ascension, all of which together allow for a strong peacetime economy and have good synergies with the goal of forming a galactic Holy Covenant
• Extended: Expansion and Domination. Since larger empires are almost always better than smaller ones, and the galaxy settings allows for the possibility of large empires, Expansion is an obvious choice for economic purposes, jumpstarting early colonization, and helping keep the empire size penalties under control, and, for this build, it is even a stronger economic tradition than Prosperity long term. Domination might seem an odd choice for pacification, but people need to be ruled! A strong tradition of service to the state makes it easier to avoid empire size penalties, and the strengthening of the official instruments of state makes for better governance. As noted above, if the situation divergences considerably from plan, one or both of these could be replaced by an optional tradition, but only do this after careful consideration
• Optional: 1 from Adaptability, Discovery, or Supremacy. To take them in reverse order, Supremacy will be needed early on if the Alarians are in a terrible situation that can only be solved by their own forces. If this isn't the case Discovery could be useful to speed early survey processes or to strengthen the research complex long term if the Alarians are falling short, which shouldn't happen, but better he ready to cover if it does. Finally Adaptability is a decent 7th tradition choice if none of the other contingencies arise, as it makes leaders just a bit better, reduces the number of negative traits they can have, and allows the empire to field just a few more leaders

As for the order, Statecraft gets the first three tradition picks in order to get faster agendas and educating the council with every agenda completed. The remaining 3 picks in Statecraft can be delayed until much later, as there are more important traditions to focus on, specifically Diplomacy and Expansion, though not necessarily in that order.

This early Stratecraft focus means I do not cancel the Infinite Opportunites agenda at start, as would otherwise be common in order to Expand the Council as soon as possible, but let the agenda complete for an early XP infusion to the council, and then start Expand the Council.

Now, this all sounds like a fairly rigid system, doesn't it?

It isn't. You should always be willing to reevaluate the situation and make a new plan if the situation demands it and, if you'd done your job well in the first place, your initial contingency planning will carry you until you've done so.

Ascension Perks​

Like traditions, ascension perks can be CEO modelled, and for students of your calibre I strongly suggest you do this rather than attempt more advanced approaches.

While the most conventional splits are 5/0/3, 5/1/2 and 5/2/1, I have chosen the 4/1/3 split as more suitable for this particular civilization. I suggest you study examples of the conventional splits in your copious free time.

• Core: Imperial Prerogative, Transcendent Learning, Mind over Matter, Galactic Force Projection. As is well known, Imperial Prerogative is the best ascension perk for larger empires due to the impact on the empire size penalty, and it strengthens officials in charge as well. Transcendent learning helps dummies learn, and how I wish our own culture focused on this, but alas, some morons decided to focus on Technological Ascendancy ignoring the benefits of an educated public in favour of funding a few machines that go “bing”, but I digress. Galactic Force Projection may well be connected in your inferior minds to war-like cultures, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is primarily a tool of diplomacy, useful for spreading influence
• Extended: Arcology Project. This is almost core, but in case the Alarians find lots of relic worlds or abandoned ring worlds, they might not need it and will pick an optional instead
• Optional: 3 from Shared Destiny, Interstellar Dominion, Consecrated Worlds, Defender of the Galaxy, pair of Mastery of Nature + World Shaper, pair of Master Builders + Galactic Wonders. Which will be picked, and when, depends a lot on the galaxy

Imperial Prerogative and Transcendent learning go first, though not necessarily in that order, followed by Mind over Matter... UNLESS the situation is one where I have somewhere I need to beeline to rapidly and project I don't have enough influence to reach it in time, in which case Interstellar Dominion goes first or second.

But if things go according to plan, this is followed by Galactic Force Project, at which point it is time to start considering what the final optional ascension perks will be and which order they, and Arcology Project, should be chosen.

All with me so far? Good. Let's see how this played out in practice.

Year 2205​

2205: Home After All

Oh, look, new governor! Yes, I did find the unity to recruit Insufferable Bandwagon after having secured the first three statecraft traditions, and she was well worth it. I was offered the choice between Unifier 2, Celebrity 1, and Architectural Interest, and she became an instant Celebrity. She'll get Unifier 2 on her next advancement.

The Alarians have built a temple, an energy district, an industrial district, and are in the process of building yet another industrial district. Well done!

And that's not all they've been up to. There are 31 population units worth of Alarians now working the public sector, up from 28 a mere 5 years ago, a 10% increase in a decade. They cleared some slums and went forth to multiply, and fortunately they appear to be really good at calculation.

A stellar performance almost worthy of a “fluffy bunny paradise”, wouldn't you say, mister Rensslaer?

Will you stop fidgeting! Corporal punishment is good for your soul.

Now, let us take a look at what else they've found

Under my guidance the intrepid Alarians have explored the nearby systems and begun colonizing an ocean world next door. Not all civilizations are lucky enough to find habitable worlds with their ideal climate right next door, but it is the way to bet, which is why we simulate it in all but the most advanced courses.

