Player Progression

Your career in A House Divided is a series of escalating gambles: build a base, join a team, win small, use that win to win bigger. This page describes the arc from character creation to head of state, plus the per-office benefits that make each step worth the climb.

Character Creation Snapshot

You begin with:

• $250,000 Campaign Funds, $0 Cash on Hand
• 25 one-time starting actions
• Favorability 50 (neutral)
• Political Influence 0 (anywhere)
• Donor Base Level 1
• No party, no office

One character per account. See Create a Character for every creation-time choice.

Phase 1: Build Foundation

You're an independent with no office. You cannot run for office yet. Everything else is available:

• Campaign (+1% PI per action, free)
• Fundraise (earns $50k + $10k × donor level)
• Run Ads (+1–3 Favorability, $100k)
• Build Donor Network ($50k + $25k × level, +1 donor level)
• Commission Polls (Quick $25k / Full $75k)
• Support or Attack other politicians (+/−1% their Favorability)
• Barnstorm for allies (+1% their PI, 5 actions + $100k)
• Influence NPPs (endorsements, withdrawals, opposition)
• Post news, form coalitions (if you're a chair later)

Typical Phase 1 goal: Political Influence 40–60, Favorability 60–70, Donor Level 3, one or two NPP relationships in your target demographic.

Phase 2: Join a Party

Independents can't enter primaries. Pick a party whose economic/social platform is close to your policy positions — alignment amplifies your Party Influence → bonus-action conversion.

Joining a party immediately unlocks:

• Primary eligibility in your home state / region.
• Party Influence accrual (passive, scales with activity and closeness).
• Bonus actions from the party pool each turn (distributed by Party Influence × alignment).
• Party leadership candidacy (Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer — elected by members every 96 turns).
• Access to party treasury for coordinated NPP operations.

Switching parties later is allowed but costs: Favorability and Political Influence both take a hit, and your Party Influence resets to 0.

Phase 3: Primary Election

When a race's primary phase opens, declare candidacy. Primary scores combine:

• Policy alignment to your party's official economic/social position
• Favorability
• Political Influence (or NPI for presidential primaries)

The highest primary score per party advances to the general. Other party members competing for the same slot are your direct rivals — but attacking them raises your Infamy without necessarily helping you.

See Primaries for full primary scoring details (future page — for now see Election Mechanics).

Phase 4: General Election

You're a party nominee. You face nominees from other parties. Vote accumulates each turn per demographic group, weighted by your reach (PI or NPI-based) and appeal (favorability × policy closeness to each group).

Final turns are heaviest: roughly 25% of the pool lands in the last ~4 turns. Sustained campaigning wins; bursty campaigning loses.

See General Elections (future page — for now see Election Mechanics).

Phase 5: In Office

Winning a legislative office unlocks:

• Bill writing (you can propose legislation within the chamber you serve in).
• Voting on bills — each vote shifts your own policy position ±0.25 in the bill's direction.
• Office action and fund bonuses every turn.
• Committee membership where applicable.

Executive office (President / PM / Chancellor / Governor) adds:

• Cabinet nomination (Executives) — nominate any character to principal-officer roles.
• Sign or veto bills passed by the legislature.
• Executive orders / actions where applicable.
• Special per-office privileges covered in the country hubs.

Office Action Bonuses

Applied every turn on top of the 4-action base:

Office Fund Bonuses (per turn, in local currency)

Non-US offices grant equivalent bonuses; see each country hub for specifics.

Phase 6: Re-Election and Advancement

You hold exactly one office at a time. To advance you must:

1. Win the next race before your current term forces you out, OR
2. Let your term expire, then contest the next higher office from out-of-office status.

Strategic moves:

• House → Senate: Senators earn more actions and funds. Longer terms (12 real days vs 4) let you build NPI faster.
• Senate → Governor: Governor has the highest sub-national action and fund bonuses, and appoints Senate vacancies in their state.
• Governor → President: Presidential races are NPI-driven. You'll need ~300+ NPI to be competitive, which takes many cycles of sustained state PI.
• Any office → Party Leadership: Chair elections fire every 96 turns. Holding chair gives you control of the party's action pool — a serious multiplier when running your own or allied campaigns.

In parliamentary systems (UK / DE / JP) advancement runs through party leadership rather than a separate presidential race — your party's leader is the Prime Minister / Chancellor candidate after the legislative election.

Country-Specific Arcs

United States

Standard ladder: State Senate → US House → US Senate → Governor → President. State-level offices serve as a viable endpoint on their own — Governors of large states wield significant real power via policy and cabinet appointments.

United Kingdom

Ladder: MP (House of Commons) → Party Leader → Prime Minister (if your party wins the most seats and confidence vote passes). No direct "Prime Minister election" — the position is a consequence of Commons results and the confidence process.

Detail: United Kingdom.

Germany

Ladder: Bundestag MdB → Party Leader → Chancellor (confidence vote by Bundestag). Mixed-member proportional means constituency and list MPs coexist. The Bundesrat provides a secondary legislative chamber representing the Länder.

Detail: Germany.

Japan

Ladder: Shūgiin (Lower House) or Sangiin (Upper House) member → Party Leader → Prime Minister. Parallel-system elections mean prefectural FPTP seats sit alongside PR list seats; different offices require different electoral strategies.

Detail: Japan.

Vice President, Committee, and Cabinet Paths

Beyond elected office, there are appointed and elected sub-roles:

• Vice President (US) — chosen by the Presidential candidate as running mate. +2 action bonus; tie-breaks Senate votes.
• Cabinet Secretary (US) — nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate. Eighteen roles exist.
• Committee Chair (US, UK, DE, JP) — earned through committee elections within a party or chamber.
• Central Bank Chair — separate role; +3 action bonus stacks on any elected office.

None of these are dead ends — cabinet experience often translates into later Senate or Governor runs.

Stat Progression Summary

Out-of-Office Activities

When not holding office, you can still:

• Campaign, Fundraise, Run Ads, Build Donor Base (all core actions).
• Support / Attack / Barnstorm other politicians.
• Influence NPPs.
• Post news, form coalitions (as a chair), manage corporations.
• Commission polls.

You cannot write bills, vote on legislation, or use office-specific powers (cabinet nominations, executive orders, confidence motions, etc.).

Related

• Getting Started — Onboarding overview.
• Stats & Actions — Full stat and action reference.
• Election Mechanics — Primary scores, vote accumulation.
• Parties — Party Influence, leadership, action pool.
• Cabinet — US cabinet nomination and confirmation.
• United States · United Kingdom · Germany · Japan — Country-specific career ladders.