Influence is the political and social weight a faction holds over a particular planet. It is the mechanism through which factions own and govern worlds across the galaxy. 

Every planet has a Base Influence value of its own, representing how difficult it is to rule that planet for its own internal reasons, and every faction has a separate Influence score on each planet, representing the faction's own political grip over it.

In order to own a planet, a faction's Influence on that planet must exceed the planet's Base Influence. The highest-Influence faction above the Base Influence is the planet's owner. If no faction exceeds the Base Influence, the planet remains independent or contested.

Base Influence reflects the planet's inherent resistance to outside rule. It can be thought of as the planet's self-respect: how difficult its people and its environment make it to govern from outside.

A planet's Base Influence is determined by a combination of factors:

• The population's political character. Worlds with strong cultural identity, established traditions, or unified leadership are harder to dominate from outside.

• Logistical difficulty. Hostile climates, dangerous wildlife, hazardous terrain, or simply being remote contribute to a higher Base Influence by making the planet difficult for any outside faction to manage.

• Historical autonomy. Planets that have ruled themselves for long periods of time have higher Base Influence than worlds long accustomed to external authority.

A faction grows its Influence on a planet through a range of activities, some immediate and some long-term.

• Plots, Arcs, and general RP schenanigans

  • • Running narrative content on a planet, and especially acting in ways beneficial to the local population, builds genuine political support and increases the faction's Influence on that world over time.

• Military Presence

  • • Stationing significant military forces on a planet projects authority and grants Influence. This Influence is sustained only as long as the force remains present, and its effect decreases as time passes. Garrisoning a world cheaply does not generate lasting political grip.

• Trade Agreements

  • • Establishing trade with a planet's people creates economic interdependence. Trade Agreements grant Influence on the planets at both ends of the route, with the size of the effect depending on the volume and value of the trade.

• Treaties and Statecraft

  • • Formal political agreements with the planet's existing authority, neighbouring factions, or galactic powers may translate into Influence gains on a contextual basis. A Defensive Pact with a neighbouring world's protector, for instance, gives the protected world reason to look favourably on you.

• Espionage

  • • Espionage Points may be spent on operations that increase the imposing faction's Influence on a planet, or that reduce a rival faction's Influence on the same planet. This is one of the few mechanisms for actively damaging a rival's grip rather than simply outpacing them.

• Embassies and diplomatic presence

  • • Embassies on a planet provide a passive Influence drip for the faction maintaining them, reflecting the visibility and formal recognition that diplomatic presence affords.

Influence does not only grow. Several factors actively erode it.

• Construction activity

  • • TBD

• Time without active presence

  • • Influence built through transient means (military garrisons, short-term aid, intimidation) decays over time as the local population adjusts and the political moment passes.

• Hostile actions against the population

  • • Bombardment, mass conscription, forced relocation, or other politically costly acts directly reduce the acting faction's Influence on the affected planet, often substantially.

• Espionage by rivals

  • • Other factions actively investing in espionage operations against your Influence on a planet can reduce your standing through propaganda, subversion, and the cultivation of opposition movements.

Certain buildings are specifically designed to generate or maintain Influence rather than reduce it. These typically sit in the Cultural District or Civil Infrastructure and represent the faction's commitment to civic life on the planet.

Examples include monuments, public works, religious or academic institutions, and cultural centres. These buildings exist primarily to offset the political costs of military and industrial construction, allowing a faction to maintain political grip while still developing the planet productively.

A planet developed entirely with extractive and military infrastructure will see its controlling faction's Influence steadily erode over time. A balanced development that includes Cultural District investment maintains political stability indefinitely.

A planet's owner is the faction with the highest Influence above the Base Influence value. If multiple factions exceed the Base Influence, the highest among them is the formal owner. The other factions retain their own Influence on the planet, which may be relevant for contests of ownership, future political shifts, or covert operations.

If a faction's Influence drops below the Base Influence, the faction no longer formally owns the planet. If another faction is currently above the Base Influence, ownership transfers to them. If no faction exceeds the Base Influence, the planet returns to independent or contested status.

Ownership transfer through Influence is typically gradual rather than sudden. It happens when a faction's grip has been eroded over time, often through a combination of construction costs, espionage, rival activity, and inattention. Sudden ownership transfer through military conquest is governed by separate rules under the Combat and Planetary Control systems.

There are five fundamental paths through which a faction may acquire a planet. Each carries its own pace, risk profile, and long-term maintenance requirements.

Influence is the underlying political dictionary of Grand Strategy. Every action a faction takes generates Influence consequences, positive or negative, on the planets where the action takes place. A faction that ignores Influence will find its empire fracturing at the edges as costs erode its grip on outlying worlds while neighbours and rivals slowly buy their way in.

The most successful factions in the long run are those that balance action (which typically costs Influence) with civic investment (which generates it), maintain visible diplomatic and cultural presence on the worlds they control, and treat Influence as a finite resource to be cultivated and defended rather than assumed.

Different factions have different natural tendencies and mechanics, all of which will be made clear in the faction section of the website.