This campaign's faction sheet is here.
The first thing I did was establish who the major players are in the sector, generally picking the populous worlds. You don't need to make every planet a faction, but with how intertwined the Unified Systems is it made sense to have a lot of them represented. They're all mid-sized factions, the default for planetary governments, except the Free Peoples who are less coordinated but still a force, and the fractured Kakimedian government; they are now two minor factions warring.
After statting them as appropriate to the narrative, they each get a trait and a goal. Most of these are self-explanatory. Mejo for instance, with its favourable trade hub status and links to the Exchange, want to keep everything business as usual, so they get the Exchange Consulate tag and the Peaceable Kingdom goal. Meanwhile the Giran Ascendancy, with their genetech mastery, get the Eugenics Cult tag and the goal of Planetary Seizure, wanting to fully claim Melanth for themselves.
Next comes assets. Using Mejo as an example again, the first thing I wanted to do was represent their lucrative markets and popularity as a free port. They got Venture Capital and Pretech Researchers to embody the large number of exotic items available on the planet, as well as Party Machines to represent the overwhelming approval from the general public. As they are a mid-sized faction, they get 2 assets of their highest stat and 1 each from the others, so for their force asset pick I went with Counterintel Unit to represent the reach of the Council's spy network and preventative military policies. They could have just as easily been a Guerilla Populace or Hardened Personnel to embody their ties to the Free Peoples pirates or more obvious troops, but Conterintel seemed more Mejoan.
Now that every faction had its tags, goals and assets, it was time for the first turn. After rolling randomly for the turn order and assigning every faction their monthly income, the Daphion Monarchy was up first. Looking at their goal of Expand Influence, I figured they'd want to establish a base of influence on Mejo, so the first thing they did was move their Blockade Fleet (which represents Sarokoulan privateers working for Queen Elasine) one hex into Mejo's system. This is a Use Asset Ability action, and as no other assets belonging to Daphion have any abilities, this was the end of their turn; a faction can only take one action every turn. Next up was the Giran Ascendancy, whose goal is to seize Melanth. They need a unit on the planet they want to claim, but have no way of transporting them, so they purchases the Freighter Contract asset in preparation for next turn. As Purchase an Asset is an action and they had spent all their income, that was the end of their turn.
Once everyone has had a turn, the GM then extrapolates what happened and converts it into in universe information. In this case, I used headlines on the Mejoan News Network to represent snippets of news you might have caught in your 3 weeks of downtime, maybe checking the feeds on your comm or catching a TV in a bar somewhere.
There are other ways to represent this obviously, but I thought this was nice and flavourful.
Some examples of what led to the news headlines:
- Daphion moving a unit to Mejo triggered the Free Peoples' Pirate tag, as they have a base of operations on Mejo; Daphion thus "paid" one faccred to the Free Peoples. Later on in the turn, Lorina's movement of their Commodities Broker to Mejo triggered this tag as well, then later still the Free Peoples' Franchise asset successfully attacked Daphion's privateers. Because of all this the Free Peoples ended the turn the richest faction in the sector, and seeing as their Franchise asset represents deniable piracy this means a lot of money was lost to criminal activity. That in turn led to
EXCHANGE BOUNTIES REACH RECORD NUMBERS, as well as the hint that Daphion privateers are in the sector with the Free Peoples "claiming their own losses to 'external influences'."
- The Mejoan Council's Venture Capital asset managed to roll a 1, destroying itself. This inspired the Magnus Partnership into existence, to represent the heavy blow to the faction's wealth. Later in the turn, Lorina, the Plutocratic tagged faction with a Commercial Expansion goal, moved one of the powerful wealth assets to Mejo. Though they had no direct involvement in the loss of the Venture Capital, it was easy to link the two moves together narratively;
MAGNUS CEO LEVIES BLAME ON LORINA becomes a headline, and now there's an in-universe animosity between the two factions that can lead to adventures, as well as making Lorina more than just a place that makes starships.
- The Assembly of Clans moved their Postech Infantry asset to Kakimedes via their Extended Theatre, led by the faction's Military Conquest goal. The Reclamists also moved their Lawyers to the planet with its Covert Transit Net asset. Though both factions did basically the same thing, narratively the results are much different. The Sarkoulans moved military units in military troops transports, whilst the Reclamists Lawyers represent missionaries and aid workers, the Transit Net representing how widespread the Faith is. The Reclamists could have just as easily moved to Mejo or Daphion for their goal, but narratively it made sense for them to assist the beleaguered psions on Kakimedes.
And that's pretty much it. Apologies if this comes across as rambling, I'm typing it on and off.
If you have any questions feel free to ask them, I enjoy this system a lot and it's absolutely amazing for inspiring adventures in a sandbox.
I am not entirely sure how to engage it as a PC.
