Preview dHRR 0.8: True Blood

[konny]

True Bloodline

In dHRR we seemed to have been able to solve one of the most annoying features of M2TW: The way the heir is chosen by the engine. We are still not able to change the already selected heir – what makes sense when you take into account that you are able to marry a faction heir to one of the roving princesses, but we are able to influence the decision of the engine far enough to say that in most occasions we will be able to make the title held by the faction leader the same way hereditary as any other title you can acquire on the map. An example:

The full family tree of this English campaign had two more branches with never less than 10 family members alive. But as you can see, we had one, two, three, four, five Norman kings and heirs in a row.

That way, strange lines of succession in which a “nobody” from the far end of the family tree becomes heir even though the king has four sons of age, should be a thing of the past in the next version of dHRR. Succession should be logical in the sense it would have been handled by the historical counterpart of the respective faction. In most occasions this would be by hereditary lineage. This would also include maternal lineage, so you should be careful of whom you marry your princesses to. Holding titles, lots of them, could influence the lineage too. In some factions, like Lower Lorraine for example, holding specific titles would give a good chance for becoming the next heir.

Royal Offices

Those kings that come to power by birth right certainly need help in running their empires. As such you are able to appoint royal offices to your family members and generals in dHRR, such as Royal Chancellor and Royal Marshall. In dHRR 0.8 these offices will be individualized for each faction, according to what offices existed in the High Middle Ages in that faction.

This is, for example, the Custodus Angliae, a transferable office that becomes available when the King of England is absent from his island. Other offices are held by livelong appointment, or they are tied to certain titles. Some might get unlocked later in the game, for example England would not have a High Constable or High Marshall under a Norman king. And some offices might even be held by spawned generals. This first of all applies to chancellors, which often were clerics or members of the lower nobility – so, not the kind of characters that is represented by the members of the family tree.

Spawned characters will appear complete with random name and random traits.

Characters' Titles

Characters will get their title as part of their names. This is nothing special so far, because it is just an epithet to the title trait. What is special is that we have implemented a titles’ ranking that prevents lower ranking titles that are inherited at a later point in the game to overwrite higher ranking ones. In this example, when Robert would inherit the title of an Earl of Kent he would still be called “Dux Normanniae”. Only when he became king he would change his title into “Rex Anglorum”.

This system of titles will also apply to faction leaders, who will no longer have fixed titles (like “King”) but would adopt those titles. As such a faction leader of England would always be called “Rex Anglorum”, unless by chance he acquired a higher ranking title what would be one of the two Emperor-titles (Germany or Byzantium). More important would be this system for factions which leaders hold titles that are ranking below “King”. For example Portugal will start the game as a county but might develop into a kingdom, displayed by the title of the faction leader. Leaders of German factions all have titles ranking below king. They might not only acquire the German Crown and the corresponding title (now without still being called ‘Duke’ anymore), but also others like “King of Jerusalem” or Latin “Emperor of Byzantium”.

Scotland Revised

England is not alone on the British Isles. Scotland is still there and both will the start the game at war with each other, like they actually were in 1080. Amongst the Scottish family members you will find Edgar of Wessex, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England. If Scotland feels strong enough she can sent Edgar into England to (re-)claim his crown. This will give him an enormous boost in popularity and command because the Anglo-Saxons in England will be desperately waiting for someone to save them from the greedy Normans. But doing so will turn the normal border feud between Scotland and England into a war of live and death.

When Scotland failed to do so as long as Edgar is alive, it will still be possible for any of his sons, or the three sons that his sister had with Scottish King Malcolm, to claim the Crown of England.

And what would a Scottish King be without his Highlanders! Here we have the new the Gaelic units, available in Scotland (save for Edinburgh) and Ireland. You see, there are no more kilts and blue faces and the nobility is much Norse, who still controlled the Irish coast and Western Scotland.

See also: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=498

[konny]

Preview dHRR 0.8 A House Divided



Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand

- Matthew 12:25

In 1080 all of Germany is a battlefield! The once mighty Empire of Otto the Great in ruins! Brothers fighting brothers, and vassals their lords!

For Heinrich, ruthless but legal King of Germany, has been banned by the Pope. His enemies, of which he has many, have sized the chance and elected Rudolf von Rheinfelden, Heinrich’s own brother-in-law, their new King. With the help of the Pope and his bishops, those rebellious lords have brought the chaos to Germany.


In the very south Rudolf left his son, Berthold, in charge of his old Duchy of Swabia. But Heinrich had already appointed a new Duke with Friedrich von Staufen. This left Swabia divided into two Duchies, the southern one held by Berthold and his Burgundian allies and the northern one held by Friedrich. Meanwhile the Burgundians and Lorraine are falling on each other.



In Bavaria Duke Welf rebelled against the King. But this proved to have been a bad example, because his vassals in return rebelled against him: The Margrave in Nürnberg as well as the Count in Tyrol both joined the side of the King, reducing Bavaria to nothing but her core lands. Only the Margrave of Austria remained loyal to his Bavarian Duke.



Austria, once the border defence against the Hungarians, now being invaded by the Bohemian host! Such was the reward for staying loyal to his rebel lord: Heinrich declared Margrave Leopold deposed and gave his lands to the Bohemian Duke Vratislav. The Duke only has to submit the Margrave by himself…



But the decisive fighting is going to happen in Saxony: Rudolf, having lost much support in his Swabian homelands retreated to Saxony. Here the opposition against the Rhinish kings always was very strong. Magnus Billung, Duke of Saxony, Otto von Northeim, deposed Duke of Bavaria, Lothar von Stade, Margrave of Brandenburg, and Adalbert, Count of Ballenstedt – the most noble houses of the North rallied to Rudolf’s cause. Many of them had spent years in Heinrich’s dungeons, and many have lost relatives by his hand. All have good reasons to hate the King, have fought him for years and wish nothing but to fight it out this time.

The stage is set, the Civil War has started!

But isn’t this the opportunity the enemies of the Empire have waited for? What is with the Oborites? Even the combined might of the Emperor and Saxony could not prevent them from conquering the lands across the Elbe. Who is going to stop them when Saxon and Imperial knights are already killing each others?



And there is France! For now the French kings are weak and their true possessions are small. But how can they be expected to further respect the Emperor when this one is not even respected by his own Dukes?



Whatever is going to happen in the future of Germany, it will take a strong leader to save the Empire!

Are you strong enough?

dHRR 0.8 to come…..