Instigate Defection, it allows you to gain a leader from the empire your infiltrating. Can either be existing or newly generated

Interfering in the policy of vassals of countries. Incite an enemy vassal to rebel or break a treaty, or simply reduce loyalty.


Provoke a conflict between two empires.(not like in vanilla), namely 100% chance reduction between countries and 20-30% chance that they will immediately declare war on each other.


Leader Substitution. Replace the leader with your dopellganger and gain +100 to relations in diplomacy with that country

Creating a puppet faction. After capturing an empire using the puppet method you gain +20 permanent loyalty


Biological Plague. It infects the planet and turns popes into your popes (if you are a necrophage) or mutants that turn into aggressive troops and turn the planet into an infected world after defensive troops win and reinfect all popes on the planet, with some chance of spreading to other planets.


Add bomb and nuclear explosions on planets that inflict a percentage of destruction. Also, you can add a mission to sabotage an outpost.

Destroy an outpost (without any colony in the system)

Some sort of operation to "abduct" or "rescue" pops. My friend has been clamoring for more ways for Rogue Servitors to acquire pops beyond total annexation and I think the idea of either secretly abducting or otherwise covertly smuggling out another Empire's undesireables might make for a thematic and maybe slightly interesting operation.

Less thematic but going along with the current set of destabilization operations, an operation to create a criminal underworld on either a world of your choosing or just the world with currently the most crime would be pretty cool, and especially helpful for Criminal Syndicates.

What if we could covertly supply an empire with either ships or a large navy buff?

Originally posted by Proxy:

Instigate Defection, it allows you to gain a leader from the empire your infiltrating. Can either be existing or newly generated

Thanks for the idea, Proxy!
A “Defection”-style operation could open up some interesting possibilities, like recruiting a foreign scientist or admiral under cover.

I'll definitely note it down and review how it fits with the existing structure. It would need careful balancing (e.g. rarity, cooldown, empire ethics compatibility) to avoid abuse or breaking immersion.

That said, I already have several active operations in play, so I’m pacing new additions carefully to keep the mod stable and coherent.

Appreciate the input and keep the ideas coming!

Originally posted by Perambulante in tenebr:

Interfering in the policy of vassals of countries. Incite an enemy vassal to rebel or break a treaty, or simply reduce loyalty.


Provoke a conflict between two empires.(not like in vanilla), namely 100% chance reduction between countries and 20-30% chance that they will immediately declare war on each other.


Leader Substitution. Replace the leader with your dopellganger and gain +100 to relations in diplomacy with that country

Creating a puppet faction. After capturing an empire using the puppet method you gain +20 permanent loyalty


Biological Plague. It infects the planet and turns popes into your popes (if you are a necrophage) or mutants that turn into aggressive troops and turn the planet into an infected world after defensive troops win and reinfect all popes on the planet, with some chance of spreading to other planets.


Add bomb and nuclear explosions on planets that inflict a percentage of destruction. Also, you can add a mission to sabotage an outpost.

Destroy an outpost (without any colony in the system)

Thanks for the detailed suggestions, Perambulante!
There are some very creative ideas in there definitely worth exploring further. Here's a quick response to each point:

1. Vassal Interference & Rebellion
This is a concept I’m already investigating. A loyalty-reducing operation or even inciting rebellion could work, but the vanilla vassal system has tight safeguards. Will require careful testing.

2. Forced Conflict Between Empires
I like the escalation idea. The vanilla "Incite Rivalry" is very limited. A more impactful version with war chance or heavy opinion penalties could be a good fit.

3. Leader Substitution / Doppelganger
Very thematic! Though technically tricky due to how Stellaris handles leader identity, I’ll check if that’s achievable through event injection and opinion modifiers.

4. Puppet Faction Creation
Interesting mechanic could be tied to ideological shifts or success in other operations. Would need to tie in with Overlord or vassal mechanics to avoid breaking balance.

5. Biological Plague / Necrophage Invasion
This is very close to my existing Smuggle Predators situation, but more aggressive. I could explore an expanded biological crisis with infective mechanics perhaps even tied to origin-specific effects like Necrophage.

6. Bombing / Destruction Effects on Planets
Cool thematically, but very hard to balance. Still, sabotage missions against outposts or infrastructure (mines, research stations) is something I might look into.

7. Destroy Outpost Mission
That’s simple and clean could be done via an uncolonized-system sabotage operation. I’ll see if the engine allows it cleanly without diplomatic bugs.

I'll add these to the design pool, but please note I won’t implement everything immediately. I always check compatibility, balance and overlap with existing operations.

Appreciate the creative energy.

Originally posted by Teiya, the Blue Dragon:

Some sort of operation to "abduct" or "rescue" pops. My friend has been clamoring for more ways for Rogue Servitors to acquire pops beyond total annexation and I think the idea of either secretly abducting or otherwise covertly smuggling out another Empire's undesireables might make for a thematic and maybe slightly interesting operation.

Less thematic but going along with the current set of destabilization operations, an operation to create a criminal underworld on either a world of your choosing or just the world with currently the most crime would be pretty cool, and especially helpful for Criminal Syndicates.

Thanks for the ideas!

