While diplomacy governs how alliances interact, this page covers internal politics — what happens inside a single empire. Governance form, factional power, legitimacy, succession, civil war, and policy effects.
Each empire is a single governance form, swappable through political reform (with cost):
- Monarchy — single ruler. High legitimacy, slow reform, dynastic succession.
- Republic — elected council. Mid legitimacy, fast reform, periodic elections.
- Theocracy — priest-led. High faith bonus, slow research, religious cohesion.
- Confederation — coalition of regional lords. Strong locality, weak central force projection.
- Imperial Bureaucracy — Jade Lotus signature. Best research, anti-corruption, slow reform.
- Tribal Council — Red Earth, Thunder Lodge default. Drum-network coordination, age-grade regiments.
Each form has its own bonuses, penalties, and culture affinity. Forms outside your culture's affinity cost more legitimacy to maintain.
Factions are interest groups inside your empire:
- Noble — military and civic bureaucracy.
- Merchant — trade and finance.
- Priest — faith and ritual.
- Artisan — production and craft.
- Military — standing army.
- Peasant (in cultures with explicit class) — labor mass.
- Slave (where applicable) — restricted labor.
Each faction has a power score that grows or shrinks with policy choices, war outcomes, and economic shifts. Factions can:
- Demand policy shifts (laws favoring them).
- Boycott or strike (drops production / faith).
- Revolt (in extreme cases — civil war trigger).
Legitimacy is the empire's "permission to rule" stat. It rises with:
- Successful wars.
- Wonder completion.
- Sacred-site preservation.
- Popular policies.
- Heroes / generals attached to the throne.
It drops with:
- Defeats and lost cities.
- Treaty breaches witnessed by gods.
- Famines and plagues.
- Persistent factional unrest.
- Mismatched governance form (theocracy without faith infrastructure, etc.).
Low legitimacy invites civil war and Fanatic emergence (see faith).
When a hero-leader (Capital governor, monarch, council president) dies or is removed:
- Monarchy — dynastic; next-in-line auto-promotes. Crisis if no heir.
- Republic — election event triggers, factions push their candidate.
- Theocracy — high priest auto-promotes from priest pool.
- Confederation — regional lords vote; deadlock → fragmentation.
- Imperial Bureaucracy — examination system promotes the highest scorer.
- Tribal Council — age-grade-based promotion + drum council.
Bad succession events can trigger civil war or de-facto fragmentation.
You can enact policies (governance-gated) like:
- Universal Conscription — manpower cap up, peasant unrest up, salary cost up.
- Free Trade — merchant power up, border control down.
- State Religion — priest faction power up, faith tolerance contracts blocked.
- Land Reform — peasant power up, noble unrest up.
- War Footing — military strength up, economy down, legitimacy if won, devastation if lost.
Each policy has a passive cost and a flip cost. Stacked policies create coherent strategies (e.g., Universal Conscription + War Footing = mass-army empire).
Civil war triggers when:
- A faction's power exceeds central legitimacy.
- A succession crisis fails to resolve.
- A Fanatic uprising escalates to a regional revolt and joins with a disgruntled faction.
In civil war:
- Half (or more) of your cities go rogue or join the rebels.
- Your armies split per faction loyalty.
- Other players can intervene (with all the diplomacy that implies).
- Outcome: either you crush the revolt (legitimacy cost), negotiate a settlement (territorial cost), or lose the empire.
Some cultures (Cairnveil Tuatha, Thunder Lodge, Condor Crown) start in a Confederation form by default. Confederations have:
- Multiple sub-leader cities (each with autonomy bonuses).
- A Council Fire / Drum Tower / Stone Pair as a central legitimacy node.
- Drum-Speed / Adoption / Elevation Logistics network bonuses (culture-specific).
See confederations for the alliance-level mirror.
- Pick a governance form that fits your culture. A Fjordborn Imperial Bureaucracy will struggle.
- Watch faction power. A 60%+ faction is a civil-war ticking clock.
- Hero-leader continuity matters. Don't let your monarchy die without a successor.
- Wonder construction is a legitimacy machine. Even mid-priority wonders pay back politically.
Sources: political_system.md, society_system.md, confederation_mechanics.md, faith_system.md §Fanatic.