We like the break the rules making a roleplaying empire. The Placid Empire isn’t the first empire that I played using Jellyfish People and the Ocean Paradise but it is the first to incorporate some of the mechanics beyond “do ocean stuff”. So even if the label of the empire says “Theocratic Monarchy” we’re less concerned with the dogmatic parts of spiritualism and more concerned with peace,. serenity, and communing with your fellow beings.

This is a very standard empire for the Jellyfish people. Ocean Paradise, Jellyfish portrait, quickly moving to adopt adaptability to unlock the ability to terraform other planets to ocean worlds.

Mechanically we’re going to explore the concept of expanding peacefully and growing. This is a tall empire and our fanatical pacifist choice makes wars of expansion extremely difficult.

Core Concepts

The core concept of this empire is the desire for the jellyfish people to have a placid and peaceful existence that stems from being placed in a perfect world. Peace is a non-negotiable hence the fanatical version that prevents us from starting nearly any conflict. I want to find some planets, ascend to the highest level, and pack them full of jellyfish people. Anglers fits nicely on this world as a concept as I imagine large numbers of jellyfish people enjoying the fruits of the sea.

Cosmetic Choices

Cosmetic choices are sometimes the easiest and other times they are difficult. This experience is about making things placid and welcoming for the player and the jellyfish people. It’s the right choice.

This empire was first picked before BioGenesis so I didn’t pick meat ships. Even if I had the option, I don’t think the idea of the The Placid Empire includes using a living being as a mauler or battering ram so I’m calling this theoretical choice a cosmetic choice. Even though I’m taking the Minnerian Kingdom from the Aquatic 2 for the game I’ll be using the twee name list. For purely cosmetic choices I decided on a solid blue with a light purple color over the tentacle thing. The Blue/purple makes a nice color combination without the harsh brightness of a true white.

Mechanical Choices

Mechanical choices for a roleplay empires attempt to do a few things. First, they take advantage of game design elements that “just make sense”. A big ship should be able to take a lot of damage and a small ship should be quick. In Stellaris being militaristic increases your fire rate. Second, you’re taking advantage of innocuous choices that provide a benefit and mitigate an issue from your primary mechanical choices.

With peace being a core concept this empire is basically “stuck” with whatever land we can expand into during the early game. One way to mitigate this is the additional power projection from the Imperial government. Without the ability to conquer new worlds we need something in early game and building a lot of ships as deterrence and using that to expand is extremely useful. Second, Imperial is a great choice for Ocean Paradise since you get an additional +10% output on your capital world. Unlike standard empires with multiple guaranteed worlds we’re going to be on our capital for a long time.

Mechanically we didn’t have many required choices for species traits. Aquatic is a requirement of our origin and takes up two starting points. I also decided to include biological specialist for a bonus to research. Finally, I picked two negative traits, sedentary and solitary, to represent the room, space, and enjoyable living of the empire.

As for the paths not taken there is a strong desire to potentially go with the Aristocratic Elite or slide the fanatical pacifism one slot to egalitarian. However, I’m very committed to the peaceful expansion of the empire under any and all circumstances. And I don’t think that having such an ingrained class and nobility system is better compared to having Anglers.

Playing the Game

Another part of game is how you play your empire and what choices you make. While part of this determined by what’s in the game another part is determined by how you want to grow and express the empire. There are four primary methods of “growing” your empire: Species ascension, traditions, ascension perks, and your next civic.

Species ascension is very likely to be psionic as cyborgs and synthetics don’t really fit with the vibe. While a biological ascension is possible my first few runs with this empire occurred before the choices between purity, cloning, and mutation. It would be hard to say no to cloning as an option for RP reasons. While the instrument of desire focuses on planetary ascension the population growth from the composer of strands also fits well from the RP perspective. We’re obviously going to avoid the Eater of Worlds

Traditions can include a lot of different things but must include some combination of Statecraft, Harmony and Adaptability. At the time I originally played this I would also take Domination and Diplomacy. With the federation mechanic no longer locked behind that tradition it still fits from an RP perspective but not from a mechanics perspective. Unyielding (now fortitude) is likely your only “combat” tradition and is a good first choice to complete a tradition tree. I avoided supremacy but it’s so powerful I understand if you wanted to take it. In March of 2026 I’d want to add Subterfuge and Aptitude. With Harmony, the ascensionist civic, and Adaptability you’re almost always going to want to get the holy covenant federation to really push those bonuses as high as possible. Note that it can be extremely difficult to federate with fanatical pacifism without getting favors from diplomacy.

One of my standard starts is to pick the first two choices in Statecraft for a bonus to council agenda speed and getting extra experience for the council. After that I unlock adaptability and then pick unyielding. This unlocks eternal vigilance as a first ascension perk before finishing statecraft to unlock Hydrocentric. After that there is the triple combo of Master Builders, The Colossus Project, Galactic Wonders, and your Ascension Perk. This leaves two perks free for things like Enigmatic Engineering, One Vision, Technological Ascendancy.

Unlike other empires the third civic is really just a vibe. Catalytic processing is a “meta” choice given the large amount of food you can generate but honestly basic resources weren’t a challenge in 3.14-4.2. The current beta is making them slightly more important so if you’re playing in 2026 give it a chance. Swapping to pleasure seekers really spells out how you want them to live. Same with Civil Education. Diplomatic Grants can help if you’re using “we come in peace” to support multiple improve relations with hostile power. Switching to democracy at some point makes sense both from an RP perspective and makes even more sense if you’re adding additional species to your empire.

Since the universe is dark and full of dangers it’s important to project strength. Only through