Imperial Focus Points:
"The Big Picture"

'Imperial Focus' is the ultimate preciousresource that a player must manage - that is: the player's time and attention.In MOO3, a player can do anything during a turn, but he can'tdo everything, and what limits his ability to be an insensitive,officious, meddlesome micro-manager to his people and their Leaders isImperialFocus.

Every change you make to "the plan" profferedby your bureaucrats (including breaking through bureaucratic gridlock,changing "no action" to "action" and vice versa, and so forth) requiresImperial Focus and is represented by the expenditure of Imperial FocusPoints (IFPs).

The general rule is, you can look at anythingwithin your civilization for free. There is no charge for mere informationgathering or smiling upon plans proffered. But to perform a player's prerogativeand change things, that requires Imperial Focus.

MOO3 Fan Note: "I think the point you'remissing is that IFPs are going to be fundamental to the game. In Chess,there are often several pieces you want to move, but you can only moveone. You have to choose the best move out of an often-enormous series ofpossible moves. It requires thought, planning and timing.

"IFPs serve a similar purpose in MOO3:they add another layer of decisions to make, and problems to solve. Youhave to prioritize. Skillful planners will be rewarded. You have to beable to look ahead, weigh up the risks and decide what needs doing nowso that ten turns later your Empire is where you want it to be. The otherplayers will be doing the same.

"You can't just say 'Whoa! Time out! I need tochange everything now because I didn't see that coming.' If something happensthat you didn't expect, you will have to adapt and improvise as best youcan.

"Even better, you will be able to launch surprisesof your own against unprepared enemies, and watch them scatter like roacheswhen you turn on the kitchen light!"

Imperial Focus Costs (IFPs)

The costs in Imperial Focus break down into threedistinct categories. Some actions are "Free" of Imperial Focus cost. Someactions provide "Unlimited" opportunities to change or do everything withina certain purview for the cost of a single IFP. The most restrictive actionsallow you only a "Single Effort" to affect changes per IFP spent.

Free Actions

All actions where the player is merely reviewingavailable information about anything anywhere within that civilizationare Free Actions.

Unlimited Actions

These actions afford a player plenty of micro-managementopportunities by category. For the cost of a single IFP that turn, a playermay:
 

Manage all of the aspects in a single planet (ifit's a System Seat, Sector Seat, or Imperial Seat, that includes theirspecial planetary functions, if any)

Tend to all matters in the Imperial Senate (proposing,seconding, and all voting)

Design an unlimited number of ships

Create and design unlimited Task Forces and / orArmies (i.e., manipulate the forces in Reserve)

Change all Policies within the Military'spurview (grand strategy, war economy, force ratios, design principles,etc.)

Issue orders to all of that civilization's militaryforces via the High Command screen

Manage all of that civilization's Espionage and Securityactivities

Manage all of that civilization's Research and Developmentactivities

Manage all Personnel activities

Play any or all applicable Events during the PlanningPhase (this is in addition to the cost to play individual Events)

These actions are designed to be the "ImperialFocus sinkholes." For the cost of a single IFP that turn, a player may:
 

• Deal with all the attributes of a single non-militaryDomestic Policy (e.g., Taxes, Forced Labor, Church & State, etc.)
• Initiate or respond to a single diplomatic initiativewith another civilization
• Establish, change or remove a Government Plan forroutine world management (i.e., make a single 'build queue' adjustment)
• Add ('draw') a new Event to the Event Pool (per Event)
• Discard a non-corruption Event (per Event)
• Play an Event (cost varies by individual Event, see"IFPCosts for Events")
• Give "The Speech" (note that multiple IFPs can bespent on The Speech to give it more impact)

When it comes to matters of personally directingmilitary forces, the IFP costs are as follows:
 

• 1 IFP: Designate a single solar system andorder an unlimited number of TFs to it. A "concentrate our forceshere" order.
• 1 IFP: Designate a single solar system andorder an unlimited number of TFs from it. A "move or disperseour forces here" order
• 1 IFP: Set a Military or Political Objectivewith a special "We Need" order to the Big Leader and the head of the WarDepartment. (War, Peace, a particular planet, to raid another civilization,etc.). May want to back these things up with extra IFPs spent backingit up via The Speech to make sure this objective is implemented over Oppositionobjections.
• 1 IFP*: to watch a single space and land battleat a system.
• 2 IFPs*: to command a single space and landbattle at a system

Designer's Note: We might do the watch/commandsper system rather than per battle.

Imperial Focus "Savings and Loans"

One unspent IFP can be saved and transferredover to next turn's allotment.

If a player finds themselves short of IFPs ona given turn, they may "borrow" one IFP by simply overspending ona given turn. If they do so, a pop-up display will warn them of the consequencesof that action and request confirmation. If an IFP is so borrowed, twoare deducted from that civilization's next IFP allotment.

Imperial Focus Allotment

Each turn, Imperial Focus Points are issued afterturns are processed, just prior to the Combat Phase. Certain conditions,policies, government types, Events, etc. can modify a civilization's allotmentof IFPs each turn.

Important: a civilization's IFP allotmentcan never go above 12 nor below 1, no matter how positive or negative thingsmight break.

The formula used to calculate a civilization'sration of IFPs for that turn is:

Per Turn IFP Allotment =

8 [That's the current basevalue, subject to playtesting.]

+2 if that civilization's Government Centralizationis Local Autonomy

+1 if that civilization's Government Centralizationis Decentralized

+1 if Government Agenda is Survivalof the Civilization

+1 if that civilization's government typeis either Unique, Hive or Unification

+1 if that civilization has institutionalizedthe Antaran Outlook "X" discovery

+1 Imperial Focus Points per turn if thiscivilization has the Respect for Authority: Reverent race pick

+1/2 Imperial Focus Points per turn ifthis civilization has the Respect for Authority: Differential racepick

-1/2 Imperial Focus Points per turn ifthis civilization has the Respect for Authority: Insubordinate racepick

-2 if that civilization "borrowed" an IFPlast turn

-1 if Government Agenda is Strivingfor Utopia

-1 if that civilization's government typeis either Oligarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, Democracy, Parliamentary,or Republicanism

-1 if that civilization is a memberof a Faction of civilizations

-1 if that civilization's Government Centralizationis Centralized

-2 if that civilization's Government Centralizationis L'etat? C'est moi.

-d2 if a Foreign Affairs Emergency wasstirred up last turn

-d3 if strikes, shutdowns and slowdownshinder the government

-d3 if that civilization doesn't survivea Leadership Scandal (see Sharp Instrument Scandal Table)

-d4 if that civilization survives a LeadershipScandal (see Sharp Instrument Scandal Table)

+/- Events (variable quantity and duration)