Europa barbarorum 2 governor guide?

[eyelurker]

Apparently there are three governor type that is lenient, just or cruel which is depend on taxation and public order however i always put my taxes on low and my public order around yellow and green yet the rng is 50/50 between lenient or cruel and never just.

At this point i'm completely at lost to solve this governor mystery and would like to ask just how governor works in this game?

[Shoebopp]

Lenient is caused by Low Taxes

Just is caused by Normal Taxes and at least Yellow Face public order

Cruel is a bit more murky, but as one other user has attested to, Hellenic governors who hold the office of Eirnarchos have a rather high change of advancing in Cruel Ruler

[Shoebopp]

As for how governors work in general, there are some tidbits of information that I can share

Low taxes not only encourage Lenient, but also may permanently turn a character into a Humanitarian, which is pretty great. Maintain low taxes to acquire Satisfied Humanitarian. Careful though, taking any future cruel actions such as cranking up taxes or sacking or enslaving settlements will give you Uncomfortable Humanitarian, the worst malus of which is a hefty loyalty drop!

Having a character stay in a settlement for a while makes him gain Governor in Training. It gives +1 to law, but its primary purpose is to warn you that this character is "going down the route of governor". Have him stay even longer and he'll acquire Supervisor, a permanent trait which gives great public order benefits but also burdens said governor with new trait triggers. A Supervisor with low natural ability will prefer governing smaller settlements. One with high natural ability will spend his energies governing larger settlements. Fail to station the right governor in the right settlement and he'll gain Uncomfortable Supervisor, which again induces some unrest but also smacks you with a loyalty drop. Succeed though, and he'll gain Satisfied Supervisor. His happiness reflects in the public order bonuses and loyalty increase.

Schools are ESSENTIAL in the long-term cultivation of good governors. Between the ages of 18 and 28, a governor may advance in the Schooling trait line. It goes like thus

Pragmatic
Unschooled
<BASELINE>
Cultured
Erudite
Scholastic
Pedantic

If your character is of low intelligence or spends too much time away from a settlement with education infrastructure, he'll advance into Unschooled. It's a minor -1 Influence malus. If he continues to stay away from schools whether through constant military service or a lack of proper infrastructure, he'll eventually become Pragmatic, which actually has the same bonuses as Erudite. Speaking of which, Cultured gives you +1 influence and Erudite gives you a trade and tax bonus. So it's good to have your governors spend time in schools in their youth. Spend too long though, and if the governor has low charisma, he'll advance even further and become Scholastic, which saddles him with -1 Influence and -1 Hitpoints. Now he has a further chance of developing into Pedantic, which cranks up the Influence malus to -2. Seems bad? Well, the Schooling trait line has indirect benefits. A TON of other trait lines depend on it. For example, the higher your schooling, the higher the chance of becoming developing the Philosopher trait line, or Orator, or even Forced Marching Expert (Sharp but Languorous characters will appreciate this!). Even better is that they'll gain useful ancillaries, some of whom themselves encourage good traits. Those historical figures tagging alongside your family members? They can egg them into becoming philosophers, loyal stalwarts, or boring speakers.

Don't leave your governors in your capital if the faction leader is not present there. They'll slowly lose loyalty, or gain loyalty if he's holding court there.

Non-hellenistic factions can advance in Philhellene by governing a settlement with at least Yellow Face public order. The Philhellene trait itself gives a small +1 Influence, but it then triggers Happy People to Extremely Happy People, which grants from -1 Unrest to -3 Unrest. Careful not to let public order dip below Yellow Face! He'll gain Mishellene, which gives the opposite happiness effects.

Ethnicity doesn't actually increase the *likelihood* of gaining traits, but rather the *starting set* of traits a character exhibits upon asking your women for marriage or coming of age. So pay attention to the ethnicity of suitors beyond their initial traits: do you want future governors or generals?

There are complex scripts and trait descriptions that can dramatically boost their abilities. Celtic characters can Train to Become Kingetos, enter Druidic Training (needs intelligent, charismatic, and unselfish for maximum success), or Mercenary Adventures (needs high vigor for maximum success), Balkan Hellenistic characters can participate in the Agoge, the KH in particular have a whole "rite of citizenship" trait line, Roman and Carthaginian characters can hold a myriad of offices, and Getic characters can progress in the journey to become a Living God (IIRC, it gives an absurd +5 to Troop Morale among other godlike benefits). Be careful though! Each of these can go wrong if you don't pay attention to the requirements.

Temples can encourage traits related to the god worshipped there. The best for generals IMO are Temples of Fertility, which improves Vitality and Fertility, and the best for governors are (obviously) Temples of Governor while the worst are Temples of Fun, which encourages various vices.

Finally, back to the basics, take careful consideration into a character's Selfishness and Charisma for Hellenic factions. Hellenic characters can acquire an entire HOST of bad traits if they're Selfish or Uncharismatic. If you don't want a 0-Influence governor, then choose suitors with Unselfish and Charismatic above all else. They're usually more loyal anyways

[eyelurker]

Thank you! This really answer a lot of my bafflement with governor but i still have a few question.

Are unschooled character still benefited from school even if it didn't progress his school trait?

When i assign governor usually they either go supervisor route or just stagnant but sometime they instead become warlike. Any idea with this strange warlike governor?

And should i let my young character stay put as auxilliary general in settlement to study in school or should i give him governorship right away that has a school?

[Shoebopp]

Unschooled characters may still gain ancillaries, but cannot progress in academic trait lines like Philosopher or Orator.

I'm assuming the second quirk is either a bug or caused by especially Vigorous characters.

