Turn 2--2427 (B)--Martial, Diplomacy, Stewardship
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Turn 2--2427 CE (B)
Being a leader without a title, without a government except what was gathered around them was a strange thing. It had its on days and off days, but most of all it involved talking and traveling, from city to city, place to place, seeing a thousand different types of people. Talking and more talking fill Vorzhan's day, and they learn more than they ever wanted to. Sometimes they don't sleep well, sometimes they wake up terrified. Their body aches and every day there are dozens, hundreds of meetings. The world is watching and she doesn't want to screw up.
Some nights all that can be seen are how much more work he has to do. Their every action turned over rocks that led to monsters and disgusting slime. Despite all of the success and effort, in the end it seemed only to have doubled and redoubled their efforts. The one bright spot was Kikkizit, who was turning out to be a capital fellow, and their other friends, slowly gathering together. The Professor turns out to be good at Jaminit, and a fair drinker of Lariferm. The latter was perhaps not so good considering the way Hazitean got when taking that, though Lariferm was the least of the problems facing her. Either way, they were good company, but only that.
Hazitean, on the other hand, had shown up in their rooms at night sometimes, with offers of companionship. But it wouldn't have worked, and Hazitean needed a friend far more than a lover, help far more than either of those. And so they'd abstained from it, and slept alone and watched the stars, and the vast blackness there. Every culture had them, made pictures and meaning in them, and yet this was a planet from a time when the stars were well understood, from a time where there weren't formations up there, symbols and patterns.
In a strange way, it made Vorzhan feel as if they could chart new formations and symbols, shapes and designs in the stars, without the past to drag them down, drag everything down perhaps into oblivion. The past would be the death of Gazinitah if anything killed it, and if the future was just a void of fiery stars and foreign powers, at least that was more appealing than having to read yet another balance sheet or consult another economist who all but ran for the exit when confronted with how to solve the issue at hand.
The food was interesting, but that's all there really was to say about being a leader. And at least that was something like success. The meetings about the mysteries in the colonies, the reunion with Yahiza and the drinks shared together, these had something like worth even if they plunged Vorzhan farther and farther into the black morass that was leadership. He wondered about the former Monarch, and whether she'd been aware of as much of the difficulties. Had she been another figure trapped in a maze of her own divising?
*****
And that didn't count the failures, like the message Vorzhan got back from his ambassador, an anti-slavery activist given the job of trying to retrieve the Xvorzit slaves. They were ignored at the door, insulted a week later when they finally got to talk, arrested briefly on suspicion of plotting to free the slaves when it turned out they weren't an official ambassador with diplomatic immunity, and then it was revealed that they'd been sent to another, more trustworthy Hive. The ambassador was sticking around mostly in an attempt to salvage something of Gazinitah's reputation, but their words were harsh, downright withering, towards the Ilwari and their policies.
But, at the same time, who could blame them?
For a time, all the way up until the end of the first half-year of their rule--though even that was a loaded word--it seemed that the economy was the only high-point. The permit system proved broadly popular and began to even generate more wealth than before, now that it wasn't entirely ignored, and the donation towards the schools operation was welcome even as there were questions about the education system raised in the past few months as activists began to let their voices be heard. A thousand groups met, and talked, and began advocating, often to Vorzhan's face, their ideas. It was hard sorting through them, coming to some sort of logic, but it was a process that Vorzhan was starting to understand.
Educator opinion slightly increases, +50 Wealth a turn.
*****
Then the popular singer had agreed to come and hold a huge concert. It'd been broadcast around the world simultaneously, with holograms of her performing at each location, exact replicas of her actions and movements with live music in each place. Beskis the Bard had showed up, crashing the place and talking to Ulla directly and, remarkably, getting up on stage with her where they'd both performed. Vorzhan looked into it and found that some parts of it were staged, and others not so much. Either way both had a platform for their message, and hundreds of millions watched directly, with billions of others watching reruns of it or watching it via the holocast. Kikkizit had even shown up near the end to shake Ulla's hand, and the leader, Vorzhan, had had an even more rigidly defined meeting with the pop-star. She was strange-looking, but then all humans were. Dark skin, a small nose, no head-wings, lots of fat on some parts of her body, seemingly at random, she was--Vorzhan supposed, and knew enough to tell human genders apart almost all of the time--pleasant enough. Sorta dramatic and loud, but then so were Xvorzith, and they talked for a short time before parting.
Still, the press was very good, and a number of magazines and journals formed via the holonet in the aftermath, dedicated to the upswing in cultural interest that the visit entailed, and intergalactically, Ulla's comments in approval of the new democracy did turn a few heads, however briefly.
*****
But the true moment of renewal for Vorzhan's sagging fortunes, their own internal sense of their ability to make changes, came with an election. A modest move was met with...well. It was a little like flirting at a Natid Pit and winding up finding a mate-for-life. The slight public announcement was met by another slight public announcement, carefully crafted and surprisingly positive. And then another message, sent by Mutumbo, through backdoor channels.
(A Quiet Word: 1d100=96+19 (dip)+5 (Ulla)=120, super critical success!
(Seeing shadows: 1d100+29=117)
And through more direct actions. At designated points you find [300 Wealth] of resources and aid, primarily in the form of school-software and several pieces of technology, but also including several minor loans granted by private figures. And a message asking for a meeting soon to discuss the potential of democracy on Gazinitah.
Then, through even more covert channels, one of the states in the Iashec republic had declared itself willing to talk on the issue of treaties and lessening their burden.
It seemed as if Vorzhan had finally caught someone's attention.
Wealth: 4222+100+50+300-25-5=4640
Martial: The military situation continues to irritate, but now you have at least some idea what is going on. Hazitean isn't quite an advisor yet, but it's moving towards that direction...slowly. Hazitean *may* auto-complete one (or rather auto-attempt) a project on the list depending on how well she rolls in a secret roll. (Pick two)
Diplomacy: You're getting used to talking to the people, and it's starting to show, if only it was that easy to talk your way out of the mess that seems to have enveloped your planet in terms of the treaties. (Pick 2)
Stewardship: The economy is improving, even as it seems more and more likely that there are fundamental problems with your budget. Your people, on the other hand, are in the midst of a moderate economic upswing, and this can and perhaps should be channeled in the right method. Yet there are still calls for more protection of workers and regulation at the same time. Your attention is divided, and you're very busy, driven to exhaustion by an economic situation you aren't trained to handle. (Pick 4)
*****
A/N: So, a new mechanic, Call. Basically it represents how strong the call for it is, and thus how much the people want it. As your Will of the Hive increases, the speed at which call increases and what options have it also increases, and ignoring Call can lead to troubles. But an action with a high 'Call' just might be done anyways on its own...which can be good or bad. I'm still experimenting with the idea, but I think it fits with everything else I have worked out for Will of the Hive.
Additionally, the odds and costs of some actions have changed.
Also I'll warn you ahead of time, there's totally a chance you could have "War Turns", "Diplomacy Turns" and "Intrigue Turns" this turn.
Being a leader without a title, without a government except what was gathered around them was a strange thing. It had its on days and off days, but most of all it involved talking and traveling, from city to city, place to place, seeing a thousand different types of people. Talking and more talking fill Vorzhan's day, and they learn more than they ever wanted to. Sometimes they don't sleep well, sometimes they wake up terrified. Their body aches and every day there are dozens, hundreds of meetings. The world is watching and she doesn't want to screw up.
