What (Realistically Implementable) RPG Elements Would You Like to See in Bannerlord?

[stevepine]

Hey guys,

To quote ' The Men who Stare at Goats' in the UK, it's "hot as balls" right now, so I have given up trying to work from home for the day and my thoughts wandered to Bannerlord.

I don't know about you but, for me, the combat is only half of any mount and blade game. Maybe even less. For me one of the problems with Bannerlord is that it's really all about gaining status and land (while also cutting off some heads). But I really don't care about getting castles and cities at the moment. When I first started playing bannerlord I was like "OH wow, I got a castle!!" now my reaction is just " Oh great another empty large chunk of stone to look after and pay for."

So what would make us all CARE about the real estate we are given? What would make us feel protective over it?

I think the answer is in the roleplay elements of bannerlord. Things that make your castle feel like it's yours. Personally yours. I think this requires more than just upgradable walls and markets etc. Many months back, before launch, I made a thread about this... I think you should be able to have:

A map room (where you can click on the map and set patrol routes for your lords)
Feasts
Small tournaments
Configurable and purchasable additional defences (pay gold for that boiling oil to pour down on attackers etc)
Upgrade your villages to the same extent that you can with the castle


What other things would help you to actually give a monkey's bollocks about the lands / properties your men have fought and died to acquire?

 

[Pejot]

I think some changes to recruitment would be nice. Like if You are not owner of the estate You can hire men that are upgradable only in mercenary or bandit tree and If You own a castle/city You can get faction units. This could be available also via high relationship with estates owner and notables.

However this is just my wishfull thinking about whole recuritment system

 

[Rycon Caldestan]

Tiered reaction and dialogue based on renown, relations, and character traits.

 

[SuperBroHeroFella]

Cultures could get a little more diverse in their characteristics and reactions. Some lords could be patient, while others are very aggressive. Specific NPCs in your roster could trigger specific lords, or have prejudices.

Game is political, and politics is the greatest game....

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

Well, first we need a stable game then we can look into the long game. For me, Bannerlord needs to be a long game where both your successor and your property continue on with growing value. I'd like to see children more interactive and cognizable/trainable, with the idea that this generation will be taking over as the MC and clan mates one day. I'd like some real value and utility out of property and relations with notables and clans. It's too bad they scraped the castle building stuff, but there's still hope that with better upgrade options and economic turnings we can building a rich and powerful town(s) and castles network a long term goal, rather then just a brick box that gives (or takes) you money.

Maybe as you build relations and upgrades you can gain more control and options over villages, towns and castles and it can become truly yours and unlike what it was when you took it.

I kind of roleplay now just by doing all the quests for my notables as if I'm really taking care of my people. I don't need their extra at all, it's just for fun.

 

[Androme1]

Taleworlds could start with implementing features from Warband that are missing in Bannerlord, which are absolutely 100% essential for Bannerlord to me a somewhat enjoyable and immersive experience, and then we can pick up from there and discuss what further RPG elements the game sorely needs.

 

[Apocal]

What other things would help you to actually give a monkey's bollocks about the lands / properties your men have fought and died to acquire?

If I could, in some way, either attract new people or directly place companions as local notables. Like being William the Conqueror and replacing all the English barons with his friends and associates.

 

[Honved]

Tiered reaction and dialogue based on renown, relations, and character traits.

This is a big part of it. When I go into a village, I don't want all of the villagers to have the "usual" 2-3 pointless responses, no matter the situation.

Ideally, there should be a few "mini-quests", where an individual villager has a small problem to deal with, and you have to decide how to handle it, or to not handle it at all. Rewards and outcomes could range from a simple produce item, a minor relations boost or drop with the village, the villager volunteering to join your army, or it could expand into a more complicated situation involving another Lord or a rival faction, which again could have positive and negative consequences, depending on how you choose to resolve it.

Villagers and townspeople should adjust their responses and comments based on your rank and renown, your personality, and possibly on your equipment, previous quest outcomes, or any recent nearby combats. When you've seen the same response 300 times in a row, you stop asking, because you'll just get the 301st repeat of the same boring line. When one in ten of those responses is something unique, there's a reason to keep asking.

Same with Lords: they need a personality, even if it's one of 5-10 chosen at random from a list upon the start of a new game. You can't build up any kind of emotional tie with a totally generic character that doesn't reinforce your RP'ed relationship in any way.