Young characters can be either, although I would assume that being a primary governor triggers Humanitarian, Supervisor, those sort of traits

[bartiger]

Very very helpful, thanks for your time.

As for how governors work in general, there are some tidbits of information that I can share

Low taxes not only encourage Lenient, but also may permanently turn a character into a Humanitarian, which is pretty great. Maintain low taxes to acquire Satisfied Humanitarian. Careful though, taking any future cruel actions such as cranking up taxes or sacking or enslaving settlements will give you Uncomfortable Humanitarian, the worst malus of which is a hefty loyalty drop!

Having a character stay in a settlement for a while makes him gain Governor in Training. It gives +1 to law, but its primary purpose is to warn you that this character is "going down the route of governor". Have him stay even longer and he'll acquire Supervisor, a permanent trait which gives great public order benefits but also burdens said governor with new trait triggers. A Supervisor with low natural ability will prefer governing smaller settlements. One with high natural ability will spend his energies governing larger settlements. Fail to station the right governor in the right settlement and he'll gain Uncomfortable Supervisor, which again induces some unrest but also smacks you with a loyalty drop. Succeed though, and he'll gain Satisfied Supervisor. His happiness reflects in the public order bonuses and loyalty increase.

Schools are ESSENTIAL in the long-term cultivation of good governors. Between the ages of 18 and 28, a governor may advance in the Schooling trait line. It goes like thus

Pragmatic
Unschooled
<BASELINE>
Cultured
Erudite
Scholastic
Pedantic

If your character is of low intelligence or spends too much time away from a settlement with education infrastructure, he'll advance into Unschooled. It's a minor -1 Influence malus. If he continues to stay away from schools whether through constant military service or a lack of proper infrastructure, he'll eventually become Pragmatic, which actually has the same bonuses as Erudite. Speaking of which, Cultured gives you +1 influence and Erudite gives you a trade and tax bonus. So it's good to have your governors spend time in schools in their youth. Spend too long though, and if the governor has low charisma, he'll advance even further and become Scholastic, which saddles him with -1 Influence and -1 Hitpoints. Now he has a further chance of developing into Pedantic, which cranks up the Influence malus to -2. Seems bad? Well, the Schooling trait line has indirect benefits. A TON of other trait lines depend on it. For example, the higher your schooling, the higher the chance of becoming developing the Philosopher trait line, or Orator, or even Forced Marching Expert (Sharp but Languorous characters will appreciate this!). Even better is that they'll gain useful ancillaries, some of whom themselves encourage good traits. Those historical figures tagging alongside your family members? They can egg them into becoming philosophers, loyal stalwarts, or boring speakers.

Don't leave your governors in your capital if the faction leader is not present there. They'll slowly lose loyalty, or gain loyalty if he's holding court there.

Non-hellenistic factions can advance in Philhellene by governing a settlement with at least Yellow Face public order. The Philhellene trait itself gives a small +1 Influence, but it then triggers Happy People to Extremely Happy People, which grants from -1 Unrest to -3 Unrest. Careful not to let public order dip below Yellow Face! He'll gain Mishellene, which gives the opposite happiness effects.

Ethnicity doesn't actually increase the *likelihood* of gaining traits, but rather the *starting set* of traits a character exhibits upon asking your women for marriage or coming of age. So pay attention to the ethnicity of suitors beyond their initial traits: do you want future governors or generals?

There are complex scripts and trait descriptions that can dramatically boost their abilities. Celtic characters can Train to Become Kingetos, enter Druidic Training (needs intelligent, charismatic, and unselfish for maximum success), or Mercenary Adventures (needs high vigor for maximum success), Balkan Hellenistic characters can participate in the Agoge, the KH in particular have a whole "rite of citizenship" trait line, Roman and Carthaginian characters can hold a myriad of offices, and Getic characters can progress in the journey to become a Living God (IIRC, it gives an absurd +5 to Troop Morale among other godlike benefits). Be careful though! Each of these can go wrong if you don't pay attention to the requirements.

Temples can encourage traits related to the god worshipped there. The best for generals IMO are Temples of Fertility, which improves Vitality and Fertility, and the best for governors are (obviously) Temples of Governor while the worst are Temples of Fun, which encourages various vices.

Finally, back to the basics, take careful consideration into a character's Selfishness and Charisma for Hellenic factions. Hellenic characters can acquire an entire HOST of bad traits if they're Selfish or Uncharismatic. If you don't want a 0-Influence governor, then choose suitors with Unselfish and Charismatic above all else. They're usually more loyal anyways

[RodriguesSting]

Lenient is the pre-trait to Humanitarian, and is acquired and upgraded by having a governor who is Selfless, governing a settlement that is Happy, with Normal or Low taxes.

Governor Training is the pre-trait to Supervisor, and it is acquired and upgraded by having a governor on a settlement that is Content with taxes above Low, or finishing buildings. Chances are improved with high Intelligence, and other factors I don't feel like looking at right now.

Lenient is good on Dull characters, in which Supervisor would eventually lose its value, as these characters would carry the risk of becoming Unhappy by governing a settlement with Stone Walls or above. Also good on characters that you plan to, eventually, use as generals as well, as being outside a settlement and fighting battles would risk a Supervisor to become unhappy, which would carry some hefty maluses to generals.

Supervisor, specially a happy one, offers CONSIDERABLE governance bonuses, from taxes and public order to building discounts and recruitment. Sharp characters are preferred, as they can become happy by just governing a settlement with sone walls and above.

Both reduce squalor, Lenient and (happy) Supervisor, so both will have an effect on the growth of the settlement, but Lenient is better on dumb governors and characters that you plan on taking out of the settlement on occasion.