The Emperor

[Derfasciti]

What effect does the Emperor have if any?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I don't know of any. Possibly something to do with alliances?

[Martok]

The best guess I've been able to make is that perhaps the Emperor gives a hidden influence bonus to whichever faction he last supported, and that this bonus affects who remains allied with clans that have started warring with each other. I have asbolutely no proof of this, however. It's only a loose theory on my part.

[matteus the inbred]

Sounds plausible to me Martok, it's the only effect I've been able to think of. I wonder if gaining the Imperial mandate results in a temporary rise in province loyalty for the receiving daimyo, or a slight drop for all the other daimyos, who have presumably now been effectively declared rebels against the Imperial mandate?
Of course, there might be no effect other than game 'flavour', the Emperor during the SJ period was generally pretty irrelevant anyway!

[Martok]

I don't know, matteus. I would actually say a rise in loyalty makes more sense than my idea. (It would certainly be easier to code, at any rate.) That's just my opinion, though.

[matteus the inbred]

Makes sense to me dude.
Anyone ever managed to get the Imperial mandate while playing as a Catholic daimyo? I'm sure you can, but it would be quite amusing anyway.