FATW's Opinion of Liege (OoL) is a trait that affects all family members of a faction and gives significant bonuses or penalties that can boost or cripple your economy and greatly affect your campaign. Sadly, there is very little information on how exactly you get what OoL trait and how to influence it. So I took a long, confused look at the files and wrote down everything I found. We're talking about some very advanced modding here, so I don't claim total accuracy or completeness. Use all values below at your own risk.
I'd like to do the same thing for Authority, but that one is even more confusing. Not sure how far I'll go for this.
Opinion of Liege
Every family member has a trait stating what he thinks of his faction leader, and receives bonuses or penalties to his effectiveness as a governor and general. The levels of this trait are awarded based on a point system, where different actions/situations result in a gain or loss of points. The levels and their point requirements are:
1 point: Insolent: -20% to land tax, trade and tax income, +40% to unit recruitment cost, -2 morale
51 points: Faithless: -15% to land tax, trade and tax income, +30% to unit recruitment cost, -2 morale
101 points: Discourteous: -10% to land tax, trade and tax income, +20% to unit recruitment cost, -1 morale
151 points: Dubious: -5% to land tax, trade and tax income, +10% to unit recruitment cost, -1 morale
201 points: Supportive: +5% to land tax, trade and tax income, -10% to unit recruitment cost, +1 morale
251 points: Dutiful: +10% to land tax, trade and tax income, -20% to unit recruitment cost, +1 morale
301 points: Staunch: +15% to land tax, trade and tax income, -30% to unit recruitment cost, +2 morale
351 points: Steadfast: +20% to land tax, trade and tax income, -40% to unit recruitment cost, +2 morale
The point values are reset at the end of every turn and calculated from scratch.
The default value is 201 points (supportive) at game start, and 151 points (dubious) from then on. You start with this many points before any further bonuses or penalties are applied.
Circumstances that award or cost further points are as follows:
+20 for every point of authority above 5
+25 for every positive level of political skill
+50 for being the leader’s son
+25 for being the leader’s brother
+20 for sharing the leader’s subfaction
+20 for belonging to the leader’s house
+50 for having a lordship/title
+10 for each shared personality aspect
+25 for a lord whose settlement is NOT on auto-management, but whose taxes are low
+/- 10 to 100 when a leader and FM meet
-20 for every point of authority below 6
-25 for every negative level of political skill
-20 to -100 if the ruler does not belong to the rightful ruler’s subfaction and/or house
-100 for belonging to a former ruling dynasty (being a former leader’s son, but not the current leader’s brother)
-50 for being of a different alignment than the leader (cult, ways of the west, men of darkness)
-10 for each differing personality aspect
-25 for being a governor of a city you no longer own
-150 for having a title revoked/removed (lordships etc.)
-50 for being the son of a FM whose title was revoked
-50 for being a lord in his city, with auto-management off
-25 to 50 for being a lord in his city, with auto-management off and high taxes
-10 to 100 for being a lord and away from his city (probably builds up over time)
Authority
Authority is basically RTW's influence stat, but in FATW's case, a faction leader's authority also affects his subjects' OoL, and thus their abilities as governors or generals. I'll start with one quick clarification: Your faction leader does NOT receive any authority from lordships or titles. Keep these for your other family members. There are four factors influencing a leader's authority:
- The length of the leader's reign
- The size and state of the realm
- The realm's finances
- The realm's diplomatic situation
These four factors award a total of up to 10 authority points. Each factor awards up to 5 points. The exact distribution varies from faction to faction:
Faction Length of Rule Size of the Realm Finances Political Situation Elves 3 3 1 3 Dwarves 2 3 5 0 Hobbits 3 2 3 2 ReunitedKingdom 2 4 2 2 Adunabar 2 5 3 0 Tharbad 2 2 4 2 Harad 1 5 4 0 Harondor 3 3 3 1 Far-Harad 4 3 3 0 Rohan 3 4 2 1 Dale 2 3 4 1 Beornings 4 4 1 1 Dorwinion 3 2 4 1 Rhovanion 4 4 1 1 Rhun 3 5 2 0 Khand 4 5 1 0 Dunland 3 4 2 1 North Rhun 4 4 2 0
1) Length of the Leader's Rule
Depending on the maximum authority awarded for a lengthy rule, a faction leader will get:
1 point maximum: +1 authority after 5 years
2 point maximum: +1 authority after 2 years, +2 after 10 years
3 point maximum: +1 authority after 2 years, +2 after 5 years, +3 after 10 years
4 point maximum: +1 authority after 1 year, +2 after 2 years, +3 after 10 years, +4 after 15 years
5 point maximum: n. a.
