NPP Behavior

NPPs make autonomous decisions every turn: how to vote on bills, whether to vote in leadership elections, and how to respond to whip directives. Understanding this decision-making system lets you predict NPP behavior and use it strategically.

Bill Voting

NPPs vote on all active federal bills (bills collection). State/regional bills are not currently processed by the NPP system.

The Vote Decision

Each turn, NPPs that haven't yet voted on an open bill evaluate it using ideology alignment:

1. Check for a whip directive — if a whip has been issued for this bill by the NPP's state party chair or national chair, the NPP evaluates compliance
2. If whipped, compliance is probabilistic: complianceChance = (loyalty × 0.7) + ((1 − stubbornness) × 0.3)
3. If not whipped or if the whip fails, the NPP evaluates the bill against their own policy positions and votes based on ideological alignment
4. Abstain is possible for low-loyalty NPPs with no whip directive (floor of ~5%)

Veto override votes do not allow abstaining — NPPs must vote For or Against (defaults to Against if ideology would produce abstain).

Multi-Seat Weighting

NPPs holding multiple seats contribute their full seat count to the vote tally. An NPP with 7 House seats casts 7 effective votes. This matters enormously: a well-seated NPP bloc in a closely divided legislature can swing any bill.

Catch-Up Voting

NPP bill voting runs every turn throughout the bill's open window. NPPs who gain seats after a bill opens still vote before it closes, as long as voting hasn't ended. Once an NPP has voted, they cannot change their vote.

Speaker and Leadership Voting

NPPs vote in Speaker of the House elections, and in House and Senate majority/minority leadership elections.

Alignment Score

The core formula for all leadership voting:

alignmentScore(a, b) = max(0, 100 − |aEcon − bEcon| × 5 − |aSoc − bSoc| × 5)

Range: 0–100. Two politicians at identical positions score 100; opposite on both axes score 0.

Voting Decision Order

1. Whip check — if a whip directive exists, evaluate compliance using the loyalty/stubbornness formula
2. Single candidate — if only one nomination is active, auto-vote for that candidate
3. Ideology match — vote for the highest alignment score among active nominations
4. Party match bonus — +80 added to alignment score if the nominee shares the NPP's party (country-scoped)
5. Player bonus — +15 added for real player candidates over NPP candidates

In practice: a player candidate who shares the NPP's party and is even moderately close ideologically will almost always win an NPP's vote over a neutral opponent. The +80 party bonus dominates unless the candidate is dramatically misaligned.

Re-voting

NPPs can switch votes if a better match appears. The previous vote is cleared before the new vote is cast.

Spontaneous Nominations

NPPs with no active Speaker candidacy may spontaneously nominate a player House member — approximately 0.5% per NPP per turn. They prefer the player whose positions are closest to their own. This is mostly flavor but can occasionally create surprise nominations.

Personality Traits

Three personality traits shape how predictable an NPP's behavior is:

Full compliance formula:

complianceChance = (loyalty × 0.7) + ((1 − stubbornness) × 0.3)

Strategic Implications

• Bill passing: If you need an NPP-heavy chamber to pass a bill, align the bill with the ideological center of the majority NPPs, or whip your state's NPPs to vote For
• Leadership elections: Build a reputation (relationship score) with influential NPPs in your chamber by successful influence actions before a leadership race
• Blocking opponents: If a rival is running for Speaker, identify the most stubbornness-resistant NPPs in your party and whip them away from the rival's party block

Related

• NPPs Overview — What NPPs are and the influence action system.
• NPP Elections — How NPPs enter and compete in elections.
• Party Actions — Whip directives, party-level NPP influence.
• Party Ideology — The ideology alignment formula.