Families?

[theDaedricPrince]

I'm not a historian, so can someone explain how families will play out? I heard that the Roman faction will have about (three?) families. But, I don't exactly understand what families are supposed to do. How does it affect gameplay? What does it really do to change the game?

[BigHairyMelon]

Rome starts out as a republic with a senate as the governing body, so I imagine you will try to get in the senates good graces and get power and the other families will try to do the same and either help or hinder you as they see fit. Which is pretty much what happened when Rome was a republic.

[Gugg]

In Rome 2 you have to option to play as 3 families within the faction of Rome. Those 3 families are:

The Julia: Essentially the same as the faction Julii in Rome: Total War. The family of Augustus, and Julius Caesar
The Junia: The same as the faction of Brutii in Rome: Total War. The infamous Brutus who participated in killing Caesar was born in this family.
The Cornelia: Another distinguished and important family in Rome. Don't know much about these guys, someone else might be able to explain.


On the Faction Wiki it says this: "Furthermore, the player will choose to conduct the affairs of Rome as the head of one of three great Roman houses" And as CA has said, that politics will play an important role in this game, I imagine you have to compete with the other families for special positions in the senate, which provides you certain bonuses. Maybe you will get certain traits depending on what family you choose.

[Jokern]

The Cornelia: Another distinguished and important family in Rome. Don't know much about these guys, someone else might be able to explain.

We've already seen a member of the Cornelia, Scipio Aemilianus, the conqueror of Carthage. In Rome I they were called the Scipii.

[Gugg]

We've already seen a member of the Cornelia, Scipio Aemilianus, the conqueror of Carthage. In Rome I they were called the Scipii.

Oh, okay so it's basically the same as the three factions in Rome that's the three families?

[Jokern]

Oh, okay so it's basically the same as the three factions in Rome that's the three families?

Exactly.

[Dreagon]

We've already seen a member of the Cornelia, Scipio Aemilianus, the conqueror of Carthage. In Rome I they were called the Scipii.

Isn't Sulla also from the Cornelia family?

[Arcani 4 Ever]

Isn't Sulla also from the Cornelia family?

Technically yes, but CA is focusing on the Cornelia gens Scipiones *those that were agnamed Scipio.*

[jtfjtfjtf]

Jack Lusted mentioned families in the army cap clarification thread

We have not tied the limit to the number of Generals a faction has because of the way families work and the new internal politics systems. Because of those systems there will always be a few more generals around than in the field, so the limit is based on number of armies.

So it looks like some family members will still become generals. Beyond that not a lot has been mentioned.

[Petroniu]

Each family will give you small bonuses towards a respective gameplay style. For example, if you know the original RTW, there you had the Roman faction split into three: The Julii, the Scipii and the Brutii. Now, they are still here but they are all in one faction. This time though if you choose the Julii you will have an easier way to switch from a Republic to an Empire. The Brutii though will help you maintain the Republic and fight off Imperialistic rebellions within the faction. The Scipii will help you if you choose to play while giving more attention to the economy of the state while not caring so much for the actual form of government.
That is just an example of course, CA hasn't said yet which exactly three families the Roman faction will have and what bonuses each will give but it should help you make an idea of how it is suppose to function.
EDIT: OP, Gugg has the best of it. I forgot about the wiki descriptions. I guess you made a proper idea of how this should work by now anyway.

[theDaedricPrince]

Thanks guys, I understand quite a bit now. Sounds like an interesting concept.

[Lockcaps]

If you play as Rome you pick a family at the start. You still have full control over your faction including the other roman families, but they aren't really on your side. The other families will work against you as they also want power for themselves.

Families also play a big role when it comes to generals. You'll appoint generals from your own OR the other families. If you take a general from your family, your position (in the internal politics) will weaken slightly. If you pick a general from another family, their position will weaken BUT you need to watch out - they can betray you. CA haven't specified exactly how this happens, or if members from your own family can betray you aswell, but i assume it means that they'll simply rebel, taking the entire army with them.

Eventually a full scale civil war will break out (they mentioned that it was "inevitable")

[Azmodin]

If you play as Rome you pick a family at the start. You still have full control over your faction including the other roman families, but they aren't really on your side. The other families will work against you as they also want power for themselves.

Families also play a big role when it comes to generals. You'll appoint generals from your own OR the other families. If you take a general from your family, your position (in the internal politics) will weaken slightly. If you pick a general from another family, their position will weaken BUT you need to watch out - they can betray you. CA haven't specified exactly how this happens, or if members from your own family can betray you aswell, but i assume it means that they'll simply rebel, taking the entire army with them.

Eventually a full scale civil war will break out (they mentioned that it was "inevitable")

Exactly that!

For the other factions it works similiar (instead of the senate you have a council then) carthage has also 3 political parties to choose from with different rewards for each.