Some nights all that can be seen are how much more work he has to do. Their every action turned over rocks that led to monsters and disgusting slime. Despite all of the success and effort, in the end it seemed only to have doubled and redoubled their efforts. The one bright spot was Kikkizit, who was turning out to be a capital fellow, and their other friends, slowly gathering together. The Professor turns out to be good at Jaminit, and a fair drinker of Lariferm. The latter was perhaps not so good considering the way Hazitean got when taking that, though Lariferm was the least of the problems facing her. Either way, they were good company, but only that.
Hazitean, on the other hand, had shown up in their rooms at night sometimes, with offers of companionship. But it wouldn't have worked, and Hazitean needed a friend far more than a lover, help far more than either of those. And so they'd abstained from it, and slept alone and watched the stars, and the vast blackness there. Every culture had them, made pictures and meaning in them, and yet this was a planet from a time when the stars were well understood, from a time where there weren't formations up there, symbols and patterns.
In a strange way, it made Vorzhan feel as if they could chart new formations and symbols, shapes and designs in the stars, without the past to drag them down, drag everything down perhaps into oblivion. The past would be the death of Gazinitah if anything killed it, and if the future was just a void of fiery stars and foreign powers, at least that was more appealing than having to read yet another balance sheet or consult another economist who all but ran for the exit when confronted with how to solve the issue at hand.
The food was interesting, but that's all there really was to say about being a leader. And at least that was something like success. The meetings about the mysteries in the colonies, the reunion with Yahiza and the drinks shared together, these had something like worth even if they plunged Vorzhan farther and farther into the black morass that was leadership. He wondered about the former Monarch, and whether she'd been aware of as much of the difficulties. Had she been another figure trapped in a maze of her own divising?
*****
And that didn't count the failures, like the message Vorzhan got back from his ambassador, an anti-slavery activist given the job of trying to retrieve the Xvorzit slaves. They were ignored at the door, insulted a week later when they finally got to talk, arrested briefly on suspicion of plotting to free the slaves when it turned out they weren't an official ambassador with diplomatic immunity, and then it was revealed that they'd been sent to another, more trustworthy Hive. The ambassador was sticking around mostly in an attempt to salvage something of Gazinitah's reputation, but their words were harsh, downright withering, towards the Ilwari and their policies.
But, at the same time, who could blame them?
For a time, all the way up until the end of the first half-year of their rule--though even that was a loaded word--it seemed that the economy was the only high-point. The permit system proved broadly popular and began to even generate more wealth than before, now that it wasn't entirely ignored, and the donation towards the schools operation was welcome even as there were questions about the education system raised in the past few months as activists began to let their voices be heard. A thousand groups met, and talked, and began advocating, often to Vorzhan's face, their ideas. It was hard sorting through them, coming to some sort of logic, but it was a process that Vorzhan was starting to understand.
Educator opinion slightly increases, +50 Wealth a turn.
*****
Then the popular singer had agreed to come and hold a huge concert. It'd been broadcast around the world simultaneously, with holograms of her performing at each location, exact replicas of her actions and movements with live music in each place. Beskis the Bard had showed up, crashing the place and talking to Ulla directly and, remarkably, getting up on stage with her where they'd both performed. Vorzhan looked into it and found that some parts of it were staged, and others not so much. Either way both had a platform for their message, and hundreds of millions watched directly, with billions of others watching reruns of it or watching it via the holocast. Kikkizit had even shown up near the end to shake Ulla's hand, and the leader, Vorzhan, had had an even more rigidly defined meeting with the pop-star. She was strange-looking, but then all humans were. Dark skin, a small nose, no head-wings, lots of fat on some parts of her body, seemingly at random, she was--Vorzhan supposed, and knew enough to tell human genders apart almost all of the time--pleasant enough. Sorta dramatic and loud, but then so were Xvorzith, and they talked for a short time before parting.
Still, the press was very good, and a number of magazines and journals formed via the holonet in the aftermath, dedicated to the upswing in cultural interest that the visit entailed, and intergalactically, Ulla's comments in approval of the new democracy did turn a few heads, however briefly.
*****
But the true moment of renewal for Vorzhan's sagging fortunes, their own internal sense of their ability to make changes, came with an election. A modest move was met with...well. It was a little like flirting at a Natid Pit and winding up finding a mate-for-life. The slight public announcement was met by another slight public announcement, carefully crafted and surprisingly positive. And then another message, sent by Mutumbo, through backdoor channels.
(A Quiet Word: 1d100=96+19 (dip)+5 (Ulla)=120, super critical success!
(Seeing shadows: 1d100+29=117)
And through more direct actions. At designated points you find [300 Wealth] of resources and aid, primarily in the form of school-software and several pieces of technology, but also including several minor loans granted by private figures. And a message asking for a meeting soon to discuss the potential of democracy on Gazinitah.
Then, through even more covert channels, one of the states in the Iashec republic had declared itself willing to talk on the issue of treaties and lessening their burden.
It seemed as if Vorzhan had finally caught someone's attention.
Wealth: 4222+100+50+300-25-5=4640
Martial: The military situation continues to irritate, but now you have at least some idea what is going on. Hazitean isn't quite an advisor yet, but it's moving towards that direction...slowly. Hazitean *may* auto-complete one (or rather auto-attempt) a project on the list depending on how well she rolls in a secret roll. (Pick two)
Crazy...and Brilliant:
Hazitean is not the most stable of Xvorzith, not even close. But her thoughts are electrifying, for all that they are scattered and strange, but without official authority and backing, there's only so much she can do. But she's addicted to several substances, as is quickly becoming clear, she has severe mental issues that hadn't existed when you last saw her, she doesn't want to talk about what happened to her, she shifts rapidly from cruel to playful to even flirtatious with you, and adds 'rude' to that when she wants to, and she's hardly made a lot of friends among the soldiery, who are reluctant to accept her.
And she's aware of this, and when not dismissive she realizes that...she's not okay. That she hasn't been okay for years, and that maybe she shouldn't step into the position. It'd take some convincing of her and the military to let her in on that.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 30% (Success on a certain personal action might increase it by 10 or (less likely) 20 percent.)
Reward: +2 Martial Actions, Hazitean starts presenting her ideas and reforms, possible drop on soldier opinion.
Search for an Martial advisor:
You could decide to give up on Hazitean as hopeless and get another military advisor instead, of course. It'd be more popular at least with the soldiers.
Cost: 100 Wealth, 100 Wealth a year (high salary).
Probability: 60% (40% with any actions that involve annoying the soldiery), better rolls mean better candidates.
Reward: A few options, some choices for who to appoint. Increased soldier opinion
Colonial Police
The colonies have their own military forces, with their own (far smaller and uneven) budget. They, even more than the army, function as much as police as anything. You could make sure you have control of them and figure out what their situation is, whether there are any funds there that could be creatively transferred, and of course whether they are loyal and competent. The colonies haven't stepped out of line, but neither are they completely integrated, and the situation is still more than a little confused.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 65%
Reward: Options, an outlook on things.
What Did You do Instead?
They didn't patrol as part of the Repatriation treaty. What did they do, then? All of those times they went out. Where were they going, what were they doing? It's all a bit of a puzzle, and one that might be important. Or it might be nothing, it's hard to tell, naval affairs aren't your area of expertise.
Cost: Free
Probability: 40%
Reward: Information.
Moonraker:
It's an audacious plan to say the least, but somehow Hazitean has found a single person who thinks she's crazy...and likes her brand of madness. And they've put together a plan to attack the Pirates' Moon. A full naval task-force will hit it hard and fast followed by a deployment of ground troops to roll them up, take evidence and witnesses, and otherwise get everything, all in the name of anti-slavery. After all, Gazinitah is a proud signatory of the Repatriation Treaty...right? Even if it's not, as you know it actually isn't, slavery is still against the law and it's certainly possible it could be massaged into legitimacy after the fact. Either way, it'd be a bold and daring strike and, besides everything else, give leads on Zaeswin if it succeeded.
