foredeekay
Recruit
Your lord Caladog's army is defeated! You and a host of other nobles are captured and escorted to a nearby castle dungeon to await your fate. While your party is smashed and your fiefs are under threat, here is where the scheming really begins...
I hear a lot of people complaining about how winning major battles seems to have little significance to the war. In my opinion the best way to make these epic fights count is to reform the prisoner mechanic. Instead of expecting to spend 1-2 days in prison before escaping or being asked to pay your way out, a prisoner can expect to spend at least 1-2 weeks out of action before even an offer of ransom is made. These long sentences will also add serious war fatigue to factions and will encourage them to make a (conditional) peace. As in the game now, all prisoners are released upon the end of a war.
To make this more interesting to a captured player I have been looking at some mods and other ideas and would like to offer my own suggestions. I really love this game and can't wait to see what the modders and devs make next!
Dungeons
I propose that while players can choose to wait out their sentence, they can also wander the cell and speak to their fellow prisoners. Should the player be held in a castle and have a positive relationship with their captor, they can even walk around the castle freely (as they may have done historically). This would allow them not only to speak to their fellow prisoners, but also to any nobles staying there.
Prison breakouts
Players may speak to other captured lords and encourage them to take part in a breakout. These breakouts would take different forms depending on the options available to the player:
*Those nobles who have refused to take part will be not feature in the event. Once the breakout begins, its every noble for himself. Successfully escaping a dungeon alongside another noble will lead to a significant increase in relation, but should you escape and one of your fellow escapees be wounded and left behind, there is a chance he will feel abandoned and hold it against you.
*Escaping a dungeon will be seen as a breach of honor by your captor and it will seriously impact your relations
Plots
Being trapped in a prison cell with someone is a great time for intrigue. Following a major defeat, Lord's opinions of a King will take a significant (temporary) hit, making a crowded dingy cell the perfect time to kickstart a coup plot. I have outlined how a coup might work in a previous post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bannerlord/comments/hdwfdj/royal_court_proposed_mechanic/
Interrogation
I also explained in the post above about how CKII style plots could work in Bannerlord. I explained in my proposals on gang mechanics on how friendly gang leaders could let the player know a plot is underway.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MB2Bannerlord/comments/hnjfuf/crimelord_proposed_mechanics/
I also outlined in the Royal Court proposed mechanic that a skilled Spy Master would also be able to uncover such rumours.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bannerlord/comments/hdwfdj/royal_court_proposed_mechanic/
These incomplete rumours would effectively look like:
(XXXX) has approached (XXXX) and (Joric) and asked them to help (kill) (XXX)
A player who is King may summon Joric to his castle and question him. High charm may get the information but should Joric not break, he may be sent to the dungeon. Joric could also be kidnapped (through plots) or captured by the player if he is not King.
Torture will have an X% chance of maiming the victim (resulting in a permanent hit to stats) or even a slight chance of killing him.
Kings who torture will take serious blows to their popularity with their subject lords. Lords who torture could find themselves in the King's prison. Torture can be banned under the kingdom laws.
To be on the receiving end of this as a player would be a damaging experience, and would discourage many players from ever going near a plot in the game.
Study
A feature I liked in MB was the ability to read books to gain skills. Should you not wish to risk escaping or believe the time is not right, why not turn your attention to study? A jailer or a friendly captor may be charmed into loaning the player books. The player can set his character to read these books while time is fast forwarded. Board games should also feature as a fun way to interact with your fellow prisoners.
----
Anyway, those are all of my ideas on dungeons so far. I would really love to hear your thoughts I am patiently waiting for the next update and having spent over 200 hours on this game, I can't wait to see new features.
