Active builder trait line

**Saibot42** · August 31, 2014, 06:47 PM

Is it possible for a general to gain active builder if he wasn't born with it, or is it only possible to "level" in it if they're born with the first rank?

**LusitanPlayer** · August 31, 2014, 07:40 PM

It is possible to get it. Infact they cant be born with it i think, it can only be gained by being, well, an active builder

**Saibot42** · August 31, 2014, 08:00 PM

Pretty sure I've seen them born with the first level, or at least adoption/marriage guys starting with it. Sadly the one who grew to an urban planner never got his chivalry past 1 mask, and the one who eventually had 7 chivalry never got past active builder, so no dismounted ritterbruders out of Hamburg for me.

**Saibot42** · August 13, 2015, 12:27 AM

Which buildings do I need to build for this one?

**Competizione** · August 13, 2015, 07:46 AM

Any buildings will do. The active builder trait can pass from father to son from what I've seen. If the father has at least a rank 2 in it, it's possible to pass it over. If you want it, put the general in a town or so, turn taxes to low and start building things that require fewer turns. This gives you a higher chance to pick up the trait. If active builder doesn't work for you, the kind ruler line might. There's always a chance a general can get this by just being in a settlement and having taxes to low. A maxed out kind ruler gets a -2 to squalor. Apart from that, get an architect ancillary and transfer it to generals that need it to build citadels.

**Saibot42** · August 13, 2015, 11:39 AM

How do I get the architect ancillary?

**Competizione** · August 13, 2015, 12:29 PM

Mainly luck and alot of building. The moment you have one, make sure it keeps being transferred to young generals you want for city building. It's too rare and valuable to have it disappear on death.

**Saibot42** · August 13, 2015, 02:09 PM

So I just got what looks to be the perfect builder to get Hamburg(and maybe Thorn?) to Citadel. Legacy of Chivalry, Extravagant, and Active Builder to start with, and I've got a bunch of settlements ready to upgrade(seems walls and roads give improved chance to level good builder). Sucks that you have to be so obsessive to get your factions special unit though.

**Competizione** · August 13, 2015, 05:44 PM

Yeah, I spend the first 100 turns turtling and micromanaging my empire, building huge cities, citadels and guild HQ's. Hence the reason why I always have a couple of citadels and huge cities around the mongol invasion.

Just a tip: check the base farming output of your settlement. If it's only 1.5% I wouldn't bother trying, you'd need a perfect general to attempt to get citadels on those. Mainly go for the 2% ones. Unless you're the AI ofcourse, then you get an unfair 5% growth bonus...

**Saibot42** · August 13, 2015, 06:30 PM

It's Hamburg, so 2%. How much squalor reduction/chivalry does he need to make it?

**xzavian** · August 14, 2015, 03:43 AM

In TATW mod if you raise taxes to very high the same turn a building finishes you have a higher chance of getting good traits like builder or farming knowledge and such. I dont know if its the same in SS since i never really paid too much attention to it.

**Competizione** · August 14, 2015, 06:03 AM

Max chivalry and you're looking at about -2 squalor at least.

**Saibot42** · August 14, 2015, 06:59 AM

Ok, I have the Thorn governor ancillary, any others that raise chivalry?

**Competizione** · August 14, 2015, 01:35 PM

Crusades are a great way to rack up chivalry points. You get a chivalry point for joining, a chivalry point if your general captures, possibly battlechivalry/captorchivalry the settlement and chances to pick up a chivalrous knight ancillary which is another +2. So your first crusade will probably net you a chivalry bonus of +4/5. In the best case you'll even get a kind ruler trait. What I usually do is send a family member off to a crusade at the age of 14, did it in my Venice campaign now. After three crusaders he's 48, you've got maxed out chivalry and with some luck some -squalor traits. They always manage to push a settlement right to citadel.

**Saibot42** · August 14, 2015, 02:19 PM

I've never been able to make crusades work, as HRE. First very few of my generals and family members have the 5000 personal wealth to join, those that do are usually old enough to drop dead any given turn, then marching to the target morale gets hammered unless there's an excommunicated faction on the way, or I poke the Byzantines, and even if I do find settlements to take on for morale recuperation, then the sieging and resting leads to desertion for not moving towards the target. Then there's attrition from fighting which rarely leaves me with an army capable of taking the target. Then there's getting BACK, so I doubt I could make a 48 year old veteran of 3 crusades ever.

**Competizione** · August 14, 2015, 06:46 PM

Oh yeah, I don't play with BGR IV. Seems just making it too complex.

**Saibot42** · August 14, 2015, 08:30 PM

One thing that seems more important than the traits and ancillaries, though maybe just as random, my mason's guild there gifted me with the ability to build an abbey which has it growing and almost to the 22500. Might make it with my current general(4 chivalry before Thorn governorship, no squalor reduction) but WILL make it when/if I move my super builder(5 chivalry pre-Thorn, active builder, and royally extravagant) in, just giving him time to grab one or two more traits/ancillaries.

And done, 8 chivalry, -2 squalor, and an abbey from the mason's guild got me to 22500. Also noticed that Teutonic settlements keep their chapter house property even when converted to cities, so I'll be making Ritterbruders in Hamburg and Magdeburg soon enough.