Cost: 400 Wealth
Probability: ???, better you roll, the better.
Reward: Start War-turn, potentially controlling Hazitean, attack on Moon. More James-Bond-Movie-Title-References.
Gun it!
That Farsha Mk 2 handgun, and its long-gun version, is a horrible gun. You hate that weapon with a passion. As petty a thing as that is, you hold that grudge very deeply. It's a loud, inefficient weapon, a hog of energy and bullets, and you've seen civilians that have better weapons. You could try to convince the soldier-castes to buy some of a better model and make, in fact you have some ideas already. And you're going to start by buying some on the budget you know about, maybe do some trials to show how much better they are?
Cost: 700 Wealth
Probability: 50%, 60% with Talk to the Soldier Caste
Reward: Your defense forces start using guns that, while not cutting edge, are at least a little less completely and utterly out of date. Also, you're convincing the people who you might be prosecuting to arm themselves better.
Gifts are not Warlike
You need to begin finding some way to even out the budget. And to begin with, the place to cut is the gifts, the graft, the very obvious areas of failure and problems, even if it does annoy some soldiers. Ultimately reducing foreign dependence here is a lot more important than the feelings of the soldiers, and seeing as looking at the loans ticking upwards feels to Vorzhan like watching his life slowly drain away. It was...well, none of it was anything she wanted to deal with, and it was only going to get worse, year by year by year.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 70%
Reward: Gain between 400 and 800 Wealth per turn to put towards reducing foreign investment or military budget-areas, will roll for that, represents how exacting your cuts are, as it were. Reduced soldier opinion.
Loans Adjusted
Each turn you receive [900 Wealth] worth of Iashec investment in your military. You could reduce that to 0 and shift the money around, paying for it with inflation, internal loans, and other obfuscating methods. Ultimately it'd be a drain and a problem, but it could be done, and once there's actual revenue within the military budget, the holes and work-arounds could be removed.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 75%
Reward: Debt to Iashec increases only by their investment in the Black Budget, -900 Wealth a turn until you figure out how to patch that leak/lack.
What's With Research?
They are paid almost nothing, exiled to a moon of Gazinitah, and they get all sorts of weird communications at odd hours. It's really, really odd and makes very little sense. Some of their research is medical, and there are at least a few small papers released from them in the last year, but other than that...it's really, really odd. What's going on there? It's all pinging your...well, your nerves, and as someone who has been successful and alive for all of these years, your nerves are most definitely something you listen to.
Cost: 20 Wealth
Probability: ???
Reward: Find out what the hell's going on there, ???
Tanks for Nothing!
You have tanks. Lots of hover-tanks, just sitting there. They weren't rolled out because of fears about the escalation of violence, and there are calls to sell them. Or at least some of them. A lot of them are really, really old and outdated, and apparently keeping them up is expensive, eating up a good deal of resources more than newer models, which while outdated haven't been completely and totally supplamented as useful by every other power in the galaxy. You could sell them, for scrap and parts and--once properly disarmed--for historical re-enactment and other such niche usages.
Cost: Negligible, (basically 0 Wealth when it's all factored in.)
Probability: 70% (Failure means you don't find buyers, get a bad price, some of the tanks get stolen by nuts, so on. You'll still get something.)
Reward: 250 Wealth, 500 Wealth freed up per year, smaller but more up-to-date tank corps. Possibly new Options if you roll well enough. The joy of imagining historical re-enactment with hover-tanks.
Security or Liberty?
There have been calls to decrease the scope of the defense forces to interfere in internal affairs. The police should handle it, and the idea that there is a need for forces with special weapons or more militant tactics to deal with crime seems to many a sign of all that was wrong with the old order. Others have argued that in these chaotic times the need is greater than ever. Separating them and enacting laws to further this split would cost little directly, but could cause bruised egos and negative effects. The demand for this is increasing, and at the moment, resting under military control, police-reforms are all but impossible.
Cost: 150 wealth
Probability: 60%, failure means laws are poorly written, bitterly opposed, or wind up compromising and not fully separating police and defense-forces.
Reward: Separate police and defense forces, updated planet page to represent this, improved opinion of the common Hiver, grumblings among the defense forces, ???
With the Fleets
You are not a bug that gets along with ships. You sometimes get a little sick, really, in hyperspace. But you know that the fleets are important, for fighting the pirates, protecting the world, all sorts of things. Learn more about the fleet. How loyal are its officers, other than the few you know personally that you'd be sending orders to and hoping they could work out everything else? How good are its ships, does it have enough in the way of budgeting? There's a lot you don't know, and that's not a good thing when they're sitting overhead with weapons that--were it not for treaties against it--could scour all of the life on the planet if given long enough for a sustained bombardment.
The budgetary information and the links with some of the lower officers have given you an in towards this.
Cost: Free
Probability: 75%
Reward: Fleet information acquired, possibility of gauging the opinion of the fleet towards you, possible improved relationship with them.
Talk to the Soldier Caste
You've known soldiers, you've befriended soldiers and loved and hated those from the soldier castes. They are people just like anyone else, as much members of the Hive as any, and you could talk to them, get to know their desires and their fears, and try to open up to them.
Your relative laxness has gotten them to open up somewhat for the moment.
Cost: Free
Probability: 70%
Reward: Improved relations with soldier-castes, get gossip/news/information about their concerns and what their leaders might have in mind.
Hazitean is not the most stable of Xvorzith, not even close. But her thoughts are electrifying, for all that they are scattered and strange, but without official authority and backing, there's only so much she can do. But she's addicted to several substances, as is quickly becoming clear, she has severe mental issues that hadn't existed when you last saw her, she doesn't want to talk about what happened to her, she shifts rapidly from cruel to playful to even flirtatious with you, and adds 'rude' to that when she wants to, and she's hardly made a lot of friends among the soldiery, who are reluctant to accept her.
And she's aware of this, and when not dismissive she realizes that...she's not okay. That she hasn't been okay for years, and that maybe she shouldn't step into the position. It'd take some convincing of her and the military to let her in on that.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 30% (Success on a certain personal action might increase it by 10 or (less likely) 20 percent.)
Reward: +2 Martial Actions, Hazitean starts presenting her ideas and reforms, possible drop on soldier opinion.
Search for an Martial advisor:
You could decide to give up on Hazitean as hopeless and get another military advisor instead, of course. It'd be more popular at least with the soldiers.
Cost: 100 Wealth, 100 Wealth a year (high salary).
Probability: 60% (40% with any actions that involve annoying the soldiery), better rolls mean better candidates.
Reward: A few options, some choices for who to appoint. Increased soldier opinion
Colonial Police
The colonies have their own military forces, with their own (far smaller and uneven) budget. They, even more than the army, function as much as police as anything. You could make sure you have control of them and figure out what their situation is, whether there are any funds there that could be creatively transferred, and of course whether they are loyal and competent. The colonies haven't stepped out of line, but neither are they completely integrated, and the situation is still more than a little confused.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 65%
Reward: Options, an outlook on things.
What Did You do Instead?
They didn't patrol as part of the Repatriation treaty. What did they do, then? All of those times they went out. Where were they going, what were they doing? It's all a bit of a puzzle, and one that might be important. Or it might be nothing, it's hard to tell, naval affairs aren't your area of expertise.
Cost: Free
Probability: 40%
Reward: Information.
