posted 22 February 2005 23:33 EDT (US)
NOTE: Many triggers are related to the general or governors remaining movement points at the end of the turn, so I will denote %MP remaining to mean remaining movement points AT THE END OF THE TURN. Also the % chances for gaining a trait are usually quite low (less than 10% - sometimes 1%) but are calculated per turn. Traits are issued generally on a point by point basis and as you continue to accrue points you reach a level whereby the trait becomes visible in the game (ie. the Trait of Good_Commander: 1 point shows as 'confident commaner', 8 points are required to show up as 'great commander' on your character profile - you gain points by winning battles).
It is also worthy to note that most traits have a 'no-going-back' level (which block deductions of points) and contain anti-traits which are traits that cannot be possessed at the same time (ie. the trait 'Ignorant' has the following anti-traits - RhetoricSkill, PoeticSkill, StrategicSkill, TacticalSkill, MathematicsSkill, NaturalPhilosophySkill, LogisticalSkill, PhilosophySkill, ArchitectSkill). Ignorance is a particularly bad trait although the % chance for picking it up is very low. Don't forget however that if you have, for example, the ArchitectSkill trait then you can never end up with Ignorance because it is its anti-trait. Many traits act as blockers for others... Thus the goal of your very young generals is to pick some 'good' traits early in life which will help block some of the 'bad' traits for the rest of their lives (since a lot of traits have no-going-back levels this can permanently block some undesirable traits). Here is a brief guide on how it all happens...
...On Temples - We can't forget the gods now can we?
For ALL temples the following conditions must be met before a governor has a chance of gaining a trait:
City posesses a small / medium... / ...awesome specifically listed temple. A governor must have 100% MP remaining and is in the city at the end of the turn.
Temple of Violence
Anger (10%)/ Energetic (15%)/ Bloodthristy (10%) - The % denote the chance of gaining a single point in these traits which are calculated at the end of every turn. Each trait has a series of levels and a number of points associated with each specific level.
Anger trait produces - anger / unquenched anger / uncontrollable rage (these are negative on influence)
Energetic trait produces - lively / very lively / energetic / blessed with vitality (these are good - gives bonus to movement / management and construction)
Bloodthirsty trait produces - Bloody / Sanguinary / Bloodthirsty (initially these positively effect command and morale but then go negative as you scare your troops). So if your governor spends too long in this city he will probably be very angry, blessed with vitality and rather bloodthirsty.
Temple of Love
Girls - Casual_Adulterer / Blatant_Adulterer / Womaniser / Won't_Take_No_For_An_Answer / Sexual_Predator (starts OK with +1 troop morale but then gets worse with negatives on troop morale and influence - nobody trusts this man anymore)
Temple of Law
Sobriety - Sober / Abstemious / Teetotal (bonuses to management, penalty to popular standing)
HarshJustice - Punisher / Severe / Harsh_Judge (increase unrest but increases law twice as much)
Austere - Stern / Spartan / Austere (good for management and bribe resistance)
Temple of Farming
GoodFarmer - Grower / Farmer / Agriculturalist (bonus to city growth rate)
Temple of Fertility
Fertile - Fruitful / Fertile / Prolific (really a goer... Makes more babies - anti-trait Infertile)
Temple of the Forge
GoodEngineer - Engineer / Superior_Engineer / Master_Engineer (command and siege point bonuses when sieging)
GoodMiner - Miner / Superior_Miner / Expert_Miner (bonuses to mining income)
Temple of Governors
Authoritarian - Strict_Governor / Harsh_Governor / Authoritarian_Governor (penalty to unrest but bonus to law - note that the law bonus is double that of the unrest penalty - this trait EXCLUDES CultureType Roman)
AuthoritarianRomanVirtue - Strict / Authoritarian / Rods-And-Axes (virtually identical to above but includes bonuses with the Senate, ie. Unrest +3, Law +6, SenateStanding +15 at Rods-And-Axes level; this trait EXCLUDES ALL CultureTypes except Roman)
Temple of Battle
Berserker - Axebitten / Shieldbiter / Berserker (bosus to troop morale and attack, penalty for defence. At Berserker level though there is a penalty to troop morale -4 morale, +3 attack, -3 defence)
TacticalSkill - Understanding_of_Tactics / Tactical_Expert / Tactician (bonuses to line of sight and ambushing)
Temple of BattleForge
Brave - Untouched_By_Fear / Brave / Famously_Courageous / Utterly_Fearless / Insanely_Brave (bosuses to troopmorale and popular standing)
Temple of Healing
HaleAndHearty - In_The_Pink / In_Rude_Health / Hale_and_Hearty (+2, +4, +6 HP bonus to General. VERY Useful to have.
