Imitation Empires

All the Races of Mass Effect, Star Trek, Star Wars, the great Empires of History and all else can be done in Stellaris. However when trying to copy a race/government from a popular Science Fiction or Historical source, it is easy to get lost in the sea of Species Traits and Government Ethoses and Civics.

I had some thoughts and insights on the mater wich I found worthwhile sharing.

This guide has been updated for 2.0.

Government != People

If Stellaris shows us one thing with the two (three with Synthetic Dawn) human stock factions (or the Starcrossed Starfish Streams), it is that there is quite a difference between people of a empire and it's Goverment/Ruling Culture.

The Government and it's Ethos controls more about how the game is played then species traits. You can pick any stock species, slap a different Government and Civics onto it and get a totally different playthrough.
Some traits (repugnant, charismatic, strong, weak, decadent) clearly favor some Ethoses/Playstyles, but anything is viable if you do not play competitive.

The Government is mostly a creation of circumstances, history and other factors. Differentiating between what is a Racial Trait and what a Government Trait (Civic) can be rather hard. When moddeling a "Historic empire in space", consider that the people of any one empire might have different traits. The stock human species is just a abstraction for all the cultures and ethncities we found on earth combined. So when in doubt, just use those.

Government Basics

I call the Ethoses "Allignments". They kind of work like a the D&D alligment system, just with 4 axes instead of 2.
Any Government can be Neutral on any of the Axes. Neutral is good. Don't shy away from keeping something neutral. Remember you only got 3 Ethos picks (two if you choose a Fanatic one). Pick the ones most important.

The Stellaris Wiki can be a big help in this, in particular the Government Types[www.stellariswiki.com] and AI Personality[www.stellariswiki.com] lists. Some of the AI personalities are cleary designed for specific Empires:
The Honorbound Warriors is for the Klingons.
While some governments are as well - Celestial Empire was confirmed to be a play on historical China.

Remember that the Empire shown in the source material was the fully developed/at the height of it's power version. Or maybe even way past their Zenit.
You will start with a single system, one or 2 races and a 2 civics. Look at what it can be after 200 years has passed. And then try to think how it would react to divergent playstyles (like being forced into tall).

Earth Cultures are doubly hard

We on earth over the course of history have shown one tendency:
Conflating the Government/Culture of a People at a time with those people in general.

"The Russians" as a people and the Russian Government of the time are two totally different things.
Between the Tzars, the Original Communists, the USSR, the post USSR era and the current Putin era they had 5 fundamentally different Governments - in the last 100 years.
"The Germans" equally ran through Monarchy, Democracy, Fachism, Democracy (this time for real) in the same timespan.

And that is before you consider that the Romans actually had a rule to become a Military Dictatorship for one year in time of Crisis. (Interstingly the term of "Dictator" only lasted one year, he was elected and every roman gave up the power willingly. What most likely killed Ceasar was declaring himself "Dictator for lifetime" after disabling all powerchecks, a serious affront to roman culture).

The 1.5 Ethics attraction System means that one has to work to maintain a specific Ethic. But in turn one can also work towards a specific Ethic via actions. Ethics are no longer fixed and thus can better simulate the "Empire in the changing times", something the Romans are especially affected from.

Ethos Axis: War (Pacifism/Militarism)

With 1.5 fighting/not fighting wars at all is a important aspect of this Axis. A militarist has to regulary declare wars or at least have Rivals. While a pacifist must avoid them, even defensive and liberation ones.
Xenointeraction axis strongly interacts with this.

Pacifism means the culture is trying to keep at peace. Except for Isolationist cases, they are not averse to making defensive pacts just to "keep the peace". They are even willing to do a Liberation one if pushed.
A normal pacifist Empire can only use Liberation Warfare. While a Fanatic One can not declare wars at all. Exceptions in both cases are Fallen Empires, Swarms or Machine Intelligencs as targets. They are designed for a tall playthrough with strong Economy all around due to reduced Empire Size Capacity and Stabiltiy boosts. Thier military is primarily based around stations, but that does not mean they can not field a fleet if they want too.
Pacifists can defeat the Militarists, simply by forging so many alliances those have no-one to fight and thus forcing them off Militarist Ethics longterm.

Militarist soceities just need to be at war to work out. 20 years of peace is already a minor problem. They try to make a quick, decisive strike to end a problem rather then a long warfare, as winning a war brings more.
Militiary service and archievements play a big role in social status. Veterans or death in battle are held in high regards. Military services might be part of the culturual process to become a man or full citizen. Manual labour or even stuff like merchants are oftenconsidered nessesary evils or left to entire subcultures or subjugated species.
A culture like this is highly likely to argue or fight conflicts out rather then talk them out interally as well.

Regardless of preference, stuff further away is less likely to cause a military reaction.

Historical Problems:
Most of the Militarism of the early ages was a result of circumstances. Nations and Regimes were just in a permanent "pissing contest", that takes the form of armed conflict, rivalries or just showing that they are "no easy target".
In order to qualify as Militarist for the space age, a government must have made exceptional efforts towards either side. The internal organsiation (especially the role of miltiary in relation to citizenship, voting and politics) might play a bigger role.
Rome is a pretty clear contender for militarist, with military service becomming a de-facto requirement for political careers later on. Sparta propably too.
While people like modern Switzerland or Germany would fit the pacifist mold a lot better. Deterence by strenght and/or alliances. Most countries would propably be neutral.

Ethos Axis: Spiritualist/Materialist

Especially for this, I have to repeat: Age makes power/progress, not natural inclination towards science. A spiritualist soceity that endured twice as long due to spiritualism is still going to outclass a Materialist one in the tech game.
Even the most spiritualist soceity will still pursue dangerous technology (Jumpdrives, Colossus) if threathened by a neighbour with the same.

Materialist can be somewhat hard to understand, as it is not used in common conversation. There is a complete definition on Wikipedia[en.wikipedia.org], however this quote might sum the Materialism practiced in the game best:
"According to Constantin Gutberlet writing in Catholic Encyclopedia (1911), materialism, defined as "a philosophical system which regards matter as the only reality in the world [...] denies the existence of God and the soul"[...]"
Materialism had a Checkered past with Capitalism in Stellaris, but it seems with the Corporate Dominion Civic/Megacorp Authority it was finally firmly divorced from it.
However it is the "Robot Path" without a doubt. If you go for Robots or science, you want to go for it. With Ethics attraction you will go there anyway. If you want to roleplay a "Atheist" soceity, you should consider going for it as well.

The one thing that Spiritualism had as a game mechanic for most times was Ethics Convergence. With 2.0 it was changed to a Edict/Unity playstyle instead. While this still follows the ideas of Internal Stability, it's main mechanical attraction was lost.
Spiritualism does not need a organised religion in the clasical sense per say. It can be used to simulate a form of nationalism or culutural unity. Stuff like "being Roman" or "being Aryan". Or even having a personality cult towards it's leaders/rulers (Stalins USSR in particular, see below).
Without War or Xenointeraction Ethos to modify it, Spiritualism is open to any form of Organic life (inlcuding uplifting and genetic engineering) and follows more or less a "life and let life" attitude. However if they become opressive, they also become agressive.

A special consideration are the Robot and Psionic Paths, in particular the associated ascension paths. While the requirements are not based on absolute lockouts so yo ucan get there from the Opposite ethics, actualy doing either path causes significant Ethics attraction into that direction. So much, they become basically unavoidable.

Ethos Axis: Xenointeraction (Xenophilia/Xenophobia)

Another way to put this is the "Diplomacy" axis. This axis gives the clearest modifiers to diplomacy.
It was strongly affected by 2.2 changes.

Xenophobia:
Xenophobes have serious issues maintaining alien populations unless they are enslaved. Unless they happen to be pacifist Xenophobes, even Residency pops are an issue for the Faction purposes.
They are also notoriously bad at Diplomacy, unless they deal with it from a Position of Strenght.

A xenophobic culture is pushed either towards the Militarist approach (to gain happiness bonuses from winning wars and generally aquire new land agressiely) or the pacifst/Isolationist path.

As of 2.2, they get a relevant Bonus to Pop Growth.

Xenophilia:
2.2 saw larger changes to this Ethic. The Diplomatic parts were decreased, but a bonus to Trade was added.

