Didz's Dumb Question Thread

[MikeV]

RI want to know not just where my schools are but where other peoples are, so I can send my sholars to steal their books. At the minute the only way I know of finding one is to scanning the map screen by screen until I spot one, then I have to try and remember where I saw it, whilst I got and check using the diplomacy tab that it knows something I need to know.

It's not really that easy, but you don't need to go to all that much trouble.
At the start of the campaign, each faction's home region has one of each building type (well, regions that have enough towns ...): Religious, Research, Entertainment, and Economic (either metal or weaver, some have both). Even though a faction can build a school anywhere, these starting ones will be the most advanced.

I haven't found a way to tell what they're researching, just as I never found a way to examine another faction's family tree in M(2)|R:TW.

As far as scanning the map, about the only thing I've noticed are the little icons floating above a settlement/army/fleet that has a (visible) agent "in residence." There's a green circle with black mask overlay for Rakes, a pair of yellow praying hands for Missionaries, and a yellow mason symbol for Gentlemen. If you can spot them, you can see where the buggers are hanging out. Generally, they'll be in the home region's building of the appropriate type.

As others pointed out already, to steal a tech you have to move your Gentleman agent into their college/university. You'll get a dialog asking whether you want to perform the steal tech mission, or just visit. Your agent won't succeed at stealing any tech if they don't have any you haven't already researched -- to find out if they do, you can use the Diplomacy screen as you described. If there are one or more Gentlemen there, you'll have a 3rd option, which is to challenge one to a duel.

Also, you can duel vs. an opposing Gentleman anywhere on the map (they generally have a higher % of success than Rakes of the same rank). You're likely to encounter them coming to your college/university, especially if you have the tech lead. Left alone, they tend to steal your tech (you'll notice this as them wandering to your college/university, then popping out some distance away).