Factions/Zeth Anocracy

The Zeth are challenging to play against and should not be used if other players are new.

## Zeth Anocracy

### Species

Zeth

Zeth are not really playing the same game as everyone else — they are running a protection racket. Recommended for players who are good at being mean and pretending to be scary. Not recommended when the other players in the game are new.

## Background

The galaxy is full of marks. By the standards of the aliens, the Zeth are primitive: an iron age civilization trapped in cycles of theft, manipulation, and extortion. What the Zeth lack in technological know-how, they make up in sheer deviousness and a Machiavellian ability to manipulate their friends and enemies.

## The Confluence

While the Zeth are not unified by any means, certain patterns have emerged. Zeth take advantage of alien weaknesses such as "ethics" and "honesty" to dominate black markets and illicit industries of all sorts. Simultaneously, they've begun collecting blackmail on the rich and powerful from the many alien species. The aliens fear what would happen should the Zeth dominate the growing society, but even this fear is a tool in the Zeth's manipulative arsenal.

## Gameplay Information

Stealing:

* Trading with a player makes them safe.
* May steal from each player at most once a turn.
* Envoy tokens make stealing permanently cheaper.

### Envoys

The "Envoys" factory produces many resources, which must be traded or gifted to the same player along with an envoy token. As a reminder, players may not refuse a gift. The Zeth may trade (not gift) envoy tokens from their stash to other players but other players may not trade envoy tokens between themselves nor trade them back. If the Zeth run out of envoy tokens, they may run the "Envoys" converter without producing an envoy token.

### Theft

When the Zeth are in the game, an additional phase is added: the "Zeth Steal Phase" is after the Confluence Phase, at the end of each turn. including the final turn.

The Zeth may run their red stealing converters during the Zeth Steal Phase. The output of a stealing converter is the ability to take a set of resources from another player. If a player doesn't have enough resources, the Zeth steal as much as they can. Stealing converters care about the size and shape, but not color, of the resources they steal. Each stealing converter can steal from exactly one player.

Furthermore, the Zeth may not use two stealing converters against the same player in one turn.

All stealing converters have at least two ways to pay for their input. If the target has envoy tokens, less expensive options become available. This does not use up those tokens.

Unity wild resources cannot be stolen.

### Protection Racket

The Zeth may not steal from a player that they traded with during the previous Trade Phase. Use the "Danger/Safe" tokens to keep track of this for each player.

This restriction means that the Zeth can ask players to pay them off if they want to avoid being stolen from.

Note that donation resources that were forced to be given to a player are not trades and do not offer protection from theft. Players can't protect themselves by gifting donation resources to the Zeth, nor are they protected if they receive the output of "Envoys" as a gift instead of a trade. Donations can be traded to the Zeth, but that must be clearly stated when the trade occurs, and, as with all trades, the Zeth may refuse.

## Advice

Ideally, the Zeth want to be paid every turn by every other player to avoid you stealing from them. A payment of one small cube, or an equivalent profit on trades, is an excellent starting value. Be willing to steal from players who hold out, but remember that receiving bribes is the objective, not stealing.

Playing the Zeth well is about acting as much as it is about strategy. Convince other players that you have an irrational love of stealing their hard-earned resources, If someone doesn't trade with you, steal the resources they most value - the Zeth's primary export is suffering, and it works best if you make it personalized suffering,

The resources produced by "Envoys" are quite valuable: enough that the other players should be willing to bid against each other for them. All told, it is worth a bit over four small cubes in trade. If the players aren't paying enough, try selling the rights to the output of "Envoys" the turn before you run it. If no-one is willing to pay, don't run "Envoys" and save your resources instead.

Multi-turn deals are a weakness for the Zeth. Since making good on debts in either direction involves handing a player resources, it counts as a trade and therefore grants safety. Account for this when making any deal that lasts more than one turn.

## Rules Clarification

### Caylion Collaborative

The Caylion gain safety when a project the Zeth voted on is activated. Other players who voted on the project do not gain safety unless they exchanged something with the Zeth. If the Zeth sell their vote to another player and that vote is used to activate a project, the Zeth where not part of the activation, so the Caylion are not automatically safe.

1. ↑ Sidereal Confluence: Bifurcation Rulebook
2. ↑ https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3020258/article/41642857#41642857