They have found two nearby systems with tomb worlds, the remains of a civilization long dead, which will be hellish to colonize, but as I am sure you learned back in basic, every world is worth colonizing, so this they will do... after colonizing worlds with higher priority, such as the nearby alpine and tropical worlds, or the slightly more distant ocean world of Maaz.

But most importantly of all, the relic world of Nicanda was discovered, holding, apparently, the secrets of the (hold your breath) RUBRICATOR! Once the Alarians advance enough in the field of galactic arcaeology and have the time to spare to mess with ancient ruins, that is.

...I don't know why we pay the literature department to make up these names, and I certainly would never suggest any impropriety on part of the Dean is responsible, so moving on.

That's it for the local news, but as I am sure that those of you who are awake and – what are you DOING with that chicken, Chac1? No, don't bother answering. I'd really rather not know. Whatever it is, that sort of extracurricular activity is forbidden in class, even if you are merely auditing.

Ahem. AS I WAS SAYING, those of you who are awake have undoubtedly noticed that the Alarians have sent an envoy to establish first contact with somebody, but who?

Since no candidates are available locally, let us zoom out and look at their wider exploration efforts.


2205: Exploration!

They've made contact with an alien science ship from another civilization and are trying to open communications. Not only that, they have encountered and analysed some of the local space fauna, Void Clouds and Space Amoebas, and discovered the ruins of a precursor civilization tentatively named the First League, and they have discovered several more habitable planets during their exploration of 50 to 60 new systems as well!

Last, but not least, a mysterious distress signal was detected in the Dugar system and a science ship has been sent to investigate.

Let's hear it for Red Doctor, the Minister of Defence, who discovered all of this!

SILENCE!

I did tell you last lecture that I would simulate leader teleportation, which you are very definitely not to take advantage of when hired to conquer or pacify a planet.

This is for good reason:

• You need to know it to avoid it
• You need to know it to spot it, if some wanna-be conqueror or pacifier hired by a competitor is giving his leaders an unfair advantage
• You may not have realized its potential, using it merely to haphazardly move around the occasional scientist or rearranging leaders of your powerful fleets, rather than to have a single leader jumping between every exploration vessel in your fleet, arriving just in time to handle the transition and then jumping on
• You might be assigned to one of the few galaxies where exploration does not require the assignment of one of the very best and brightest to perform the jump into unknown space, in which case all exploration effectively functions like the norm with leaders issued teleport bracelets

There are also three scientists busy surveying. Good for them. One of them is rather special. She goes by the name of Neon Lark, and you'll be meeting her soon.

A good start for the Alarians, I am sure you'll agree. Let's see what another 5 years will bring.

Year 2210​

2210: Exploration

The first thing to notice is that exploration has slowed down a bit. Now, you might think that this is the old professor simulating the lack of attention a typical student would bring to the task, but you would be wrong.

It is because all else being equal, exploration should happen at the speed of first contact.

In other words, if you have unassigned envoys and unexplored space you are exploring too slow, while if all envoys are assigned and your exploration makes contact with new unknown entities, you are exploring too fast, and you never know what happens then.

But I do. You lose out on the influence gained from being the one initiating contact, that's what you lose, and why would you want to do that?

Second is that spacefaring civilizations have been successfully contacted, both fairly benign. One wants to sell religion, the other is more materialist. Since the former is more appealing to the spiritualist Alarians, they have already negotiated a non-aggression pact and two separate trade deals, each buying 20 minerals/mth for 27 energy/mth, thus securing a sizeable mineral income with which to build their industrial base on their – by now – three worlds, and with the Rubricator world undergoing colonization, soon four.

A further three civilizations are currently being bothered by the Alarian diplomats.

Were the Alarians real rather than simulated, they would probably either assume that these were as friendly as the first two, spacefaring civilizations being peaceful and of good will having been proven the default state of affairs, or they would be waiting for the other shoe to drop. We will find out which of these hypotheticals play out in the next lecture.

2210: The Silverfoxes are natural born merchants

2210: The Rak-Rak are stoned

Third, that distress signal in Dugar turned out to be a cryogenically frozen alien baby boy. The excited Alarian discoverers named him Magical Baby Nonetheless.

When the Luminary heard of the find she decided to thaw the baby for science and faith, and captivated by his baby blue eyes she officially adopted him, naming him Exokeides, or Keides for short.

Why she didn't name him Radioactive Toddler After All is beyond me. It would seem more in line with their naming convention now that he's adopted into the After All clam, but that's why we pay the literature department the big bucks, I guess. Keides it is.


Meanwhile, the council completed the Infinite Opportunities agenda, followed by expanding the council, and is now busy supporting the Luminary's Unifying Promise agenda.


2210: The Council is Larger

Look at the political skills! That's Neon Lark, a spiritualist metallurgist from the homeworld who got tired of messing around with alloys and joined the priesthood for the joys of academic politics a few years ago, proved astonishingly good at them, and after serving a few years on a survey ship has trampled her colleagues in the rush to being appointed the first councilor representing the Vaults of Knowledge.