Hypochondriac - Feeling_Poorly / Given_to_Ill-Health / Hypochondriac (penalties to attack and generals HP)
It is interesting to note that the chance of gaining either trait is the same. If you put a promising young general here for a few turns there is a 50/50 chance of either outcome. They are anti-traits of each other so when one dominates the other can never occur.
Temple of the Horse
GoodCavalryGeneral - Skilled_Cavalry_Commander / Expert_Cavalry_Commander / Cavalry_Commander_of_Genius (bonuses to commanding cavalry - you are considered a cavalry commander if more than 50% of your army is cavalry)
BadInfantryGeneral - Poor_Infantry_Commander / Inferior_Infantry_Commander / Useless_Infantry_Commander (penalties for commanding infantry - you are considered an infantry commander of over 80% of you army are infantry)
Temple of Hunting
GoodAmbusher - Good_Ambusher / Sneaky_Ambusher / Exceptional_Ambusher (bonuses to ambushing)
BadSiegeDefender - Cowers_Behind_Walls / Pathetic_Defender_of_Cities / Liability_In_Defence (penalties defending sieges)
Temple of Justice
Just - Even-handed / Just / Absolutely_Just (bonuses to Law)
HarshJustice - Punisher / Severe / Harsh_Judge (penalties to unrest but double bonus to Law. ie. At Harsh_Judge level +3 unrest, +6 Law)
Temple of Leadership
StrategicSkill - Understanding_of_Strategy / Strategic_Expert / Strategist (Bonus to command)
Trusting - No_Enemies / Ingenuous / Trusting (Penalties to PersonalSecurity ie. Assassins have an easier chance, bonus to influence except at highest level which has a -1 inlfuence penalty)
Temple of the One God
Pious - Reverent / Respectful_of_the_Gods / Pious (bonus to influence but -1 troopmorale at highest level)
GoodAdministrator - Bureaucrat / Skilled_Bureaucrat / Superb_Administrator (bonuses to management and law)
Temple of Trade
GoodTrader - Trader / Superior_Trader / Master_Trader (significant bonuses to trade, ie. at Master_Trader +30% trade bonus)
Cheapskate - Frugal / Downright_Miserly / Cheapskate (construction bonuses ie. cheaper to construct buildings, bonus to tax collection, penalty to squalor)
Embezzler - Financially_Irregular / Fiscally_Flexible / Embezzler (penalties to Management)
DeceiverVirtue - Sly / Deceiver / Great_Deceiver (increase both electability and senete standing. ie. GreatDeceiver - +1 influence, +1 command, +9 electability, +15% SeneteStanding)
Temple of Victory
GoodRiskyAttacker - Chancer / Intelligent_Risk_Taker / Victory_from_the_Jaws_of_Defeat (bonuses to Attack)
Warlord - War_Chief / Mighty_War_Chief / Warlord / Legendary_Warlord (CultureType Barbarian ONLY, bonuses to Command and Law
Pragmatic - Rational_Beliefs / Pragmatic / Utterly_Pragmatic (bonuses to management, -1 on influence at Utterly_Pragmatic level)
Temple of the Viking
Berserker - see above (Temple of Battle)
Thats about it for temples... I will be adding the names to the temples over time as it is not always clear which temple falls into which catagory. ie. Temple of Ceres (Julii) = Temple of Fertility
...On Luxurious Lifestyles - Governors living it up at your expense
There are six triggers for luxurious lifestyle so I won't go into too much detail but similar to above the governor must have 100% MP remaining AND be in the city at the end of the turn.
If you have any of the following buildings in your cities they start to take effect. These effects are cumulative with each additional building so a governor in a huge well developed city will be bound to pick up some of these traits if he doesn't get up off his bum and take a stroll through his province once in a while.
The buildings are: Awesome temple of Love / Awesome temple of Trade / City plumbing / Theatre / silk_road
Traits that have a chance of occuring are:
Aethetic - Lover_of_Beauty / Connoisseur / Aesthete (good for influence bad for command rating)
Epicurean - Gourmet_of_Life / Refined_Tastes / Rarified_Tastes (good for trade but untrustworthy for bribery)
Expensive Tastes - Mildly_Extravagant / Extravagant / Wildly_Extravagant (generally bad for management)
Gambling - Likes_a_Flutter / Gambler / Inveterate_Gambler / Ruled_by_Luck (just plain bad for both bribing and trading)
Girls - see above (Temple of Love)
...On Harsh Lifestyles - Generals out in the field
There are three triggers for harsh lifestyles and a trigger for sitting around camp so I'll briefly look at each.
