Meneth's Systems #2
For the first preview of my systems, go here.
Since my last preview almost 3 weeks ago, I've made several new systems as well as made some tweaks to the old ones.
Without further ado, here's some details on my newest systems, as well as some more detail on one of the tweaked systems.
Tweaked - Health System
Some of the feedback on the last preview from you all concerned my Health System. A common suggestion was that it shouldn't be as severe for Muslim factions as the rest of the world, due to better healthcare and hygiene. As these suggestions were based in historical fact, the old age system has now been slowed down for Muslim factions and the Romans (as they also had relatively good healthcare and hygiene.)
Muslims and Greeks will still get increasingly severe penalties as they get old just like Europeans, but their health will deteriorate more slowly and won't have the time to get quite as bad.
National Tournament System
During the Middle Ages in Europe tournaments were quite common, in Dominion the various types of tournament will be available as buildings for the Europeans, similar to races- you can decide how often you want these events to occur in the region.
However, what we wanted to represent was the massive large-scale tournaments that drew knights from all over Europe. The game engine does not allow us to draw characters from other factions into your region, but we have been able to represent a factional 'Grand Tournament'. I've scripted a system where tournaments will be announced, then a few years later hosted in the capital.
Any general in the capital will join the tourney, and princesses will get increased attention. Participation in the tournament is a chance for you to give your generals and princesses some nice bonuses, naturally though there will be knights who lose competitions and those few unlucky ones who were dishonored will receive penalties to authority and prestige. A general might even try to make up for his disgrace by starting a duel, trying to win back his honor and prove his worth.
Princess Ransoms System
Historical Background:
European fairy tales and medieval Romance literature extolling the ideals of Chivalry frequently feature damsels in distress. In all of these fairy tales, a valiant prince comes to the maiden's aid, saves her, and marries her. In reality, the dark world of medieval politics was rife with conspiracies and not even the virtue of a young virgin lady was beyond corruption. Interestingly enough the majority of documented kidnappings of princesses or ladies was actually committed by rival nobles within a faction. A noble who was planning to rebel would often make his first explosive move by capturing a lady of the court from a wealthy important family which he was in competition with. The benefit of this hostage-taking was obvious, the moral laws of society and religion demanded absolutely that the princess’s ransom be paid immediately. The fate of the noble thereafter was negligible. For him however it was a pretty smart move, no one would risk attacking him until he released the princess and in the same moment as he declared his interest in rebellion he also acquired the funds to sponsor his civil war.
The occurrence was not only limited to Romance and intrigue, it also entered the official hagiography of the Catholic Church - most famously in the story of Saint George who saved a princess from being devoured by a dragon. A metaphor of the very real incidents of kidnapping ladies, of which there is ample depiction of in Chaucer’s tales.
In the 1040s Hallvard Vebjørnsson, the Patron Saint of Oslo, was recognized as a martyr after being killed while valiantly trying to defend a woman. In the late 1100s the King of England himself John Lackland ransomed his own mother Eleanor of Aquitaine. No less than 4 Armenian princesses were kidnapped and ransomed usually on their way to be married to the crusader lords of Jerusalem. Queen of Sicily and Duchess of Athens, Mary of Catania was kidnapped by count Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada in 1379 and held for two years at Licata until the Aragonese fleet came to her rescue. The Emprise de l'Escu vert à la Dame Blanche ("Enterprise of the Green Shield with the White Lady") was a chivalric order founded by Jean Le Maingre and twelve knights in 1399. Inspired by the ideal of courtly love, the stated purpose of the order was the protection of women suffering oppression, an undertaking that earned the praise of the early feminist writer Christine de Pisan 1363-1430. Acting as a kind of medieval rescue squad, they would answer the call to any damsel in distress. Even as late as 1471, Queen Margaret of Anjou was captured by the Yorkists and ransomed to Louis XI for an unprecedented sum, which only underlines the continuing effectiveness of this crime and its growing ability to extract large amounts of hard cash.
Script: Though not common, kidnappings of princesses did happen during the Medieval age. In DotS, high dread generals might find it a good idea to kidnap a princess to gain some easy cash. Due to engine limitations it's not possible to simulate the effects of a declined ransom, but since society expected the payment- all kidnapping will result in a compulsory payment.
The ransom price will depend on the beauty and charm of the princess. Kidnapping a princess will make a general even more dreaded and as other generals will want revenge, a kidnapper is also more likely to get into duels. The general will naturally be very disloyal at this point, and that combined with his dread and the likelihood of killing a few challengers in duels before he rises up in civil war against you- makes him a very nasty prospect! Due to the possibility of rape during her ordeal, it'll be harder for a princess to marry. She of course denies any such accusations, but no one except her and the kidnapper can ever be certain, -and of course the surprised husband she eventually acquires! The overall effect is a reduction in her personal attributes which can have consequences later in the game.
The idea behind the feature, is similar to duels- be careful where you place your characters and in what combination in each region- they have minds of their own! They will pick fights, kidnap, rape...or maybe just go on a pilgrimage to get away from it all....
Pilgrimage System
Speaking of pilgrimage, I've scripted a pilgrimage system. During the Medieval age going on a pilgrimage could bring one much recognition, both in the Christian and the Muslim world.
A pious general might decide he wants to go on pilgrimage. To send him out, you'll have to get him back to your capital first, where his unit will sit comfortably waiting for his return. From the capital he will head out alone as a wandering pilgrim to lands afar. Whilst he is gone his unit will be lounging at the capital, and receive loss in government, command, -everything that represented his presence. A pilgrimage will take several years, but upon his return he'll have increased recognition both from his peers, his superiors, and his subjects. If the capital is captured by an enemy, the pilgrim will not return but make his fortunes elsewhere in the Holy Land.
For Muslims, the obvious destination of a pilgrimage is the Holy City of Mecca, however Jerusalem was also a Holy City. Catholics on the other hand have several locations important to them, and each location will have different effects on the character. While a pilgrimage to Jerusalem might help one establish wealthy trading partners and contacts, a pilgrimage to Rome would be seen as more pious (or political) as one would be visiting His Holiness, the Pope.
Historical Background:
For Catholics, Rome had a special place as a site of pilgrimage. Orthodox Christians naturally do not hold any especial value to the city since it has no specific relation to the life of Christ. In fact, Rome owes more to the politics of the Catholic Church. Rome was the center of the ancient world, as the capital of the Roman Empire. As Christianity left Judea and became a Roman religion, mainly thanks to the apostle Paul (of mixed-Jewish and Roman parentage) the city of Rome in time, as the capital of Catholicism inherited the power, prestige, authority and administrative control of Europe. A pilgrimage to Rome establishes connections in the realm of politics, law, education and alleged 'piety'- although this is more secular than spiritual.
Santiago de Compostela was one of the major European pilgrimage sites. The route to Santiago de Compostela was originally a Roman trade route, nicknamed the Milky Way by travelers, as it followed the Milky Way to the Atlantic Ocean. The Christian origin of the pilgrimage has been well documented throughout the centuries, but has much older pagan origins. The scallop shell used as a mark of pilgrims on the road of Compostelle ("road of stars") and in time became the symbol of all Catholic pilgrims and even crusaders everywhere. The shell resembles the setting sun, and may have been a symbol used in pre-Christian Celtic rituals of the area. The Way of St. James may have originated as a pre-Christian Celtic journey towards the setting sun, terminating at the "End of the World" (Finisterra) on the "Coast of Death" (Costa da Morte) and the "Sea of Darkness" (that is, the Abyss of Death, the Mare Tenebrosum, Latin for the Atlantic Ocean) this could have been part of funeral ceremonies or seasonal sun-worship. Understandably medieval legend required a Christian reason for this ancient religious practice, and so the legend arose that the city was the site of the burial of St. James, a Jewish apostle who died in 44 AD. The earliest recorded pilgrims from beyond the Pyrenees visited the shrine in the middle of the 10th century, but it seems that it was not until a century later that large numbers of pilgrims from abroad were regularly journeying there. The earliest records of pilgrims that arrived from England belong to the period between 1092 and 1105. However, by the early 12th century the pilgrimage had become a highly organized affair. One of the great proponents of the pilgrimage in the 12th century was Calixtus II who started the Compostelan Holy Years. The official guide in those times was the Codex Calixtinus. Published around 1140, the 5th book of the Codex is still considered the definitive source for many modern guidebooks. Four pilgrimage routes listed in the Codex originate in France and converge at Puente la Reina. From there, a well-defined route crosses northern Spain, linking Burgos, Carrión de los Condes, Sahagún, León, Astorga, and Compostela. Even Saint Birgitta of Sweden and her husband the Earl of Närke Ulf Gudmarsson took the pilgrimage in the years 1341–1343, such was its widespread fame throughout Europe.
Jerusalem is a central place in the religions of both Christianity and Islam, not only was it the place where the Muslim and Christian prophet Jesus ascended to heaven, it was the place where the Christian messiah Jesus died for mankind's sins. Furthermore there are various Jewish sites which are central to Christian and Muslim beliefs, which were also important attractions to pilgrim tourists.
For Muslims, Mecca was the centre of the Great Pilgrimage, or Hajj. Every Muslim was and still is commended to perform the Hajj during his lifetime. Mecca is where the prophet Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh peace be upon him was born and lived for most of his life. In pre-Islamic Arabia, gods or goddesses were viewed as protectors of individual tribes, their spirits being associated with sacred trees, stones, springs and wells. Aside from these gods, the Arabs shared a common belief in a supreme deity called Allah (literally "the god"), who was remote from their everyday concerns and thus not the object of cult or ritual. As well as being the site of an annual pagan pilgrimage, the Kaaba shrine in Mecca housed 360 idol statues of tribal patron deities and still holds the Black Stone as its central focus which has clearly ancient origins going far back into pre-history.
Aberacht System
In the Holy Roman Empire, the Emperor had considerable political power but this was difficult to maintain over the complex network of semi-independent Dukes, Counts and Prince-Archbishops. Quite often an Anti-King would be appointed to directly challenge his power, and apart from that civil wars were very common since the elected Emperor could easily receive a challenger if the Electors changed their vote during his reign. Since our Civil War script already has a powerful means of giving strength to potential claimants to your throne, the HRE player will have the added aid of the Aberacht.
In DotS, if a character becomes powerful enough to threaten the dominion™ of the Emperor/you, you will be able to strip that character of all political strengths by sending him to the capital (to face trial!). Once he is crushed by your machine of state, this will make it impossible for him to be much of a threat, but it'll also make him extremely disloyal and unable to command or govern effectively as no one recognizes his authority any more.
The Aberacht was an Imperial Ban (reichsacht), there were many types of Imperial Ban or outlawry but the Aberacht was the highest level of Reichsacht. Therefore a character who has great authority -enough to challenge your faction leader or heir- and shows signs of creating a civil war or simple rebellion can be banned from the Empire. This gives the HRE player the power to control his vassals a little more easily. Of course, you will have to pay off officials and Electors to back you up, you will have to pay for the courts that condemn him for whatever crime you cook up to convict him of. Once banned he will be sure to rebel, but his powers will be so reduced that he will not present any major threat to your realm or have the means to create a Civil War. Forcing him to rebel in the manner and time of your choosing is of course a great opportunity to control and govern your nobles.
Several great Imperial figures suffered the Aberacht, including Henry the Lion, Frederick IV Duke of Austria and King Ottokar II of Bohemia. As well as King Henry VII of Germany for the rebellion against his father Emperor Frederick II in 1235, so we have made the system able to be applied even to faction heirs and close family members.
Dynamic Regents
Since the introduction of child generals, we realized this has further consequences in the game world. Now, for the first time, even characters under the age of manhood can become kings, from above the age of 5. Historically when such a situation occurred it was the perfect opportunity for another man to claim power. This was not always a negative thing based on conspiracies and intrigues, but often seen as a common and wise necessity based on solid statesmanship- which is the reason it was such a prevalent practice.
When a child has been crowned faction leader, any general above the age of manhood (over 20) who has high authority has a chance of gaining the REGENT title. The higher the authority of the character the more likely he is to gain the regency. As a regent, his powers grow even more, making him a real asset to the faction counterbalancing the problems of the faction leader being weak, whilst he is reaching maturity and fully developing his character. However, the strength of the regent can become a threat to the faction leader, split the loyalty of the other nobles and even push the faction into civil war.
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Originally Posted by Hross
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Good job guys 