2210: Traditions are mostly as expected

Statecraft 2/5 into Expansion due to the many nearby colonizable planets with Diplomacy delayed for 3rd civic. A very normal wide start in larger galaxies when you don't encounter immediate threats and have high enough unity income that Diplomacy opener and Federations can be picked as 9th and 10th traditions without outrageous delay rather than as more common in pacifications, picked as 7th and 8th traditions.


2210: Technology has advanced a bit

In physics Field Modulation 2 was finished, which is great for energy generation used to buy minerals from Wholesale Redemption, and given the choice between Blue Lasers, Improved Deflectors, and Automated Exploration protocols, the choice for the Alarians was clear: Faster surveying. Who needs weapons and defensive systems in this peaceful galaxy?

In society Hydroponics Bays completed and is in use on the four starbases, with more on the way when they can be afforded. On offer next was Eco Simulation for increased food production, a very good tech, and Planetary Unification, an essential tech, and some other techs of much lower priority.

There can be only one choice in such a situation: Planetary Unification.

It is THE the most important advances for a state transitioning from planet-bound to galactic empire, and you should NEVER, EVER, pass on Planetary Unification for anything except Hydroponics Bays, and even then only if you are offered both at the same time very, very, early on.

Ignore this advice at your own peril.

In engineering the Powered Exoskeletons completed with nobody really noticing much of a difference, and on offer was Standardized Corvette Patterns, Carrier Operations, and Geothermal fracking. So the Alarians went fracking. They might be importing most of their minerals, but they didn't see much point in the military stuff.

These are simulated people, of course, and I could have chosen otherwise, but in real life pacifist idiots you are contracted to guide in a pacification campaign might have the same preference, and it is all about choosing your battles. Do you expend vital good will and brain washing on making them research weapons when they see no threat or do you conserve your resources for more important objectives?

And anyway, the size of their mining industry might grow over time.

Now, I now that some of you are wondering why the Alarians aren't building research laboratories to boost their glacial technological advancement, and that, my students, is a topic for the next lecture.

The 2210 Save File​

Can be downloaded from this Dropbox link for those who want to look at the situation or play around from this point.

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Author's note

As @trent.layell pointed out in a post below, the professor did not state what the initial policy choices and edicts were.

The professor, caught off guard by the unusual spectacle of an interested student, went so far as to provide an answer despite the answers being clear from the context - at least in the professor's mind – and the topic being more suitable for a later lecture, when the answer wasn't obvious.

So I have edited his answer into this post in case other readers are interested and don't have the DLC required to test one of the save files, which would obviously reveal the answer as well.

2210: Policies and Edicts

 

[Chac1]

After the lecture, @Chac1 approaches the professor to explain himself.

That's it for the local news, but as I am sure that those of you who are awake and – what are you DOING with that chicken, Chac1? No, don't bother answering. I'd really rather not know. Whatever it is, that sort of extracurricular activity is forbidden in class, even if you are merely auditing.

"Although I come from many places, professor, these days I tend to favor Norse traditions," Chac told him. "In an attempt to both stay awake, unlike my colleagues, and to do better in a class where the reading is already two levels above my head, I thought sacrificing that chicken was necessary. Just a little mini-blót. As the Alarians are so religious, I figured bringing a little religion to class would be tolerated. I thought I should explain to you so you could begin to understand our cultural differences. What are exchange students for if not to explain this?"

 

[trent.layell]

Professor, for each of your saves, what were her choices of policies and edicts? Also, you are well known for spawning Torak's Horde in your simulations. Will we be seeing them or any other empires you've created?

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Professor, for each of your saves, what were her choices of policies and edicts? Also, you are well known for spawning Torak's Horde in your simulations. Will we be seeing them or any other empires you've created?

To answer your first question, initial edicts and policy should be obvious from the context, so apply yourself and the question answers itself, young man..
Woman.. Thing?

What are you? None of my business, I guess.

The topic of edicts and policy will be covered in later lectures when the answer is no longer obvious, but to reward you for your interest, which I grant is more than can be expected of the average student, I will, just this once, answer you succinctly:

As for the simulation's setup, there is one force spawned empire in this simulation, Wholesale Redemption, the foxes of the Shattered Ring Megachurch, which has already been encountered.

The following empires are known to be allowed to spawn: the disturbingly friendly rogue servitors of the Multibot Manifold, who rise from the Remnants of their old civilization to bring pampering to the powerless, the absurdly efficient and potentially powerful Progenitor Void Hive known as the Tendrakken Entity, the fanatic parrots of the imperial United Pollynomial Provinces, whose bizarre history shaped by a Shroudwalker Coven makes them utterly unpredictable, and finally the bloodthirsty orcs of the Blood Court known as Torak's Horde, who can adapt to any circumstances and whose admirals are always to be feared.

----



EDIT: Edited in the 2210 policy/edict screenshot as an addendum to chapter 1; Good catch, @trent.layell. I must admit that not only the "professor" thought the answer obvious, I did as well. (What a coincidence.) But in retrospect perhaps it isn't obvious to those who haven't tried starting the build that the answer to what edicts are used is ALL OF THEM and the answer to policy changes is that I use default assigned by Stellaris until worth changing, and the only one changed so far has been Robotic Workers, which I mentioned were outlawed by the priesthood in the introductory post.