As for identifying such a Culture:
Male Character in SciFi are prone to what I call "kirking".
Alien women he met yesterday? Check
The daughter of the planet leader of the week? Check, Check and Check.
Energy beings that materialised as women? Check
Android Women? Check
Female Crewmembers? He at least considered it.
While the first question when meeting aliens will propably be "can we eat and breath near them?", we all know what the next one will be.
With Megacorp you now even got the Xenocompatibiltiy Ascension Perk to make Halfbreed babies.

However this also includes accepting (and tollerating) alien cultures:
Culture and Officer Exchange programms
Migration Treaties
Not actively ridiculing believe systems

Xenophilia is best paired with Egalitarian (Migration Atraction via Living Standarts+Rights for aliens) or Pacifist Ethics, but any other Ethics seems viable too and all can benefit from the diplomatic and Trade Bonus. Even odd cases of Hegemonic Imperialsits or Honorbound Warriors are possible with Xenophilia.


Looking for examples with Historical nations, it is easiest to find Xenophobe examples. We again can only look at thier inteaction with foreign cultures/Governments/believes.
Out of the box I would consider the Chinese Canton System[en.wikipedia.org] to be clearly "Xenophobic Isolationists" case. One of the intro sentences used by slight Xenophobes is "we are willing to trade, asuming your inferior culture produces anything of worth to us" wich does fit the Chinese sentiment of the time perfectly.
Early Romans were Xenophobic types of slaveholders. With the later ones I am unsure how much rights they actually gave Xenos. However they also did Cultural assimilation on a high level, so what was considered Xeno changed over time.

Ethos Axis: Authoritarian/Egalitarian

Formerly Collectivist/Individualist, they were renamed with 1.5. You will be hard pressed to find a Ethic Axis that changed more between Versions. Maybe the 2.2 Planet and Pop reworks finally will get them stabilized, but that is what we thought about the Caste System before.
This is Democracy vs Imperial Authority. Worker Production vs Specialist Production.

Keep in mind that you can diversify on this level both on the Ethics and the Authority. However keep in mind that both extreme cases of Authroity carry attraction towards one Ethic. So often the decision will be between the two in the middle.

Authoritarian:
Is there a Secret Police/strong inner securty?
Tight control on the media?
Limitations on important/prestigious jobs that require a certain loyality to the dominant idea?
Planned Economy?
Anti-religion or specific religion conversion focus?
Rigged trials/show trials?
Slavery and Labor camps? (Keep in mind that there have been many variants of Slavery in the passage of time with a lot of different terms being applied to them)
Ability to vote limited to a few people?
Imperial Authority?
You got yourself a Authoritarian soceity alright.


Self-Slavery has been the on-again, off-again halmark of Authoritarian since 1.5. As of 2.2 it is more in the "off again" territory and might stay that way:
Stratified Economy Living Standarts and the Worker bonuses give a way to have opression/bonuses similar to slavery, but on a lower level. Effectively Stratified Economy became "Slavery light".
Xenoslavery is still an option, but self-slavery requires a special Civic and is clunkier to use.

You pay less for the same amount of Worker Production, but more for teh same amount of Specialsit+Ruler Production.

Authoritarian Ethics are choosen historically for one of two purposes, but it might switch between those two (or even from another) as the times change:
- A group wanting to keep control. This often happens because the previous methods to maintain the status quo no longer work due to industrialisation or similar developments.
- Nessesity. There have been quite a few examples in the last century on earth where countries had to 'choose' a authoritarian/collectivist soceity in order to make the transition from rural to 1st world nations. China and Russia in particular stand out, as they had to do about 500 years of social and economic development in about 50-100 years.
I now have issues finding a clear case in Star Trek.

Egalitarian:
Is it a Democarcy?
A capitalist market or social market?
Do odd extremist ideas pop up in public? (like slavery and Xenophobia as a Presidential Mandate)
Do some especially embarrasing/problematic state secrets/conspiracies get dragged into the public light?
You got yourself a Egalitarian soceity.

But even the most egalitarian soceity will not allow citizen to shoot other citizen* in the face without a proper cause or a hefty reaction. Freedom does not mean lawlessness.
They get bonus influence from Happy Factions. As well as Higher specialist output, wich means less cost on those. Wich allows them to pick higher levels for happier population/more stable attraction.


*Note that widespread citizen level rights are actually a somewhat new thing in itself. Often peasants means "not a citizen". A Citizen could hurt a "not citizen" or "less citizen" often without repecussions (other then having to pay the owner for the property damage). The "not citizen" could even get killed for defending themself. There were often a half dozen "layers" of society, with increasing amounts of rights/protections.
Even women were often literal 2nd class citizen - no right to vote or even rule, limited right on thier own body. A lot has changed in this regard the last 50 years.
The worker class (or equivalent) is often considered the lowest for this regard. Only in a Slavery Society is there anyone below even them.

Authoritarian tends to work better with agressive approaches, due to the lower living standarts and caste slavery.
In turn Egalitarian is more capable of atracting or placating pops via living standarts and decent species rights, wich works well with Xenophile and Pacifism. However with Xenophobia they can also use Alien Slavery for a odd definition of who are considered "People" or Citizen.

Hiveminds

The idea of a Hivemind goes back to 1.0. Back in those days it was only a AI personality. It's requirements were:
Conformist and Fanatic Collectivist. The Ix'idar were already prime examples of this back then.
All the behavior observed in organic hiveminds (like agressiveness if denied expansion) were already present back then. This was the pattern from wich the Utopia Hiveminds were created.

With Utopia and later Synthethic Dawn, true Hiveminds were introduced. They are a seperate Ethic and Authority with seperate rules and unique traits/ascension Paths. However if one lacks the Ethic/DLC's, one could always go the old route to Hiveminds.

Machine Intelligences

Players have been asking to play a "Robot Civilisation" since forever. However allowing this was tricky at best, unbalanceable at worst. It was largely left to the realm of modding.

As a workaround, with 1.8 a Robot Hivemind was added as DLC content. It remains to be seen if any actuall "start as normal empire with sentient machine pops" can be done with the groundwork laid by 2.2 or if Machine Intelligences and Synthethic Ascension will remain the only official ways to play as Robots.

Megacoporations

Like Hivemind, they were first a AI personality. With 1.5 they became a Civic. With 2.2 and the DLC named after them, they are now a proper Authority with unique Civics, but the old Civic is still tehre for Compatibility.

Unlike Hiveminds, they can still use most of the Ethic and Mechanics. They are barred from Fanatic Authoritarian/Egalitarian and work better with Xenophile then Xenophobia. But otherwise they get to choose more or less freely.
Their civics are mostly a more limited subset of the general ones, with some unique things tied to their Branch Office Mechanic.

Historical Empires and the Slavery problem

As bad as it is, in ancient times Slavery was simply a nessesity to survive as a nation. As was having kings and a ruling elite. Limits on Communications and transportation simply did not allow for the free, modern government forms.

The Greeks - often considered the original developers of Democracy - were firm users of Slavery.
Rome had to maintain slavery, to free up the citizenry to fight in it's (mostly volunteer) armies. While at the same time having clear individualist tendencies (a republic; issue with dictators and kings).
George Washington and most founding fathers of the US too were known to own slaves and not having a clear anti-Slavery position.
Especially highly militarised nations had to maintain a slave force. The wartime manpower is mostly limited by "how many people you can take off the fields without the harvest being endangered". On average slave armies could not be trusted on the battlefield - the risk of them to break or betray thier masters was too big. Ingame you need neural Implants to even have a chance of a reliable slave army.

As times passed the need for slavery has been largely negated by mechanistation. Developments in agriculture, transportation and preservation dropped the part of the population needed to work fields by an order of magnitude. It used to be that at least 90% of the workforce had to work the fields, wich has dropped below 3% of the workforce in modern times.
The workforce moved to more intelligent work like factories. But that was doubly unsuiteable for slaves: Not only would they need considerable basic education (wich they did not receive as slaves), putting them to work in factories would also give them the knowledge and resources needed to rebel more effectively.

Ironically that means that on first glance, slavery in a space age Civilisation makes no sense. Everything should be highly automated.
However via the new Mechanic of Consumer goods, Ethos attraction and Political Power (2.2) there is actually a partical use for it. With 2.2 the production bonues were lowered/limited to some worker type jobs.

Authoritarian was also introduces as a "Slavery Light" back in 1.5, wich it maintains in a changed form as of 2.2.

Weapons, Gateways and Government identity

Prior to 2.0 there every Empire started with one of 3 FTL drives (unless a specific one was forced by the game settings) and one of 3 Weapon Types.
2.0 cut this down to 1 FTL type and gave everyone all basic Weapon Types. Still the AI personalities have clear preferences for hull, armor, shields and one of the weapon types.

