Social Engineering Matrix

[Trenacker]

There are significantly more Social Engineering choices in RtD than original SMAC. This allows players to experiment with a wider range of political, economic, value, and future society systems.

Expressed as a matrix and columns and rows, Social Engineering options are usually unlocked by technological or doctrinal breakthroughs. In a select few cases, they may also become available after a faction completes or captures a Secret Project.

The first “column” of options is, of course, the null set—those systems conferring no bonus or malus. This column consists of Frontier Politics, which reflects reliance on personal loyalties and appeals to the mission charter; the self-explanatory Barter Economics; Survival Values; and no vision for the future.

The “Traditional” set of options occupies the next column. These choices hearken back to the earliest forms and aspirations of human organization. Feudal Politics sacrifices central control for advantages in military mobilization. Workshop Economics reflects the outsized power of master technicians—and the corresponding difficulty of forcing independent workshops to obey the dictates of a leadership that is still depending on them to keep basic life support running. Conformity Values prioritize cohesion (stability) before personal fulfillmet. The Future Society envisioned in this vertical is one that has achieved the ancient dream of Medical Immortality, overcoming the frailty of the human bod—with consequential improvements to intellectual output and high demands on faction resources.

The next vertical (column) belongs to the “Classical” choices that reflect the faction leader’s incentive to centralize control. Oligarchic Politics gives the player freedom to define the competing interest groups that drive their faction. Mercantilist Economics sees the emergence of state monopolies: industrial growth and trade output are increased at the expense of social cohesion and Planet, reflecting the exploitative relationship between the political center and outlying colonies. An explicit Centralization value appears, useful for those who like to “play tall,” focusing on a single base. The Eusocial Future Society option simulates the perverse achievement of a society in which individuals are adapted to fit the needs of the collective, perhaps through genetic engineering, perhaps through cybernetic modification.

More tomorrow!

[Trenacker]

The next column on the Social Engineering matrix is labeled "TwenCen," after the abbreviated term for the 20th century coined by MysticWind in the Racing the Darkness and Outrun the Light settings. This vertical lists social arrangements popular during a particularly tumultuous period in Old Earth's history.

The Autocratic Politics choice simulates dictatorship, conferring bonuses to both military mobilization and social control at the expense of administration and culture, reflecting the damage to institutions and human dignity inflicted by such arrangements. It is unlocked by Doctrine: Loyalty.

After the discovery of Management Cybernetics, Command Economics captures the circumstances in which production is subordinated to central planning. Industry and growth take off, at the expense of trade and the environment. Prototype costs also rise, reflecting the difficulty of course correction with a vast bureaucracy.

Power Values are unsurprisingly tied to the Doctrine: Power breakthrough. This society seeks military hegemony. Boosts to unit morale and army size are paid for by maluses to industry and growth that reflect a society's complete dedication to war-making.

The Thought Control Future Society option comprehends a situation in which, through a combination of memetic communication and cybernetic technology, citizens becomes subjects who are told what to think. As with all Future Society options, the bonuses and maluses are more extreme than those for Politics, Economics, or Values choices. A massive increase in the society's Police score, along with more modest increases to Probe and Morale scores, are paid for by reductions in mobilization potential, a research maluses, and a seasonal energy cost to run the mechanisms that pipe "truth" to the masses. This choice is made possible by the Óneiromachaíri tech. That word is Greek for "dream knife."

The next vertical is called "Unrestricted." Open lanes for political and economic competition breed innovation, wealth, and the slew of social problems that attend those things.

Digital Currency, all the way at the top end of the tech tree, makes possible a Plutocratic Politics in which the wealthy make choices for everyone. Trade income explodes, but cohesion, administration, and social equity suffer.

The Free Market Economics choice, made possible by Industrial Economics, means an economy that is only loosely regulated, if at all. Trade booms and prototyping becomes significantly cheaper, but the environment and social equality suffer accordingly.

