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The seduction mechanics in this game are messed up, IMO. "Seduction focus" characters always end up with ten million bastards and their wives finding out and hating them. The other day I had finally cheesed ultimogeniture (bed unmarried genius courtiers, then marry a widow too old to bear children) enough to get myself a great heir (legitimized an attractive genius bastard, gave him a grey eminence education). I had promised to land him, so I figured I'd give him one of the less developed counties in my demesne. I even set him up with a great genius wife from a useful ally. My character was old (70, I think), so I knew soon I'd get to rule glorious Éire as my excellent bastard. I flashed over to my character before the reaper came. Huh, what's this malus lurking in the corner? Adulterer? Huh. That's odd, but I guess it's not insurmountable––adulterer penalties go away after ten years or so. Incestuous adulterer?!?!? My God, kid, what the gently caress have you been up to? Oh, I see. Seduction focus, four legitimized bastards, something like a -600 opinion from the wife. Well, poo poo. Wait a sec, who's your spymaster? You made your genius wife who hates you your spymaster? Oh, great, she's with child now! What do you think are the odds it's yours, idiot? What was supposed to be a nice, easy few decades of expanding, developing my demesne, and securing a solid heir for the next generation have quickly devolved into a frantic race to kill my heir's wife before she can kill or cuckold him. e: It's also struck me as a bit odd how little crown authority it requires to switch to ultimogeniture and how much it requires to get primogeniture, unless of course you switch to primo as a duke (no CA requirement). I guess it makes sense from a game design perspective; primo enables you a little more certainty and stability, whereas ultimo leaves the very real risk that your wife will pop out a terrible heir at the last minute and you'll just have to make do through sixteen years of regency. Otherwise it's strange. Aschlafly fucked around with this message at 11:14 on Jun 8, 2015 |
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Jun 8, 2015 11:10
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Silly me thought he might pick a useful focus and get to work shoring up one of his weaker stats. Never again.
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Jun 8, 2015 11:23
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I usually ignore army composition unless I'm fighting pagans––then I have to remind myself "oh, almost all of his army is lovely light infantry" and attack even though I'm outnumbered. A couple of minor questions. I have a vassal merchant republic, but I'd like to a) move their location (so that, when I gain an empire and create new king-level titles, they are my de jure vassal) and b) eventually grant them a king-level title. The second seems straightforward: grant them most of the duchies in a kingdom, destroy the kingdom title, and wait for them to recreate it. Something like that? The first, I'm less sure about. My plan is to grant them another duchy title and revoke the first one. I am concerned that the process might be more difficult than that. In the past I granted a duchy to the mayor of a city in my own demesne. Boneheaded way to create a republic: the city thereafter belonged to the republic, for some reason I couldn't revoke the city, and then the rear end in a top hat count to whom I granted the other county in the duchy took over and effectively made the republic useless. Is there some rule for when one can or cannot revoke title from a republic? e: Maybe this is all a fool's errand. Is there any compelling reason to have a king-level republic vassal? I suppose one could do just as well with several ducal republics. Aschlafly fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Jun 17, 2015 |
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Jun 17, 2015 14:10
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Don't forget periodic events involving eating big, juicy cocks. (Nothing screams "realism" like getting a "good food" modifier that lasts for a loving year.)
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Jul 3, 2015 13:14
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Hell, it'd be a nice casus belli, too.Roland Jones posted:Unrelated, but why is it that, when I catch people who've committed murder and rightfully imprison them for it, I can't actually do anything to them? Despite you normally getting one "free" action against people you imprisoned for accepted reasons, you're regarded as a tyrant for trying to actually punish Known Murderers. Are you supposed to just let them rot in jail forever? I ended up doing that for one, ransomed another because she actually had a fair bit of cash and a position worth a little money random-wise. This seems like something that should depend on laws or culture. Different societies had different concepts of appropriate punishment for murder: in much of Catholic Europe, it was the death penalty, but among the pre-Christian Germanic pagans, the concept of weregild was sometimes employed, with the murderer having to pay a monetary penalty depending on the rank of the victim. Might be an interesting option––if you murder the wrong person and their family finds out, you either cough up a few hundred ducats or they get an immediate casus belli against you.