More importantly, how to deal with Gateways has to be considered:
At peacetime, they can "Distance Based Ethics Divergence" down to nearly nothing and the routes trade has to move down to nothing. Every System can be just 1 gateway jump from the Capitol, regardless the size of the Empire.

At wartime, Gateways crucial for the quick movement of Fleets in defense. The Shipyard Systems can be well hidden/protected deep in the Empire, as long as there is a gateway connection to the front. However, Gateways are also a liability: If a enemy ever captures one, he would have a direct line into the defenders space/quick reinforcement himself.
So too many Gateways is a issue for the Militarist. And that is before one considers the cost of building them at all.

Example Empire: Star Trek Federation

The big issue with the Federation is that it is a literal Federation. It is not one Empire, but a federation of Empires. Starfleet is the Grand Federation Navy of the "United Federation of Planets" (UFP).
In Kirks time they operated like Democratic Crusaders. Starfleet is even refered to as "The military" on more then one ocassion. And Janeway said Kirk "used the 1st directive a little less and the phasers a bit more".
However when Kirk was imprisioned on Rura Pente, there was a clear decision against resqueing him.
In Picards time I would make them xenophile/individualists. They were explorers first, warriors second. But they were never truly pacifists.
Sisko's time is hard to define as most of that was wartime. However it does show their commitment to "be peacefull" how they dealt with warfare.

These differences over the times might be best modelled with a Federation and it's switching president. But of course the new Ethos change mechanic could also work.

If I wanted to make them as a single faction I would think:
Miltiarism:
Slightly Peacefull to Neutral. Again this seem to change with the times. And simple be an emergent fact from being in a Federation. Not more on the pacifist side, as they did deal the first blow in the Dominion war and choose to confront the klingons "to do the right thing" on more then one ocassion.
There is a clear perference to Liberation/Enforce Ethos Warfare. So the rules here might dictate what you do.

Liberty:
Slightly Liberty. On more then one occasion Starfleet captains published incriminating information - like the Pegasus Incident, Star Trek Insurrection - to the public and foreign nations. And each planet has to be a stable Democracy or at least Oligarchy by the rules for joining.

Xenointeraction:
This is the deciding factor keeping the whole together. Every member should be normal to Fanatically Xenophile. Maybe Neutral at worst. The Federation/Diplomacy system already deals with that well. Ethics attraction will also cause some Xenophile attraction in every Empire.
With 2.2 it also explains why groups like the Ferengi and Karemma liked working with them - good trade value!

Spiritualism:
They could fall on both sides of this Axis. One could view them as atheistic/materialistic. But maybe just keep it at neutral, after all they are respectfull Xenophiliacs.
There were clear points where Sisko and the (Spiritualist) Bajorans chafed on Religion/Science matters. And generally the notions of gods/spirits are rejected on first mention.
Starfleets concern about Sisko being "the Prophet" could actually have been more due to the First Directive.

On the other hand they have numerous Telepathic Species (Vulcans, Betazeds). And they showed issues accepting artificial intelligences as equals on more then on ocassion (most notably Data, the Doctor, the Exocomps), so Spiritualism might fit as well.

The First Directive:
The elephant in the room. Officially it was forbidden to interfere in the internal affairs of another Species, especially pre-Warp ones. It is part foreign policy (for Miltiary Captains), but in part also "Primitve Interaction Guideline".
Technological acceleration was clearly prohibited, but there is no ingame switch for that (other then player decision).
The observation methods bordered on the Active, however. Inlcuding sending surgically altered scouts or placing holographically cloaked science outposts on the ground. For a species intent on not interfering, they did a lot of accidental interference.

However one should not overstate their adherence to this too much. They did do Commando Raids, Espionage and everything else a Space Empire has to do if it was nessesary.

Xenocompatibiltiy:
As of 2.2, the new Elephant in the room. On average every series showed one new Halfbreed:
Half Vulcan. Half Betazoid. Half Klingon. With a few Bajoran/Cardassian Hybrids and even a hopefull Trill/Klingon couple.
It was still a rare thing - only 1 case per series. This was insufficient for a pop unitr in pre 2.2, but 2.2s higher population counts should make it modelable.
It was strongly aided by the Preservers having seeded nearly any species of the time, resulting in high genetic compatbility. Most of those mixes even came to be entirely unaided - and to some degree unwanted. Only in some cases (Dax and Worf; Lorian) was medical assistance needed. And it is unclear if it is even on the Ascension Perk level.

Example Empires: Federation Members/minor Enemies

Humans: Fanatic Xenophiliac. Egalitarian
"Kirking" was invented and mostly done by humans, even long before Kirk's time ("Tuckering" in Archers times).
Them being added to the stage allowed the Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites to work together for the first time in their Spacefaring history. Humans were the core around wich the Federation grew.
Also in our perception space age humans will be the inherently most diverse Cultural Group:

If Xenocompatibiltiy is a Perk that needs taking, humans will be the first to take it.

Vulcans:
I see clear signs of Spiritualism and/or Collectivism here. The whole "supress your emotion" part sounds like either of the two. I would give them a Oligarchic Authority. While all other races were emotional, humans in particular seemed prone to "tease" the Vulcan on thier Emotion front (a Egalitairan/Authoritarian conflict or a Spiritualist/Materialist?)
Alternatively this could be done via Pacifism (wich would chafe against the Martial Neutrality of Humans).
The Archer Vulcans actually were a whole lot more Militaristic making them a clear contrast to the TOS/TNG time Vulcans.
The telepathy is not really usefull in combat or daily life, so it can be left out. Unless they would happen to re-adopt psionic amplifiers like the stone of Darok at wich point the Psionic path might mater.
As race they have longelevity and strenght traits (the High G worlder variant). Clear Desert planet preference. Consider Deviants to model the need for a high Anti-Divergence or Conformist for integrating supression so deeply in thier cycle of growing up.

Andorians:
Judging by the Archer time, they were actually one of the more Militaristic. We see a clear warrior culture with personal duels and Ice planet preference. Not much is known about them in later times.

Klingons:
The "Honorbound Warrior" AI type was practically included for them. I would give them the Spiritualist interpretation here, with "Honor" being the Religion. But Individualism would also fit after they overthrew "the last Tyrant". In some times (like Star Trek Online) I could even see the Xenophile Interpretation (as they integrate a lot of species).
Oligarchic or Dictatorial Authority seems a clear case, with the high Council and Chancelor. It would also include Citizen Service and Warrior Cutlure

The TOS time klingons replaced Spiritualism mostly with Authoritarian (being basically expies of the Sowjets of the time). Only after realising the Federation can kick ass and take names do they consider a Alliance. And it is a strenous one, regardless of the efforts of great people on either side.
However, there were some shifts especially at the end of the Kirk era. "Undiscovered Country" was practically a Pacifist/Militarist conflict. DS9 saw the militarism flare up again with the Klingon invasion of Cardassia (https://youtu.be/Rdm-m29CXwU?t=177). This might have been a attempt to re-stablise the Militarism/get out of mounting peacetime Pacifist attraction.
As species they might be well modelled with Strong, Enduring, posbly Deviant or Quarrelsome.

Xindi:
Now here is a odd case - not one species, but 5. Maybe highly adaptable, to the point where they can colonise every/many normal colonisation climates of the bat? This will be really hard to model with the Stellaris engine, I think.
Alternatively you could see them as a plain Federation/Alliance too. They basically have the whole selection of Racetypes avalible in Stellaris and a whole selection of Ethoses:
"There are five distinct species of Xindi, and five distinct opinions on which one is dominant."
The whole relation to the Guardians has a clear "Spiritual" streak, but they were not too serious about it in the end.

Gorn:
They are as honourbound as the Klingons at thier best time, but seem to be that way all the time. I am just not sure about wich variant of Honorbound Warriors applies.
Species: Longelevity and Very strong traits. Possibly non-adaptive (cold blooded). Dry/hot preference like the Vulcans would fit.

Ferengi:
If there is one candidate for "Megacorp", the Ferengi seem like one at the spot. I could even see some room for Gospel of the Masses (with Rules of Aquistion as Religion). Definitely Oligarchic elections. And they at least tried to put their branch offices everywhere.
Buffs for trade values is recommended, but Xenophilia might only fit within limits.
One could even see Authoritarian - their treatment of women bordered on slavery/poor workers stratum.
Specieswise I would give them: Thrifty, Repugnant, possibly weak.