Moonraker:
It's an audacious plan to say the least, but somehow Hazitean has found a single person who thinks she's crazy...and likes her brand of madness. And they've put together a plan to attack the Pirates' Moon. A full naval task-force will hit it hard and fast followed by a deployment of ground troops to roll them up, take evidence and witnesses, and otherwise get everything, all in the name of anti-slavery. After all, Gazinitah is a proud signatory of the Repatriation Treaty...right? Even if it's not, as you know it actually isn't, slavery is still against the law and it's certainly possible it could be massaged into legitimacy after the fact. Either way, it'd be a bold and daring strike and, besides everything else, give leads on Zaeswin if it succeeded.
Cost: 400 Wealth
Probability: ???, better you roll, the better.
Reward: Start War-turn, potentially controlling Hazitean, attack on Moon. More James-Bond-Movie-Title-References.
Gun it!
That Farsha Mk 2 handgun, and its long-gun version, is a horrible gun. You hate that weapon with a passion. As petty a thing as that is, you hold that grudge very deeply. It's a loud, inefficient weapon, a hog of energy and bullets, and you've seen civilians that have better weapons. You could try to convince the soldier-castes to buy some of a better model and make, in fact you have some ideas already. And you're going to start by buying some on the budget you know about, maybe do some trials to show how much better they are?
Cost: 700 Wealth
Probability: 50%, 60% with Talk to the Soldier Caste
Reward: Your defense forces start using guns that, while not cutting edge, are at least a little less completely and utterly out of date. Also, you're convincing the people who you might be prosecuting to arm themselves better.
Gifts are not Warlike
You need to begin finding some way to even out the budget. And to begin with, the place to cut is the gifts, the graft, the very obvious areas of failure and problems, even if it does annoy some soldiers. Ultimately reducing foreign dependence here is a lot more important than the feelings of the soldiers, and seeing as looking at the loans ticking upwards feels to Vorzhan like watching his life slowly drain away. It was...well, none of it was anything she wanted to deal with, and it was only going to get worse, year by year by year.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 70%
Reward: Gain between 400 and 800 Wealth per turn to put towards reducing foreign investment or military budget-areas, will roll for that, represents how exacting your cuts are, as it were. Reduced soldier opinion.
Loans Adjusted
Each turn you receive [900 Wealth] worth of Iashec investment in your military. You could reduce that to 0 and shift the money around, paying for it with inflation, internal loans, and other obfuscating methods. Ultimately it'd be a drain and a problem, but it could be done, and once there's actual revenue within the military budget, the holes and work-arounds could be removed.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 75%
Reward: Debt to Iashec increases only by their investment in the Black Budget, -900 Wealth a turn until you figure out how to patch that leak/lack.
What's With Research?
They are paid almost nothing, exiled to a moon of Gazinitah, and they get all sorts of weird communications at odd hours. It's really, really odd and makes very little sense. Some of their research is medical, and there are at least a few small papers released from them in the last year, but other than that...it's really, really odd. What's going on there? It's all pinging your...well, your nerves, and as someone who has been successful and alive for all of these years, your nerves are most definitely something you listen to.
Cost: 20 Wealth
Probability: ???
Reward: Find out what the hell's going on there, ???
Tanks for Nothing!
You have tanks. Lots of hover-tanks, just sitting there. They weren't rolled out because of fears about the escalation of violence, and there are calls to sell them. Or at least some of them. A lot of them are really, really old and outdated, and apparently keeping them up is expensive, eating up a good deal of resources more than newer models, which while outdated haven't been completely and totally supplamented as useful by every other power in the galaxy. You could sell them, for scrap and parts and--once properly disarmed--for historical re-enactment and other such niche usages.
Cost: Negligible, (basically 0 Wealth when it's all factored in.)
Probability: 70% (Failure means you don't find buyers, get a bad price, some of the tanks get stolen by nuts, so on. You'll still get something.)
Reward: 250 Wealth, 500 Wealth freed up per year, smaller but more up-to-date tank corps. Possibly new Options if you roll well enough. The joy of imagining historical re-enactment with hover-tanks.
Security or Liberty?
There have been calls to decrease the scope of the defense forces to interfere in internal affairs. The police should handle it, and the idea that there is a need for forces with special weapons or more militant tactics to deal with crime seems to many a sign of all that was wrong with the old order. Others have argued that in these chaotic times the need is greater than ever. Separating them and enacting laws to further this split would cost little directly, but could cause bruised egos and negative effects. The demand for this is increasing, and at the moment, resting under military control, police-reforms are all but impossible.
Cost: 150 wealth
Probability: 60%, failure means laws are poorly written, bitterly opposed, or wind up compromising and not fully separating police and defense-forces.
Reward: Separate police and defense forces, updated planet page to represent this, improved opinion of the common Hiver, grumblings among the defense forces, ???
With the Fleets
You are not a bug that gets along with ships. You sometimes get a little sick, really, in hyperspace. But you know that the fleets are important, for fighting the pirates, protecting the world, all sorts of things. Learn more about the fleet. How loyal are its officers, other than the few you know personally that you'd be sending orders to and hoping they could work out everything else? How good are its ships, does it have enough in the way of budgeting? There's a lot you don't know, and that's not a good thing when they're sitting overhead with weapons that--were it not for treaties against it--could scour all of the life on the planet if given long enough for a sustained bombardment.
The budgetary information and the links with some of the lower officers have given you an in towards this.
Cost: Free
Probability: 75%
Reward: Fleet information acquired, possibility of gauging the opinion of the fleet towards you, possible improved relationship with them.
Talk to the Soldier Caste
You've known soldiers, you've befriended soldiers and loved and hated those from the soldier castes. They are people just like anyone else, as much members of the Hive as any, and you could talk to them, get to know their desires and their fears, and try to open up to them.
Your relative laxness has gotten them to open up somewhat for the moment.
Cost: Free
Probability: 70%
Reward: Improved relations with soldier-castes, get gossip/news/information about their concerns and what their leaders might have in mind.
Diplomacy: You're getting used to talking to the people, and it's starting to show, if only it was that easy to talk your way out of the mess that seems to have enveloped your planet in terms of the treaties. (Pick 2)
No, seriously, what happened?
You are going to talk to the monarch, and anyone that you can find. It boggles your mind and gives you a headache every time you think about their misrule. You need to talk to them, figure out what happened and why it happened, in order to prevent this sort of thing in the future. And because your suspicion of them has increased dramatically over the last few months, to the point where you're half-afraid they're working against you.
Traitors, the lot of them, Hazitean says, deserving of being pushed up against the wall and shot. Your disagreement when she says it is rather...less vocal than it was before.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: Information, knowledge, options.
Caste of Diplomats?
You have an entire caste of diplomats. Just...how good are they? Have they been doing a good job? Are there any candidates from within there that you might promote to ambassadors? Any major problems sneaking up on you? You need to find out.
Your faith in them has been shaken, or at least the ambassadors, but it's also convinced you that you need someone on this yesterday.
Cost: None
Probability: 60%
Reward: More options, have some choices for a diplomatic Advisor, ???
Repatriated Repatriation
You could bite the bullet and go through the proper channels to sign onto the Repatriation treaty directly. It'd be a long process, and at the moment the intergalactic trust isn't there, but it's the least you can do, and while it might be problematic, there are many more among the few who yet know of it that are appalled and want to correct the problem as soon as possible. And if it spread, knowledge of the fact that the treaty was not signed, these calls will no doubt get louder and louder.
Cost: 100 Wealth (sending people to argue the case, etc)
Probability: 40%
Reward: Sign onto the treaty.
Possibilities: Human Powers?
One of the more obvious ways to look diplomatically is towards the various human powers in the regions. Acquire dossiers on them, learn more about their trading needs, figure out as much as you can about them for the purpose of having more complete diplomatic relationships later on.