1. A governor in a small backwater living in a governors house (not to be confused with governors villa, palace, etc...) who has been there all year (100% MP remaining)
OR
2. A general who is not in a settlement AND has 100% MP remaining AND is in BARBARIAN lands (I'm assuming this is not just enemy lands but true barbarian lands) has a chance of picking up the following traits:
Austere - see above (Temple of Law)
Cuckold - Subject_of_Rumours / Cuckold / Cuckold's_Cuckold / Outraged_Husband (negatives on influence)
Ignorance - Ignorant / Pig_Ignorant / Willfully_Ignorant (just plain bad - negatives to influence and management - also has many anti-traits making this a bad outcome - very low probability though)
Pragmatic - Rational_Beliefs / Pragmatic / Utterly_Pragmatic (generally good bonuses for management but -1 influence for Utterly_Pragmatic)
Stoic - Restrained / Cold_Manner / Stoic (good on bribe resistance but negative on influence)
3. A general who is not in settlement AND has 0% MP remaining AND has a management skill of greater than or equal to 3 may pick up the following trait:
LogisticalSkill - Understanding_of_Logistics / Logistics_Expert / Logistician (excellent for both increasing the generals movement rates and troop morale - for your young lads use ancillary characters to get them to management 3+ if they don't naturally have those points AND use up ALL their MP EVERY TURN)
4. A General who is not in settlement AND has 100% MP remaining has a chance to pick up the following:
Feck - Strong_Language / Foul_Mouthed / Swears_Like_A_Trooper / Irredeemably_Foul-mouthed (I love this one, bonus to troop morale, bonus to popular standing, penalty with senate. ie. Irredeemably_Foul-mouthed +6 morale, +20 popular, -20 senate. It's Marius all over!! Anti-traits - SmoothTalker / RhetoricSkill)
HaleAndHearty - In_The_Pink / In_Rude_Health / Hale_and_Hearty (another must have, increases generals hit points; +6 at H&H level)
Scout - Scout / Expert_Scout / Reconnaissance_Specialist (increases line of sight)
...On Governing - Your young praetor is off to his first command ...On Agents - Faction Leaders and their minions ...On Corruption - Nothing like helping ourselves to the provinces On Battles - Getting your general the best of traits ...Well, that's it for battle triggers. Just remember that a lot of the triggers are activated with crushing victories and crushing losses. If you win a 1,000 battles you will most certainly be considered a 'Legendary Commander' but not much else if the battles you won were not absolute. Other Non specific triggers Conclusion
Being a nice guy I often like to keep my people happy and have fast growing cities. What I noticed was that many of my governors became 'useless tax assessors' and picked up other negative governing charactertistics which rather annoyed me. Here are some basics in governing but since there are over 20 triggers controlling governing I will try to be brief and concentrate on the more important ones.
1. Governor destroys buildings in city (calculated er building I think):
Despoiler - Pillager / Plunderer / Despoiler (significant looting bonuses for Leaders army +30% at top level)
2. Governor builds military unit AND Tax is greater than HIGH:
GoodAdministrator - see above (Temple of the One God)
3. Governor is in residence when a building is completed in that turn:
GoodBuilder - Superior_Builder / Excellent_Builder / Great_Builder (reduces construction costs, reduces squalor and gains +1 influence at Great_Builder level)
Architectskill - Draughtsman / Architect / Great_Architect (reduces construction costs)
4. Governor is in residence when a building is completed in that turn AND tax is Greater than HIGH:
GoodAdministrator - see above
5. Governor is in residence when a FARMING building is completed:
GoodFarmer - see above (Temple of Farming)
6. Governor is in residence when a NON-FARMING building is completed:
BadFarmer - Poor_Farmer / Dislikes_Farming / Loathes_Farmers (penalties to city growth rates)
... and so on and so forth... this goes on for a while with all the different buildings and corresponding traits (ie. roads, markets and ports increase chance for GoodTrader - ignoring building these leads to BadTrader, etc...) and is rather self explanitory. Bear in mind that this is all % driven. ie. there is a much higher chance of getting a GoodFarmer trait for building a farm but a much lower % chance for getting BadFarmer trait for completing other buildings. In the end this balances out.
