Choosing the Final Faction for Shattered Empires

Not sure if this is the right place to be placing this post but it seemed to fit...

Shattered Empires has five factions that will be vying for control in the initial set. Four of those factions have been decided already. The final faction has been put to the fans to create. I posted a facebook event to allow people to submit designs for their faction. At the close of the contest, I looked over the submissions, chose the ones that fit the story the best, then tweaked them to be more in line with the universe I've created for the game.

Those submissions have been narrowed down to two final factions. There is currently a poll on the facebook page

www.facebook.com/shatteredempires

However, I'll go ahead and list the two factions here and see what everyone thinks.

Merchant Coterie

The Merchant Coterie has existed as an organization for over a millennia, formed originally on one of the Core worlds before swiftly expanding to dozens of worlds and thousands of stations throughout the Core. With dealings both above the board and across the black market, the Coterie quickly became a financial powerhouse that was able to influence governments. It
wasn’t until they tried to force their way into one of the Emperor’s pet projects, the Technomages, that they were finally slapped down.

Many of the original leaders of the Coterie were killed, their fleets scattered and their finances seized. The remaining members of the Coterie were given the choice. Stay out of politics or be eradicated. The choice was simple. Returning to their roots, the Coterie focused on their merchant fleet, swiftly becoming one of the top transportation companies in the Empire. Along with that fleet came the need to protect it. Rather than hire mercenaries or purchasing traditional ships, the Coterie introduced the armed merchant craft. Their freighters boasted heavy armaments and their couriers were always outfitted with the most powerful shields and engines money could buy.

With the Empire in disarray after the disappearance of the Emperor, the Coterie is making it’s big bid for power. Using their extensive connections for information gathering, they have begun taking a more active role in the systems that they have a heavy influence in.

In terms of game play, the Coterie has access to Black Market Deals, a type of command that specializes in making Deals, spending command points, yield and cards in return for material gains. They also have the ability to outright Purchase ships. Their stations are hubs of business and can have Yield converted into Riches, which can then be spent among the fleet or from the other stations that are built by the Coterie.

The Void

No one has been quite able to figure out where the Void originally gained sentience. The most favored theory is that a warship computer left functional amidst the wreckage of a huge battle was barely able to initiate automated repairs. During those repairs, certain portions of the core matrix were affected by some of the other technology scattered among the wreckage. Eventually, the wreckage was fully incorporated into the ship in a haphazard amalgation of scrap and technology.

The Void are scavengers, collectors of junk from battle wreckage and other cast offs. It was rumored that at each major conflict over the last thousand years, Void ships remained at the edges of space, waiting to swoop in on the wreckage. Occasionally, an Imperial Rescue mission would encounter the Void ships, scattering the machines until the operation was completed. As the Rescue team would leave the system, the Void could be seen returning to claim what was left of the debris.

With no real form of manufacturing, the Void do not build their own ships. Instead, the break off pieces of existing ships in their fleet, then add pieces of debris onto the new ships.

In terms of game play, Void ships start out with very basic stats. They get evolution counters any time another ship is destroyed or if certain conditions are made at the Base.