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Jul 10, 2015 12:48
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DStecks posted:One of my favourite CKII moments was when I (the chief of Estonia) got a notification that my neighbors to the south had sieged my capital and the chief took my wife as his concubine; I then proceeded to wreck his loving poo poo. I had a similar thing happen––petty king of Ulaidh, got attacked by the king of Pictland, he took my capital (pushing me from feudalism back to tribalism, thanks a lot) and took my daughter as his concubine. I was pretty screwed. The next day at work, I regaled some of my labmates with this tale and explained my plan to utterly wreck Pictland and take his wife and daughters as my concubines, because gently caress him. A few days later, one of my labmates, an Italian guy with a thick accent, asked me, completely out of the blue: "So, Aschlafly, how was the raping?" Took me a few minutes to figure out that he was referring to CK2 and that this is essentially what forced concubinage entails...
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Jul 13, 2015 12:12
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There's also a small chance they will marry a Greek woman matrilineally...mythomanic posted:
I imagine this is exactly how China will be implemented (someday...) On that front, I had an idea. Since administrative titles in China were by appointment and typically not hereditary, one way to add to the "dynastic" element of the game would be via the civil service exam. Low-level vassals might be to allow vassals to train their children or dynasty for the civil service exam, with appointment contingent on exam performance (as opposed to all appointments being hand-picked by a liege lord). That way, a smart or productive dynasty could still wiggle many of its members into high-ranking positions, solidifying political power in the realm. It's half-baked, but it's one way to make dynasties important in a decidedly non-feudal, non-hereditary realm. Aschlafly fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Jul 23, 2015 |
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Jul 23, 2015 15:20
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That makes sense. I'd imagine culture should also play a big role on the exams themselves, since deep familiarity with classical Chinese literature and the Chinese language was required. It might also be nice to model the rise and fall of imperial power versus control by local warlords. Then again, maybe the entire game needs this (blobbing's too easy as is).
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Jul 23, 2015 16:48
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Seems like making them friendly or at least neutral to rulers of their own religion would be a good step towards destabilizing large or overextended realms. "Sire, our Catholic brethren are revolting against their heathen rulers!" "We must liberate them at once. Call the banners!"
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Jul 30, 2015 09:38
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Tendai posted:Holy poo poo, this game. For quick "go big or go home" gameplay, there's no beating Haesteinn of Nantes (867 start). You are a one-province Norse Germanic count in Brittany. However, unlike most Germanic rulers, you start out feudal, have free reinforcing event troops and a free fleet (excellent for raiding), and have enough prestige to Prepare Invasion against anyone you want. You have an excellent Martial score, the Viking and Quick traits, a son to carry on your line, and tech progress that isn't totally lovely. There's really no limit to the fun you can have with this world traveler. Easy mode: Use your prepared invasion on Brittany, take Cornwall as well, and become the King of Bertángaland. Nab three Germanic holy sites as quickly as possible using the subjugation casus belli and declare yourself Fylkir. Call Great Holy Wars for any kingdom you want. Bonus: Take the Pomeranian coastal counties so that the Jomsvikings will spawn later. As the sole Germanic holy order, they'll enable all manner of Germanic prepared invasions and holy wars to be successful. Enjoy watching your religion explode across the map. Normal mode: Take any duchy you want, possibly by breaking truces (prepared invasions grant more troops if you're a higher rank than count). Launch a prepared invasion of Scotland or any of the English petty kingdoms. They'll have fairly few allies, and you should have no trouble steamrolling their pathetic levies. You'll have a good chunk of land, you'll have access to several nearby Germanic allies in Suðreyjar or Jorvik, and people in Catholic Europe are unlikely to bother you. It's like the 1066 Ireland start, but much more fun. Alternately, invade Asturias and prepare to fend off