But... lets get back to the more interesting stuff... on_13.gif
12. If the city riots with governor in residence susel
AuthoritarianRomanVirtue - Strict / Authoritarian / Rods-And-Axes (increases unrest but doublely offset by law, bonus with senete)
Disciplinarian - Obsessional_Trainer / Drillmaster / Martinet (troop morale suffer a little, bonus to law, bonus to movement and +1 command at highest level)
HarshJustice - see above (temple of Law)
Rabblerouser - Agitator / Tub-Thumper / Rabblerouser / Demagogue (increases influence and popularity with the people. ie. +4 influence, +20 popular standing at demagogue level)
13. If the city revolts with the governor in residence post-29-1084058926
AuthoritarianRomanVirtue - see above
Disciplinarian - see above
HarshJustice - see above
Rabblerouser - see above
NOTE: % chances for gaining traits when a city revolts are generally double that of a rioting city.
14. Same as 12. except no RabbleRouser trait (RabbleRouser requires CultureType Romans)
15. Same as 13. see above (14.)
16. & 17. These triggers deal with a rioting or rebelling cities whereby the governor is asleep at the wheel (so to speak) and has set the tax rate set higher than Low:
BadAdministrator - Jobsworth / Administratively_Inept / Stunningly_Incompetent (negatives on management)
There is a higher % chance for this trait occuring if the city actually goes beyond rioting and rebels.
NOTE: You still qualify for traits related to 12. & 13. since these are independent of tax rate.
18. Governor completes a building AND the population of the city is disillusioned (blue face) AND the TAX rate is VERY HIGH:
GoodTaxman - Tax_Assessor / Efficient_Taxman / Cruelly_Efficient_Taxman (increases tax revenue and slightly increases unrest)
19. Governor completes a building AND the population of the city not disillusioned (yellow or green face) AND the TAX rate is less than HIGH:
BadTaxman - Useless_Assessor / Inefficient_Taxman / Tax_Farmer (decreases tax revenue - we can't have the people happy now can we!!!)
IT WAS THIS TRAIT THAT GOT ME STARTED IN THE FIRST PLACE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS GOING ON... on_2.gif
20. Governor in residence and completes greater than or equal to a stone ampitheatre:
GamesFanRomanVice - Gladiatorial_Fan / Gladiator_Obsessed / Hero-Worships_Gladiators (less unrest, bonus to popular standing, penalty with senate)
21. Governor in residence and completes greater than or equal to a hippodrome:
RacesFanRomanVice - Race_Goer / Charioteer / Fanatical_Chariot_Racer (increase popular standing, penalty to electibility and -1 command at Fanatical_Chariot_Racer level)
Two obscure triggers relating to governing: A governor in residence when the building completes has a chance of the GoodBuilder trait while a governor in residence with the BuildingQueueIdle AND Sufficient Cash could pick up a BadBuilder trait. The first one seems like a duplicate of governing 3. I have personally removed the duplicate in my game and renamed the other as Governor 22.
23. Governor in residence with 100% MP remaining could get the following traits:
Drink - Social_Drinker / Likes_a_Drink / Drunkard / Drunken_Lout / Sot / Paralytic (starts off OK, +1 command at social drinker but rapidly goes downhill. -4 influence, -5 command, -5 management at Paralytic level)
Gambling - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
Arse - Minion / Catamite / Aggressively_Perverse / Grotesquely_Perverse (negatives on influence)
Girls - see above (Temple of Love)
This is an area that is sorely under utilised but has some surprisingly positive outcomes. First thing is that agents who sucessfully complete their missions will increase their respective traits - I won't go into this as this is obvious. What is not so obvious however is that agents doing missions for a faction will positively effect the traits of the faction leader. The following are traits gained by the faction leader NOT the agent.
1. Faction Leader ordered spying mission:
Spymaster - Espionage / Espionage_Expert / Spy_Master (significantly reduces agent build costs ie. spymaster gets a 60% discount on training agents)
Deceivervirtue - see above (Temple of Trade)
2. Factional Leader ordered Assassination mission:
AssassinMaster - Clean_Hands / Killer_From_Necessity / Master_of_Assassins (good for personal security, reducing training agent costs and +1 influence at Master_of_Assassins level)
Deceivervirtue - see above
3. Faction Leader ordered sabotage:
Despoiler - see above (governing 1.)