Cost: 200 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Options.
Possibilities: Xvorzith Hives
Even more obvious are the other Xvorzit hives. Many have governments similar to the one you're trying to set up, so you could talk to them, try to figure out how you might work together. It'd be easier in some ways, though ultimately you are competitors as well as friends in the economic struggle. But it's certainly something you could follow up on.
Cost: 200 Wealth
Probability: 70%
Reward: Options for the option god!
Learn the Will of the Hive
What do the people want, diplomatically? Are there any groups that haven't been heard, are there options that have been ignored because they have come from outside the usual context and the corridors of power? You should ask around, start to get to know the people's will.
Cost: Free
Probability: 70%
Reward: Options, Learn the Will of the Hive on these matters, increased commoner opinion, ???
Fair, Balanced and Well Funded
You need to work things out a little better. Some more money and this time make it stick, increase funding and it can still work out, you're sure! Hire some better news-people, vary up your programming, it's all possible, it seems. It just is going to take a little more work.
Cost: 400 Wealth, 50 more Wealth a turn.
Probability: 70%
Reward: Finally get it to work.
Reveal the Treaties
The nature of the treaties you've signed onto will get out eventually, likely sooner than later. So you could try to reveal it in a way that allows you to minimize the damage, going around and talking to people, trying to get the Hive on your side when it comes to this very pressing. You'd go around, complete with ads, media information, events designed to raise awareness, a full attempt to spin this as best as can be done.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Information gets out, populace backs you on this.
Talk to the Colonies
The administrators currently in charge might or might not have to go, but either way you need to make sure everyone's working together, legs locked and all of that. Talking to them and making sure there are not any concerns or problems you're missing is a good start to that.
Cost: 25 Wealth
Probability: 65%
Reward: Information, concerns, increased contact.
Winnow the Ambassadors
Which ones are incompetent? Which aren't? You don't know, and at this point you need to set things up to send ambassadors back out and re-establish ties with other polities. To do so you need to find out the corrupt ones, the incompetents, and also find those outside of the Diplomatic Caste who might be tapped as ambassadors to assemble a team to restore the full diplomatic functions of the government in a way that allows your interests to be advanced in a proper manner.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Sort out ambassadors, are now prepared to work in your interests, ???
Renegotiate
You could send someone (or yourself) to the Iashec to attempt to negotiate the treaties they have with you. Try to tone them down, try to begin the process of wriggling out of them or at least moving away from them cautiously, carefully, and slowly.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 100%
Reward: Diplomacy Turns' where you send someone (or go yourself) and negotiate and talk and etc, and see what you get out of it.
Talk to Sol
Prime-Minister Mutumbo has sent an offer to talk, to discuss things. Very privately and very carefully, but it is an offer that seems genuine. You could take them up on that offer, there's surely much you have to discuss with them. You or someone you send, that is. There is the chance it could go wrong, but it seems such an obvious opportunity, and the temptation is strong.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 100%
Reward: 'Diplomacy Turns' where you send someone (or go yourself) and negotiate and talk and etc, and see what you get out of it.
You are going to talk to the monarch, and anyone that you can find. It boggles your mind and gives you a headache every time you think about their misrule. You need to talk to them, figure out what happened and why it happened, in order to prevent this sort of thing in the future. And because your suspicion of them has increased dramatically over the last few months, to the point where you're half-afraid they're working against you.
Traitors, the lot of them, Hazitean says, deserving of being pushed up against the wall and shot. Your disagreement when she says it is rather...less vocal than it was before.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: Information, knowledge, options.
Caste of Diplomats?
You have an entire caste of diplomats. Just...how good are they? Have they been doing a good job? Are there any candidates from within there that you might promote to ambassadors? Any major problems sneaking up on you? You need to find out.
Your faith in them has been shaken, or at least the ambassadors, but it's also convinced you that you need someone on this yesterday.
Cost: None
Probability: 60%
Reward: More options, have some choices for a diplomatic Advisor, ???
Repatriated Repatriation
You could bite the bullet and go through the proper channels to sign onto the Repatriation treaty directly. It'd be a long process, and at the moment the intergalactic trust isn't there, but it's the least you can do, and while it might be problematic, there are many more among the few who yet know of it that are appalled and want to correct the problem as soon as possible. And if it spread, knowledge of the fact that the treaty was not signed, these calls will no doubt get louder and louder.
Cost: 100 Wealth (sending people to argue the case, etc)
Probability: 40%
Reward: Sign onto the treaty.
Possibilities: Human Powers?
One of the more obvious ways to look diplomatically is towards the various human powers in the regions. Acquire dossiers on them, learn more about their trading needs, figure out as much as you can about them for the purpose of having more complete diplomatic relationships later on.
Cost: 200 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Options.
Possibilities: Xvorzith Hives
Even more obvious are the other Xvorzit hives. Many have governments similar to the one you're trying to set up, so you could talk to them, try to figure out how you might work together. It'd be easier in some ways, though ultimately you are competitors as well as friends in the economic struggle. But it's certainly something you could follow up on.
Cost: 200 Wealth
Probability: 70%
Reward: Options for the option god!
Learn the Will of the Hive
What do the people want, diplomatically? Are there any groups that haven't been heard, are there options that have been ignored because they have come from outside the usual context and the corridors of power? You should ask around, start to get to know the people's will.
Cost: Free
Probability: 70%
Reward: Options, Learn the Will of the Hive on these matters, increased commoner opinion, ???
Fair, Balanced and Well Funded
You need to work things out a little better. Some more money and this time make it stick, increase funding and it can still work out, you're sure! Hire some better news-people, vary up your programming, it's all possible, it seems. It just is going to take a little more work.
Cost: 400 Wealth, 50 more Wealth a turn.
Probability: 70%
Reward: Finally get it to work.
Reveal the Treaties
The nature of the treaties you've signed onto will get out eventually, likely sooner than later. So you could try to reveal it in a way that allows you to minimize the damage, going around and talking to people, trying to get the Hive on your side when it comes to this very pressing. You'd go around, complete with ads, media information, events designed to raise awareness, a full attempt to spin this as best as can be done.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Information gets out, populace backs you on this.
Talk to the Colonies
The administrators currently in charge might or might not have to go, but either way you need to make sure everyone's working together, legs locked and all of that. Talking to them and making sure there are not any concerns or problems you're missing is a good start to that.
Cost: 25 Wealth
Probability: 65%
Reward: Information, concerns, increased contact.
Winnow the Ambassadors
Which ones are incompetent? Which aren't? You don't know, and at this point you need to set things up to send ambassadors back out and re-establish ties with other polities. To do so you need to find out the corrupt ones, the incompetents, and also find those outside of the Diplomatic Caste who might be tapped as ambassadors to assemble a team to restore the full diplomatic functions of the government in a way that allows your interests to be advanced in a proper manner.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Sort out ambassadors, are now prepared to work in your interests, ???
Renegotiate
You could send someone (or yourself) to the Iashec to attempt to negotiate the treaties they have with you. Try to tone them down, try to begin the process of wriggling out of them or at least moving away from them cautiously, carefully, and slowly.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 100%
Reward: Diplomacy Turns' where you send someone (or go yourself) and negotiate and talk and etc, and see what you get out of it.
Talk to Sol
Prime-Minister Mutumbo has sent an offer to talk, to discuss things. Very privately and very carefully, but it is an offer that seems genuine. You could take them up on that offer, there's surely much you have to discuss with them. You or someone you send, that is. There is the chance it could go wrong, but it seems such an obvious opportunity, and the temptation is strong.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 100%
Reward: 'Diplomacy Turns' where you send someone (or go yourself) and negotiate and talk and etc, and see what you get out of it.
