An alternative diplomacy stratagem system
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2026 4:22 am
Right now, any given thing that you might want from diplomacy has its own stratagem, and additionally, those are split into major/minor/xeno, so early in the game (often when it's most critical) it's impossible to do some negotiations because the cards don't exist, and late in the game you tend to have a huge number of cards that are not useful.
What if instead of each possible diplomatic agreement having its own stratagem, instead there were cards for major/minor/xeno emissaries, which work similar to opening negotiations with an MTH, corporation or criminal interest. There could be some variety in the types of emissaries but fundamentally any emissary can accomplish the basic range of interactions within their type. Then a lot of the stratagems that currently are divided into different diplomatic goals can instead be used to influence ongoing negotiations in a richer way than just improving or decreasing relations. For instance, applying intimidation, or offering a personal bribe directly to a foreign leader, and so forth.
Optionally, it might be possible to require the use of leaders as emissaries, preventing them from doing their normal job for one turn (unless they are idle in the reserve pool!), but giving a leader relation bonus and letting leaders leverage their CHA abilities. I think more ways to intentionally leverage leader abilities in unexpected ways outside of their job would enrich the leader system.
What if instead of each possible diplomatic agreement having its own stratagem, instead there were cards for major/minor/xeno emissaries, which work similar to opening negotiations with an MTH, corporation or criminal interest. There could be some variety in the types of emissaries but fundamentally any emissary can accomplish the basic range of interactions within their type. Then a lot of the stratagems that currently are divided into different diplomatic goals can instead be used to influence ongoing negotiations in a richer way than just improving or decreasing relations. For instance, applying intimidation, or offering a personal bribe directly to a foreign leader, and so forth.
Optionally, it might be possible to require the use of leaders as emissaries, preventing them from doing their normal job for one turn (unless they are idle in the reserve pool!), but giving a leader relation bonus and letting leaders leverage their CHA abilities. I think more ways to intentionally leverage leader abilities in unexpected ways outside of their job would enrich the leader system.