Deceivervirtue - see above
4. Faction Leader ordered bribery:
Politicalskill - Political_Animal / Politician / Consummate_Politician (absolutely desirable - increases influence, electability and senate standing)
PlainRomanVirtue - True_Roman / Good_Honest_Roman / Virtus (once again absolutely desirable - increases influence, electability and senate standing)
Deceivervirtue - see above (Temple of Trade)
5. Faction Leader ordered diplomacy:
PoliticalSkill - see above.
I'm not sure if the agent needs to be successful or not for the trigger condition to be met. It seems that just ordering the mission, regardless of outcome, is sufficient.
Somewhat unavoidable heading into the middle / end of the game. Historically the ruling roman oligarchy became very corrupt and avaricious which led to much of the trouble and was one of the many factors leading to the civil wars.
1. A general or governor ending a turn in a settlement AND the treasury has greater than 50000 denarii:
Corrupt - Flexible / Dubious / Corrupt (negatives on law and bribery resistance)
Aesthetic - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
ExpensiveTastes - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
Epicurean - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
BadAdministrator - see above (governing 16. & 17.)
2. A general or governor ending a turn in a settlement AND the treasury has greater than 100000 denarii:
Corrupt - Flexible / Dubious / Corrupt (negatives on law and bribery resistance)
Aesthetic - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
ExpensiveTastes - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
Epicurean - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
Embezzler - Financially_Irregular / Fiscally_Flexible / Embezzler (negatives on management)
3. A general or governor ending a turn in a settlement AND the treasury has greater than 150000 denarii:
Corrupt - Flexible / Dubious / Corrupt (negatives on law and bribery resistance)
Aesthetic - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
ExpensiveTastes - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
Epicurean - see above (luxurious lifestyles)
Embezzler - Financially_Irregular / Fiscally_Flexible / Embezzler (negatives on management)
4. A general or governor ending a turn in a settlement AND the treasury has greater than 50000 denarii AND the CultureType is ROMAN:
ApicianRomanVice - Gourmand / Glutton / Apician_Glutton (negatives on trade - might think about putting this guy in a province with no trade).
NOTE: these triggers are cumulative so if you have 200,000 in the bank and governors in huge well developed cities then every single turn each of your governors in these cities are subject to checks by all of the corruption and luxurious lifestyles triggers. All these tests quickly add up!!! ...and you quickly begin to notice that your nice hardworking rural family are begining to produce some highly urbanised very perverse decendents. I like this little feature because that is what started to happen to the ruling nobility as unprecedented wealth poured into the city of Rome.
Battle triggers can be quite complex so here they are all listed. In this section you will note that I have included two numbers after each trait, ie.. GoodCommander (1/100). The 1st number are the points that are allocated to the specific trait and the second number is the % chance of gaining that number of points to the trait. Occasionally you will notice that I put some numbers next to the level. These numbers are the threshold levels which make the trait visible in the game. ie. Great_Commander(8) / Legendary_Commander(16). This means you need 8 points to become a Great Commander and 16 points to become a Legendary_Commander (but they are both are just levels within the GoodCommander Trait).
General wins ANY battle
Conditions to be met:
IsGeneral AND WonBattle
GoodCommander (1/100) - Confident_Commander(1) / Good_Commander(2) / Superior_Commander(4) / Great_Commander(8) / Legendary_Commander(16) (General gains command stars for all occasions)
General losses ANY battle
Conditions to be met:
IsGeneral AND NOT WonBattle
BadCommander (1/50) - Indifferent_Commander(2) / Incompetent_Commander(4) / Poor_Commander(6) / Pathetic_Commander(8) (General losses command stars for all battles)
Attacking general has a crushing victory
Conditions to be met:
WasAttacker AND IsGeneral AND WonBattle
AND BattleSuccess = crushing AND I_ConflictType Normal (no idea what this one is)
AND BattleOdds >
GoodAttacker (2/100) - Confident_Attacker / Good_Attacker / Superior_Attacker / Great_Attacker / Heroic_Attacker (General gains command stars when attacking)
TacticalSkill (1/5) - Understanding_of_Tactics / Tactical_Expert / Tactician (bonus to line of sight and ambushing)
Attacking general has a crushing loss
Conditions to be met:
WasAttacker AND IsGeneral
AND not WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = crushing
AND I_ConflictType Normal AND BattleOdds >
BadAttacker (2/50) - Indifferent_Attacker / Incompetent_Attacker / Poor_Attacker / Pathetic_Attacker (General losses command stars when attacking)
Defending general has crushing victory
Conditions to be met:
NOT WasAttacker AND IsGeneral
AND WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = crushing
AND I_ConflictType Normal AND BattleOdds >
GoodDefender (2/100) - Confident_in_Defence / Good_Defender / Superior_Defender / Great_Defender / Heroic_Defender (General gains command stars when defending)
TacticalSkill (1/5) - Understanding_of_Tactics / Tactical_Expert / Tactician (bonus to line of sight and ambushing)
Defending general has Crushing Loss
Conditions to be met:
NOT WasAttacker AND IsGeneral
AND NOT WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = crushing
AND I_ConflictType Normal AND BattleOdds >
BadDefender (2/50) - Indifferent_Defender / Incompetent_Defender / Poor_Defender / Pathetic_Defender (General losses command stars when defending)
Attacking general has a clear Victory
Conditions to be met:
WasAttacker AND IsGeneral
AND WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = clear
AND I_ConflictType Normal AND BattleOdds >
GoodAttacker (1/100) - Confident_Attacker / Good_Attacker / Superior_Attacker / Great_Attacker / Heroic_Attacker (General gains command stars when attacking)
Attacking general has a clear Loss
Conditions to me met:
WasAttacker AND IsGeneral
AND NOT WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = clear
AND I_ConflictType Normal AND BattleOdds >
BadAttacker (1/50) - Indifferent_Attacker / Incompetent_Attacker / Poor_Attacker / Pathetic_Attacker (General losses command stars when attacking)
Defending general has a clear victory
Conditions to be met:
NOT WasAttacker AND IsGeneral
AND WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = clear
AND I_ConflictType Normal AND BattleOdds >
GoodDefender (1/100) - Confident_in_Defence / Good_Defender / Superior_Defender / Great_Defender / Heroic_Defender (General gains command stars when defending)
Defending General has a clear loss
Conditions to be met:
NOT WasAttacker AND IsGeneral
AND NOT WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = clear
I_ConflictType Normal AND BattleOdds >
BadDefender (1/50) - Indifferent_Defender / Incompetent_Defender / Poor_Defender / Pathetic_Defender (General losses command stars when defending)
General attacks when the odds are against him (see BattleOdds) and gains a crushing victory
Conditions to be met:
WasAttacker AND IsGeneral AND WonBattle
AND BattleSuccess = crushing AND I_ConflictType Normal
AND BattleOdds <
GoodRiskyAttacker (1/100) - Chancer / Intelligent_Risk_Taker / Victory_from_the_Jaws_of_Defeat (General gains command stars when attacking)
General attacks when the odds are against him (see BattleOdds) and suffers a crushing loss
Conditions to be met:
WasAttacker AND IsGeneral AND NOT WonBattle
AND BattleSuccess = crushing AND I_ConflictType Normal
AND BattleOdds <
BadRiskyAttacker (1/50) - Risk_Taker / Stupid_Risk_Taker / Over-Optimistic (General losses command stars when attacking)
General defends when the odds are against him (see BattleOdds) and gains a crushing victory
Conditions to be met:
NOT WasAttacker AND IsGeneral AND WonBattle
AND BattleSuccess = crushing AND I_ConflictType Normal
AND BattleOdds <
GoodRiskyDefender (1/100) - Good_When_Outnumbered / Great_When_Outnumbered / Stonewall (General gains command stars when defending)
General defends when the odds are against him (see BattleOdds) and suffers a crushing loss
Conditions to be met:
NOT WasAttacker AND IsGeneral AND NOT WonBattle
AND BattleSuccess = crushing AND I_ConflictType Normal
AND BattleOdds <
BadRiskyDefender (1/50) - Mediocre_When_Outnumbered / Poor_When_Outnumbered / To_the_Last_Gasp (General losses command stars when defending)
General attacks when the odds are HEAVILY against him (see BattleOdds) and gains a crushing victory
Conditions to be met:
WasAttacker AND IsGeneral AND WonBattle
AND BattleSuccess = crushing AND I_ConflictType Normal
AND BattleOdds <
GoodRiskyAttacker (2/100) - Chancer / Intelligent_Risk_Taker / Victory_from_the_Jaws_of_Defeat (General gains command stars when attacking)
TacticalSkill (1/5) - Understanding_of_Tactics / Tactical_Expert / Tactician (bonus to line of sight and ambushing)
General attacks when the odds are HEAVILY against him (see BattleOdds) and suffers a crushing loss
Conditions to be met:
WasAttacker AND IsGeneral AND NOT WonBattle
AND BattleSuccess = crushing AND I_ConflictType Normal
AND BattleOdds <
BadRiskyAttacker (1/50) - Risk_Taker / Stupid_Risk_Taker / Over-Optimistic (General losses command stars when attacking)
General defends when the odds are HEAVILY against him (see BattleOdds) and gains a crushing victory
Conditions to be met:
NOT WasAttacker AND IsGeneral AND WonBattle
AND BattleSuccess = crushing AND I_ConflictType Normal
AND BattleOdds <
GoodRiskyDefender (2/100) - Good_When_Outnumbered / Great_When_Outnumbered / Stonewall (General gains command stars when defending)
TacticalSkill (1/5) - Understanding_of_Tactics / Tactical_Expert / Tactician (bonus to line of sight and ambushing)
General defends when the odds are HEAVILY against him (see BattleOdds) and suffers a crushing loss
Conditions to be met:
NOT WasAttacker AND IsGeneral AND NOT WonBattle
AND BattleSuccess = crushing AND I_ConflictType Normal
AND BattleOdds <
BadRiskyDefender (1/50) - Mediocre_When_Outnumbered / Poor_When_Outnumbered / To_the_Last_Gasp (General losses command stars when defending)
General withdraws before battle starts even if the odds are fairly even
Conditions to be met:
IsGeneral AND I_WithdrawsBeforeBattle
AND BattleOdds >
IndecisiveAttacker (1/50) - Hesitant_Attacker(8) / Over-Cautious_Attacker(16) / Indecisive_Attacker(32) (General losses command stars when attacking - anti-traits GoodCommander, GoodAttacker, thus a general who has won some good battles early in his career won't have to worry about this trait)
General withdraws before battle starts even if the odds GREATLY favour your general
Conditions to be met:
IsGeneral AND I_WithdrawsBeforeBattle
AND BattleOdds >
IndecisiveAttacker (2/50) - Hesitant_Attacker(8) / Over-Cautious_Attacker(16) / Indecisive_Attacker(32) (General losses command stars when attacking)
General gains a crushing victory when commanding a legion composed of more than 80% infantry
Conditions to be met:
IsGeneral AND WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = crushing
AND PercentageUnitCategory infantry >
GoodInfantryGeneral (1/100) - Skilled_Infantry_Commander / Expert_Infantry_Commander / Infantry_Commander_of_Genius (General gains command stars when commanding an infantry army. ie. greater than 80% infantry)
General suffers a crushing defeat when commanding a legion composed of more than 80% infantry
Conditions to be met:
IsGeneral AND NOT WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = crushing
AND PercentageUnitCategory infantry >
BadInfantryGeneral (1/50) - Poor_Infantry_Commander / Inferior_Infantry_Commander / Useless_Infantry_Commander (General losses command stars when commanding infantry)
General gains a crushing victory when commanding an army composed of more than 50% cavalry
Conditions to be met:
IsGeneral AND WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = crushing
AND PercentageUnitCategory cavalry >
GoodCavalryGeneral (1/100) - Skilled_Cavalry_Commander / Expert_Cavalry_Commander / Cavalry_Commander_of_Genius (General gains command stars when commanding a force of cavalry >
General suffers a crushing defeat when commanding an army composed of more than 50% cavalry
Conditions to be met:
IsGeneral AND NOT WonBattle AND BattleSuccess = crushing
AND PercentageUnitCategory cavalry >
BadInfantryGeneral (1/50) - Poor_Cavalry_Commander / Inferior_Cavalry_Commander / Useless_Cavalry_Commander (General losses command stars when commanding a force of cavalry >
There really is incredible complexity in the triggering system making for a very convoluted/interconnected set of trigging possibilities. Here are a few examples which demonstrate some of the more obscure ways trigger conditions can be met.
1. Self perpetuation - many traits have a small (usually 1% - 4%) chance to increase their value at the end of each turn which is why for example the 'anger' trait increases to 'uncontrollable rage' for no apparent reason.