both Catholics and Muslims alike. Hard mode: Take Brittany piecemeal by breaking truces, then prepare an invasion of one of the Karling realms. The ~10,000 event troops you get prior to the invasion should be more than enough to swat down the armies they will feebly try to piece together against you. Example: Prepare an invasion of Frisia (against King Louis the Stammerer) and siege down every non-Frisian capital barony of his. You will occupy almost all of his land, but the "King Louis controls Frisia" warscore penalty will keep him from surrendering. Then take any Frisian county you want. Bam, instant 100% warscore, instant surrender, and you now have a major foothold in Europe, with a Norse Germanic capital along the Frisian coast (and a ton of holding slots). Raise crown authority by any means possible so you can revoke any remaining Catholic nobles' titles and replace them with loyal Odinists. Create a vassal republic in Brittany or Normandy for sick cash. You can also try converting to Norman or Breton first for the knight retinue. Build an army of mounted, armored warriors with sword and lance ready to die for Odin's glory (and get ready for the inevitable crusades and Catholic revolts you'll definitely face). Harder mode: Take Sicily and piece together the kingdom. Move your capital, convert to Orthodoxy, and plot your way to the Byzantine throne. Rename your title to something suitable, like "Kæsar". Let the Norse offspring of Haesteining be the inheritors of Rome's legacy. You can't castrate prisoners, but who gives a poo poo? Expert mode: County-conquest your way to India, raid until you capture a Buddhist woman, prepare your invasion of England, conquer it, make the Buddhist woman your concubine, and convert to your concubine's religion. Become the Norse Buddhist emperor of Brittania. This is the easiest way to get the "British Raj" achievement. Insane mode: Raid Mauretania for a Shiite woman, prepare an invasion of Mauretania, take it, make the Shiite woman your concubine, convert to Shia Islam, and mercilessly conquer the false Caliph's lands by breaking truces. Declare yourself the Shia Caliph, then share the good news with your Norse brethren. For extra bonus points, do this within Haesteinn's lifetime! A millennium later, some of the descendants of Haesteinn will proclaim: Det finns ingen gudom värdig att dyrka utom Gud och Muhammed är Hans sändebud. You can get the "Viking Ummah" achievement this way. Mandatory: Whatever else you do, always raid Rome, always capture the Pope, and always ask him "where is your Blessed Virgin now?" as the hangman readies his rope. Aschlafly fucked around with this message at 12:55 on Aug 24, 2015 |
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Aug 24, 2015 12:53
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Tendai posted:Huh, I think they must have changed this or something. Definitely gavelkind with no option to change If you wanna game the system, convert to Breton culture and you'll have access to Tanistry, too (even as unreformed pagan). You'll get access to the Knight retinue, and since you didn't convert to Norman, courtiers and vassals you spawn will have the nice Celtic portraits instead of the weird deformed vanilla ones (still not as cool as the Norse portraits, but better than nothing). If you'd like to stay Norse in the long run, just convert after your desired heir comes of age. edit: note that if you are planning to declare any wars after your planned invasion succeeds, you should do so and raise your levies immediately (i.e., as soon as the surrender screen appears), or else the "new administration" levy penalty will kick in and you'll have poo poo for troops all of a sudden. The same applies if you are expecting anyone to declare war on you, for example because you're an infidel. Aschlafly fucked around with this message at 12:15 on Aug 26, 2015 |
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Aug 26, 2015 12:02
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Who ever thought that was a good system anyhow.
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The CK2 subreddit is unusually productive today:quote:A craven heretic homosexual detached priest and kinslayer was teaching a class on Al-Mansur Abbasid, known murder
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Aug 28, 2015 17:22
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kingturnip posted:I do find that revolts tend to happen in the same provinces, so you can just park a suitably large army there and ignore them indefinitely. Best guess: guy had an heir who was independent. He died, and the independent heir inherited his territory. Alternately, guy was himself the heir of an independent duke: he inherited the duke's territory and became independent. (I think?) If Feudal, bump your crown authority up to High to prevent this.
