Info on the new companion lord stuff

[Jinnai]

I got this message in my inbox and thought best to answer publicly in case anyone else had a similar question.

The companions that you send out on patrols as a proxy lord, do they recruit troops or is that entirely up to you?  Also does their leadership play a factor in how many troops they can have?  Thanks.

They are treated almost exactly the same as lords as far as the game is concerned.  This means they will eventually recruit and train troops over time, though it's best to give them some when you first create their party or they may not last long.  The training of troops is based on their skill level of training.  Their leadership does affect how large their party can be, the same as a lord, which means their party size can become larger than yours for the same skill and renown level.  The game cheats like that a little.  There is no limit to how many troops you can give them if you just keep dumping troops on them.  But eventually they won't be able to upkeep what they have and will try to drop some off in garrisons or just dismiss them, the same as a lord.  Additionally, their renown affects how fast they recruit troops on their own.  And finally, the type of troops they recruit is different for each companion.  Each one has a background faction they're from and will recruit only those types of troops.

 

[SandmanX2]

Very nice work Jinnai... 

 

[Thuellai]

That's really cool.  So the one from Praven will recruit troops from Swadia, so on and so forth?  Very neat.

 

[Ratel]

If the companions get defeated do they get captured or escape etc and where do they 'respawn' after 'escaping' or being ransomd.

 

[Jinnai]

I haven't fully tested this bit yet, but they *should* be treated exactly like lords in that they can either escape or be captured and they will respawn in one of your owned properties should they escape.

Ransoming is an interesting issue.  While I was working on the code for the companion parties I noticed that the internal ransom stuff (not the ones the player is offered, but the occasional "lord soandso has been released from captivity.") does rely on the captured lord having land.  The lands are what determine if there is enough money to pay for the ransom.  It doesn't seem to be this way for the lords the player has captured, however.  So if any of the player's lords are captured they will likely have to be freed with brute force.  You won't be able to wait and hope the AI handles a ransom payment for them.

 

[Bunduqdari]

You said that each companion has it's own background for choosing of which kingdom fiefs they will recruit.
In my game Bashestur went off to recruit from Yaragar, a Rhodok village.

I thought Bashestur was a Khergit

 

[erock25]

if thats the case and we have to free them ourselves is there any way you could implement something where we can find out where they are?  perhaps have a dialog option with tavern keepers similar to the option to ask faction members where other members of that faction are?

 

[Jinnai]

You said that each companion has it's own background for choosing of which kingdom fiefs they will recruit.
In my game Bashestur went off to recruit from Yaragar, a Rhodok village.

I thought Bashestur was a Khergit

That "off to recruit" mission is different from where they actually get troops.  And they don't actually have to go anywhere to recruit troops, they magically spawn them.  So I'm not entirely certain why they occasionally decide they need to go somewhere to get troops.

if thats the case and we have to free them ourselves is there any way you could implement something where we can find out where they are?  perhaps have a dialog option with tavern keepers similar to the option to ask faction members where other members of that faction are?

I'm working on something for this.

 

[Kevlar]

Very cool addition to this already great mod. Gives that one companion (the one with high trainer) a use now I guess

I'm guessing they automatically decide what the troop will be though, hopefully balancing their troops a little instead of all of one type.

 

[Jinnai]

Very cool addition to this already great mod. Gives that one companion (the one with high trainer) a use now I guess

I'm guessing they automatically decide what the troop will be though, hopefully balancing their troops a little instead of all of one type.

Well, you can give them your troops if you want.  But yes, they train up the faction type of troop they're originally from in their background story, you don't get to choose that.  And they train up the same as a lord which means if there's an upgrade path choice it's randomly chosen.

 

[Kevlar]

Some of my companions dont seem to wanna listen to me when I tell them to go somewhere though. I keep telling them to patrol around a town so it won't get raided but they tell me they can't :/

Once I had like 200 troops following me with a companion and then I got into a battle with an enemy faction and they didn't even join in.

 

[xelzun]

Sometimes the Companion acts like a real lord in which he prioritizes what he must do.

It happens to me, usually you end up getting them to listen after they have all done their daily recruiting, and their own self patrols.

 

[Jinnai]

Yeah, they can be a little tempermental.  I've had luck telling them to go stay at a town or castle, waiting a day, then go tell them to follow me or do something else.  They're so bored sitting around doing nothing they'll usually agree.

 

[Kevlar]

Mine never listen to do anything BUT go to one of my castles. Hopefully once I control all of the Swaidens terrorities I can recruit some of their lords to join me so they can patrol the lands, my companions don't seem to want to.

 

[Jinnai]

The same thing happens with any lord.  Even if you're a vassal and marshal of another kingdom.  It's as been mentioned above, they have their own routine to follow first and after some time they'll start listening to the player.

 

[Bunduqdari]

Yeah your faithful companions have all become fat and lazy aristocrats who's only light in life is the thought of when they will fill their bellies again at the next exotic lordly banquet, screeming hysterically at the dancing and singing girls, heads flying around the dining table and subsequently waking up the next day still drunk.. what a change of the world 

 

[Tachyon]

Hey Jinnai, got a doubt here.

When your companions are out busy raiding on their own, do they gain experience from battles that they win? If so, do they upgrade their skills or do we have to talk to each of them and check their stats to do it?

 

[The Mercenary]

Hey Jinnai, got a doubt here.

When your companions are out busy raiding on their own, do they gain experience from battles that they win? If so, do they upgrade their skills or do we have to talk to each of them and check their stats to do it?

You do it personally.

Yeah your faithful companions have all become fat and lazy aristocrats who's only light in life is the thought of when they will fill their bellies again at the next exotic lordly banquet, screeming hysterically at the dancing and singing girls, heads flying around the dining table and subsequently waking up the next day still drunk.. what a change of the world

Pretty much, except they fight your foes for you too.

 

[schro69]

Has anyone actually gotten a lord to follow the "raid around..." command in this mod? I have 3 saves each over 150 days (one is around 380), and I have never gotten a lord to follow the raid command...ever...They always say, "I am sorry, it is not possible for me to do that." I've tried giving them this order at different times during their "routine" and even followed one lord around for 3 days telling him to go raid somewhere. Is this broke or am I missing something?

 

[XWolfGhost]

Has anyone actually gotten a lord to follow the "raid around..." command in this mod? I have 3 saves each over 150 days (one is around 380), and I have never gotten a lord to follow the raid command...ever...They always say, "I am sorry, it is not possible for me to do that." I've tried giving them this order at different times during their "routine" and even followed one lord around for 3 days telling him to go raid somewhere. Is this broke or am I missing something?

I have, but then they go off and chase bandits instead...