Character traits (both of the player character AND the NPC) need to affect how the NPC reacts to the character, and how easy or hard it is to improve or reduce relations. In Warband, lords would often comment about a previous joint combat, but that would then be cleared completely, rather than stored as part of an ongoing list of subtle positive and negative modifiers after a one-time effect. That would allow longer term relationships to grow over time, or deteriorate as you both built up a long list of mutual grievances.

 

[AxiosXiphos]

This is a big part of it. When I go into a village, I don't want all of the villagers to have the "usual" 2-3 pointless responses, no matter the situation.

Ideally, there should be a few "mini-quests", where an individual villager has a small problem to deal with, and you have to decide how to handle it, or to not handle it at all. Rewards and outcomes could range from a simple produce item, a minor relations boost or drop with the village, the villager volunteering to join your army, or it could expand into a more complicated situation involving another Lord or a rival faction, which again could have positive and negative consequences, depending on how you choose to resolve it.

Villagers and townspeople should adjust their responses and comments based on your rank and renown, your personality, and possibly on your equipment, previous quest outcomes, or any recent nearby combats. When you've seen the same response 300 times in a row, you stop asking, because you'll just get the 301st repeat of the same boring line. When one in ten of those responses is something unique, there's a reason to keep asking.

Same with Lords: they need a personality, even if it's one of 5-10 chosen at random from a list upon the start of a new game. You can't build up any kind of emotional tie with a totally generic character that doesn't reinforce your RP'ed relationship in any way.

Character traits (both of the player character AND the NPC) need to affect how the NPC reacts to the character, and how easy or hard it is to improve or reduce relations. In Warband, lords would often comment about a previous joint combat, but that would then be cleared completely, rather than stored as part of an ongoing list of subtle positive and negative modifiers after a one-time effect. That would allow longer term relationships to grow over time, or deteriorate as you both built up a long list of mutual grievances.

This is a nice write-up; I like this.

 

[StewVader]

How about being able to customize your settlements? If you are the lord of a castle and its villages you should be able to dictate what the villagers produce there (limitations set by surrounding natural resources) for example - if you are by a water source you can produce fish or any crop. If the village is near a mountain it can do silver or iron etc etc. Let the player feel a sense of OWNERSHIP of the settlements. Also castles should DO SOMETHING. They should either have a zone of control that slows down enemy parties and causes attrition or produce something of value other than taxes.

Additionally, upgrades to settlements should require resources that you and/or your companions accumulate (like wood / iron). Honestly the player just needs more control and agency over everything. We currently have very little.

Maybe if we form our own kingdom we can customize our own troops, our own culture after an amount of time?

 

[dannazgu]

I'd love to see some kind of government when you become a Lord or King/Emperor, specially during peace times.

It would be nice to tell your steward to open court: Then a Quest would initiate to open court on the day you have set for to hear petitioners, and vassals alike. It'd more immersive, to actually rule your lands.

 

[Telyon]

How about being able to customize your settlements? If you are the lord of a castle and its villages you should be able to dictate what the villagers produce there (limitations set by surrounding natural resources) for example - if you are by a water source you can produce fish or any crop. If the village is near a mountain it can do silver or iron etc etc. Let the player feel a sense of OWNERSHIP of the settlements. Also castles should DO SOMETHING. They should either have a zone of control that slows down enemy parties and causes attrition or produce something of value other than taxes.

Additionally, upgrades to settlements should require resources that you and/or your companions accumulate (like wood / iron). Honestly the player just needs more control and agency over everything. We currently have very little.

Maybe if we form our own kingdom we can customize our own troops, our own culture after an amount of time?

The economy is more fragile than a house of cards; I wouldn't be surprised if allowing the player to control village output would somehow start a map-wide recession.

In terms of reasonable RPG mechanics, I'd be an advocate of adding much more dialogue in the game as a vessel for the player to interact with the world.

• Debates with Lords regarding politics/views on the world, potentially awarding renown and flipping their traits depending on the player's own trait scores.
• Lords have differing dialogues with the player depending on both parties' traits.
  • For example, with at minimum Mercy Tier 1 score, the player will find that sufficiently outnumbered Lords will actually surrender.
• Any interaction at all with companions.