Risa:
If Risa was not what inspired the "Resort world", I do not know what could be. Even prior to the Federation, the planet/species was highly Xenophiliac. However it could not afford becomming a true resort world before joining the Federation.
Originally Riza is a hostile world. Strong Storms and Volcanic activitry. The planet is kept in check/a gaia class world via extensive Seismic and Weather control. That the Rizans themself developed.

Example Empires: Star Trek, the Mirror Verse

Star Trek is one of the few settings that actually provides an alternative version as part of the canon. This can somewhat aid finding out what is "Truly [Species]" and what is part of the Government/circumstances.

I do not see the terran Empire (or any of the other empires) as properly authoritarian. There is just way to much backstabbing, sex and Klingon Promotion going on. I would consider them Neutral to Egalitarian at worst.
The election cycle could actually be interpreted as the current leader having to fight for his/her power regulary (even to the death).

All Empires seem to be a minimum degree of Xenophobic slaveholders. While some degree of specialist level positions were filled by Xenos, I do not consider that enough to use "Residency" rights on the population scale. The odd alien in Mirror Crews can happen even with full Slavery.
The Federations Xenophiliac ways - and that they have such sucess - are seen as a danger to the Status quo by just about any Emperor since Hoshi.

Example Empires: Star Trek Borg

If you think of SciFi and Hiveminds, they propably come to mind. Indeed they were originally envisioned as a Insectoid race - only the costume designer budget decided for humanoid cyborgs.
Now they are more or less Cybernetic Space Zombies. Their ashen Skin and the Assimilation upon scratching a victim speak volumes.

As of 1.8, there have been numerous ways to simulate them. Inlcuding letting them evolve into this, over time:
The Machine Empire driven Assimilators was explicitly added to model the Borg (because people kept asking for it). As you got two species to design, you can specialize them. It makes sense to focus the drones on menial tasks, particular energy production. Also actually managing a Robot + Bio population is tricky, wich make it easier to run them as "primarily Cyborg".

However, one should also not get too stuck on the whole "Cybernetic" part. Most effects of Genetic Engineering can be done with Cybernetics and vice versa. So at large, they are interchangeable.
The Borg never showed any intention towards making a full AI ascension or any signs of having any pure Robot Leaders.
Biological Hivemind: The Biological Ascension allows assimilation into the hivemind.
Biological Hivemind, Devouring Swarm: Food processing is another odd way to go about Assimilation - as the species are being processed, the growth of Borg drones can be buffed. This is less true as of 2.2 however.

Example Empires: Star Trek Dominion

This in large parts brought this whole idea on.

Indivudalism:
Cleary Collectivistic. Where the Federation uses Diplomacy and Democracy, they have a Autocratic Empire.
The Founders live by "what you controll can not hurt you".
There are also clear indications in the "great link", the rule that "no Changeling will ever harm another Changeling" and the apparently genetic interest in order for Odo.

Spritualism:
Actually a rather clear case: Vorta and Jem'Hadar consider them clear gods, a notion they have difficulty getting rid off. And will remind every species they encounter off.

Also the Vorta are explicitly a pre-sentient mamallian species that got Uplifted. "Believe to be thier gods" could just be the way the "+20% if in same empire as creators" bonus works for them. Clearly the Focus was on administration, diplomacy and command roles (Charismatic, weak, decadent). In a odd circumstances they also show Telekinetic ability but that seems to be not a general trait.

The Jem'Hadar either got uplifted or generatically created from Scratch. There were at least two variants: Gamma and Alpha Jem'hadar. As the game does not really deal with Shipcrews they could just be considerd "Genetic Soldiers/Clone"-Armies. The Jem'hadar are also decidedly less Spiritualistic and tend towards being more honorbound.

Militarism:
Neutral to active here. The founders actually remarked that "they knew about the Federation, the Wormhole just moved up the timetable."
But they also plan longterm. So a peacefull anexation might be considered worthwhile/more beneficially longterm.

Xenointeraction:
There are some anti Xeno streaks in the Founder history. Some clear pro Xeno streaks in the Vorta. And the Jem just appear to be neutral.
Overall I think it evens out, especially as the Vorta do most of the day to day administration.

Modelling:
There are two basic ways to go about this: Model the Founders as leaders or model the Vortas as (de facto) leaders, since the founders kept more or less in the link.

If one goes the Vorta Route:
The Vorta effectively do the day to day adminsitration. Aside from Odo, only very few people, Vorta or even Jem'Hadar ever saw a Founder (most only have geneticall imprinted knowledge). For most species under the Dominion they were somewhere between "myth" and "the stuff our overlords keep insisting about". On average maters of the solids were way below a Founders concern.

Spiritualist/Authoritarian. Possibly with Militarist additions or Xenophobe additions. Synchretic Evolution Civic as the Jem Hadar.
However, the relations between Dominion and subject species might be more akin to Tributaries then Vassal or outright conquest. With 1.8 Ethics attraction was modified based on Vassal Status.

Vorta are weak & charismatic. Possibly conformist and decadent. They do all Adminsitrative and Scientific work (inlcuding research).
Jem'hadar in turn can be very well modelled by the Synchretic Evolution Species - extra Strong, good in Worker Stratum, very strong armies, very high convergence. With the new option to model the Synchretic Species, they can be actively designed.

If you model the Founders, consider thier considerable knowledge in Genetics - they uplifted the Vorta, created the Jem'Hadar and use the odd resilient but slow bioweapon as punishments for defiance.
Ethics: Xenophobe, Militarist.
Traits: Natural Sociologist. Long Lived to extra long lived*. Conformist (the link seems to have Addictive features). Decadent (if going Xeno Slavery rute). Repugnant (distrust due to shape changing/distanced nature.
The most important feature might be their ability to conduct espionage, a system that is currently lacking in the game.


*One could see the 'death' of a Founder as him returning to the link for the next few centuries, rather then litteral "end of live". The great link sounds more like a hivemind from wich Autonomous Drones Split off then a true set of Individuals.

Example Empires: Star Wars

If there is one thing about Star Wars, it is that single Characters can cause Galactic change. There were millions of Clonetroopers and Battledroids in the clone wars and the Galactic Civil War was just about that scale too, but the action is focussed on a few heroes.
Defintely a set of leader Focussed Stellaris Empires.

Both the old Republic and the Sith Empire are basically religions:
Spiritualist/Egalitarian (Republic + Jedi). Spiritualist/Xenophobe/Collectivist/Militarist (Sith Empire). Wich part of that is Fantic (if any) depends on the age/specific itteration. Lord Malgus splinter empire sounds more like Fanatic Militarist/Xenophile (or at least non-Xenophobe).
One can certainly go the first step on the ascension path. However Transcendence seems like it goes too far: Jedi are a very rare thing. More on the Level of the Psionic Theory + Latent Psionics, then full on Armies and Full Psionics. Depending on the itteration of either Faction they could de-facto run the Government (Fanatic Spiritualist/Full Ascension) or be a rare sight (normal Spiritualist + Latent Psionics or even just the Psionics tech).

Palpatines empire was either Imperial or Dictatorial Authority. Fanatic Collectivist/Xenophobe. In the entirety of the original trillogy, there were 3-4 Forceusers at any give time out of a literall trillions of people. At this time the Sith Strategy called for "agressive Reduction" of Force users across the board. "There can be only two Sith" and even fewer Jedi.
While the Rebels TV show and non-canon material showed additional Darkside Forceusers, those were still very rare given the sheer scale. They could be effectively counted on two hands. And often they sought each other out, negating one another effectively.

In turn the Rebels appear Egalitarian/Xenophiles. Possibly fanatic Xenophiles.
I do not see relevant Spiritualist properties outside of the few Jedi themself. In this phase Jedi practically do not exist for Game Mechanic purposes.

In some of the Expanded Universe Material I read about a time when Jedi were also Politicians. That somehow backfired and resulted in a general ban on Forceusers entering politics. As well as the whole "train them young" thing. Count Doku was one of the few Jedi to maintain his hereditary rank.
If one would want to play such a time, Fanatic Spiritualsit/Egalitarian with Exalted Priesthood Civic might work. Jedi ran the government by being simply superior as leaders. And one could easily do both steps of ascension on this path.