When a society has no gods before money, it has embraced Wealth Values, which are unlocked by the Wireless Energy Transmission tech. Industry and the economy go into overdrive for a steep cost to morale. It's hard to be fat and happy in a foxhole.

Speaking of fat and happy, Engram Fabrication or The Virtual World Special Project can unlock the Epicurean Future Society, in which robot servitors make it possible for humans to be completely free of struggle. On the gentle side of things, our robot butler, Jeeves, delivers our slippers, but one could just as easily imagine brains in jars receiving constant endorphin therapy. Epicurean societies are probably pursuing cultural victory. They gain artist, thinker, and robot populations along with a steady income of Medical Supplies (which can be used for health or traded for energy) but are highly vulnerable to probe action. Growth also slows down, and military mobilization potential is reduced.

[Trenacker]

The Popular category of social engineering choices is next. These choices derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed. Democratic Politics (Ethical Calculus) stimulates culture and growth but causes a society to become skeptical of military aggression. Planned Economics (Planetary Networks) grants bonuses to administration, industry, and probe activity (simulating the role of industrial espionage), with maluses to cohesion and support as government picks winners and losers. Expressive Values (Intellectual Integrity) cause a flowering of artistic and doctrinal production at the cost of increase faction and yet more opposition to war-making. Finally Eudaimonic Future Societies (Eudaimonia) call for each person to pursue excellence in the physical, mental, and professional spheres. Research and doctrinal output climb, with reduced tolerance for police and increasing alienation from cybernetic choices. (As the human body is increasingly celebrates, there is growing fear of the mind/machine interface).

The Enlightened category of social engineering choices places philosophical and emotional advancement ahead of material interests. Theocratic Politics (Ceremonial Burial) increases morale and probe defense at the cost of research output. There are also minor bonuses to social control. Green Economics (Environmental Economics) helps improve a society's planet score and confers administrative benefits but puts a limit on growth and industry. More water is produced, and there is a bonus to remediate pollution and radiation. Egalitarian Values (Doctrine: Syndicalism) call for radical social leveling: the economy cools off in return for bonuses to equity and happiness. Empathic Future Societies (Centauri Psi) seek a psychic connection with Planet that amplifies the effects of Green Economics.

[Trenacker]

The Romantic category of social engineering choices is for factions going in search of an idealized past. The Stratocratic Politics choice, unlocked by Doctrine: Defense, simulates a governing junta. The bonuses are a general morale increase and the appearance of Officer POPS in every base, but culture and the economy are both taxed. Autarkic Economics, made possibly by Management Cybnetics, is for those who cherish self-sufficiency. Society gains a major bonus to probe defense as well as a Thinker and some military mobilization potential, but technology research and commerce both take hits. Retrospective Values call for pursuit of a mythologized past after a society discovers Genetic Memory. Cultural bonuses stack with a choice of an Artist or Librarian in the faction HQ but cohesion and military size take small penalties. The Robotocratic Future Society speaks to a situation in which the calculations of computers increasingly substitute for human judgement, possibly leading to the domination of human society by AI. Industry and Robot POPs explode, but equity and probe defense both suffer. This choice becomes possible with the discover of the Bot Net, as well as when a faction completes the Self-Aware Colony secret project.

The Expert column, our last, reflects a society managed by a trained elite and increasingly comfortable with the use of technology. Technocratic Politics, made possibly by Operations Research, improves Administration and grants a Talent at the cost of population growth. Public Development Economics, unlocked through the Adaptive Economics tech, guarantees a universal basic income and redirects most of society's surplus to cultural pursuits, including research. In consequence, a society's output and military performance both decline. Knowledge Values, which can be chosen with Intellectual Integrity, post huge gains in research at the cost of probe defense. The Cybernetic Future Society, accessible by discovering Cyberethics, involves the fusion of biology and machinery. Administration, research, and the number of Robot POPS are increased, but a society's Police score is seriously affected.

[MysticWind]

TwenCen is actually from Earth by David Brin.

Having the categories be linked to progression in human history is a nice touch, differentiates them in progression and allows for retrofuturistic Future Society ideas.