[CK2] Monk's Tweaks Mod

[Monk]

Shouldn't dynasty_events and family_events(which are in common) be in the events folder?

This has not been updated for 1.06.

but yes. Might've been a mistake when i repacked it. It isn't that way in my test build. Odd.

edit:

The only changes those files affected for my mod was the ability for female dynasty members to demand titles, so my oversight didnt rob you guys of anything huge. It will be fixed in v0.3, my apologies.

[Hooahguy]

This mod seems interesting, awaiting the 1.06 update.

Have you considered adding a "fear" bonus to executions?

There was another change I would have liked to see I thought of but I cant remember.

[Monk]

This mod seems interesting, awaiting the 1.06 update.

I'm working on the last parts of the mod now. The only reason it's taking so long is because the new muslim CB system threw balance into a much worse state than I anticipated. Most of the things I did to get a good balance for 1.05 were broken in 1.06 now that the muslims could expand much easier. However I finally figured out how to squash Iberia's troubles WITHOUT limiting player options. That was the real trick of it, really, and the tests have been going great. I will probably let some observe games run today while I am doing housework and then put the final touches on 0.3 for tomorrow morning.

Here's a quick little Q and A for all the changes i've been working on for the last two days that I made in the midst of a psychotic episode friendly conversation.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

So what have you done in Iberia?

Lots of things! First off I removed some starting holdings from the southern muslims. Sevilla, Badajoz and Toledo have all been nerfed and lost a few holdings each. I also nerfed a lot of their starting tech buildings so they will have to build up their power in a more logical way, presenting much more sensible rise to power for them. They are still quite powerful but nowhere near their level of strength before.

What's the reasoning behind that?

Well i noticed in 1.05, and again right after the patch up to 1.06 that the muslim factions were running over absolutely everyone in their way. Not only would they wipe out the Jimena brothers, take out Barcelona and expand into Africa, but it would takie the combined might of France and the HRE just to contain them and stop their reign of terror. As separate factions they could essentially take on the world all by themselves and that was ridiculous.

So you've taken away holdings? Won't that upset the historical enthusiasts?

Probably, and I'm sorry. However it's my belief that complete historical accuracy should bend itself to gameplay concerns. I'm not implying anything about the historic political situation or trying to 'rewrite' history, i'm making a video game mod that is fun for me to play. I hope it's fun for you also.

What about the other side of the coin, you know, the North?

The northern christians have recieved buffs both in the area of their starting tech buildings and the number of holdings they have. I did this because in vanilla they have so few men it is a miracle if you see them survive. It requires an incredible stroke of luck on their part, namely a crusade or some other fortunate windfall (double assassination of two of the four Jimena brothers, for isntance) for them to even survive. This isn't fun. It isn't even fun playing as a muslim! Instead of an enemy waiting for you on the horizon, you get push overs. Castille, Leon, Galicia, Aragon, Navarra and Barcelona have ALL recieved buffs in some form or another. Some more than others, some less. They are now more or less equal to the powers of the south and have the ability to stand on their own merits.

So does that mean the balance is now completely in their favor? Does the North win all the time?

Not really. Iberia is all about who works together best now. Who unites their factions first, who strikes while their enemy is weak, who fights when their enemy doesn't want to fight, and who spends their piety and the lives of their men wisely now determines who wins in Iberia. You know, i could swear I read all of that in a book or something. Whatever it's probably not important.

How will a player find the new balance?

A player will likely find the initial unification of the north much easier than before due to being able to plot to kill their brothers to inherit their titles. Still. Even when the AI united all of the north the Andalusian muslims still found ways to win. Like i said, the balance is pretty equal now, if not equal it's as close as I can get it.

Anything else?

The kingdoms Castille and Leon have regained de jure ties to Toledo and Badajoz, respectively. Why did I do that? I suspect paradox gave those de jure to Andalusia to encourage the southern muslism to expand north - they don't need any encouragement to do that. This at least gives the christians a way to expand without incurring all the wrath of their good muslim neighbors all at once.

Holy Wars also now cost piety, i'll post more about this in the actual changelog but basically:

The generic Holy War CB now costs 100 piety to use. You will get that back if you win. I did this because the AI cannot handle the fact that people jump in around them. They don't take into account rulers joining to defend their faith when declaring war. Furthermore an AI ruler must now wait until he has 150 piety before they can even consider declaring a holy war. Human players can declare holy wars any time they want for just the piety cost.

Should you win your character will incur a special truce timer specific to the Holy War CB. While this truce timer is active you will not be able to declare another holy war. This means you can no longer spam holy wars until you own the entire map. Nope. This also means that the first ruler in your area to win a holy war no longer gets a huge momentum advantage. I'm sure you noticed it as well in areas of religious contention.. Denmark was really bad about this as they clubbed the eastern pagans and took all of the baltic within 10 years.

Anything else?

Lots of stuff, but that's everything that relates to Iberia balance.

Have you considered adding a "fear" bonus to executions?

I have not but I could potentially see a way to implement it. It would depend largely on how the game applies the tyrant opinion modifier. I'd have to investigate that before I could comment any further.

There was another change I would have liked to see I thought of but I cant remember.

