User Guide

DEFENDING VS. PROBE TEAMS
Other than physically hunting them down and destroying them, your best
defense against enemy Probe Teams is to boost your Probe rating through
Social Engineering (see Society Window, below). Investing energy towards
Psych also tends to deter Probe activities (see Energy Allocation, p. 117).
An excellent deterrent to enemy Probe Team activity is simply to station one of your
own Probe Teams in strategically important bases. An enemy Probe Team must
engage and destroy your team before it can undertake any further operations.
The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm Secret Project makes your entire faction immune
to probe activity.
SOCIAL ENGINEERING
Your faction has a purpose, a reason for existing, and that purpose is more
than just dominating all the other factions. Social engineering is the way you
put your social and political philosophy into action. Every Social Engineering
choice you make carries both benefits and liabilities for your faction. It is your
job to see that the benefits support your long-term strategy, and the liabilities
do not significantly detract from it.
Social engineering represents the fundamental defining characteristics of your
faction’s society. The choices you make in regard to these fundamentals liter-
ally affect every aspect of your faction. Use E or select Social Engineering
from your HQ menu to access the Social Engineering Readout.
SOCIETY WINDOW
The Society Window is the upper portion of your Social Engineering Readout
(the bottom portion, dealing with Energy Allocation, is described under
Energy Allocation, p. 117). This is where you actually pick the underpinnings
of your society. It consists of four lines, each representing a fundamental deci-
sion, and four choices for each line. You may make one choice from each line.
These choices determine your society’s base rating in each of the social factor
CONTROLLING SOCIETY
CHAPTER 5
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