I loved the introduction of communities into this one, the idea for the rivalries is also really neat. But one thing that I thought could be expanded upon is the static nature of Seat of Power calculations - the alliances and rivalries don't really matter in the context of who ends up holding most sway in the city, it's totally random, which to me makes the whole concept less exciting. I had an idea about using the rivals created through Face cards as a mechanism allowing to take away a few power points of another player, naturally leading to more rivalries for the most currently "powerful" factions. One could also add an always present pssobility to create an ally when drawing a Non-Face card, and mechanically having it cause another player to also gain slightly less power points. I think this could be a very simple way to expand on the lightly competitive nature of the game, and create more lively entaglements between the players. I'm excited to give it a shot, thanks for the game and the inspiration.
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This is a fantastic idea! The Seat of Power definitely adds more of a spin/flavor for the city's narrative than actual competition as is (and I like how a rival can essentially negate a draw's points by opposing that building's purpose too) but I love your idea of roping rivals into affecting other people's numbers! I'm planning on holding a BFB game jam for community hacks and expansions in early 2021 and would strongly encourage you to bring this idea (and more!) to the table when I do!
As promised, the #BFBJAM is now LIVE and so is an SRD for the game! If interested, I'd love to see you flesh out your Seat of Power and Rival modifications and submit them as a rules supplement! https://itch.io/jam/bfb-jam