The big issues of coruse are droids. Not only do Spiritalist Factions dislike them because they cause Materialist attraction, the Universe also seems to go out of it's way to limi them to "Droids or less". Every faction seems to go to great lenghts to avoid AI development/AI uprising. At tops I would see them as using robotic workers, without AI. Maybe shakeled Synths.

Example Empires: Star Craft Terrans

As is the human thing, they went through 3 distinct governments: Confederacy, Mengks, Valerian. Not to mention the numerous minor factions, wich were only touched on in passing.

Confederacy of Man:
Clearly authoritarian and militarist oligarchy. In the backstory they used nuclear weapons in a purge operation on Korhal.
And propably considered using Zerg as less traceable alternative during SC.
Fanatic Collectivist/Militarist. They seem neutral in Xeno views.

Mengks/Dominion:
While still a collectivist regime, I see more signs of Individualism here.
In SC 2 there is clearly a (somewhat) free press and free speech. Still not a demcoracy by any stretch, but a lot more open then the Confederation.
Less Collectivist
Still Militarist
Xenophobia plays a big role in justifiying it's existence. And later in the Covert Ops Mission Pack.

Valerian/Dominion:
On the Collectivism axis his regime is neutral at worst. It might even be individualist with Valerian just being really good at being re-elected (once had a stellaris palythrough with 13 re-elecitons of one President when there were still 5 year terms; Only her death ended her de-facto rulership).
If it is not yet a democracy, it is well on the way towards constitutional Monarchy at least.
Neutral on collectivist. All details we know is from Nova's special ops and one Nova comic. Valerian tries to avoid Xenophobia actively.

Note: The Youtube Channel "Templin Institute" did a video on the mater, effectively touching on all 3 Governments. They did seem to dive a lot deeper in the lore then I have, so there are parts they got more precise then me:

Raynors Raiders:
Individualist Rebels. They could not live under the rules of the Dominion.
Even Mengks was them too "collectivist still", especially in the outer systems.
But most of the Raiders are actually part of Valerians Government at the end of Legacy of the Void, so I asume they just accepted it as "good enough".

UED:
We only know thier military, so there is little we do know. We can imply a Collectivist, Militarist soceity from the widespread use of Propaganda in the UED and Zerg outros. Propably Fanatic Militarist/Collectivist. Citizen Service seems likely as well.

Other terran powers:
There are a few other terran groups. Not many details are known (thanks for Morridin for reminding me of those)
Sons of Korhal, Menks original Rebel group wich turned into the Terran Dominion
Kel-Moria Combine (appear to be quite technologically advanced in Heart of the Swarm. Materialists?); Might have a decent shoot to be considered a "Megacorporation".
Umojan Protectorate

Example Empires: Star Craft Zerg

Despite being a swarm race, they went through 3-4 governments over both games. In any case they are clear contenders for the collectivist trait if I ever saw one. However I am not so sure about full on Hivemind as they always had a vulnerable body/target of some kind.

Overmind:
Your baseline "Hive mind". It has the best basis to be considered a "Devouring Swarm" Hivemind textbook case.

Swarm Queen Kerrigan (SC 1):
The Zerebrats under Daggoth tried to reform the Overmind and thus reinstate the hivemind. While Kerrigan worked agaisnt it to maintain her Freedom. It was a hivemind that seems to have been fractured on the the Governor/Autonomous Drone level.

Swarm Queen Kerrigan (SC 2):
A lot of changes were implemented into the Command Structure. Broodmothers rather then Zerebrats control Broods. There is no more Overmind or Zerebrates afaik. That makes them a lot less vulnerable to complete takeover. The speices seems to have changend from a definitive Hivemind to a pseudo-hivemind working on Conformist and similar Ethics Converging bonuses.

Primal Queen Kerrigan:
The Primal Zerg themself are not conformists or much less Hivemind - they do not have the mind link. They might even be deviants. They are effectively a seperate, pre-spaceflight race in the game.
The Kerrigan of this time also shows clearer signs of individualism - more driven by her Revenge on Mengsk. The outro of Heart of the Swarm is totally different from the Brood War Zerg one.
During her time the Queens get a whole lot more autonomy. Abathur is ordered to make the Queens more intelligent (wich also increases independance) - possibly removing the conformist trait from them at least (but not the lower classes of hte Zerg brood). Kerrigan does not rejoin the queens by force, but insteads waits for them to come to her.
There are even several signs that Zagara might be making a play for the power of the Queen.

Zagara:
It is still a clear collectivist soceity and the lower ranks are still conformist to hiveminded, but the higher ranks (queens) are less so then in the Overmind/Swarm Queen Kerrigan times.
It could even go into Oligarchy/Dictatorship levels of "freedom" with one brood queen being elected leader based on experince.
It is unclear wich role the Primal Zerg and transformed terrans play in this new goverment.
And in the first phase it apears Zagara will be isolationist, having to make the Zerg into a actuall cutlure around Char.

Niadra:
This Queen created and let lose in Heart of the Swarm is still out there. She might have a more Xenophobic version of whatever Zagara does, still thinking she has to wipe out the Protoss. It is uncertain if she will join or reject Zagara's Swarm. Or plan a takeover.

Example Empires: Star Craft Protoss

There are 2 important things about the protoss that change: Khala (the phsical mind link; could be well done via Conformist Trait) and Khala (the Philosophy; propably done via Spiritualist/Authoritarian).
They had a clear caste system. And no less then 4 subraces. Non-sentiet robots and machines play a big role in Protoss warfare and industry to offset their very low reproduction rate. As with Star Wars, that should be possible with Robotic Workers only.

The Conclave:
Fanatic Spiritualist/Xenophobe. The Khala is a literal "afterlife" for all protoss.
Xenophobe because they look down on the Dark Templar, Terrans, Zerg and Purifiers.
But they also have elements of a Fallen Spiritualsit Empire at this time.

Dark Templar/Nerazim:
The first offshoot race of the Protoss. Choose to cut the nervecords that connect to the Khala and reject the philosophy (removed their conformism). They have a certain "lone wolf" feeling about them, much more individualistic.

Taldarim:
The 2nd offshoot race of the Protoss. Cut thier Nervecords as well, but they might have evoled another form of Conformsit trait or a Collectivist Soceity instead.
Spiritualist, Militarist, Collectivist. Possibly Decadent. Have a codified version of "Klingon Promotion" that goes up to the top.
I would guess that after getting rid of Amon they switched from Spiritualist to Collectivist.

Purifiers:
Sentient Robots that cross over into a subrace, build by early Conclave Protoss. The conclaves mistake was to not treat them like equals (AI Servitude?), wich led to a rebellion and them being put into stasis.
Artanis people get a whole lot better along with them, having gotten rid of some old misconceptions and prejudices.

pre Leagacy of the Void:
The leader of the Daelaam is clearly elected by the Heirachy, so at tops a Oligarchy. Or maybe some sort of Federation?
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/media/blizzard-comics/artanis-sacrifice
Since half the protoss can not experience the Khala anymore and they life on the Nerazin Homeworld, the Xenophobe and/or Spiritualist elements have been mostly lost. However spiritualist might hold on with the "We are one people" thing a form of positive nationalism/unity.

Legacy of the Void/Artanis:
Artanis went though an interesting progression between his "arogant Protoss" self at the Start of Broodwar and the LoV version, wich also shows the progress of the Protoss as a Civilisation/Government.
The Khala is cut off by all protoss (no more conformist traits).
The caste system has been abolished effectively. Women and Phase Smiths are allowed as Templar. The Dark Templars and Purifiers are integrated into the soceity as equals.
The Taldarim deny it for the time being - it propably is too individualistic for thier tastes.
I would consider them neutral to individualist. Spiritualist in the form that "we are one people" - but that might clash with the Purifier species.
Maybe pacifist, because they have to rebuild and not want another war so quicly.

Example Empires: Warhammer 40k General and Imperium of Man

This is one of those settngs with a massive shift to everyones Ethoses. "In the grim future of the 41st Milennium there is only war". Accordingly every civilisation is organised to play into that thematic.
The fluff is designed so that "every possible combination of combat could happen without needing any justification".

Individualism equals the Chaos. As such every faction that has not been consumed by them or immune by their nature (Tau, Ork, Necrons) must be anti-individualist by nature. Neutral in this regard simply can not hold/will be dragged deep into the Chaos side.

Militarism is a nesessity. Because there is always war.

Spiritalism or Authoritarian is a nessesity, without that anti-divergence your civilsiation would crumble under pemanent war. Afaik only the Tau do any research at all.
Psionics are common except for a few races (Necrons, Tau), but not always fully controlled.

Xenopphobia is a nessesity. Otherwise you would crumble under Foreign ideas. With the constant state of war, maintaiing this status quo is easily. Again only the Tau have any sign of Xenophilia and it is kind of a opressive kind too - they totally go for neutering purges!

Most of the endgame crisis are runnning in paralell (the crises seem outright moddeled after some WH 40k Factions).
Chaos is basically the Unbidden.
Tyranids are the Swarm (except tirggered by the Astronomicum).
The Necrons could be seen as AI rebellion or the Contingency as of 1.8. Alterantively the humans had that behind themself (the Iron Men).
And most of the empires are basically fallen empires anyway/in the process of falling.

Imperium of Man:
Actually several groups rolled into one or a loose Federation/alliance. In the Dawn of War games they bring 2-3 factions to each campaign just to show how heterogenous they are.
Or maybe just a big web of "Guarantee of Independance" without lockout of internal war:
The Administratum is the Earthbased goverment. Imperial Guard is it's militry
The Eclesiarchy is the Imperial Faith. The Adeptus Sororitas is it's military.
The Machine cult is is based on mars and officially accepted 2nd religion. They bring the titans and Sciitary legions to the fight.
And the Space Marines kinda do thier own thing. "If it is not a nation with a army, it's a army with a nation" - proverb about North Korea and Prussia.
It is know that each of those factions/subnations can lay total claim to a world. There are Hive Worlds (Administratum), Manufacturing Worlds (Machine Cult), Shrine Worlds (Eclesiarchy) and Space Marine Worlds.
Each ones goals could not be more different. Even with the numerous external threaths, the mostly shared faith and shared race, they hardly work together. Without them they would just take themself appart.

Administratum:
A loose federation of human worlds with harsh opinions on seditionism. Each planet falls anywhere in the spectrum between Oligarchy (of sorts) and Imperial Authority.
The Imperial Guard strikes me as very similar to a slave army - down to needing comissars, human wave tactics and low power per unit. Of course you could also just see them as a expression of a conventional army where quality is replaced with Quanitiy (kinda how the red army during WW2 earth is only considered 1 "army" for game purposes, despite consisting of 12 up to million people). But the penal legions are a pretty clear case.
Of all the subfactions of the imperim most collectivist and Slavery dependant. Due to plain pragmatism they are the least Xeno- and Mutant-unfriendly of the factions, basically being "forced" into that opinion by the others. Even if they do purge Xenos, they might just go for Displacement or Neutering Purge.
Government: Fanatic Authoritarian. Byzantine Bureaucracy, Aristocratic Elite, Functional Architecture, Slaver Guilds and Police State all seem possible civics, depending wich planet you look at.
Workers are kept between Stratified Economy, Basic Subsistence/Food Rationing and Slavery. With a strong Opression/Police force to keep them in line. But that only works because most of the technological development has already happened in the Universe.

Eclesiarchy:
The most spiritualist subfaction. Collectivism and Divine Mandate might be mixed in vs Ethics divergence, but Happiness might take care of that issue.
Also the most Xeno unfriendly - down to plain Fanatical Purifier AI type. "Beware the alien, the Mutant, the Heretic".
Government: Spiritualism. Collectivis. Push Anti-divergence. Imperial Cult and Divine Mandate seem likely, except the Eclesiarch is only viewed as respresentative of the Emperor.
In a wierd twist, you might represent them as a Gospel of the Masses Megacoproporation: They place branch offices (Tempels) everywhere, to convert as many people as possible. And to guard against the subversive Cults.

Machine Cult:
The most technological of the factions. They revere the "Machine spirit", but despise AI.
They use robots (in the form of Servitors and Servo Skulls), but never (officially) go to Synth (AI) level. It was really hard to model these guys before 1.8. But with 1.8, humans that underwent the first step of Technological Ascension would fit.
They allow Robot Workers (in the form of Servitors) and at least underwent Cybernetic Ascension. They do not officially allow AI, but still use it in fringe cases like Titans. Servitude with the Uprising being either fixed - or having already happened.
Their City Planets are focussed way more on the "Foundry" side of things.

Space Marines:
The most Militarist human subfaction. They also have a certain movement towards individualism - wich led to the Chaos Space Marines.
While they quite literally represent "Gene Warriors", they do not do active research in this regard. They simply have precursor tech access to it.
Species: Very Strong, Longelivity, possibly Deviants and Slow Breeders (having a complex process to make new battle brothers).
Government: Fanatic Militarist. They are literally made for war.

Only playing one:
You can either pick one of hte subfaction to play as "the real one".
Or you could try to assign each subfaction a set of Ethoses and then look where the middle ground is. Moderate Collectivist/Spiritualist/Xenophobe/Militarist might be able to sum them up quite well.

Example Empires: Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri

SMAC has been cited as a source of Inspiration. And with 1.5, there are finally many mechanics in place that make it similar as well. Somebody on the Official Forum asked about modelling the Human Hive wich lead me to making this section.

SMAC to Stellaris concepts:
Let's first look at the game mechanics of SMAC and how they relate to Stellaris 2.2 mechanics. Instead of fixed values for policies, there is a bunch of Ratings in a number of Categories. Each of the 3-4 Policy settings you choose Affects those ratings. Aside from simple scaling bonuses, there are often special "peak values". Ones that give a bonus or penalty far beyond the normal progression. With the faction bonuses it either becomes a lot easier or nearly impossible to reach a peak value.

Efficiency: The closest similarity I can see is consumer goods.
Probe: There is no espionage in Stellaris yet, so this is a blank area. However it is clearly used to denote a Spiritualist/Materialist difference in the game - if you are Materialist, you are open to infiltration. If you are spiritualist, you are not. After 2.2, Crime might play a relevant role in this. And in some way "Criminal heritage Megacorps" can be seen as the first Spy mechanic.
Support: How many military units you can support for free (without costing production). Trigger values will either give you "Population free units" or double the cost for Military units. There is no direct equivalent. But it does look like a Pacifist/Militarist divide and it ties into the Police rating. High Consumer Goods might also be able to model it (having less minerals for Military as result of high living standarts/Consumer Economy).
Growth: How quickly your population grows. This can be modelled via Food income. Productive Workers/Slaves can work on that.
Police: Police allows the Military units to pacify the population. Trigger values put you either at "3 units and effect per unit doubled". Or "unhappyness for any military unit outside of your borders". In Stellaris it is reaslied the other way around: Not how many Police units you can have. But how few police units you need.
A society with high Crime Negation would be one with little need for Armies playing Police. Another way to look at it is that poor police is clearly pacifism, in particular the "troops outside territory" case.
Morale: Morale is the SMAC version of more granular Veterancy. It thus affects military units combat power. A clear case of Militarism/Pacifism once again.
Research: As of 2.2 Tempels now consume the same Consumer Goods as Science Stations, so they are in conflict on yet another Front.
However in SMAC(X) it is also in a direct tradeoff with "Probe" value.
Economy: As of 2.2, this now has a Mechanic - trade value. Both it and Energy districts can be used to produce more power. Opressive Empires will focus more on the distrcts useage, while open ones might be better server by going for the amenities producing clerks.
Planet: A odd combination Perk. It affects Pollution, combat against the Mindworms and quality of bred mindworms - at wich point it works like Morale. The best equivalent might once again be Consumer good production, especially with Civics like "Environmentalsit". Possibly Xenophilia.
Industry: This became trickier as of 2.2. Industry is now Minerals and Specialists to process it - into alloys, Consumer Goods and Strategic Resources. However most Factions seem to use this as Worker Class buffs, not specialist ones.

Factions:
University/Believers form the Materialist/Spiritualist Axis.
Peacekeepers/Hive the Egalitarian/Authoritaraian Axis.
Spartan are quite Militarist. With Gaians and Morgans both having clear Pacifist strokes, but opposite ones.

Known/likely Enemies:
Hive, Peacekeepers and Believers disagree on the proper Government form.
Hive, Gaians and Morgan disagree on the Economics.
University, Morgans and Spartans Disagree on Values.
Other conflicts depend largely on the choosen playstyle. However some synergies just make some options more likely (Gaia and Universtiy are more likely to pick Democracy. Spartans might favor Police State) wich in turn drives conflicts.

Spartan Federation: Fanatic Militarist. I am uncertain about the 3rd Ethos Pick: As they have high Police (making it easier then any other faction to reach positive trigger value) the would not go for unrest reduction. It could go for Collectivist personally. Maybe Materialist as they are good at making "Prototype units" (but that might already be done by Militarist bonuses).
Negatrive Industry could be either a Specialist Focus or Military Focussed Economy.
Agression Level: Erratic
Dictatorship/Imperial. Citizen Service.

Gaia's Stepdaughters: Their two hallmark properties are Planet and Efficiency. Two things Stellaris utterly lacks as mechanics. They are explicitly mentioned to be Pacifists. Poor crime reduction or high living standarts might work well for thier weakened Police. They do tend towards Democratic/Green/Pacifist Combination
Pacifist on War axis.
Democracy; Pacifist and Xenophile.
Low Police/Army and High efficiency could be done via Consumer goods, Civilian Economy, Specialist Bonuses.
Environmentalis and Agrarian Idyll Civics (and its anti urbanisation) might fit well.

University of Planet: Fanatic Materialist is rather obvious. He does suffer extra Unhappiness and poor Espionage protection. He tends more towards Efficiency, since it allows more focus on research. Egalitarian might fit good. Not a pacifist however.
He is erratic on the War Axis.
Oligarchy, Technocracy, ?

Peacekeepers: Obviously Democratic so some level of Egalitarian, likely Fanatic. Highly Diplomatic (due to Planetary Council), wich is currently matched by Xenophilia. He get's extra large, extra happy populations wich might fit well into high Living Standarts.
He is erratic on the War Axis.
Fanatic Egalitarian, Xenophile
Democracy, Idealistic Foundation, Beacon of Liberty, Byzantine Bureacracy (wich is both Mentioned and fits the Pop Size/Happiness effects).

Human Hive: Fanatic Authoritarian/Materialist. The bonus to growth and Indsutry is well fit by Slavery/Stratified Economy. And Serfdom (a form of Slavery) is explicitly mentioned.
The Perimeter Defenses mixed with high police can make it really hard to conquer cities. Wich is well modelled by lots of Enforcers to quell Crime.
Agressive on the War Axis
Imperial Authority, Slaver Guilds, Police State.

Lord's Believers: Fanatic Spiritualist/Militarist. Despite normal morale get a considerable assault bonus and extra support. And they want to evangelize the entire planet, after all.
Militarist/Fanatic Spiritualist. Maybe Militarist/Fanatic Collectivist if Psionics are not wanted. Their military is more based on cheap masses of units then quality units.
Oligarchy, Exalted Priesthood, generally Ethics convergence.

Morgan Industries:
If there is one SMAC facation that could be a Megacoporation, the Morgans are "it".
Fanatic Pacifist/Egalitarian might fit their preferred playstile of Democracy/Free Market/Wealth or Democracy/Nothing/Wealth well. He beats even the Gaians in poor warfare options. And he is higly likely to pursue Diplomatic Realtionships and trade.
If you lack Megacorp, pick Corporate Dominion instead. Also add a lot of trade value bonuses.

Example Empires: SMAC - Alien Crossfire (SMACX)

In Alien Crossfire the factions got a lot weirder. Some are clear "offshoots" of the normal empires. With 2 Aliens and some new entirely new ones being thrown into the mix.

Cult of Planet: Militant Offshoots of the Gaians, with Believers and possibly Chinese Child Emperor mixed in. Agressive AI personality. Fanatic Spiritualist/Miltarist might fit well. They do use more Mindworms for combat and police duty then any other Faction, putting them firmly on the Psionics unlike the Beleivers.

Cybernetic Consciousness: Fanatic Materialist/Pacifist on clear track towards Technological Ascension. Or a outright Assimilator Machine Empire or Hive Mind. The pre Utopia Authoritarian/Conformist combination for Hiveminds might work.

Data Angels: On the one hand they are egalitarian to anarchism. On the other they are really good as Espionage - both offense and defense. They prefer using Epsionage over direct Military Action. Neutral on War.
Lacking a proper Espionage mechanic, the closest equivalent to Espionage is the Criminal Heritage Megacorporation

Free Drones: Shared Burden and thus Fanatic Egalitarian, no doubt about it. The industry bonus might fit Mining Guilds or general "Strong" Trait. They are neutral on the war axis, but can be played agressively.
There is no real way to simulate their penalty to Science, except from the consumer goods tied up in the living Standart.

Nautilus Pirates: Some Egalitarian, but also Militarist. Neutral on Warfare, but Piracy tendencies.
Aquatic Living Style, but the closest equivalent to "sea bases" would be Habitats.
I would say they tend more towards "making Tributaries" and the "Honorbound Warrior" AI type, then anything else. But with 2.0 the Raiding Stance does add some new options to engage in "proper piracy".

Manifold Caretakers:** They are counter to the Psionic Victory, but not nessesarily a Technological victory.
Agressive AI.
Fanatic Materialist/Militarist perhaps? Less Miltiarist then Usurpers, as bonuses mostly focussed on defense.
They also have a Green side, similar to the Cult or Stepdaughters.
Planned economy indicates some form of Authoritarian
Some way to enslave or purge other species would also be adviseable.

Manifold Usurpers:** They go towards Psionic Victory. Agressive AI.
Strong case for Militarism, because of Moral and Attack bonuses.
Spiritualist and Authoritarian or Xenophobe properties
Active Despising of Democracy.


*These sound like they already walked the first step into Ascension Paths.

**Both alien Faction show clear simiarities to the Materialist and Spiritualist awakened Fallen Empires, that are in a active War in Heaven.

Example Empires: Romans

Translating this is rather hard as the "Roman Civilisation[en.wikipedia.org]" existed for about 12 centuries. In that time they went through 3 Govenment Forms and at least 3 mayor military reforms (in addition to all the battlefield adaptation and Auxilaries that happen in every well working military).
And that is excluding the whole Byzantine Empire, wich would put it around 2250 years of existence.
But at least as of 2.0 you got a proper Roman Namelist.

Roman Kingdom:
The first 250 years they were a kingdom, and not that intersting actually. Nor has there been much documentation of thier deeds in this time. In Stellaris terms, they were a pre-spaceflight race during this time.
Interestingly thier last King was called "Tarquin the Proud". Guess we know where George Lukas might have gotten that name from.

Roman Republic:
The next 430 they spend as a Republic with a constitution. Around 200 years into that (300 BC), they reformed thier Army[en.wikipedia.org]. And boy did they go off on a conquering spree afterwards!
Basically the whole culture was retooled to a military culture with the Reforms. It was originally conscription based, but increasingly focussed on longterm Volunteers later on.
In this phase I would consider it Fanatic Militarist, Oligarchy, Citizen Service.
While they had Individualist streaks in the early time, those grew less pronounced with conquest and in the later phases. They were however never quite lost.
Political Ambition had to be founded by volunteer service in the Legions. "Showing of your warscars" was a common practice of establishing seniority/superioty in Senate discussions. Citizen Service seems a obvious requirement.
Slavery wise they practiced largely Xenophobe Slavery, so Xenophobe as the 2nd Ethic. Yes, that does mean the Commonwealth of Man is basically "early Rome in Space".

Roman Empire:
Basically the Republic had become to large for it's own good. A lot of civil conflicts broke out, until they finally just decided "Autocracy might be the better idea at our size"/Octavius came out on top.
What they practiced during the time of the "5 God Emperors" was not heriditary Autocracy, but Hiers being often adopted. While they did still prefer heriditary Leadership, those tended to die somewaht young due to poor performance.
I would consider it jumping between a Oligarchy, Dictartoship and true Autocracy at this time.
It was pretty good a forming a Multiculutural "Roman" culture. It was still strongly militarist, but much more focussed on keeping all those citizen (anyone not a slave) happy.
Still strongly Militarist (it was made the empire great and kept it). Collectivist Stratifieid Economy replaced Xenophobe Slavery

The fall:
In the end they started to decline. Often it was thier Military culture turning against themself.
As status was based on Military archeivements a lot of people that were terrible Generals tried their hand at it. With usually disastrous results. They tore themself appart trying to "out-general" one another, no mater how terrible they actually were at it.
They also tried to consolidate themself using Christianity (Spiritualism), but in the end that only split them even more because everyone adapoted a different Flavor of it. Wich is a problem if you are a militarist soceity once again.

Ethos:
Militarist/Pacifist:
I consider the full fledged Fanatic Militarist since the 300 BC army reform.
It made them big. It broke them down.

Egalitarian/Authoritarian:
They always had that Individualist streak. No proper "opressive emperor" ever lasted long. Even at the time of the Empire they just could not wrap thier heads around this. Anybody that was too bad ended up assinated or facing somebody else thinking they could do better.
Still Slavery was a important part of their way of life, but as of 2.2 Authoritarian now acts as "Slavery light".

Xenophobia/Philia:
Especially duing the Republic they conquered and enslaved. A lot. Considering they had no Collectivist thing, they were propably Xenophobic at this time.
However later they managed to induce a state of "Romaniness" with all the conquered people. Build a working, multicultural empire.
Xenophobe to Xenophile, depending on phase.

Spiritualism/Materialism:
The romans were not that know for their religion. It even was a "running gag" that they copy & pasted their gods from the greeks. While barely changing the names.
However this is a misconception. They were actually quite religious. Fanatical even. People like Consul were not just under legal protection, attacking them was the closest thing to a heresy.
What they did when conquering was a process called "synchretism". They took the pantheon of a conquered people and started mapping their gods to the roman ones.
"You worshiped that Odin guy? Yeah, he was just a aspect or other name for our god Mercury/ Herms all along!"
Some of the mappings are wierd - like the Odin -> Mercury one - but overall it seems to have eased the cultural transition/assimilation.

During the Empire they did induce that State of "Romaniness", wich borders to a religion.
When they tried to go that way legalising Christianity and even making it sate religion, the real downfall began. Too many different interpretations and too much militarism do not mix.
Materalist to Spiritualist (with Nationality as Religion).
Once they went Fanatic Spiritualist with Christianity it went downhill hard.

Roman Government:
If the romans had one property, it was not being averse to changing stuff or fighting it out.
The Greek Phalanx not working out against barabarian hilltribes? Let's make our own thing then.
That one not working out anymore? Back to the drawing board.
Our rigid military structure lacking a certain tactical ability? Lets add Auxiliaries and Mercenaries for that job. They are local, kind of thier thing to deal with stuff like that.
Republic a problem in time of Crisis? Let's give 1 year dictatorship a try.

They seemed to choose either Oligarchy or Democracy. They sometimes tried thier hand at autocracy, but that always failed if one tried to be too much on the "absolute Ruler" side. Basically thier dictators had to keep thier public opinion in mind - much better modelled by a Oligrachy from my point of view.

1.5 Notes:
Considering thier long history, the ability to change Empire Ethics is a absolute must have.
Early Fanatic Militarism and Xenophobia (to enslave the aliens) with a Democratic Government form (Military Service for Citizen Status).
Later the integration of slaves into the Military (and thus Citizenship) made the more Xenophiliac. (even if just neutral).

Example Empires: USSR

While a rather recent example, also a case where stuff is not nearly as clear cut as one would believe. Indeed the USSR's politics can be roughly seperated into the following phases:
Lenin era
Post Lenin/Pre-Stalin era
Stalin era[en.wikipedia.org]
Khrushchev era[en.wikipedia.org]
Brezhnev era[en.wikipedia.org]
Ghorbatchev era[en.wikipedia.org]

Stalins Era in particular featured a strong "cult of personality" towards Stalin. As well as strong limitations for Intelectuals and strong paranoid "Inquisitions" of sort. A Spiritualist/Collectivist approach might be good at modelling that.

The Khrushchev and Ghorbatchev Era were totally different for the Stalin Era by intent.

While the Brezhnev era is roughly a conservative movement, try to go back to Stalins time.

And that process is still ongoing, with the Russian Federation post USSR and under Putin showing quite some differences.

Example Empire: Sparta

Now first we need to make clear, that our information of the spartans are incredibly limited. They were not the writing kind of Greecians. Half the information of them we got from an Athenean named Xenophon. I am going to reference this video for terminology:

Constituion of the Spartans

While they had Kings - even two of them - those held very little real power. They acted as the only official generals during war and then held de-facto dictatorial power. But afterwards they were fully liable to explain themself.
They could be charged and thrown out of office. While the replacement had to come from the same family, it was not really a monarchy as we normally would classify it. Even Diarchy might oversell their power.
These Kings worked more like Roman Consuls, with temporary Dictatorial Power during war. Some Religious Functions were rolled into it (expensive Oracle Consultation; and a lot of stabbed pigs) and they had some Bloodline requirements. Maybe some party-figurehead functions.

The Ephors did not hold a lot of power either. While they were the first hurdle to draft laws or start a prosecution against the Kings, their term was 1 year with a decent amount of randomisation. And they had to justify themself after that term, to their successors no less.

The Gerousia. If there is anything in that video that holds any real power, it is them.
- When the process was made against the king, they formed the bulk of the judge/jury.
- For laws, they had 3 veto powers: 1. Prevent it from even appearing on the Agenda for a Vote. 2. Intentionally mishearing the votes. 3. And actuall final, plain "Veto" power.

Government:
As the Gerousia holds the real power, Oligarchy seems the only fit. With the "Ruler" having the title of King and usually belonging to one of the two parties.
It was effectively a council of old men from rich families. But it is also possible that behind every Gerousia member, stood a wealthy woman making them de-facto leaders.
They were also incredibly conservative.

Militarism Axis:
This is a odd case. On the one hand, they were perhaps the only Civilisation of the time more militarized then even the Romans. When Aphrodite first landed on mainland greece, even she was a war godess[en.wikipedia.org].
On the other hand, they did not exactly do many offensive wars, wich are so typcial for Stellaris Militarism. Indeed the Army acted more like a Police Force against Slave revolts, only rarely as conventional military.
So they might be more like the Swiss - a incredibly militarized population by numbers, but mostly used defensively.

Xeno Axis:
I would put them clean on the Xenophobe side. Even after centuries, they sill considered themself invaders in their corner of Greece
They had a 0 Immigration Quota.
Even Visitors had to be admitted by the Ephros, the Gerousia or as Diplomats.
They made themself as different from the other Greek Nations as possible.

Slavery:
They held a incredible amount of Helots (Slaves), even for the greek citystates. With cited numbers ranging from 3:1 to 7:1 - for the Slaves.
They seemded to have intentionally nutured the danger of a slave rebellion, to keep military readiness high. But Xenophobia was at least cited as the official reason.
But Helots also held positions up to specialist (everything they had not enough women for), making 2.6's new Slavery Option Indentured Servitude (payment being that they let them live) very usefull. And in some reports they were even trusted as part of a army, not a usual Slave Army property.

Spiritualism Axis:
I was surprised to learn about it, but Spartans were also very Religious.
Mandatory Consultion of the Oracles, Pig Omens, "do the gods still want us to exist", "our kings were apointed by heracles".

Liberty:
Even for a Greek "Democracy" (Oligarchy), they were strongly regulated. Also incredibly conservative. So more on the Collectivism side of the whole thing, but hardly enough for a Government Ethic.

Ethos:
Militarism/Militarized Pacifism, Xenophobia, Spiritualism.

Civics:
I could see Inward Perfection, but they seem to need defensive pacts to be drawn into war.
Definitely stuff that buffs the defensive military, like space stations.
But overall, very little is known.

[paulo]

Thanks for answering my question.

[zgrssd]

@paulo It would make sense for them to be honorbound warriors. I basically have not updated this guide since 2.0

[paulo]

Huh... are samurai Honourbound warriors? If it's that so, why don't include them here? I'm trying to create an aquatic samural empire using the Dolphinoid portrait and the Here be Dragons Origin (the presence of the dragon heavely influenced the culture of my dolphinoids, making them to create a culture somewhat akin to the southeast asian culture -- China. Japan, etc. -- here on Earth).

[hoppkids]

I mean a few mods are needed ...

[hoppkids]

There are a few mods are needed to make empires accurate, such as the Conjoiners, or even humans from The Prefect.

[KindestSTCR]

Thanks again!

[zgrssd]

@Jimmy It is not a problem. I was just explaining why I can not realy work that idea into the guide.

[KindestSTCR]

My apologies about the 5 ethic choices. I've been playing with too many mods recently. Sorry for maybe wasting your time.

[zgrssd]

@Jimmy The game does not support 5 Ethic Choices. Only 3. And I can not consider bugs or mods in this. They are also not a big faction on the administration side - they do not hold Planets to my knowledge. They recruit from other branches (including the ocassional Hiveworlder, a Adeptus Ministorum "resource").

[KindestSTCR]

The Holy Orders of His Inquisition from WH40K can probably be made through fanatical Spiritualism, Fanatical Authoritarianism, and definitely some Xenophobia.