Stewardship: The economy is improving, even as it seems more and more likely that there are fundamental problems with your budget. Your people, on the other hand, are in the midst of a moderate economic upswing, and this can and perhaps should be channeled in the right method. Yet there are still calls for more protection of workers and regulation at the same time. Your attention is divided, and you're very busy, driven to exhaustion by an economic situation you aren't trained to handle. (Pick 4)
Colony Administration
Try to arrange the administration of the colonies in a way that will work better. Right now there are appointed governors and small-councils and the like, you could bring democracy (and people who are more surely in your pocket) to the colonies!
Cost: 100 Wealth, 50 Wealth a turn.
Probability: 60%
Reward: New colonial administration, stronger hold on them, options.
Colonial Holdings
The colonies exist to be profitable, and to profit the Hive most of all. Work on getting production in them back, figure out where the levers of power are, and try to figure out whether the Iashec and other powers have any hold here. After all, your economy needs all the help it can get.
Cost: 250
Probability: 60%
Reward: Colonial economy back on track, foreign influence in the economy detected, options.
Buy-out?
You know the Iashec have holdings on the planet, tax-free other than bribes and a few taxes they aren't immune to. You could research and begin buying out the smaller of the holdings and companies, while seeing what else you can do. Ultimately you want them all gone, yet short of nationalizing them in an overt act, it's going to be expensive and take a while, but it might have very positive effects on the economy.
Cost: 500 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: Government now owns several companies, potential wealth increase, options on what to do with them, knowledge of the larger or harder-to-buy-out Iashec firms.
Open Up Avenues
Your trade is far too one-sided, producing things for the Iashec, for Stendar, even some things for the heretics. Not anything like a reasonable split. You could invest some money in opening up trade with other powers, incentivizing it for your business-class and seeing what comes up.
Cost: 50 Wealth, 100 Wealth a Turn
Probability: 50% (If failed, will be rerolled for free next turn.)
Reward: Give business, tax, and other incentives towards opening up trade, gets new options, has a chance to start generating Wealth in taxes and economic expansion.
Unhelpful Taxes
There are taxes designed towards the underclasses, like the way that there is a tax for having more than one sac worth of kids, or the extra taxes levied if you live in houses constructed by non-builder-caste members. Those you know about. Your former caste. Tons of them cluster, and then there are payroll taxes, and taxes on basic necessities, and 'buy in' taxes designed to make sure that each and every member of the society has 'chitin in the game.' It's all rather problematic, and bizarrely enough, here Hazitean is taking the lead in advocating against them. She was born poor, and still remembers those times.
Cost: 300 Wealth
Probability: 60% (Hazitean gives a +20 bonus.)
Reward: -600 Wealth a turn, Worker opinion increases, potential long-term gains.
Exemptions Must Go
The Ruler-Caste doesn't pay taxes. The merchants don't pay import fees. People of the military caste have 50% discounts on all taxes. The Diplomatic Caste is immune from all import and export fees, as well as any fees on gifts they receive, and there are a thousand other exemptions. Some are not entirely bad and might be turned into some sort of 'tax-credit/reduction' sort of thing, like with teachers, or with builders and house-property-taxes or so on, but a lot of it just can't be defended at all. Rip it all away, and let the light of taxation finally hit them.
Cost: 250 Wealth
Probability: ???, rolling better means you get more.
Reward: 500-1000 Wealth a turn, targeted groups will like you less.
Lower Taxes
The counterpoint is that the exemptions, while unfair, are also the only thing keeping the system going. As utterly messed up as the taxation system is, if everyone was getting hit equally it'd fall apart. More efficiency could, some argue, lead to depressed economic growth. Yet at the same time lowering taxes would lead to a large shortfall, and in the long term everyone admits it isn't a solution.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: -800 Taxation income, tax burden reduced, mitigates for exemptions, preventing the economy from dipping, but might create difficulties in the future. Increased opinion of you across the board, though.
No Mr. Bond, I expect you to mature in 5, 10, or 20 years
Bonds are an idea that Kikkizit suggested off-hand, having read about them in both Xvorzit Hives and Barsa and Human worlds. It gives a way for the common citizen to invest in the government at a time where the question of corporate investment is rather muted. It would, of course, have to be set up well, and more than that it would be subject to the whims of consumer interest and confidence. But it could make money and it wouldn't step on any toes.
Cost: 150 Wealth, 25 Wealth a turn (for the structure and such)
Probability: 80%
Reward: Unknown amount of Wealth per turn, increases and decreases based on the confidence the people have and the economic situation. Currently estimated to be between 250-300 Wealth.
Study the Workers' Plight
You know there is abuse. You mean to stop it, ultimately. Hours too long by their own laws, work too dangerous in a day and age when there's no good reason to use workers as if you're back on the home-planet, back when the Industrial Revolutions, to borrow the human phrase, were going on. You could investigate into these abuses, and get to the bottom of it.
Cost: 500 Wealth
Probability: 75% (60% with 'Restore Productivity)
Reward: Learn more about potential abuses, open up options, potentially increase worker opinions, potentially reduce merchant opinions.
Restore Productivity
The money needs yet to flow. The economy is starting to get back on track a little, but it still needs a boost. Or rather, production needs a boost, since now that the numbers have been laid out before you, it is quite clear that the economy was spinning towards the gutter, towards a place where all of the productivity in the world would just mean more money wasted paying taxes that would go to servicing a debt heedlessly acquired. Either way, there are still many that argue that this is potentially dangerous to the worker.
Cost: 600 Wealth
Probability: 70% (50% with 'Study the Workers' Plight).
Reward: Potentially increased mercantile-caste opinions of you, potentially decreased worker opinions, economic production resumes full-tilt, income gained from that.
Talk to the Castes
There were certain castes that that ran the bureaucracy that the ruler-castes led, they organized the economy, they did much of the middle-management. And they have been cast aside for the moment. You could reach out a hand and talk to them, learn about their concerns and see what they know?
Cost: Free
Probability: 80%, roll 1d100+Stewardship+½ Diplomacy to see how they take it.
Reward: Information, more knowledge of what they think of you. Opens up options.
Judicial Activism
Judges are terrible, chosen by inter-caste mechanics, and not remotely fair. You can solve all of these, taking the selection away from the Judicial Caste, for the moment doing it via appointment, and eliminating those judges that don't measure up. Eventually you'll have to stop doing it by hand, it's not efficient, but for the moment there's at least enough information to start throwing out the worst offenders and starting with a clean slate, however difficult in time and work (with lawyers) it would be.
Cost: 150 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: Judicial oversight, options.
Lawyer Up
The standards for lawyers is both far too strict and far too lax. Call attention to their problems and change the standards in a way that doesn't lead to as much railroading. It'd take money, potentially money you don't have, but it'd improve standards some. And keep lawyers from acting only in the interest of winning over anything like justice.
Cost: 100 Wealth a turn.
Probability: 75%
Reward: Better lawyers and law-situation. Options might eventually open up (give it time.)
Sweep the Laws
There are many laws that are currently still being used mostly as a tool against those the government or society doesn't like whether they are guilty of anything or not. With a single wave of your hand you can eliminate them. At the moment you can't see the forest for the trees in arguments about murder, police action, drug-policy and so on over the blatantly problematic laws designed only to silence dissent. At the moment they're only just starting to hesitantly be employed by a chastened justice-system, but if not eliminated, it's likely to continue.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 70%
Reward: Worker opinion increases, laws are more fair, options (Ia, etc, etc)
Palace Fees
No. Get rid of it. You cannot possibly accept this as a valid use of economic power of your country, and you have to at least reduce it. It'll be dicey, and there might be calls against it from some, while others call for its complete elimination. You'll try to balance it, reducing it greatly while not leading to protest or dislike.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 70%
Reward: 500-1000 Wealth, potential raised/lowered ruler/worker opinion. The rest of that money (300-800 Wealth) would have to be gotten at in the budget more subtly because it's less obviously payoffs and might cause a bigger stink.
