Research on campaign mechanics - post results here

[Beefeater]

Moderator edit: In the (perhaps temporary) absence of a Ludus Magna for M2TW, let's use this thread to post the results of research into campaign mechanics.

If you are not posting test results, please keep any commentary or questions to a minimum. This is not a thread to debate or to report on your solo games - it's for research results.

If you do research on campaigns and want to start your own thread for some reason, that's fine. But let's sticky this thread for those who want to use it.

I'm going to move some of the battle mechanics stuff over to the sister thread.

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OK, we've had it for a short while now and have formed our initial impressions. What it would be great to see next (and what this email is an attempt to kickstart) is an under-the-hood look at certain questions regarding the way in which the game works. Mods - I'm posting here because of the absence of a Ludus Magna-style forum dealing with these issues.

Off the top of my head, the following probably need to be addressed.

Guilds
It seems to me that it would be helpful to know the following:

What triggers an offer of a guild?
So far I have noticed that upgrading a city to level 3 triggers a guild offer, to level 4 triggers a 'master' guild offer, and to level 5 gives an 'HQ' offer if there are no HQs of that guild already present in the world. I presume that it's just L4 and L5 for Castles.

When you're offered a guild, you can turn it down. When will you be re-offered (that guild or another) and what governs this?

What are the prerequisites for each guild?

What do the guilds do?
This is sometimes transparent (e.g. recruiting Hospitallers and the health bonus for the order of St. John) and sometimes opaque (any idea what the Explorer's Guild actually does?).

V&Vs (Traits)

Obvious one this but I'm hoping to start off a FAQ similar to Aesculapius' excellent essay on the 'Feeding and Breeding of Governors and Generals'. What makes our little sim-tyrants tick? How do I turn them into bloodthirsty populace-oppressing monsters, or into gentle and chivalric knights? How can princesses gain charm, and what makes Merchants great?

Also, what do those hidden priest skills (e.g. violence) affect?

That's all I can think off for now but I'll try to post more this evening. Thoughts?