Hi Lari! Thanks for the detailed review. I definitely plan on continuing to work on this with a revision from jam comments and some playtesting.
I agree the competitive nature and the Fabulist mechanic introduces some challenges. That was one of the main pieces of feedback I received during the one playtest I managed to schedule before submitting the game. One player was heavily motivated by mechanics and the board game elements, and I wanted a way to win without being the most popular player, but strictly through winning opposed rolls and manipulating the board. Another player brought up the point that shy or quiet players might be at an unfair disadvantage. I will definitely think about this for revisions and will consider including other win conditions or some sort of mechanic for "stealing" the Fabulist position rather than earning it democratically. If I don't find a satisfactory solution, I will probably just make it explicit in the rules that you have to A) be prepared to use the spotlight when you are in it (i.e. it might just not be a good game for new fiction-first gamers) and B) when someone has the spotlight, you have to let them use it without interrupting.
I agree the list of actions associated with faction statistics could be improved - I received this feedback from other reviewers also. I plan on updating that section to more clearly distinguish the statistics.
Thanks again for your feedback and the opportunity to read your game, Berlin '70 – Capital of Spies!