Diplomatics?
How much of that huge diplomatic budget is corruption? If any of it is, can it be taken away? And is there any waste or areas where it could be trimmed down even if it isn't corrupt? You're still not at the 'belt tightening and desperate scrabbling part...well, mostly, but surely there's a little fat there.
Cost: 25 Wealth
Probability: 55%
Reward: Wealth? Information? Options?
(Free) Money is Money
You're paying 5% a year on debt-servicing. The agreements say that you only have to pay 4.5 percent. It's not much, but at this point you're just about to start looking under the couch cushions for more money.
Cost: Free
Probability: 100%
Reward: Money owed grows slightly faster, have a little be more money each turn to your own, 25ish.
Search for an Advisor
You need help. Being able to fund a resistance movement or a secret holo-cast channel or do your household budget with your eyes closed and not counting off on your digits is not the same as running a world economy. Search for someone to help you.
Cost: 200 Wealth, 100 Wealth per turn to budget for him.
Probability: 100% (roll to see how good of a selection you find to choose from.)
Reward: An economic advisor. If they have a higher Stewardship than you than you can finally have time to take a breath without numbers swimming through your head. Number of Stewardship options likely to stay the same, but taking time off of focusing on it will give +1 Personal actions.
(Hive) Caste or No Caste
It'll begin small, aimed at the specific complaints addressed to you, rather than at the issue as a whole, but something is better than nothing, right? Remove restrictions on low-level jobs that exist which protect them for certain castes. It's not targeting the soldier-caste, the rulers, the merchants and the diplomats yet, nor other high-value castes, but it's part of a process, or it can be seen that way. However, some argue that taking small steps won't solve the larger problem and that it's premature. And yet the call is strong.
You HAVE to act against this evil, there is nothing in the world more important than this, many say, and their voices wash over you, an endless tide of complaint that you can tell represents something deeper than merely a few people wishing for jobs they don't deserve.
Call: High
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Caste prejudices in small positions attacked, potential loss/gain of opinion in several groups.
(Hive) Bad Worms, Bad Company
There is consumer protection on the books already, you just need to enforce it. Target the companies pointed out, act against them, and make them actually do their job. Properly. Hit them with all of the legal force your government can currently muster. The companies have subsidiaries, they have power, and yet ultimately they shall answer to the people they have hurt by their flagrant lawybreaking, they must if there is to be any justice in the world.
Call: Moderate
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Consumer protections in place, possible fees from settlements going to you, worker and Hive opinion increased.
(Hive) Public Transportation
Public transportation needs to be better, that much is rather obvious. And there are some calls to do so, even though it is indeed quite expensive. It'd be best at the moment to start with the areas of complaint, a set of Hive-Cities on the southern continent, solving their problems directly without going for the big, sweeping gesture...yet.
Call: Low
Cost: 150 Weath
Probability: 85%
Reward: Public transportation improved in one area. Increased worker opinion.
The Moneybags
The ruler-castes, the bureaucrats, they have money stored away, hidden away. The rich, the powerful they always do. Vast fortunes immune to taxation, immune to sense, covered in blood. You could free it, as it were. Fuck what the former rulers say, the money belongs to the people, through your own will, to spend for their betterment.
Cost: 200 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: ??? Wealth, Caste and Ruler-Caste opinion lowered, perhaps dramatically, ???
Try to arrange the administration of the colonies in a way that will work better. Right now there are appointed governors and small-councils and the like, you could bring democracy (and people who are more surely in your pocket) to the colonies!
Cost: 100 Wealth, 50 Wealth a turn.
Probability: 60%
Reward: New colonial administration, stronger hold on them, options.
Colonial Holdings
The colonies exist to be profitable, and to profit the Hive most of all. Work on getting production in them back, figure out where the levers of power are, and try to figure out whether the Iashec and other powers have any hold here. After all, your economy needs all the help it can get.
Cost: 250
Probability: 60%
Reward: Colonial economy back on track, foreign influence in the economy detected, options.
Buy-out?
You know the Iashec have holdings on the planet, tax-free other than bribes and a few taxes they aren't immune to. You could research and begin buying out the smaller of the holdings and companies, while seeing what else you can do. Ultimately you want them all gone, yet short of nationalizing them in an overt act, it's going to be expensive and take a while, but it might have very positive effects on the economy.
Cost: 500 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: Government now owns several companies, potential wealth increase, options on what to do with them, knowledge of the larger or harder-to-buy-out Iashec firms.
Open Up Avenues
Your trade is far too one-sided, producing things for the Iashec, for Stendar, even some things for the heretics. Not anything like a reasonable split. You could invest some money in opening up trade with other powers, incentivizing it for your business-class and seeing what comes up.
Cost: 50 Wealth, 100 Wealth a Turn
Probability: 50% (If failed, will be rerolled for free next turn.)
Reward: Give business, tax, and other incentives towards opening up trade, gets new options, has a chance to start generating Wealth in taxes and economic expansion.
Unhelpful Taxes
There are taxes designed towards the underclasses, like the way that there is a tax for having more than one sac worth of kids, or the extra taxes levied if you live in houses constructed by non-builder-caste members. Those you know about. Your former caste. Tons of them cluster, and then there are payroll taxes, and taxes on basic necessities, and 'buy in' taxes designed to make sure that each and every member of the society has 'chitin in the game.' It's all rather problematic, and bizarrely enough, here Hazitean is taking the lead in advocating against them. She was born poor, and still remembers those times.
Cost: 300 Wealth
Probability: 60% (Hazitean gives a +20 bonus.)
Reward: -600 Wealth a turn, Worker opinion increases, potential long-term gains.
Exemptions Must Go
The Ruler-Caste doesn't pay taxes. The merchants don't pay import fees. People of the military caste have 50% discounts on all taxes. The Diplomatic Caste is immune from all import and export fees, as well as any fees on gifts they receive, and there are a thousand other exemptions. Some are not entirely bad and might be turned into some sort of 'tax-credit/reduction' sort of thing, like with teachers, or with builders and house-property-taxes or so on, but a lot of it just can't be defended at all. Rip it all away, and let the light of taxation finally hit them.
Cost: 250 Wealth
Probability: ???, rolling better means you get more.
Reward: 500-1000 Wealth a turn, targeted groups will like you less.
Lower Taxes
The counterpoint is that the exemptions, while unfair, are also the only thing keeping the system going. As utterly messed up as the taxation system is, if everyone was getting hit equally it'd fall apart. More efficiency could, some argue, lead to depressed economic growth. Yet at the same time lowering taxes would lead to a large shortfall, and in the long term everyone admits it isn't a solution.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: -800 Taxation income, tax burden reduced, mitigates for exemptions, preventing the economy from dipping, but might create difficulties in the future. Increased opinion of you across the board, though.
No Mr. Bond, I expect you to mature in 5, 10, or 20 years
Bonds are an idea that Kikkizit suggested off-hand, having read about them in both Xvorzit Hives and Barsa and Human worlds. It gives a way for the common citizen to invest in the government at a time where the question of corporate investment is rather muted. It would, of course, have to be set up well, and more than that it would be subject to the whims of consumer interest and confidence. But it could make money and it wouldn't step on any toes.