All starting leaders begin with an artificial, semi-random length of rule based on their age.
2) The Size of the Realm
This one is trickier, and I'm not sure I fully trust the figures I got from the files. The influencing factors are:
- the number of settlements captured/lost during your current leader's reign
- the number of important settlements under your control. Important settlements are three homeland settlements, usually from among your starting regions (Dorwinion only gets two), and any of the following: Caras Galadhorn, Mithlond, Elvenking's Hall, Rivendell, Dwarrowdelf, Erebor, Dale, Minas Arnor, Minas Ithil, Annuminas, Dol Amroth, Edoras, Hornburg, Umbar
- the number of settlements under siege
Assuming you do not lose any settlements, a leader would need to take at most three settlements during his reign to reliably max out authority gained through the size of his realm.
For all min-maxers and math junkies, the exact numbers are in spoilers:Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
3) The Realm's Finances
To determine the authority gained from your faction's financial situation, you are awarded points:
+20 base points
+30 points for a low average tax level across your entire realm
-15 points for every average tax level above low across your realm (to a maximum of -15 at very high taxes)
-5 points for every consecutive turn with an army upkeep higher than 70% of your total expenses, to a maximum of -25 after 5 turns
-5 points for every consecutive turn with a treasury deficit, to a maximum of -30 after 6 turns
+10 points for a treasury of > 10,000 and < 50,000 gold
+20 points for a treasury of > 50,000 and < 100,000 gold
+30 points for a treasury of > 100,000 gold
Depending on the maximum authority awarded for your realm's finances, a faction leader will get:
1 point maximum: +1 authority for 30 points
2 point maximum: +1 authority for 20 points, +2 for 40 or more
3 point maximum: +1 authority for 10 points, +2 for 30, +3 for 50 or more
4 point maximum: +1 authority for 10 points, +2 for 20, +3 for 40 or more, +4 for 50 or more
5 point maximum: +1 authority for 10 points, +2 for 20, +3 for 30, +4 for 40, +5 for 50 or more
4) The Realm's Diplomatic Situation
To determine the authority awarded for your faction's political situation, you are awarded points:
+20 base points
+5 points for every ally, to a maximum of +45
-10 points for every enemy, to a maximum of -20 for 2 enemies
-5 points for every enemy beyond two, to a total maximum of -55 points for 9 enemies
-10 points for having inacceptable political relations (mostly war between Dale and Beornings, war between the Reunited Kingdom, elves and the Shire, and an alliance between the Reunited Kingdom and Adunabar)
-5 points for every inacceptable relation beyond the first
Depending on the maximin authority awarded for your realm's diplomacy, a faction leader will get:
1 point maximum: +1 authority for 30 points
2 point maximum: +1 authority for 20 points, +2 for 40 or more
3 point maximum: +1 authority for 10 points, +2 for 30, +3 for 50 or more
4 point maximum: n. a.
5 point maximum: n. a.
In addition, you may lose up to 1 point of authority if your allies are suffering from war. You get:
+5 points for each of their faction-specific important cities your allies do not control (see "size of the realm" spoilers for a list), +10 if it is a generally important city (see list)
+5 points for every allied city under siege (to a maximum of +10)
+20 points every time an allied faction is destroyed. This affects: alliances between the Reunited Kingdom and Rohan or the Shire, and Dale and dwarves. These points are permanent and will last until the end of the game.
You will lose 1 point of authority if the total equals or exceeds 40 points. This authority loss is independent of the importance your faction puts on diplomacy.
General Trait StuffSpoiler Alert, click show to read: