SP - General Royal Council / Feasts / Clan Wars - Proposed mechanics

[foredeekay]

So, 200+ hours in (I love this game) and I really feel like internal kingdom politics, while coming on a lot, could be so much more. There is a lot of ideas here, some of which have been floated before so I have bulleted them for ease. I love playing this game and I see so much potential in it. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Cheers!

The Council

As King you have the ability to assign lords to three set positions. Chancellor, Marshall and Spy Master. These titles would differ between culture groups. After marking one town under your control as your capital, you then have the option to oblige your appointed ministers to stay there.

• You can also leave them wander the map as usual, but then you will only receive 50% of the bonuses which I will suggest further below
• When the minister is in the city, his men will wander the streets. Should your minister REALLY hate another, their troops may even have little brawls in the streets
• As a mere noble, ministers could call you to the capital and assign missions such as,
  • Spy Master: take this gift to this foreign ruler OR meet with this gang leader
  • Marshall: Donate troops to this garrison OR defeat this party in the field
  • Chancellor: Assist this merchant with their task OR provide this good for the court

Chancellor

Basically your minister for the economy

• The Chancellor will provide a weekly report of city growth, how many caravans have been robbed, spikes in trade good values
• Chancellors could also issue embargoes against other Kingdoms or even demand certain goods are not exported out of the Kingdom. I am not sure if this is feasible but a greedy King who's Kingdom that dominates the production of a certain good could make a lot of cash through this (to the annoyance of the merchants)
• He/she will also provide bonuses based on their stewardship skill. These bonuses could include
  • Boosts to construction speed
  • Increased food production

Marshall

Your minister for war and armies

• The Marshall would only suffer a 25% bonus penalty for not physically being at court.
• The Marshall could give the following bonuses
  • Increased quality/quantity for militia across the kingdom
  • Lower influence cost for raising/maintaining armies for all kingdom nobles
  • Lower garrison costs

Spy Master

• The Spy Master would suffer a 75% penalty for not being present at court
• For a Spy Master to work there would need to be a "plot" mechanic implemented. For example, plots such as "overthrow the King" or "kill a noble" or "disgrace a noble" (where a noble's influence is drastically reduced and their relationships impacted)
• A loyal Spy Master with a high roguery skill would be always alert and could snuff out such nefarious plots, and maybe even help you launch some of your own! A disloyal Spy Master however... well...
• Your Spy Master would provide you reports on the strength of enemy kingdom's forces as well as active plots in foreign lands
• Your Spy Master could also function as a diplomat. You could ask him to send parties to other kingdoms with gifts. This would be done by selected a noble in your kingdom and hand over a large wad of cash. The noble and his party would then travel on the map to the other kingdom with a symbol over their character showing they certainly have something worth stealing. If the noble has a high charm skill you may well receive a bonus relations boost, but be careful! If he is a rogue he might dip his beak!

Ancillary effects

• Your court would obviously become the centre of your Kingdom and so influence in this city would matter before all others. High influence with the criminal gangs in the city would be very valuable should the need to kidnap or even assassinate a noble arise. A criminal gang may even be asked to help disgrace a noble by exposing his/her proclivities at the local brothel. None of this would come cheap however and a gang leader close to court could become very wealthy
• The presence of a royal court would provide a significant boost to the prosperity of the city
• The court would also be a hotbed of intrigue. Nobles might get knocked off in mysterious circumstances (CK2 style) and affairs of the heart may also lead to bad feeling. A badly run court would be a real headache!

Coup Mechanic

I touched on this above but I just wanted to outline how I would envisage this.

• Imagine one day your army is riding back from campaign and you visit on your court
• As soon as your enter the city an event triggers. You and a selection of your men are suddenly confronted by the coup leader and all the coup members currently in the city accompanied a selection of their troops
• You will also be reinforced by loyal forces in the city also but the fight will never be more than 50 on each side within the city walls
• A successful coup needs some support from the council AND good timing to catch the King when he is weak
• If you win, the coup is defeated and the plotters are imprisoned. If you lose you will be thrown into the dungeon and you may have your lands seized or even killed
• If you have nobles outside the city with enough loyalty, they will continue to fight, causing a kingdom civil war which will last until either all the loyal clan leaders or the plotters are imprisoned or dead or surrendered

Organising a coup from the other end would take some work

• To get the ball rolling you would simply need to speak to another noble
• If they hate the King enough, they might support you for free, but many will need persuading. This could involve promising them fiefs in the future or a position at court. It could also come down to gold.
• Make sure your allies are trustworthy! A noble with low honour could pretend to agree and betray you to the Spy Master
• Through random events, a Spy Master with high roguery could also be alerted that *something* is afoot. This could lead to nobles being summoned to the capital to be questioned. Nobles with low honour/courage could confess. You will be alerted when co-conspirators are summoned, giving you a chance to abandon the plot or flee
• Discovery of a plot to overthrow to King means death. Depending on the laws of the Kingdom, the ruler may also be entitled to seize all of your clans property
• Assuming loose lips have not sunk the ship, and you have enough of the Kingdom's nobles on side, the time will come to march on the capital. This will appear fairly innocuous to all not involved - just gather an army and head down
• When you and the king are in the capital you will have a chance to launch the coup
• You will have a choice of placing either yourself or another on the throne

Edit:

Feasts

Feasts could be much expanded on from the previous game. For example:

• Reasons for a feast would be selected - a wedding, a birth, a funeral, a peace treaty, a coronation
• Clans from other kingdoms and other rulers could be invited. Certain feasts would require attendance from rulers, such as a coronation or a peace banquet (for the relevant parties). Failure to attend could mean a significant relation hit
• Don't fancy attending the 5th Sturgian coronation this year? Don't worry, send a Clan member as your representative. Better make sure he's a charmer though, he might make things worse through a random event
• At least one random event during the feast when you enter the lord's hall. This could be a drunken argument (which could lead to a duel) or the offer to join a plot. The King may also rue the Kingdoms finances and call for donations. Maybe a chance romantic encounter. Be careful, a dalliance with a member of a rival clan or the spouse of a lord could lead to some serious bad blood. Votes could also be called.

Clan wars

All of the above sounds like there may end up being some bad blood. Here is something from an earlier post when I echoed the concept of inner-Kingdom conflict.

• When relations between two clans deteriorates to a sufficient degree, they may "declare" a feud. A feud is limited to raiding villages, fighting armies and raiding caravans. After a time the King will be called upon to end the feud by the angry merchants and other clans. If he cannot through gold or threats or persuasion, the opinion of him in the kingdom will decline and the war may escalate
• Two clans at war will not enter the same army or support each-other's plots
• If certain laws forbidding this are not passed, the feud may escalate into a full blown war. This would mean they can seize each others castles and towns and even execute their prisoners. This will seriously reduce the Kings influence and reputation

I'd like to think that all of the above would lead to a kingdom political life which could be difficult to get your head around at first, but over time a player would come to understand how the clans in his Kingdom operated. A young character could rise quickly to honoured positions by allying with a Clan on the up and up, but could become undone overnight by a coup they never saw coming.

Again I love the game and I feel like its slowly becoming the game I have wanted since I was a little kid. I can't wait for the next update!



Thanks,

Foredeekay

 

[divyanthj]

How quaint. I suggested the same mechanic in this thread a while ago

https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/offices.426252/

+1 from me!