Cost: 150 Wealth, 25 Wealth a turn (for the structure and such)
Probability: 80%
Reward: Unknown amount of Wealth per turn, increases and decreases based on the confidence the people have and the economic situation. Currently estimated to be between 250-300 Wealth.
Study the Workers' Plight
You know there is abuse. You mean to stop it, ultimately. Hours too long by their own laws, work too dangerous in a day and age when there's no good reason to use workers as if you're back on the home-planet, back when the Industrial Revolutions, to borrow the human phrase, were going on. You could investigate into these abuses, and get to the bottom of it.
Cost: 500 Wealth
Probability: 75% (60% with 'Restore Productivity)
Reward: Learn more about potential abuses, open up options, potentially increase worker opinions, potentially reduce merchant opinions.
Restore Productivity
The money needs yet to flow. The economy is starting to get back on track a little, but it still needs a boost. Or rather, production needs a boost, since now that the numbers have been laid out before you, it is quite clear that the economy was spinning towards the gutter, towards a place where all of the productivity in the world would just mean more money wasted paying taxes that would go to servicing a debt heedlessly acquired. Either way, there are still many that argue that this is potentially dangerous to the worker.
Cost: 600 Wealth
Probability: 70% (50% with 'Study the Workers' Plight).
Reward: Potentially increased mercantile-caste opinions of you, potentially decreased worker opinions, economic production resumes full-tilt, income gained from that.
Talk to the Castes
There were certain castes that that ran the bureaucracy that the ruler-castes led, they organized the economy, they did much of the middle-management. And they have been cast aside for the moment. You could reach out a hand and talk to them, learn about their concerns and see what they know?
Cost: Free
Probability: 80%, roll 1d100+Stewardship+½ Diplomacy to see how they take it.
Reward: Information, more knowledge of what they think of you. Opens up options.
Judicial Activism
Judges are terrible, chosen by inter-caste mechanics, and not remotely fair. You can solve all of these, taking the selection away from the Judicial Caste, for the moment doing it via appointment, and eliminating those judges that don't measure up. Eventually you'll have to stop doing it by hand, it's not efficient, but for the moment there's at least enough information to start throwing out the worst offenders and starting with a clean slate, however difficult in time and work (with lawyers) it would be.
Cost: 150 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: Judicial oversight, options.
Lawyer Up
The standards for lawyers is both far too strict and far too lax. Call attention to their problems and change the standards in a way that doesn't lead to as much railroading. It'd take money, potentially money you don't have, but it'd improve standards some. And keep lawyers from acting only in the interest of winning over anything like justice.
Cost: 100 Wealth a turn.
Probability: 75%
Reward: Better lawyers and law-situation. Options might eventually open up (give it time.)
Sweep the Laws
There are many laws that are currently still being used mostly as a tool against those the government or society doesn't like whether they are guilty of anything or not. With a single wave of your hand you can eliminate them. At the moment you can't see the forest for the trees in arguments about murder, police action, drug-policy and so on over the blatantly problematic laws designed only to silence dissent. At the moment they're only just starting to hesitantly be employed by a chastened justice-system, but if not eliminated, it's likely to continue.
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 70%
Reward: Worker opinion increases, laws are more fair, options (Ia, etc, etc)
Palace Fees
No. Get rid of it. You cannot possibly accept this as a valid use of economic power of your country, and you have to at least reduce it. It'll be dicey, and there might be calls against it from some, while others call for its complete elimination. You'll try to balance it, reducing it greatly while not leading to protest or dislike.
Cost: 50 Wealth
Probability: 70%
Reward: 500-1000 Wealth, potential raised/lowered ruler/worker opinion. The rest of that money (300-800 Wealth) would have to be gotten at in the budget more subtly because it's less obviously payoffs and might cause a bigger stink.
Diplomatics?
How much of that huge diplomatic budget is corruption? If any of it is, can it be taken away? And is there any waste or areas where it could be trimmed down even if it isn't corrupt? You're still not at the 'belt tightening and desperate scrabbling part...well, mostly, but surely there's a little fat there.
Cost: 25 Wealth
Probability: 55%
Reward: Wealth? Information? Options?
(Free) Money is Money
You're paying 5% a year on debt-servicing. The agreements say that you only have to pay 4.5 percent. It's not much, but at this point you're just about to start looking under the couch cushions for more money.
Cost: Free
Probability: 100%
Reward: Money owed grows slightly faster, have a little be more money each turn to your own, 25ish.
Search for an Advisor
You need help. Being able to fund a resistance movement or a secret holo-cast channel or do your household budget with your eyes closed and not counting off on your digits is not the same as running a world economy. Search for someone to help you.
Cost: 200 Wealth, 100 Wealth per turn to budget for him.
Probability: 100% (roll to see how good of a selection you find to choose from.)
Reward: An economic advisor. If they have a higher Stewardship than you than you can finally have time to take a breath without numbers swimming through your head. Number of Stewardship options likely to stay the same, but taking time off of focusing on it will give +1 Personal actions.
(Hive) Caste or No Caste
It'll begin small, aimed at the specific complaints addressed to you, rather than at the issue as a whole, but something is better than nothing, right? Remove restrictions on low-level jobs that exist which protect them for certain castes. It's not targeting the soldier-caste, the rulers, the merchants and the diplomats yet, nor other high-value castes, but it's part of a process, or it can be seen that way. However, some argue that taking small steps won't solve the larger problem and that it's premature. And yet the call is strong.
You HAVE to act against this evil, there is nothing in the world more important than this, many say, and their voices wash over you, an endless tide of complaint that you can tell represents something deeper than merely a few people wishing for jobs they don't deserve.
Call: High
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Caste prejudices in small positions attacked, potential loss/gain of opinion in several groups.
(Hive) Bad Worms, Bad Company
There is consumer protection on the books already, you just need to enforce it. Target the companies pointed out, act against them, and make them actually do their job. Properly. Hit them with all of the legal force your government can currently muster. The companies have subsidiaries, they have power, and yet ultimately they shall answer to the people they have hurt by their flagrant lawybreaking, they must if there is to be any justice in the world.
Call: Moderate
Cost: 100 Wealth
Probability: 60%
Reward: Consumer protections in place, possible fees from settlements going to you, worker and Hive opinion increased.
(Hive) Public Transportation
Public transportation needs to be better, that much is rather obvious. And there are some calls to do so, even though it is indeed quite expensive. It'd be best at the moment to start with the areas of complaint, a set of Hive-Cities on the southern continent, solving their problems directly without going for the big, sweeping gesture...yet.
Call: Low
Cost: 150 Weath
Probability: 85%
Reward: Public transportation improved in one area. Increased worker opinion.
The Moneybags
The ruler-castes, the bureaucrats, they have money stored away, hidden away. The rich, the powerful they always do. Vast fortunes immune to taxation, immune to sense, covered in blood. You could free it, as it were. Fuck what the former rulers say, the money belongs to the people, through your own will, to spend for their betterment.
Cost: 200 Wealth
Probability: 50%
Reward: ??? Wealth, Caste and Ruler-Caste opinion lowered, perhaps dramatically, ???
A/N: So, a new mechanic, Call. Basically it represents how strong the call for it is, and thus how much the people want it. As your Will of the Hive increases, the speed at which call increases and what options have it also increases, and ignoring Call can lead to troubles. But an action with a high 'Call' just might be done anyways on its own...which can be good or bad. I'm still experimenting with the idea, but I think it fits with everything else I have worked out for Will of the Hive.
Additionally, the odds and costs of some actions have changed.
Also I'll warn you ahead of time, there's totally a chance you could have "War Turns", "Diplomacy Turns" and "Intrigue Turns" this turn.
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