Rise of a King
a Native flavoured Mod
a Native flavoured Mod
This is the mod I have been waiting for (unsuccessfully) since I started playing M&B.
It is already playable (it's the one I play when I have time) but I'm not releasing it for testing as it is going to break savegame compatibility at each new release for a long time, I fear. I might give alpha version access to selected people for testing purposes or in exchange for some help but let's see how it goes.
Anyway, without further ado, let me tell you what Rise of a King is about.
General Idea
This mod is a Native expansion and rethinking. The factions, lords, centers and landscape are the same, mostly, but I have added several other open source mods that I personally enjoyed, plus I have been tweaking, fixing and adding stuff little by little until it became something that could be appreciated by other people.
What I really missed in M&B was not more action, more factions, more objects, better graphics. What I really, really missed was a proper nobility system and a decent kingdom management.
Rise of a King is built around the idea that Calradia is classist and elitist, and that moving up the ladder is difficult and bloody, most often. Most of the "small improvements" are just mods I liked and integrated, but the actual core of this mod is about the process of "going up", from a lower rank to the highest.
In this regard, the character creation becomes also a way to set the initial difficulty: if you start noble, you'll have a much easier life than if you start peasant or outlaw. More on this later.
Features in short
Modified character creation with three “social classes”, noble/commoner/scumbag, each one with three starting paths, with a decent equipment and path-specific starting attributes, skills, position, relation with lords/centers, starting party etc.
New rank & title system, organised in this way: FirstTitle Name, Duke/Count/Baron of Fief. The “FirstTitle” depends on culture, on gender and on nobility rank. Generally, Dukes hold a town, Counts a castle and Barons a village
Reworked recruitment system, with a greater emphasis on finding supporting parties of mercenary captains and masterless knights instead of increasing your own army, especially at the beginning. I'm oriented for a lance-style recruitment system, similar to 1257 AD, for the fief-based levy.
Nobility system that leads to a decent territorial division (each Duke, even though is a vassal of the king, has total power over a town and all the villages bound, and only him can decide to enfeof a Baron with some of them, not the King)
Knight Quest of adequate difficulty to become a Knight and join the "real nobility" by prowess instead that by subtle means
More improvements, and villages can have garrisons
Maybe-features
Removing Vaegirs and Khergits
[size=12pt]..and make the other four factions follow historically accurate nobility system, while giving them all decent cultural "rank titles":
- Swadia: old France or Germany, with strict, complex hierarchy (maybe more ranks than the one so far cited)
- Rhodoks: old Italy, without a proper king, faction decisions taken using Dukes' personalities and interests and a Marshall elected among them
- Nords: old Scandinavia, with a flat hierarchy and powerful, independent chieftains, with a King but without a Marshall, therefore no "faction war" unless it happens naturally, ie chieftains go follow other chieftains to get a bigger loot
- Sultanate: number of wives depending on rank (Sayid, Sheikh, Emir, Sultan), but I must find more information on the actual nobility system of ancient arabs
List of included Mods
- Diplomacy 4.3
- Floris Bank and landowners
- JRider title system (heavily modified)
- Formations and FormationAI + campaignAI (motomataru)
- Caba`drin’s Bodyguards
- Duel Kit
- dunde’s improvements kit (modified)
- laszers recruit from towns (modified)
- Cinematic Compilation 3.0 (disabled some parts, I had graphical issues)
- Tavern animation pack
- 15th Century Weapons
- Improved Buildings
- Towers, Walls and Ladders
- Caba`drin Village raids and Siege tweaks
- Foraging skill
Thank you all for your amazing efforts in trying to make this game better.