Sorry about my lack of posting. These last two weeks are the peak busy season for me.

I'm going over the latest draft rules. As for factions, the set-up is still in place as discussed before.

Random Dice + 1-6
is senator already in faction -2
is senator in the same family +2
is senator of different class -2
player's SI +?
target senator's SI -?
SI Faction Tax - 0-8

The form itself is very simplistic for the umpire. Simply enter in the corresponding seat number of the player and target senator and all the related information is recalled. Hit a 'Roll' button and the results are made.

If an attempt is successful, the cpu character is aligned on the senate roster to you and then follows your voting lead until death or is lured to another player's faction.

Longevity of play will make it easier to persuade senators to join you. Therefore, to help level the playing field, we have introduced the SI Faction Tax. Basically, as your faction grows in influence, it becomes harder to attract new members.

With a possible player SI of 10 after long play time, it may be that the tax is still not enough. Let me know your thoughts and we will adjust. I think one of the perks of playing is that it should be easier over time to a degree. And while I do want to keep a moderate amount of balance built into the rules, I think the richness of the game comes from player solutions to power abuse - the ability of other players to form coalitions and handle opponents within the game. I suppose we could toss assassination attempts in there as well, but I think we need to avoid this. We are not in the late republic and violating the character of the time would be met with harsh penalty.

I think it would be fine to up the tax for older players, or perhaps we just go ahead and place a cap on the total number of senators that can be in a faction. Either way, I think the system is virtually set up and ready to play.