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Sep 4, 2015 11:52
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No, the only correct way to play the game is Ironman++, where you commit suicide when your ruler dies and hand the keyboard to your offspring (or younger brother or uncle).
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Sep 7, 2015 17:05
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Bel Monte posted:You could make it cost money and then scaled prestige. Prestige in that you're admitting no one in your realm is competent enough to aid you. Money so that if you say "oops, nevermind" you're still out of something (along with prestige). Then they leave for a random nearby court. The AI might only run through the checks if it's ministers are extremely low in quality and they're duke or higher maybe. To keep it down somewhat. Or use honest/just versus deceitful/arbitrary: people will be less willing to accept promises from arbitrary or deceitful characters, unless some kind of down payment is offered (or whatever). Tiler Kiwi posted:I think a deal system could work like diplomacy in basically any 4X game: you make an offer for some demands in return. This. As a Scandinavian republic, I'd love to be able to (say) ally with the Umayyads against Francia. Brings to mind the attempted Karling/Abbasid alliance against the Umayyads, or the attempted French-Mongol alliance against the Abbasids. Maybe make the complexity of alliances, promises, etc. scale with legalism or majesty technology. We don't want the middle ages to look like pre-WW1 Europe, with secret treaties waiting to explode all over the place. alcaras posted:For the min-maxer, what are the Way of Life paths to bother with? Intrigue if you direly need to get rid of vassals or revoke their titles. Hunting for longevity. Rulership if you want to get rid of a terrible trait like arbitrary or if you need to die quickly (stressed is a common outcome). Most of the focuses have some situational use, though. Business is good for money. Theology can get you some good traits if you go on a pilgrimage. Carousing can be good for getting vassals to hate you less (or if you want to become angry at Paradox for not including an "invite all to carousing" button): it can also get rid of arbitrary for you. Or just go with seduction and gently caress everyone and everything. There really isn't a hard-and-fast answer. It'll depend on what you need. Coward posted:Man, that archer nerf was painful. Playing a pagan merchant republic suddenly got a lot harder. "Hire mercenaries and cross your fingers" no longer works, since most mercenary companies are composed of lovely light infantry (and as far as I can tell, they still don't benefit from tech bonuses). Build a generic retinue army with lots of pikemen and some heavy or light infantry: charges and advances are now utterly deadly. Pursuit will be a pain, but you stand a decent chance of routing an entire enemy flank during melee, so pursuit may not be needed. alcaras posted:Is there a decent post-patch "here's how to build a retinue" guide anywhere? Take a look. Pikes, heavy infantry, and camel cavalry all seem to do well. Archers fare poorly, and cavalry and horse archer retinues are often an inefficient use of the retinue cap. Aschlafly fucked around with this message at 13:30 on Sep 14, 2015 |
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Sep 14, 2015 13:13
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Generic cavalry retinues can be a good bet. In the forum thread linked above, the first column refers to survival against a mixed enemy levy given a fixed retinue cap (so light infantry retinues, which use less of the cap, will outnumber cavalry). The second column refers to survival against a mixed enemy levy 50% larger, normalized for size (e.g., 1000 light infantry or 1000 light cavalry). The gap is noteworthy. The most optimal retinues normalized for retinue cap tend to be heavy on pikemen (though cavalry don't do as poorly as archers or light infantry). But unsurprisingly, the best retinues normalized for number of units tend to be heavy on cavalry. Look at the Goedendag and Jaguar Warrior entries: they fare well for a fixed retinue cap (~80% survival), but unit-for-unit, they get massacred (~25% survival). On the other extreme, look at Byzantine cataphracts, which eat up a huge chunk of retinue cap: they fare poorly at fixed retinue cap (~50% survival) but are very strong on a per-unit basis (~90% survival). The most bang for your buck will probably involve pikemen and heavy infantry. But there are some obvious situations where cavalry are the smarter bet, such as when you're warring against defensive pagans (at low military organization) and want to avoid crippling attrition (retinues are crazy expensive to reinforce). Alternately, cavalry are pimp as gently caress, so just use them anyway. If your retinue cap gets large, there is something to be said for having a massive army of knights mowing down the infidels like hot knives through so many blades of butter. Or grass. Dammit, now I'm confused.
