Noob questions about the 355 campaign

[pere_ubu]

First of all, congratulations for the mod! I used to play only RTR and ExRM and, for some strange reason, I never tried Somnium Apostatae Iuliani. Now, after only a few turns of the 355 campaign, I understood the error of my ways...
But... I have some noob questions;
1. How long can I play in the 355 campaign? I mean, can I play after Julian dies (if I get him a decent heir?) Can I play, let's say, until 400, or does the campign have a deadline?
2. If Julian dies, will my campaign end? I saw that Nevitta is the faction heir (which makes sense), but I can't find him anywhere in the family tree (which also makes sense). So, if Julian dies, what happens? Also, what's the matter with my family tree? I see some governors beign called "family members", but I cant' find them in my family tree, so I must assume they are, in fact, only "Generals" - meaning their kids won't show up and so on. Or am I wrong?
3. This is a minor problem, but... why are all my generals so stupid? OK, Barbatio was either a moron or a traitor; but I think Nevitta or Dagalaifus could be better. And another thing: why is Silvanus still alive? Wasn't he killed some months before Julian came to Gaul? Also, I'm not vey sure that some generals should be where they are - for example, Valens wasn't in the army in 355 and Jovian, being the son of Constantius' bodyguard commander shpuld rather belong to the "eastern empire".

[julianus heraclius]

First of all, congratulations for the mod! I used to play only RTR and ExRM and, for some strange reason, I never tried Somnium Apostatae Iuliani. Now, after only a few turns of the 355 campaign, I understood the error of my ways...
But... I have some noob questions;

Glad you are enjoying the mod.

1. How long can I play in the 355 campaign? I mean, can I play after Julian dies (if I get him a decent heir?) Can I play, let's say, until 400, or does the campign have a deadline?

There is no particular deadline, but the script runs out around 700AD (I think), so you have plenty of time for game play.

2. If Julian dies, will my campaign end? I saw that Nevitta is the faction heir (which makes sense), but I can't find him anywhere in the family tree (which also makes sense). So, if Julian dies, what happens? Also, what's the matter with my family tree? I see some governors beign called "family members", but I cant' find them in my family tree, so I must assume they are, in fact, only "Generals" - meaning their kids won't show up and so on. Or am I wrong?

If Julian dies, then Nevitta will become Emperor, unless of course Julian adopts a son. So the game will go on even if Julian dies. In order to have other generals within Julian's family tree you need to adopt them when the opportunity arises.

3. This is a minor problem, but... why are all my generals so stupid? OK, Barbatio was either a moron or a traitor; but I think Nevitta or Dagalaifus could be better. And another thing: why is Silvanus still alive? Wasn't he killed some months before Julian came to Gaul? Also, I'm not vey sure that some generals should be where they are - for example, Valens wasn't in the army in 355 and Jovian, being the son of Constantius' bodyguard commander shpuld rather belong to the "eastern empire".

I didn't realise they were all dumb. I thought only some of them were, and yes there are a few who are disloyal too. This was done to reflect the times when there was opposition to the ideas that Julian had, especially in relation to religion.

Thanks for the info on Valens. As fpr Jovian, I didn't intend to use that particular name for any historical reason.

Cheers

[pere_ubu]

Thank you for your answer (and for this wonderful mod)! About Valens and what he did before becoming emperor see here - the same site (it's written by historians and it's quite good for the prosopography of roman emperors) has also a good biography of Jovian.
Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun to play with those guys, seeing that you know they became emperors in real life, but I think their role should be a little different.

Oh, and some more stuff about Valens before his rise to power, from a recent book:

Although every bit a Pannonian, Valens was in many respects not like his father or brother. He was not a great soldier; he did not grow up in the camp; he was not well built. Ammianus tells us he was pot-bellied, owlegged, and had a bad eye. Valens was a man of the country. While his father and brother were campaigning, Valens apparently stayed on the family estate, which accounts for what Ammianus calls his “rustic nature” (an attribute that the historian uses to characterize all Pannonians).Any military service Valens saw before 363 was without distinction. Zosimus tells us that empire came as a great shock to him, because he had led an inactive life before he shouldered its burdens; Ammianus confirms this, saying that Valens was “schooled in neither military nor liberal disciplines.” Valens’s only attested military post before 364 was that of imperial guardsman, protector domesticus.

(Noel Lenski, Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D., University of California Press, 2003, pp. 51-52)