Honestly, that modders have managed to have varied dialogue systems with companions that impact trait scores such as those in True Relations, while TW has produced nothing, is embarrassing.

 

[Gambles]

Honestly I'd just like it if eventually the stuff they have in the game became fleshed out and functioning. Kingdom management, clan management, character progression, perks, fief management, companions, politics, relations, renown, traits, etc etc.

Basically everything in game right now is a shallow puddle of what it should be. It's the very bare minimum for every single aspect of the features they list. I'd really honestly would just like them to expand all those systems to be functioning, sensible, and work with each other in a way that doesn't make them seem so shallow and meaningless.

Certainly no small feat but I think the wrong way to go would be for them to start trying to add new stuff when everything they have now needs so much work.

 

[black_bulldog]

Honestly I'd just like it if eventually the stuff they have in the game became fleshed out and functioning. Kingdom management, clan management, character progression, perks, fief management, companions, politics, relations, renown, traits, etc etc.

Basically everything in game right now is a shallow puddle of what it should be. It's the very bare minimum for every single aspect of the features they list. I'd really honestly would just like them to expand all those systems to be functioning, sensible, and work with each other in a way that doesn't make them seem so shallow and meaningless.

Certainly no small feat but I think the wrong way to go would be for them to start trying to add new stuff when everything they have now needs so much work.

I'm curious what about clan management do you think needs to be fleshed out?
What about character progression do you think it needs tweaking or does it need an overhaul?

 

[Elbromas]

This guy was obsessed with immersion dunno how many of them can be added tho

Spoiler: My immersion dream update

50.5350 update list
-Added feasts.
-Added a campament feature
-Character can now make feasts in campaments in order to raise morale
-Character can now make small 1v1 tournaments in campaments with armies to raise morale
-Character now needs to be in a feast in order to marry.
-Added a new scene for marriage.
-Player can now choose to spend the night with his wife/husband in order to have a baby.
-A baby nest can be found in the clan's main keep when a baby is born.
-Childs can now be found in clan's main keep.
-When the player visits a friendly town he can find high level soldiers in the keep, where he can gather information about the armies' morale.
-When the player visits a friendly town he can find a court advisor that will give recent information about the settlement or faction he's into.
-Low level soldiers can now be found in taverns the player visits, the player can choose to feast with them in the tavern with a cost of influence/renown.
-Famous competitors in now can be found in taverns before and after the tournament starts, they can become companions, rivals or give random quests related to tournaments.
-Player can now dedicate tournaments both to male and female lords
-Feasts that have tournaments will only be made between lords depending on the faction's culture/policies and will include a higher reward with a bonus on relation.
-Villagers and NPC in general will recognize the player and will treat him in different ways depending on his renown and recent events.
-If the player has won a considerable amount of tournaments he will be recognized as a famous champion by npcs.
-Player can now actually have a drink in the tavern.
-Bards can be found in taverns again with all their previous features, and they can now be hired by the player to raise the morale of soldiers at a high cost for some time.
-Book sellers can now be found in the taverms again with all their previous features and they can now he hired by the player to raise the skills of the player based on the book seller's knowledge at a very high cost for some time.
-Trainers can now be found in Castles and Town and can be hired at a high cost
-Training grounds can now be find in the outsides of a castle/town and can be used by the player to train his own troops.
-In peace time a Player who owns a Castle/Town can be visited by peasents and towns people in need, this will include making important decisions that will change renown, influence and relation depending on what decision he takes. Special quests that include border villages or caravans from another border factions could be triggered, these could result in war with another faction depending on the choices the player makes during these.
-Gifting lords and ladies a high level crafted weapon will increase relations with his/her clan
-Visiting lords with friend status and talking with them while in their castle/town will increase relations with them, triggering more dialog and a bigger chance of recruiting them for your own kindgom later on.
-Lords with friend status will give their teenage son/daughter to the player as a squire to fight for him and gain skills. The player can do the same with friendly lords
-I got bored of doing this please make the game more engaging with everything love the new update cheering is actually nice have a nice day.

 

[Pensaci]

I think this really require a prepositioned understanding about "What is Bannerlord SP as a game?" as I come through now. A fast-paced empire becoming power progression campaign short organized arcadey playthrough, or a simulation living world attempt towards roleplay and Immersion slow-paced for long gameplay and replay value. Which doesn't necessarily mean one is better, but these are just significantly different types of game.