Thanks,
40k
I hear a lot of people complaining about how winning major battles seems to have little significance to the war. In my opinion the best way to make these epic fights count is to reform the prisoner mechanic. Instead of expecting to spend 1-2 days in prison before escaping or being asked to pay your way out, a prisoner can expect to spend at least 1-2 weeks out of action before even an offer of ransom is made. These long sentences will also add serious war fatigue to factions and will encourage them to make a (conditional) peace. As in the game now, all prisoners are released upon the end of a war.
To make this more interesting to a captured player I have been looking at some mods and other ideas and would like to offer my own suggestions. I really love this game and can't wait to see what the modders and devs make next!
Dungeons
I propose that while players can choose to wait out their sentence, they can also wander the cell and speak to their fellow prisoners. Should the player be held in a castle and have a positive relationship with their captor, they can even walk around the castle freely (as they may have done historically). This would allow them not only to speak to their fellow prisoners, but also to any nobles staying there.
Prison breakouts
Players may speak to other captured lords and encourage them to take part in a breakout. These breakouts would take different forms depending on the options available to the player:
- If the player has a good relationship with criminals in the town in which they are held, he will be visited by the gang leader withing 1-2 days of arriving. Depending on the relationship, the gang leader may offer weapons or even some thugs to aid in the escape. This will make the player indebted to the gang leader and they may be expected to pay gold, or even kill or capture a specific noble in return
- If the castle is visited by a friendly NPC, and the player prisoner has free run of the castle, they may ask their friend to supply weapons for the break out, or even assist in the breakout
- If none of these options are available, the player and his accomplices may chose to rush the guards in the cell with bare fists. The number of guards may range from 1-3
- A player with high charm and deep pockets may also try to bribe the jailer, but this would be very difficult
*Those nobles who have refused to take part will be not feature in the event. Once the breakout begins, its every noble for himself. Successfully escaping a dungeon alongside another noble will lead to a significant increase in relation, but should you escape and one of your fellow escapees be wounded and left behind, there is a chance he will feel abandoned and hold it against you.
*Escaping a dungeon will be seen as a breach of honor by your captor and it will seriously impact your relations
Plots
Being trapped in a prison cell with someone is a great time for intrigue. Following a major defeat, Lord's opinions of a King will take a significant (temporary) hit, making a crowded dingy cell the perfect time to kickstart a coup plot. I have outlined how a coup might work in a previous post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bannerlord/comments/hdwfdj/royal_court_proposed_mechanic/
Interrogation
I also explained in the post above about how CKII style plots could work in Bannerlord. I explained in my proposals on gang mechanics on how friendly gang leaders could let the player know a plot is underway.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MB2Bannerlord/comments/hnjfuf/crimelord_proposed_mechanics/
I also outlined in the Royal Court proposed mechanic that a skilled Spy Master would also be able to uncover such rumours.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bannerlord/comments/hdwfdj/royal_court_proposed_mechanic/
These incomplete rumours would effectively look like:
(XXXX) has approached (XXXX) and (Joric) and asked them to help (kill) (XXX)
A player who is King may summon Joric to his castle and question him. High charm may get the information but should Joric not break, he may be sent to the dungeon. Joric could also be kidnapped (through plots) or captured by the player if he is not King.
Torture will have an X% chance of maiming the victim (resulting in a permanent hit to stats) or even a slight chance of killing him.
Kings who torture will take serious blows to their popularity with their subject lords. Lords who torture could find themselves in the King's prison. Torture can be banned under the kingdom laws.
To be on the receiving end of this as a player would be a damaging experience, and would discourage many players from ever going near a plot in the game.
Study
A feature I liked in MB was the ability to read books to gain skills. Should you not wish to risk escaping or believe the time is not right, why not turn your attention to study? A jailer or a friendly captor may be charmed into loaning the player books. The player can set his character to read these books while time is fast forwarded. Board games should also feature as a fun way to interact with your fellow prisoners.
----
Anyway, those are all of my ideas on dungeons so far. I would really love to hear your thoughts I am patiently waiting for the next update and having spent over 200 hours on this game, I can't wait to see new features.
Thanks,
40k