Abduct/Rescue Pops:
That's an interesting suggestion and actually overlaps a bit with the vanilla "Smuggle Population" operation. However, I could imagine a custom version specifically designed for Rogue Servitors or Necrophages, with unique triggers and outcomes (e.g. extracting undesirables, generating Bio-Trophies, or converting Pops).

Create Criminal Underworld:
Very thematic for Criminal Syndicates. While my existing Branch Shutdown operation focuses on dismantling enemy branch offices, this idea flips it around, actively building up a criminal presence instead. I could see this as a standalone operation: something like "Establish Underworld Network", which boosts crime, branch office value, and applies negative modifiers to the target world over time.

I’ll definitely compare these with my current operations. No promises on implementation, but they’re solid concepts and fit the overall theme well.

Feel free to drop any follow-ups in the thread!

Originally posted by RosÉ:

What if we could covertly supply an empire with either ships or a large navy buff?

Interesting idea, thanks for sharing!

Supplying an empire covertly with ships or military support fits well with the direction I'm currently exploring adding more supportive and alliance-based operations to balance the existing sabotage tools.

One concept I'm working on is a Covert Fleet Support operation. It could act as a hidden logistics network that boosts an allied or ideologically aligned empire by:

Providing temporary ship modifiers or military reinforcements

Boosting naval capacity, build speed, or fire rate

I'll compare this idea with the current operations especially since Covert Shield Protocol already introduced a support-focused mechanic. There’s definitely room to expand that theme.

No promises on timing, but this aligns well thematically. Appreciate the suggestion keep them coming!

5. Biological Plague / Necrophage Invasion
This is very close to my existing Smuggle Predators situation, but more aggressive. I could explore an expanded biological crisis with infective mechanics perhaps even tied to origin-specific effects like Necrophage.

I play mostly Necrophage, and I would be curious to organize a total infestation of the galaxy with their pops by planting them in other factions through espionage).

Originally posted by Chrisrous:

Abduct/Rescue Pops:
That's an interesting suggestion and actually overlaps a bit with the vanilla "Smuggle Population" operation. However, I could imagine a custom version specifically designed for Rogue Servitors or Necrophages, with unique triggers and outcomes (e.g. extracting undesirables, generating Bio-Trophies, or converting Pops).

Huh, I've never noticed the Smuggle Population operation actually already existing. Whoops...
It might be worth checking if the operation is already available to Rogue Servitors or not since in that case it might just be wholly unnecessary.

For example, for support, you could try these options: 1) “Secret Negotiator” to accelerate the end of an ally's war through an espionage mission
Effect: increase the chance, for example by +50 to the ally's war (meaning to the fact that the bot will agree to the quo)

2)“Loyalty Leverage” strengthen the loyalty of ally vassals through the mission
Effect: +10-20 loyalty for ally vassals for 10 years.

3)Operation “Propaganda Uplift” spread rumors that the ally is stronger than it seems.

Effect: the ally gets a temporary increase in diplomatic weight (+30%) and relations with powers (+50).

4)“Inspiration” increase ally stability and reduce crime.

Effect: increases stability on ally planets (+10) and decreases crime (-10%).

5)“Spark Revolt” provokes a revolt on enemy occupied allied territories.

Effect: temporary reduction of control (-20) and penalties for the enemy on occupied planets (for example, a line debuff on civil defense that will try to destroy the occupation troops or an event that eventually (if it is not controlled) the ally back planet.

6)"The «Joint Intel Network» buffs ally reconnaissance.

Effect: Shows all enemy ships against which it is waging war and in which there is your spy."

7)"Assassin for Hire" - elimination of enemy ally generals/admirals.
Effect: the enemy loses a leader or receives a debuff on a general or admiral for 5 years.

Hey, I saw your request to post here all the suggestions, so I'm copy/pasting the two ideas I proposed:

1. Incite War Between Empires
2. Provoke Empire to start a war with your empire

Originally posted by Chrisrous:

Originally posted by RosÉ:

What if we could covertly supply an empire with either ships or a large navy buff?

Interesting idea, thanks for sharing!

Supplying an empire covertly with ships or military support fits well with the direction I'm currently exploring adding more supportive and alliance-based operations to balance the existing sabotage tools.

One concept I'm working on is a Covert Fleet Support operation. It could act as a hidden logistics network that boosts an allied or ideologically aligned empire by:

Providing temporary ship modifiers or military reinforcements

Boosting naval capacity, build speed, or fire rate

I'll compare this idea with the current operations especially since Covert Shield Protocol already introduced a support-focused mechanic. There’s definitely room to expand that theme.

No promises on timing, but this aligns well thematically. Appreciate the suggestion keep them coming!

Could we also use it on non-allied empires? I like to watch genocidal empires fight each other and purge my enemies for me!

I had another idea is to get a ship design, get an army of defectors or maybe get a exclusive tech that your empire can't get, I do think there should be operations for pre-ftls.

And maybe add the *volunteer* mechanic from Hearts of Iron IV (enter an ally's war)

Although in this case, the spy mission

Requirements:

The target (country or empire) must be at war.

The sending party is not involved in this war.

Must have an infiltration/infiltration level ≥ 40.

Communication through an alliance, non-aggression pact or spy network.