 

[Ling*]

Allowing time to pass in-game during scenes such as tournaments, walking through a city, a town, a castle or on a battlefield. Time in these scenes would move at half the rate of the default campaign speed and would allow for the Ai units on the campaign map to continue their movements during these scenes.

Imagine walking through town to go and trade with a vendor, or maybe you are just there to visit the tavern and all of a sudden the city bells toll and the citizens start to shout and cry in terror then flee to their homes, the gates would be shut, and troops would begin to assemble on the walls and at the gate, and a timer would count down signalling the start of a siege and giving the player time to prepare his forces and gear. It turns out the Sturgians have amassed a large army and have now besieged your city. You would see great and minor lords stride through the streets on their stallions mustering their men, shouting commands at them to prepare the defense of the city.
In the event that you are victorious in a great battle, the next time you visit the city the citizens will cheer for you and clap their hands in gratitude.

Another scenario would be for quests such as "Extortion by deserters", after entering the village and consulting with the quest-giver you could have the option to wait in the scene and set up your units for an ambush until the deserters show up and then the battle scene begins. Again, the campaign would still be in motion while you sat in this village scene, but it would move at half the normal rate of the default campaign speed to make it feel more like real-time without forcing players to sit in a scene for a literal 24 hours.

I don't know how practical this would be, but it sure would make me feel a lot more immersed in the game world and it would feel less like the world magically pausing and nothing ever happening in the game while im in a scene. Whether its delivering sheep to a village or sitting in my throne in my castle or trading in a town, I want the world to feel like it's still alive and can change dynamically as i'm experiencing these beautifully constructed scenes. I could be sitting in my castle playing Tablut when a guard comes rushing in "My Lord! Enemies are at the gate, those Sturgian rats are at our throats again. The men are waiting for you in the courtyard my liege, let's give them hell." As I don my armor and shield the timer counts down before the siege scene begins giving me time to get me and my men to the proper defensive locations, or allowing me to parlay with the Sturgian Lords if i see the need.

 

[archaicwarrior]

A SENATE !! full of arguing politicians / senators !!

Passing new laws, advancing your society.

 

[Gambles]

I'm curious what about clan management do you think needs to be fleshed out?
What about character progression do you think it needs tweaking or does it need an overhaul?

Clan Management -

Currently just needs much more player agency. The ability to give members of your clan more direct orders would be a good start, but that's a given as everyone has stated it. But also things like the ability to grant high ranking members of your clan their own independent clan would make a lot of sense. Of course Roleplaying stuff like interactions and pop up conversations with members of your clan would be welcome, even clan members attempting to rise up and challenge you for leadership of the clan. I mean there's a million and one things you could do with the system beyond the linear progression it has now of level up 6 times and add one more companion and increase your army size..

Character Progression -

Probably needs a complete overhaul or some serious work at this point. The perk system is... ugh.. Progression of your character doesn't feel all that meaningful. The abilities you can get from perks, even the ones that work and were reworked range from OK to lackluster. Not to mention the progression is painfully slow and age is such a non-factor that dying and your children taking over seems like a system that many won't ever reach. Again there's a million ways you could go with character progression, it's one aspect of the game that can grab stuff from literally any of RPG element game and go from there. I'm not against the "use a skill more to increase it" but right now it just isn't functioning in an enjoyable way.

 

[Honved]

While "use a skill more to increase it" is fairly realistic, it does make it VERY difficult to advance in some things, particularly those which you wouldn't normally do repeatedly. The best leveling systems, in my opinion, have been the hybrid type where MOST of your gains are made by doing, but a small amount of points are reserved for voluntary improvement. Basically, that covers what you've been doing in your spare time or between other activities for the last few months, and allows you to boost skills you don't use often, but still need to work when you need them.

A purely voluntary system, where you get better at Diplomacy or Crafting by killing people, makes no sense in my opinion, other than in a rather generic game that's not intended to reflect reality in any way: a silly or simplistic cartoon caricature of the real world.

Then there's balance, where it takes X number of uses to improve a skill, but one thing you do repeatedly in every battle, while another you only need to do a couple of times over the course of the campaign. The one skill will level up rapidly, and the other will probably never level, even though you've used it at every one of the rare opportunities that the game presented you with.