I am open to suggestions for TweaksMod but bear in mind that largely, all this mod amounts to are my own personal changes to the game. The only reason i'm obssessing so much over Iberia is because i am sick and tired of seeing one side smash the other there. It should be a prolonged conflict that has the ability to swing either way, instead it's like the Loki/Hulk fight from the Avengers movie but way less funny.

I'm willing to entertain any suggestion as long as they meet my guidelines in the OP. Fun, expanding player options and keeping the feel of the middle ages alive. But no more balance suggestions please. I've torn enough of my hair out as it is.

[Monk]

On my final test run i noticed the baltic pagans blobbing up scarrily and really fighting hard against Denmark. I can only guess this was because of my holy war changes, which now gives them much needed room to breathe. They grow up so fast.

!!! NEW RELEASE !!!

Version 0.3 - compatible with paradox patch 1.06. That's three times the initial release number! Oh yeah!

Have fun guys.

new changelog

changelog
-------v0.3-----------

*localisation of faction names reverted to vanilla on a temp basis


*Rebalanced Iberia again. Huge changes related to holding numbers, tech levels and starting units for the powers there.


*Sevilla and Toledo were nerfed significantly.

*Jimena powers and Barcelona significantly buffed to be in line with the strength of Toledo and Sevilla.

*Iberia is no longer a one way street and you should see dynamic outcomes there thanks to these changes.



*New Holy War CB

*'Holy War' CB now costs 100 piety (Ai will wait until it has extra piety so as to not purposefully go negative)

*Winning a holy war now brings with it a truce timer. You are unable to declare another holy war for 5 years after winning one. This means you can no longer abuse the Holy War system to own half the map in one generation, or gain unfair momentum within a decade in a certain area of the world

*Losing a holy war that YOU declared will cost you 150 piety. You've been warned.



*New Events for population interaction. Begin to deal with the problems of the peasants as only a feudal ruler can.


*change to 'defending against infidels' opinion modifier, reduced it from a +30 bonus to a +20


*Seljuks can now call in the "full strength" of their empire to fight the Byzantines.
	
	*One time special reinforcement event that fires within a few weeks of the 1066 start.

	*Only works once
	
	*gives them the extra punch they need to have a chance at winning (the AI is still dumb though)


*Monophysite holy orders and mercenaries! 
	


-------v0.2-----------

*Re-localisation of both the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks. They are now the Roman Empire and the Great Seljuk Empire, respectively.

*The initial war between the Roman/Seljuks has been changed to Tribal Invasion CB. If the Seljuks win, Anatolia falls. Beware!


*Rebalanced the Iberian powers:

	*Leon, Castile and Galacia have recieved additional holdings in a single county each.

	*Cordoba and Sevilla have both lost a single holding. 


*Incorporated 'Ruler Designer Traits are Free' mini-mod as an optional component.

*Women can now demand your titles if their leige is old and without children.

*Daughters will now ask for titles.




-------v0.1-----------
!!Initial Release!!

*Expanded Council - Women now able to serve as Steward, Spymaster, Chancellor

*Women have ambitions to become the new jobs available to them

*Basque culture restriction removed from Absolute Cognatic Succession.

*All religions made playable.

*nerfed female ruler opinion penalties with male vassals.

*nerfed female heir opinion penalties with male vassals.

[Monk]

Whoops! Looks like the org was getting confused and adding on an extra http to the OP download link. The link in my sig and the one just above me were fine, but for whatever reason the OP was broken. Rick alerted me to the broken link and it's fixed now.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has downloaded my little mod. The numbers are quite humble but really, it makes me smile that there's genuine interest for what amounts to my own personal play changes. I am considering releasing this mod over at the official paradox forums after the next hotfix.

In the meantime I've been messing around with new CB types, the one I am most proud was inspired by, you guessed it, kekvit irae. It's a special "Horde Fighter" CB that can only be used if your enemy possesses one of the mongol khanate landed titles. My reasoning behind it is this: Any territory owned by the horde in CK2 is officially occupied territory as there is NO de jure land belonging to them at the start of the game. They are foreign invaders to everyone, therefore, you should be able to declare war by right of conquest if you border a horde faction. You're freeing the people there, afterall!

I'm also trying to get my 'Joan of Arc' event line to work. v0.3 taught me a LOT about linking events together so I am really anxious to implement much larger event chains.

I'll also probably nerf the money requirements on some of the events in 0.3. They don't scale logically with your social rank.

To those who downloaded 0.3 you may have noticed the army events are scaled back - that's because when SoI hit i decided to scrap my original idea for army events. Instead, i want to see if I can make them add the new combat modifier traits. How cool would that be? To be able to gain army traits in ways other than being assigned them randomly? So excited to work on 0.4

Once again, thanks to everyone who has taken an interest in this mod. I'd still be making these changes even if no one downloaded it, but seeing actual interest here is really inspiring to work even harder to make this a fun addition to an already great game.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

I'm playing with this. Was eagerly waiting your update! So, keep tweaking!

[Monk]

I'm playing with this. Was eagerly waiting your update! So, keep tweaking!

I'll be sure to!

Be advised that 1.06b, the hotfix released today, has broken the mod for certain factions. Random CTDs when you load the map. I'm going to release a new version tonight to be compatible with the hotfix. So if you're on steam and you got stuck with the new version just be patient, i'm working on it!