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Sep 14, 2015 17:50
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Nothing says "historical realism" like eating a big, fat, juicy cock and getting an "eating good food" modifier that lasts for a year.
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Sep 14, 2015 21:19
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Coward posted:
I had a similar trick in my latest game (Norse merchant republic). My vassals have a lovely habit of declaring prepared invasions that fail: they don't get anywhere near the number of event troops needed to stand up against the Catholic holy orders, which aren't taken into account when the game decides how many troops to give the invaders. The other day, though, I noticed something remarkable. My vassal, the Duke of Lithuania, had declared a prepared invasion of (Catholic) Poland, and he was doing quite well! He had hired the Jomsvikings, and several of my other vassals were helping him fight. Most importantly, Francia, with its 35k troops, hadn't yet entered the war: it was busy helping push some pissant's claim on Powys. Well, Powys lost, and a few days later, Francia joined with Poland. I was excited to finally see one prepared invasion succeed, and now it looked like my hopes would forever be dashed: lieges cannot join vassals' prepared invasions. But maybe I could help indirectly. I started raiding Francia with my 7k housecarl retinue, hoping to distract some of their troops into chasing me rather than fight my Germanic brothers and sisters. And sure enough, Francia chased me... but not with nearly as many troops as I'd expected: a mere 9k troops. They were mostly light infantry and archers and were pursuing me across a river, so I gritted my teeth and asked Tyr to grant me strength. 1,500 Norse housecarls were lifted up by the Valkyries. But from Valhalla, they watched their brothers in arms turn 9,000 Frenchmen into 9,000 French corpses. Why only 9k? Because the Franks had apparently left half their army in Powys, in two stacks of 10k and 7k, with nowhere near enough fleet levies to get them all out quickly. So, like a clever commander, I took advantage of their scattered army. I raised some vassal levies (even with low crown authority, this was plenty) and brought the fight to them before the "hostile due to raiding" flag wore off––altogether, about 12k men, over half of them heavy infantry. I hit one stack, then the other, and thereby managed to cut the Frankish army down to size. Francia's levies were recovering constantly, but most of their remaining army had smashed up futilely against the Jomsvikings in Poland. Emperor Shitdick of Francia was down to a mere 8k troops. I figured it would have been downright irresponsible of me not to teach him a lesson. Dismiss levies, declare holy war, hire mercenaries, raise levies, attack. Something like 30k men in total. This was total overkill. I expected him to hire every single holy order immediately, but by the time he got around to it, a 10k Norse stack with Pecheneg and Scottish auxiliaries was parked right on top of Paris, and they easily scattered the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaler before their morale could recover. I enforced demands, took Brittany, created the Most Serene Republic of Bertangaland, handed it out, dismissed my mercenaries, and proceeded to terrorize Francia with 15k men raiding him constantly. Emperor Fuckface kept trying to rally his slowly-recovering vassal levies to chase out my raiders, but to no avail. I swatted them down every time he tried. The best part? During a raid, I captured his favored son, brought him home, and filled him with the wisdom of the Norse sagas. When he grew up, I released him, then invited him back to court. Unfortunately Francia has an elective monarchy, so he won't inherit the Empire, but he'll have a weak claim––and if I ever decide to push it and succeed, hopefully Francia will be ripped apart by revolts, with hapless Catholics chafing under the yoke of their Odinist overlord. Wait for the right moment, take risks, strike hard, and fight dirty. e: and now the Principality of Scandinavia passes to my heir, a quick Grey Eminence. I might stop raiding until the short reign modifier passes, but in the mean time, the new Emperor has declared an Antipope, and the Knights Templar were chased out of Saxony by a liberation revolt. Catholic Moral Authority is down to 20%. Looking forward to those sweet heretic revolts. Aschlafly fucked around with this message at 12:11 on Sep 18, 2015 |
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Sep 18, 2015 12:03
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