2. Family factors are very important. When a character comes of age there are a number of random triggers which give the boy some initial characteritics. There are also a whole heap of triggers related to the character of the father, ie. if dad's a drunk then junior has a chance of picking up either the 'drunk' or 'sobriety' (won't touch the stuff) traits when coming of age. When a character weds there are yet more new triggers to calculate (often taking into account pre-existing traits). ie. If you character is a 'womaniser' he may be become 'prim and proper' after the wedding... on the other hand he many also become more of a 'womaniser' or just take to the 'drink'. Every child born triggers yet more possibilities that can effect the fathers' character traits. Further, adoption into the family can effect the natural brothers characteristics who may not fancy the new prodigal son in the family (historically, when Marius wed a Julia you can bet that some of the Julii family members were quite put out by this). And it goes on....
3. There is also a VAST array of battle triggers which I haven't really wanted to get into yet. Suffice to say that just winning (or losing) a few battles will add these over time. At a later time I'll probably give a breakdown of specific battle related traits if anyone is curious. Just let me know.
4. Ancillary Characters are also tied in with all of this (although in a separate file). Again if you are interested on how to get the best ancillary characters I am thinking of outlining a similar post.
I have presented a rather large amount of information that I hope some will find useful for character development. Here are some quick pointers that tend to give characters a fairly positive balance of traits.
1. Keep them moving - If you govern a city that contains buildings which tend to give negative traits then take your general out for a stroll of his province then move back to the city even in the same turn - remember that some traits are only triggered if the general has 100% MP at the end of the turn. This however can be a tradeoff as there are also some good traits (temples have a tendency to give both good and bad traits - although the good traits often have a slightly higher % to occur) which can only be obtained by staying put for a while. A good example is a city with a temple of violence where if your governor moves around and avoids getting the 'anger' & 'bloodthirsty' traits he will also avoid getting the 'energetic' trait which is very useful. Another example is a governor who gets good traits by governing a rioting city (see governing 12,13,16,17) may on one hand end up a 'bad administrator' but a great 'demagogue'. Don't miss the point, however, that he has probably picked up some 'good adminstrator' points from constructing units and buildings while maintaining a very high tax rate. This will offset the 'bad administrator' trait.
2. Remember that some positive traits come from being in the city when the building is complete. A general can go from city to city ordering build instructions and then come back to the city 1 turn before the building is complete thus getting all the credit.
3. As we have discussed, there are anti-traits and no-going back levels. If your governor has some strongly entrenched good traits then they are somewhat immunised against picking up those corresponding anti-traits for the rest of their lives (ie. the trait Austere - see harsh lifestyles - is opposite to ExpensiveTastes and Aesthetic - see luxurious lifestyles). Thus a general who has been in the field for many years is less likely to be tempted by the luxuries and corruption of big city living.
4. Get your young lads out into the field of fighting for about 10 years before thinking about making them governors (harsh-lifestyle traits are generally OK and their anti-traits often block the less desirable traits from corruption and luxurious lifestyles). They are then less likely to pick up all of the nasty vices which are hard to get rid of. This will not make them immune from bad traits but will offset them a little.
5. Keep bleeding the provinces dry with high to very high tax rates and don't mind - even encourage - the occational riot and revolt (see governing 12 & 13). Also, if you want a city with a high growth rate just allow that city to self govern by setting the AI to 'Growth Priority' and removing your governor. This will avoid your governor picking up the 'inefficient taxman' trait.
6. There are just some traits that are in the hands of the gods. For example MathmaticalSkill (and a number of others) are all associated with random_birth triggers. Sometimes you will end up with a prodigy or a psychopath and there is just nothing you can do about that.
7. Governor specialisation can be a very useful tool so don't underestimate the idea of roving governorships. Have a governor go from city to city just building farms (but make sure he is back in town just as the farm completes) with another governor going around just building roads, ports, and markets (again be back in town one turn before it completes) with yet another building temples/fun structures. What you will begin to see emerge are governors with specialist skills that can be put to use in troubled areas (ie. a pillaged town with 600 inhabitants will recover quicker with a governor who is an Agriculturalist and can crank up the growth rate; a political hotbed far from the capital might be soothed by the entertainment loving ampitheatre building governor, not to mention that your 'master trader' would love a stint in some of the great trading towns).
8. The moral of the story on governing is knowing when to keep them stationary for a while and knowing when go get them on the move. Even if a governor takes a little stroll around the province and then ends up back in the city in the same turn he can avoid some traits triggered when he has 100%MP remaining. After all... he's the governor and he's meant to be out and about, not just lounging around in his great proconsuls palace having parties with rich aristocrats and slave girls. on_7.gif
