All about Ancillary Characters

[Ybbon]

I have searched but not really found an answer, maybe because there are either too many results or too few depending on the search term.

Anyway, so I know how to move ancillary characters between governors/generals/family members etc but what happens when a named character dies?

I like to keep a "trainee" governor/general in every settlement/army no matter how big/small the settlement, it's not always the case but I usually aim for that. I also ensure that these trainees get some of the ancillary characters from the Governor, and likewise with field armies, I transfer ancillaries when possible.

So I have 4 questions:

1. What happens if a city/army has two or more generals and one dies, do his unique ancillaries transfer to the companion? I say unique because I know if the partner has a geographer that wouldn't transfer.

2. What happens if the general/governor has no back-up? I assume they are just lost, I guess I really mean named ancillaries here, such as the named philosophers, do they get randomly assigned in the game ie to any other faction, randomly assigned to your faction or do they die too?

3. Does the level and number of ancillaries a character has, attract other ancillaries? I have a feeling that this may be true as characters with some ancillaries seem to attract more, but a governor/general with no ancillaries can struggle to get some but I have no empirical evidence of that.

4. So finally, what factors attract ancillaries? size of city? leadership/command etc of a character? obviously some are gained by victories, but what about ones like traders and merchants, how are they assigned? Can I do something that is more likely to attract certain ancillaries to other characters?

[tone]

I think you can drag and drop them between family members - I certainly remember doing something like that with Chirurgeons before (very handy for frontline generals as they increase the number of your men that get healed after battles)

[Mr_Fluffy]

Educational and religious buildings give them a better chance if you leave your character in town long enough, sometimes you can get one by winning a battle...I'd forgotten all about the drag and drop. Hmmmm... might leave two characters of similar standing in a recently won settlement and see what happens as it develops.

[Alavaria]

1. What happens if a city/army has two or more generals and one dies, do his unique ancillaries transfer to the companion? I say unique because I know if the partner has a geographer that wouldn't transfer.

When someone dies, I'm pretty sure that no matter what, all their ancillaries are lost.

I guess I really mean named ancillaries here, such as the named philosophers, do they get randomly assigned in the game ie to any other faction, randomly assigned to your faction or do they die too?

They disappear like any other ancillary when the character dies. However, since that ancillary is no longer "in play" it can reappear, in the same way you first got it.

3. Does the level and number of ancillaries a character has, attract other ancillaries? I have a feeling that this may be true as characters with some ancillaries seem to attract more, but a governor/general with no ancillaries can struggle to get some but I have no empirical evidence of that.

4. So finally, what factors attract ancillaries? size of city? leadership/command etc of a character? obviously some are gained by victories, but what about ones like traders and merchants, how are they assigned? Can I do something that is more likely to attract certain ancillaries to other characters?

Not sure. Might be interesting to look at the files. I don't think having ancillaries means you'll get more, but they *do* increase the stats of the general. I'd imagine higher level temples/markets do improve your chances, I don't know for sure though.

[SonOfAlexander]

Unfortunately they are lost when the generals dies, so you either leave them in your old general and let him stay great or nick all his great retinue of ancillaries and igve it to a younger man. I usually choose the latter.

[Ybbon]

Unfortunately they are lost when the generals dies, so you either leave them in your old general and let him stay great or nick all his great retinue of ancillaries and igve it to a younger man. I usually choose the latter.

Hmm, that's what I thought happened, just means making a judgment on when to transfer the ancillaries. I have one very high stat governor, got loads of ancillaries and he's 87! I feel a bit guilty about swiping all his ancillaries. Maybe we need a retirement home building where old governors and generals go to swap war stories

[DaddyPro]

how do you transfer ancillaries?

[Ybbon]

You need to have your named characters in the same army or city. Then simply open the characters unit card, grab the ancillary you want to transfer and drag and drop it on to the other generals unit card.